Week #3: My List of Fabulous Finds

It is rare that I publish twice in one day. Today is one of those exceptions! 

This morning I published the third segment of my fictional short story about Mindy, the delightfully quirky compulsive shopper with hoarding tendencies. And now, as promised for every Friday, here is the latest “My List of Fabulous Finds” post. My sincere apologies if you were expecting to find this list here earlier today! 

There is a LOT of really helpful, captivating, and entertaining information available on the Internet!  It can take a lot of time however, to sift through and find the articles that interest you. In this series, I share the links to some of the “fabulous finds" I have discovered on the Internet throughout the week. 

If you read this blog, I suspect we have similar passions. If I find something to be fascinating or useful, I think you might as well. 

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Here is some of what I came across this week.

This Week's Fabulous Finds:

An Abundance of Kale and A Messy Green Smoothie!

Impulsive Purchases.

Have you ever gone to a big box store, and made an impulsive purchase? A large quantity of something that you later realized there was no way your family could consume before it spoiled?  Usually, I am pretty good at sticking to my list - but last week I gave in to the temptation of buying a huge bag of kale and a crate of mangos.

Time to try a Green Smoothie.

I decided to use my abundance of produce to create some healthy things for my family - and to come up with some recipes for blog posts!  I have never had a green smoothie, but I decided to try to make one. 

Aside from a kitchen disaster, and a little concern about the texture - it turned out rather well...

Kale and Fruit Smoothie

Printable Recipe: Click here.

Ingredients:

2 cups washed, chopped kale

1 banana, frozen

1 cup mango pieces

2 kiwis

1 1/2 cups orange juice

1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

2 TBSP honey

Method:

1. Peel fruit. 
2. Check to be sure blender is put together correctly and seal is in place 
3. Add all of the above ingredients into a blender. *
4. Blend well until smooth.
5. Wash the floor

What a mess!

Things were going well, until I decided I needed better lighting for my photos.  I carried the blender across the room  - and then realized I had dripped my way across the entire kitchen.  Ugh! 

I won't mention any names, (I suppose it could have even been me!) but someone put the blender back together incorrectly the last time it was used. The seal was not working. 
(Note: I added Step 2 in the recipe so you can avoid Step 5 (Wash the floor)! 

I did get some photos of the preparation process, though not quite the shots I wanted. I took the finished smoothie outside to take a picture of it, to avoid including the mess I had created in my photos - and then I washed the kitchen floor! 

I really liked the flavor of this smoothie - but I'm not quite sure I got the texture right though.  There were still a lot of little bits of kale that had not pureed, that stuck to my teeth after I drank a glassful! Not sure if my blender was just not powerful enough, or if all green smoothies are this texture? 

I still had a lot of kale left!

The bag of kale still looked like I had hardly touched it. Later this week I will be writing about what I did with the rest of the kale - and the mangos! I hope you stop back and check out the recipes!

A question for Green Smoothie Experts: 

Do I need another blender? 

Or do they always leave green pieces in your teeth?!

* 5-14-15  UPDATE: I just learned a trick from Domestically Speaking that might make the texture smoother: First blend the kale with the orange juice, (until the kale becomes quite fine) and then add your other ingredients and continue blending.  

A Timely Demise

Cause of Death: Sub-zero Temperatures and Time
Time of Death: Sometime during the night of November 10th
Name of Victim: Jack Pumpkin

It is my pleasure to report that Jack Pumpkin has died.

I have never known a death that I have mourned less. An altercation with this villainous pumpkin cost my son a trip to the Emergency room, from which he emerged with four stitches. Jack Pumpkin was banished to an out-of-the-way spot outside, and forgotten about until today.

My son's stitches have been removed, and his thumb has healed ... and the guilty pumpkin has met its demise.

Usually I am a little sad when the lifespan of a Jack-'O-Lantern comes to an end.

Not this one.

It got what it deserved.

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How soon after Halloween do you discard or put your decorations away?

One final thought about the deceased:

I said to my son: “I've gotten a lot of milage out of your thumb ... I've written about it in several posts.”

His response: “I hope I get a lot more milage out of it than that!”

This post may be linked to one of the great link-up parties I follow and list on my blog. Check them out!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Tell Every Woman She IS Enough!

There's been a lot of posts written recently by bloggers who attended the BlogHer '14 blogging conference.  Although I didn't go, I have enjoyed reading the accounts of the event.

What does your mirror tell you?

I recently read a blog post, The Talking Mirror and Self Esteem by Carol Cassara.  In it, she describes watching women at the first exhibit they encountered at the conference.  The exhibit was a “talking mirror.”  In her article, Carol also provided the video link I have included here, and encouraged her readers to watch it.  She even offered a free giveaway to anyone who leaves a comment on her post.

Before I watched the video, my comment on Carol's post would have been, “A mirror that tells me, ‘You are Enough.’ I want one of those!”

I hope you will read Carol's wonderful words about self esteem (click on the link in the paragraph above) AND watch this video, before you read the rest of what I write here.  Don't forget to leave a comment on Carol's blog!




As I viewed the video, I realized I was crying.  I'd be surprised if you didn't shed at least a tear. Most of us can relate to the raw emotions revealed by the women filmed as they interacted with the mirror.  Kudos to whomever organized and facilitated these interactions.  Bravo to the all-female band “The Mrs.” for their empowering song, “I'm Enough.” 

The comment I finally left on Carol's blog post was “... it is true - we are all enough."  

I've changed my mind about wanting to own a talking mirror.  I've realized a real talking mirror isn't a piece of reflective glass that hangs on a wall.  Every one of us is a talking mirror, reflecting opinions to ourselves and to others. There are vocal mirrors around us every day. It is the ones that tell us we are enough that we should listen to. This is the kind of mirror that each of us should strive to be.

We all have the power to change inner voices of self-doubt ... our own and those of others. We need to remember to tell the women in our lives the reasons that we think they are enough. And, whenever we look at ourselves in the mirror, we should decide to say, “I'm Enough.”

So, like the instructions in the video,  --  "SLIDE IT GIRL" ... We are all ENOUGH!

“Tell someone she's enough!   #i'mEnough”


This post may be linked to one of the great link-up parties I follow and list on my blog.  Check them out!

Encounter With an Electric Fence

On July 19th, a post about fireflies was published on the blog, Two Teens and Their Mama. Reading it reminded me of a long-forgotten moment in time.

Fireflies

Every few years my family would travel to Pennsylvania, to visit my grandparents farm and spend time with our relatives. My sisters and I always looked forward to catching fireflies, because they did not exist where we lived in Alberta.

My twin sister and I on a tractor ride at my grandparents farm.

Electrocuted!

One evening, when I was about ten, my cousins, sisters and I were catching fireflies and playing hide-and-seek outside at dusk.  It had rained that afternoon and although the grass was very wet, I was barefoot.  We had been warned repeatedly about the current of the electric fence line that corralled the cows, but in the excitement of the game I forgot all about it. Running quickly, I did not see the fence in the dim lighting, and ran right into it.  I felt a sensation of being grabbed and shaken, then was thrown to the ground.  Awareness of what had happened dawned slowly.  I checked myself all over to be sure I was alive - had I just been electrocuted?

Guilt

Slowly, I made my way back to the house and into the bathroom.  Under the light above the sink, I discovered some abrasions (burns?) on my arms and face.  I felt guilty about not heeding the warnings about the fence, so never told anyone what happened.  I was always very careful of the fence after that!

Guest Post

I have been asked by Lana, the blogger at Two Teens and Their Mama, to write a guest post for her blog.  She plans to publish it tomorrow and I hope you will visit her blog to see it. While you are there, be sure to read her firefly article and spend some time browsing Lana's wonderful blog.  I think you will enjoy it every bit as much as I do - and Lana's writing may even trigger a few memories of your own!

Have you ever felt guilty about getting hurt, because you did something you were warned not to do?

This post may be linked to one of the great link-up parties I follow and list on my blog.  Check them out!

World Cup Soccer Players Kept Me Awake Last Night

I went to bed worrying about something new last tonight.  It is because I watched some soccer on television yesterday.

(This photo was not taken at the World Cup, but passion for the sport of soccer exists at every level.)

The game I watched was (of course) the World Cup semi-final match between Brazil and Germany.

Brazil, as practically everyone in the world knows, is the host country of the FIFA World Cup 2014 this summer. Brazil is a country whose national passion is football (soccer), and pride in their team is like an obsession.  Brazil has won the World Cup five times, and is the only country to have done so.  Pele, Ronaldo, and Rivaldo are legendary Brazilian players. Their names are known around the world and fall easily from every young players lips.  Pride in their team and the sport of soccer (futebol) seems to have been in-bred in all of the natives of Brazil.

Twenty-nine minutes into the 90 minute game yesterday, the score was 0-5, for Germany.  That is a LOT of goals when talking about soccer.  The Brazilian fans became crestfallen, tears were streaming down many of their faces.  The German team is very strong and very good.  The Brazilian team was playing with a disadvantage, as they were missing two of their best players - one who fractured a vertebrae in a previous game, and their captain who had been suspended from the match because of two yellow cards.  The T.V. commentators were merciless, commenting on everything from their disgust over the teamwork and skill of the Brazilians, to how humiliating it was for the players.  I was tempted to turn the sound off so I didn't have to hear any more of what they were saying.  Even German fans, though excited for the records being broken by their team, might have been uncomfortable watching it unfold.  I thought it was a horrible game.

The match was expected to be tough - but no one anticipated the score.  I don't know enough about soccer to really pass judgement on how well Brazil played, but the general consensus seems to be "not well."   Fortunately, Brazil prevented a shut-out by making one goal in the last few minutes, but the final score was 1-7.  The result: elated Germans and a devastated host country.  I couldn't bear to watch the television coverage of the defeated Brazilian players, as their loss sunk in.

It is these men - the team from Brazil -  that I was worrying about last night.  I hope that they can put this experience in perspective, and not be too hard on themselves.  Their level of performance may not have been as expected; perhaps it is even appropriate for them to feel badly about this.  But all of them have had soccer careers of which, up to this point, they should be very proud.  It is not easy to be selected for a spot on a World Cup team. 

I hope the nation of Brazil can recognize their players grief, and support rather than criticize them. I hope the players will realize that no matter the importance associated with this sporting event, it is not the most significant part of their lives. I hope they can shake yesterday off; get up a little less heart-broken today (or maybe a week from today), and be ready to try and possibly fail at something else again. I hope the Brazil fans can accept this loss, and enjoy the rest of the World Cup festivities, for which they have worked so hard to prepare. I hope we can all remember that the purpose of sports is to build character, not destroy it.  I hope all of this because, after all, the World Cup is just a sporting event. Unfortunately, someone always has to lose.

Well-used soccer gear

What would you say to a World Cup player from Brazil after today's game?

This post may be linked to one of the great link-up parties I follow and list on my blog.  Check them out!

More Thoughts on the Recent Bomb Scares in Helena

A 14-year old boy is thought to be responsible for all three bomb threats in Helena this past week.  The Helena Independent Record reported today that he has been arrested, and is being held on $25,000 bail.

He is fourteen.  Just a boy - who caused a remarkable amount of disruption in our community, from many miles away.  What was his motive?  Did he think he was participating in a humorous prank, or was he fully aware of the severity of his crime - and the potential charges he would face if caught?

His crime surely must be dealt with seriously, to set an example to act as a deterrent for others with similar plots. Law enforcement and school officials did well to track the calls back to him, before he could further interrupt the educational efforts of our schools.  Children need to understand that it is wrong to make any type of a prank call, and illegal to make this type of threat.

But, all I can think about is that he is only fourteen.

This event was an example of modern technology at its worst and its best.  A phone call from someone in another state caused all of our local schools to be evacuated yesterday yet cell phones played a crucial role in notifying parents and helping them locate their children after the event.

Bomb Threat: Schools Evacuated

This was what I heard when I answered our phone at 9:30 AM this morning:

"This message is from the Helena Public Schools.  We were just informed that the Helena Police Department has received another bomb threat indicating an unnamed school has been targeted.  We are presently evacuating all schools K-12 at this time to their alternative sites.  School is being dismissed for the remainder of the day.  Parents are asked to go to their school's evacuation site and check out their child for the day."
Bus transportation home will begin as soon as all parents are notified.  Buses will be running their regular routes and will be picking children up from the evacuation sites NOT the school.
Please be sure to check the Helena Public Schools web site for evacuation sites and further updates.

The same message was left on my cell phone and email. I had intended to do some errands later in the morning, so gathered what I needed for those, and drove to town.

Traffic was backed up for several blocks before the evacuation site. Realizing it would be tough to backtrack, I stopped for a quick errand along the way. When I finally got to where the students had gathered, I found a remote parking spot and went looking for my son.

Despite my tendency to worry, and because I knew my son was safe, I was not anxious, but mildly annoyed. I was glad the threat had not been dismissed as a hoax, and the safety of the students had been taken seriously. But I was frustrated at the interruption of my plans and of the school schedule, and angry at the person who had made the threat. I was even embarrassed because I hadn't planned on seeing people I knew, and I was looking far from my best!  Perhaps the two (apparently unfounded) bomb threats to area schools this week had made me cynical.

I don't know how many schools were directed to gather at this site, but there were huge numbers of students clustered in groups around teachers holding clipboards. Some teachers were talking and laughing with students, others looked harried.  Parents were milling around, and an impressive array of cell phones could be seen.  It would have been hard to find my son without his text messages.

As my son and I wove through the crowd back to my car, I was suddenly so grateful nothing bad had happened. I imagined hysteria, confusion, fear and desperation, in the event of an actual shooting or bombing..  The moments spent trying to locate a child would be filled with panic.  Feelings of relief once you spot him or her -- or searching the crowds repeatedly if you don't.  Actually, it is beyond anything I could even imagine.