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The Family First
Newsletter
Promoting family unity one issue at a time
Vol. 10 Issue 42 - Week of November 5, 2007
ISSN: 1527-6201
©2007 - Joyce Pierce --All Rights Reserved
In this issue:
In Other Words?
Memorizing Groups of Items Doesn't Have to Be Difficult
Thanksgiving Feast
Leftover
Guilt?
Good morning!
It's November. It's officially
time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and the
Christmas holidays. We've had the decorations
in the store for awhile, but now that we've crossed
that November threshhold, it's official. My
gosh, where has 2007 gone?
In having lunch with a good friend
this week, we talked about the need to have
traditions that our children and grandchildren can
remember and hold on to throughout their lives.
She has a big family with children, grandchildren,
siblings, nieces, and nephews, and for quite a few
years they have drawn names. This year in
their discussion about how to handle that, she
suggested that instead of giving ANYthing, maybe
they should just GO somewhere and share an
experience. That doesn't mean going on a
vacation or traveling long distances, but maybe just
going bowling, or camping out on property that one
of them owns. She had childhood memories
of being at her grandmother's house for the
holidays. She remembered playing with cousins
and just having a good time. This year she
suggested doing just that - just getting together
and PLAYING.
I was also glad to hear my daughter
say that they wanted to do more for others this
Christmas. Their kids have been very
blessed and have just about every toy, game, and
gadget imaginable. This year they want to
teach the kids more about Christ; about giving;
about sharing. I was thrilled that they're
getting away from what retailers want us to believe
and back to good, solid traditions.
Twenty years from now, your children
won't remember what you bought them, but they
will remember the time you spent with them.
What will YOU choose to do to celebrate Christmas
this year? This is a great time to sit
down with your spouse and kids to talk about it.
Make it a family effort. It's a great
way to teach your children about sacrifice, and a
whole new way to think about giving.
For a great gift to awaken your
Christmas spirit, check out Marnie Pehrson's, "Miss
Humbug," at
http://www.misshumbug.com/ It's a f
ree download, all yours just for clicking and
referring 3 friends. If you like what you
read, you can also purchase the book as a gift for
yourself or friends. Also,
check out my "24 Days of Christmas," at
www.emersonpublications.com/24days.htm .
You'll have a scripture and a story for each day of
December leading up to the birth of Christ.
Books are one of my favorite gifts to give and
receive because they are always the right size!
I hope you'll share this
newsletter with someone who may need to read it
today!
Joyce Moseley Pierce
P.S. Be sure to
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In Other Words?
by Steven Gillman
People use the expression "in other words" because sometimes other words are necessary to better understand something. You probably use it yourself, but how often do you actually think about the words you are using, and the effect they may have? How often do you change the words you use in order to change your perspective or get a better result? To Think In Other Words That the words we choose affect how we see things, and even affect our physiology, isn't a new idea. It is easy to prove it to yourself. Just have a friend try to relax while you tell him, "make that tension jump right out of your muscles." Afterwards try it again with, "let the tension drain from your muscles and flow out of your body." Both instructions communicate the same basic idea, but the second is more effective at getting the desired result: relaxation. In other words, words are used to accomplish something, so why not use the ones that are best suited for the job? It's an idea that makes sense for communicating with others, but it is perhaps even more so when communicating with oneself. Your own "self talk" can dramatically affect whether you get the results you want. Suppose you repeatedly say something like, "I can't handle this," when in tough situations. You are programming your subconscious mind to believe that you are not capable of doing certain things, and with time this will become more true the more you repeat it. That may not be the result you are hoping for. In reality, you're probably just tired and frustrated. You actually are "handling" the situation in some way, but you would like a better way to do it. So why not say that instead? When you are tempted to say "this is too much for me," or "I can't handle all this," say, "I'll find a better way to deal with this." This instruction to your subconscious mind is almost certain to be more productive. Better Words Below are a few examples of words or phrases that may not be getting you the results you want, followed by some possibly more productive alternatives. These are just to get you thinking. If they make sense for you, use them, but experiment with your own alternatives as well. Think in terms of the goal, and find the words that are most likely to help. "I can't..." Replacements: "I can..." or "I'm choosing not to right now.." "This always happens..." Replacement: "Sometimes this happens..." "I always do the same thing... Replacement: "I make this mistake sometimes..." "This is so overwhelming..." Replacement: "I'm busy with many goals..." "I have to..." Replacement: "I choose to..." This last one reminds you to accept responsibility for your actions. Phrase it this way, and you feel compelled to either reaffirm your choices or make new ones. This prevents you from thinking that others or the "situation" forces you to do things - a very negative and unproductive perspective. "Never," and "always" commonly show up in phrases that are counter-productive. They are sometimes powerful de-motivators that drain your energy. "This never works for me," or "I always screw up," are not likely to help you get results that you want, are they? Avoid over-generalizing like this, unless it is more like, "I always find a way to get things done." In other words, start using better words. Copyright Steve Gillman. See the Better Life section of his website, and get the Brain Power Newsletter and other free gifts, at:
http://www.IncreaseBrainPower.com
Christmas is about so much more than gizmos and gifts and tinsel
and trees. It's about warm memories, smiling faces, happy hearts, generous
spirits, and peace on earth. If you believe as I do that the former glory of
Christmas should be restored, I hope you'll get your complimentary copy of
Miss Humbug, the novel about Elaina
Houston - a high powered executive who learns what the Spirit of Christmas is
all about.
Memorizing Groups of Items Doesn't Have to Be Difficult
by Gail Anderson-Metcalf
Being able to memorize a list is a good thing, but what happens when you need to memorize more than one, or groups of items? For example, suppose you want to remember the states of the U.S. that are commonly referred to as "New England states," comprised of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. You could simply use the Peg System to remember each list individually, coming up with a simple sentence to assign each word, however, there is another technique that many recommend for these types of lists. THE ROMAN ROOM TECHNIQUE Imagine a room in your house that you know well, be it your living room, kitchen, bedroom, or office. Imagine all the different objects in that room -- furniture, decorations, linens, appliances, lamps and other lighting, and so on. When using the Roman Room technique, you associate an object, person, or word with something in each of your rooms so that when you need to recall that word you simply remember its association. For example, you'll use your living room for the New England states. What is the main piece of furniture you sit on? That is now associated with Maine. What is the newest item in the living room (you don't need to be technically accurate, just choose something newer than most). This will be associated with New Hampshire. Now imagine the baseboards running along the floor of this room. You want to keep them sealed so that no vermin will get in, so the baseboards are now associated with Vermont. What is the largest item in the living room? The television or TV cabinet? Whatever has the largest mass will be associated with Massachusetts. Do you have a small table or other object that sits by itself in the room? Picture this small item as an island, and it will be associated with Rhode Island. The hallway that leads to the next room connects the two together, so it will represent Connecticut. And there you have it. Now go back and think about the items in your living room. You're picturing your favorite chair . . . why? It's your main place to sit. The hallway represents what? The baseboards are sealed because . . . ? By using a room that you know very well and doing this simple association technique, you can quickly and easily remember these groups of information. HOW TO PRACTICE We can practice this technique by using Ivy League colleges, namely, Brown, Columbia, Yale, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton. Choose another room in your house that you know very well. How about the kitchen? The easiest college to remember might be Brown. What in your kitchen is brown? How about coffee? The coffeemaker now represents Brown. Columbia might be a big harder. But do you have blinds on your kitchen window, or a door to another room? Are the blinds or the doorjamb in a straight line -- like a column? Anything in your kitchen that goes up and down like a column will represent Columbia. Look at your sink's faucet. If the water came out too hot and burned you, wouldn't you yell? So the hot water faucet represents Yale. Cornell may be a bit easier as well. Do you have corn cob holders? Or a can of corn in the cupboard? How about Dartmouth? There are probably a lot of round things in your kitchen, such as a dinner plate or large platter. A large round object looks a lot like a dartboard, so that will represent Dartmouth. Butter kept in the refrigerator is hard to spread, and something that's hard can represent Harvard. The pens or pencils you keep by the phone represent University of Pennsylvania. And as for Princeton, you might think of a chair that's in your kitchen or nearby, such as a high chair for the baby, or the one you sit in while eating. Your chair is like your throne . . . fit for a prince. THEY DON'T NEED TO BE EXACT By now you've probably realized that the Roman Room technique doesn't use exact words or phrases from the lists you're trying to remember, and this is a key point. If you're trying to use the exact word, you're probably going to get hung up. After all, who has something in their house with the word "Harvard" on it, unless you went there and bought a sweatshirt? The point is that you want to remember something that will remind you of the word or item you're trying to remember. The word hard can bring to mind Harvard; the word yell can remind you of Yale, and so on. This is also something to remember for virtually all of the memory techniques we've discussed so far. That woman in the wedding dress at the bus stop from the last section should remind you of salad dressing, and of course you can substitute anything that works for you. Imagine a man trying to tame a horse (on a ranch) if you're shopping for Ranch dressing, or imagine the woman at the bus stop was eating pasta -- for your Italian dressing. Of course, this won't work for when you're trying to remember numbers, which need to be exact. Getting a phone number "close" isn't going to help you, so how do you remember numbers, especially when they're very long?
Turn your dead time into learning time! Learn more memory techniques with our audio books online.
Gail Anderson-Metcalf may be contacted at http://HouseCleaningPro.com
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Thanksgiving
Feast
by Jill Cooper
It's really hard to find ways to save on your Thanksgiving dinner
because, let's face it -- It doesn't get a whole lot cheaper than a turkey
dinner! Still, I have found some ways that you can save and today I'll pass
them on to you! ;-)
For starters, the larger turkeys are usually cheaper, so buy the largest
one you can. I hear some of you groaning now about what to do with all those
leftovers because you really don't need a 22 lb. turkey for 6 people. Not to
worry -- just don't bake the whole thing.
I discovered one year by accident that my butcher (at a regular national
chain grocery store) would cut it in half for me. Even if it is frozen he
can still do it. This discovery really changed my life. (That sounds
dramatic, but I was really having a problem becoming "one" with my turkeys.)
I suddenly had the revelation that I didn't have to deal with mounds of
leftover turkey that haunted my post Thanksgiving menu for years. I had just
enough for a good old turkey sandwich and some soup. I mean
Thanksgiving really isn't
Thanksgiving without a few leftovers, is it?
It was so much easier to handle and prepare an 11 lb. turkey rather than
to man handle a 22 lb. one. Getting it cleaned and into the pan was a breeze
and in and out of the oven was just plain simple.
Just wrap the other half and freeze it to use for
Christmas. I've often made ham for
Christmas just because by
Christmas we are so sick of
turkey that we don't want to think of preparing another one -- ever!
By not creating so many leftovers, your family might not mind having
turkey again. That's also potentially one less thing to buy for
Christmas dinner.
Inexpensive Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner!
If you still don't want to have
turkey for
Christmas, save it for some cold day in January. If you have a large
enough crock pot, cook the turkey it the crock pot. If not, cook it on very
low in the oven so that it slow cooks all day. Do you know how delightful it
is to come home to the yummy smell of slow cooked turkey?
Save by making your own pies and instead of buying the expensive
pre-made ones. If you are daunted by the thought of making pie crust, just
buy a ready made one. They are usually on sale for very little around
Thanksgiving.
It really isn't that hard to make the filling for most pies. Often they
are easier to make than a cake or cookies. If you like the traditional
pumpkin pie, most cans have the recipe on the back. I also know a real good
book you can find the recipe in called Dining on a Dime. HA!HA!
If your family and friends aren't fussy about having the traditional,
then you can make banana cream, chocolate, or butterscotch pie. Just take a
box of banana pudding, mix it up and pour it into a baked pie crust. Cover
with sliced bananas and whipped topping. For the chocolate pie use chocolate
pudding with
chocolate chips in it and cover it with whipped topping. For the
butterscotch use butterscotch pudding, whipped topping and sprinkle with
butterscotch chips. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
You don't have to make so many pies that you could open a bakery. I have
found that most kids are just as happy with a platter of cookies. Don't
overdo it. You'll just wear yourself out! If you have time, make the cookies
in the shapes of pumpkins and turkeys.
Save on your relish dish. Buying ingredients for a relish dish can get
expensive, especially where we live. One year I paid more for my relish dish
items than my turkey. If you're having this problem, only use 3-4 veggies on
it instead of 10 and cut out on the more expensive veggies. For example
broccoli and cauliflower are very high priced for us so I would probably use
carrots and celery. I fill the celery with cheese or peanut butter or cut
them into fancy shapes. On this occasion, the turkey is the star and most
people won't even notice that you cut back on the relish dish.
Don't make so many side dishes-- Like I said the turkey, gravy and
mashed potatoes are above all else. By the time everyone stuffs themselves
on those, they only eat a token amount of the side dishes. Why? ---Because
of course everyone wants to save room for dessert!!!!!
Jill Cooper raised two teenagers alone on $500 a month income after becoming
disabled with
Looking for a way to prepare your children the entire month
of December. "24 Days of Christmas" is a great way to have
your own advent experience. Download this book today and use
it for years. Contains a scripture and a story for each day
of December leading up to Christmas Day. This is a gift your
family will enjoy year after year.
http://www.emersonpublications.com/24days.htm
Leftover Guilt?
By Jill Cooper
Don’t you just love
Thanksgiving? It’s the most guilt free holiday of the year. You
don’t have to worry about getting the right gifts or whether everything
is decorated perfectly. You don’t have to wonder whether you made enough
cookies or whether the food is on your diet. You have permission and can
eat to your heart’s content! At times like this, I have to wonder: Have
I died and gone to Heaven?!
There is one problem -- What happens when everyone rolls away from the
table? You stand there in the shadows of mounds of leftovers and the
guilt sets in. You really can’t wedge in another bite, but you can’t
bring yourself to throw away all that good food. You know that there are
people starving in
Bangladesh, but you can’t afford the shipping cost to send it to
them... What do you do with it?
Here are some ideas from www.LivingOnADime.com to
help you put those leftovers to good use and keep your clean conscience!
1. Mix gravy, cubed
turkey and leftover vegetables into a casserole dish. Top with
refrigerator biscuits, leftover pie crust or crescent rolls (unbaked).
Bake at 350 degrees until the dough is cooked and golden brown.
2. When making pies on Thanksgiving Day, save the extra dough or make
extra to use to make pasties. Roll out discs of dough in whatever size
you want and fill with meat, vegetables and leftover potatoes.
3. Don’t forget to use your leftover relish dish. Chop and use in
salads, soups or casseroles. If you’re really sick of the vegetables,
chop and freeze to use later.
4. Use leftover mashed potatoes to thicken soups and stews.
5. Make potato pancakes: Add 1 egg and 2 Tbsp. flour to 2 cups mashed
potatoes. Make into patties and fry in a pan with margarine.
1 1/2 cups carrots, chopped
1 Tbsp. Water
4 Tbsp butter
2 chicken bouillon cubes
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2-1 lb. ground beef,
turkey or chicken, cooked
salt and pepper (to taste)
Use leftover pie crust or use the following recipe:
1 cup shortening
1/4 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
6 Tbsp. water
In a saucepan, simmer the carrots in the water, butter, and chicken bouillon
cubes. Add potatoes, onion, meat and salt and pepper. Divide into
fourths. Mix dough ingredients and roll into four 10-inch circles. Put the
meat mixture on one side of the dough. Fold the other half of the dough over
and seal with fingers or a fork. Bake 1 hour at 375 degrees. Serves 4-6.
You can also add other vegetables. This is a good way to use those
leftovers, so be creative!
Jill Cooper raised two teenagers alone on $500 a month income after becoming
disabled with
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. To read more of Jill's articles and for free tips
and recipes visit
http://www.LivingOnADime.com/
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