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Great Decisions–We All Benefit by Learning about our World
As an adult, I have learned to appreciate the library, much more now than I did as a kid. In addition to checking out books, movies, and music, I have taken advantage of multiple library programs. These have ranged from lectures to demonstrations to hands-on projects and more. Last year I chose to participate in something new (to me), and this did force me to step outside of my normal “box.” My local library is one of many hosts of the “Great Decisions” program. This is a discussion program on world affairs and was developed by the Foreign Policy Association. I will admit that my knowledge of world affairs is…
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Reverse Tie-Dye–Family Fun Creating Coordinated Sweats!
Each year for Hanukkah, I try to plan family activities on some of the eight nights. When the activity involves making something, you get an added bonus at the end! This year, I decided that my family would do a reverse tie-dye project. Instead of having Christmas jammies, we would create Hanukkah sweats! Between winter in Chicagoland and the fact that we are all spending more time at home, sweats seemed like a perfect option. After looking at multiple posts, I honestly just decided to pick the parts that seemed easiest and most doable and went from there. I could watch videos and find posts about using bleach for reverse…
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Want to Try a New (to you) Fruit? I Present…THE RAMBUTAN!
My husband recently picked up a box of fruit when shopping at our local Costco. He (correctly) thought that the fruits looked interesting, and, having been inspired by my desire to keep trying new things (I am working with the assumption that he is so inspired), he picked up a box. It wasn’t until I actually looked at the label before I knew what they were–he picked up a box of rambutans. At that point, that clarified nothing. I had never seen nor heard of this fruit. We were going to change that! As I shared some initial information on Facebook, I learned that I am not the only one…
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Virtual Pampered Chef Party–Fall 2020! (Party-on while being responsible adults!)
I recently attended a virtual Pampered Chef party that my college friend, Barb, hosted. I wasn’t necessarily thinking of making purchases, but I did think it would be fun to interact with others and interact again with Barb. I figured that I might get some inspiration to help me in the kitchen; I was feeling a little stagnant. When all was said and done, I did not buy anything, but I did want to host my own party. I enjoyed the experience of participating, and I really enjoyed what the PC consultant did, so we set up a party for early September. This all took place on Facebook. I did…
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Heading to University of Tennessee in Knoxville!
I have definitely entered a new stage in my life. I am now officially the mother of a college student. My husband and I recently took our first born out of state to be part of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville Class of 2024! Go, Vols! (During this “getting him to school” part of the adventure, my daughter spent the week with her best friend. She most likely enjoyed that more than she would have enjoyed travelling and doing college stuff with us.) (If you want to read about how this all really began, check out this post from last year’s college tour!) In my family, I tend to be…
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Sourdough Bread–Back In the Kitchen, Pandemic Series
I initially wrote this first part several weeks ago: Words which I never expected to say to my husband were recently said: “Honey, the next time you go to Sam’s Club, can you pick up another 25 pound bag of flour? We are almost out.” When he first bought 25 pounds of flour, we expected it to last forever. Well, as I had written and posted in the past, we have been taking full advantage of our quantities of flour and our breadmaker! (Our flour “projects” have included homemade pizza and French bread.) After sharing my humorous comment on Facebook, some friends offered me a sourdough starter since I have never…
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Let’s See If I Can Learn American Sign Language
Back in high school, I studied Spanish. I really enjoyed it and was actually quite good at it. (For the life of me, though, I cannot roll my R’s! It’s really frustrating!) I was the kid who went out of her way to look up and learn additional vocabulary words. In college, I took a one semester Spanish writing class. I have always wanted to be fluent in the language. I still can’t say that I am fluent, but I can still interact decently in Spanish if necessary. For approximately five years, I worked in an office in which I spoke Spanish on a regular basis, and I became…
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Learning to Juggle (Literally, not Figuratively)
January 2020: I have always been entertained by watching jugglers. It always seemed like a really cool thing to be able to do. When I was in junior high, I knew some people who could juggle, and one of my friends tried teaching me. I had the juggling balls and everything. I never progressed very far. I don’t know where those balls are today, but every so often, I will try juggling balled up socks. This doesn’t last long. I have decided to once again make a concerted effort at actually learning how to juggle and keep something in the air! Nowadays, instead of turning straight to a book, the…
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Reunion with the Too-Long Ignored Bread Maker and Garlic Roaster
With extra time on my hands during the pandemic, I have been able to spend more time in the kitchen and realized it was time to revisit some wonderful kitchen “gadgets” that had not been forgotten but were so out of use that I would never think about them at times when it was appropriate to use them (I would remember them before going to sleep or in the middle of a work day when I could not do anything food prep related). First of all, I knew that in one specific drawer in my kitchen, I had a garlic roaster. I knew it was there but simply had not…
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Homemade Pizza Night!
(Personal disclaimer: Currently, my family is celebrating the holiday of Passover. This pizza was prepared and enjoyed before the holiday. During Passover, you cannot eat leavened products.) If you have been to a grocery store recently, you may have noticed the lack of cheese pizza availability. Of course, this does absolutely nothing to diminish the craving for pizza. Other items people have had trouble finding recently, from what I have heard at least, include items for baking such as flour and yeast. Well, as members of warehouse clubs, despite not being able to find these items at our neighborhood grocery stores, my husband DID find them at a big box…
If it's not illegal, immoral, or blatantly stupid, I am willing to give it a try!
