Category Archives: Friendship
The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun
The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun.
When you click on the Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun above, you will be taken to a quick little movie that will rock your world.
Michael Bungay Stanier is very witty and he is the writer of the Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun. Take a moment and enjoy and then do the 8 lessons. Start to have Fun today. Because after all none of us are going to make it out of this life alive! That’s right, we all go out the same way. Why not have fun! Enjoy your life have no remorse for what you do today and love those around you in your life.
We do not know how long we have in this life, so hug your family and friends and share your wisdom and laugh.
Visting “Our Chalet” WAGGGS World Centre in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland On My Bucket List!
Image via Wikipedia
When I was a girl, I was a Brownie, Girl Scout. One year, we had a young woman who came to our Council in Oklahoma City and showed us a slide-show on International Thinking Day, Feb. 22. that contained slides from “Our Chalet” WAGGGS World Centre in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts)
After watching those slides and listening to her stories about hiking the Alps, I made a vow to go to Switzerland someday when I was older.
I stayed in Girl Scouting and went through all the levels Junior, Cadette and Senior, became a leader and even worked for them professionally for several years.
WAGGGS Official Photo
It is one of those items on my Bucket List. Yes, it has been there all my life, and now I must admit hiking is not one of those things I do anymore, but I would still like to visit this wonderful International Center. Even now as I look at these beautiful photos, I am reminded, to hurry up and do this.
Official WAGGGS Photo from Our Chalet Website
As a Lifetime Member of Girl Scouting, it is one of the organizations that helped shape my life with skills in leadership, event planning, and confidence just to name a few. There are many skills, that I remember: working on a team, accomplishment of goals, budgeting and working on community needs.
Yes, there is still a need for Girl Scouting although it has changed over the years to bring the many differences that young girls must face now in Society.
I urge everyone who has daughters to look into Girl Scouting for its wonderful benefits. Most of our women leaders in our society were Girl Scouts or Girl Guides and they will tell you that without Girl Scouting or Girl Guides they would not have had the foundation to develop fully into the wonderful functioning leaders they are today.
Donate To Your Local Food Bank in December!
Image via Wikipedia{Information (Jan. 17, 2007) - Sailors assigned to amphibious transport dock USS Nashville (LPD 13) sort through food items at the South Eastern Hampton Roads Food Bank. The work being done by Nashv)
When I was a Senior Center Director in La Quinta, CA, many years ago, the center ran a Food Bank for local residents. Our local Rotary Club and other Service Clubs would give special items for Christmas.
Members of the Senior Center would give of their time to put food baskets together for needy families. My daughter, who was four & five during this time, would go with me to take the Food Baskets to the needy families in our community.
My daughter thought these were the best Christmas presents we could give. Helping families during the holidays is very needed and especially with the downturn in the economy and the possibility that Congress might not continue unemployment benefits.
I have had lean times in my life and I remember when someone helped me and giving back is what makes your life richer.
Call your local Food Bank and find out what they need. They have lists of food items you can buy at a store and bring, or they may ask just for money to help buy those items.
Whatever you do, I urge you to not forget that some families will not have enough food to make it until the end of the month, but you can make a difference.
If we each reach out to a local Food Bank, we will find more joy and prosperity coming back to us from life.
Keeping Friendship & Amish Friendship Bread Alive
Several months ago, I was given a starter for Amish Friendship Bread by a friend. The starter is an active starter, and you must “mush the bag”
Our lasting friendship
daily and on the sixth day, you add three ingredients.
On the 10th Day, you add the same three ingredients: milk, sugar and flour and separate out starters for your friends. Then you follow the recipe to make the wonderful Amish Friendship Bread.
Recently I took a loaf to my Women’s National Book Association Board Meeting in Los Angeles. One of my Board Members said the bread is exactly like friendship, ” You must tend the starter daily by “mushing the bag “, just like you should pay attention to your friends!”
She was exactly right. You must “mush the bag” on your starter daily, to keep it active, and you must watch it so it doesn’t bubble out of the plastic Zip-lock bag and onto a surface. Standing it up in a tall pot will prevent this from happening, but you will need to open the bag and release the air bubbles.
What happens if your friendship bubbles out and spills? You may have forgotten to nurture it daily so that didn’t happen?
Sometimes in life, we need to be reminded to nurture our friendships and to stay in touch. With Thanksgiving tomorrow, I will be sharing my Amish Friendship Bread with friends and neighbors so they can make their own from my starter.
When each one makes the Bread, they will remember who gave them the starter, and treasure our friendship and nurture it as often as possible.
Oh, if you don’t “mush the bag” your starter will not stay active, and you will need to find more. Isn’t this just like friendship?
If you let your friendship stale, then you will need to find more friends and isn’t it more fun keeping the ones you have and adding to them?
Yes, for those of you who read my post on friendship and writing, I did take two starters to Elizabeth so she could make it for her family. I also took two loaves of Amish Friendship Bread for everyone to enjoy while I was there.
Today, I’m sending another starter to a friend from high school, and maintaining another long-term friendship developed many years ago but one that needs to be nourished so it can flourish again.
Remember to call a friend and say hello this Thanksgiving and nurture your friendship so it can stay active.
Friendship and Writing Come Together Again
Recently I returned from a visit with a friend who I have known for over 35 years. One of the highlights of my trip was revisiting a novel we wrote when we were in high school.
Yes when I was in high school, my friend Elizabeth and I wrote a small novel with 12 chapters and it was a Man from Uncle adventure,based on the TV series of the same name.
As we were reading it, we were very surprised by our plot twists and the intricate details that we wove together in this little novella. But as we reviewed it, we also remembered how much fun we had writing it together and plotting it out in-between our classes.
I had not looked at the novel for over 20 years. As I was reading it, I was amazed how we had managed to do this our Senior year in high school. Granted we didn’t have the character relationships developed in an adult manner, and we can see the young girls that we were in those lines spoken by the characters. But now we are inspired to give it new life and change the characters with new depth and continue with our story. No it won’t be a Man From Uncle novella, but whatever it becomes, we will have fun creating it if only for our family.
Our friendship has stood the test of time. Does this mean that we are indeed meant to conquer the written word? We each have spent a lifetime rearing our families and now we have so much more to write about as we build our friendship and our writing again.
I have spent much of my career writing in the business world and now it is time to have fun with my creative spirit and let those wonderful characters come out from my mind.
