Happy New Year!

:::::::::::::::::New Year's Day Festivities:::::

My mom held her annual "eat at my place" party. Michael made sweet potatoe souffle and we brought some Pomegranate 7UP. We enjoyed such faire as greenbean casserole, corn pudding, collards and hoppin' John, turkey and ham.

The sad news of the day was from our friend, Kathy, who lives in Washington. Her companion, Bill, was killed when he went to the shed at the cabin they own and due to the weight of the snow the roof collapsed on him. Our hearts and prayers go out to her and their family!

:::::::::::::::Vacation Layout:::::::

Here are a couple of double page layouts of our stop in Pennsylvania:

We enjoyed the Amish buggy ride. Our buggy ride ended right before the storm we had been watching approach sent rain down in torrents. Then we ran into the restaurant called Plain and Fancy and head an Amish style meal. Rachel loved the honey butter and I loved the rolls.












_{Darcy Baldwin: DJB MICHAEL at the Digichick,
Nancy Comelab: Cluster Frames
Mary Fran: Fall papers and elements
Shabby Miss Jenn: Tree Trimmin' Party, Staple from Old Letters lil kit
Michelle Coleman: Emma's Sundress clear alpha, Hand Stamped Alpha
Kim Christensen: Tag Alpha
Catrine: Chalk Brushed Alpha
Jackie Eckles: Journaling Highlites}


::::::::::::::::::::::This Is So True::::::::



:::::::::::::::::::::::Marshmallow War Casualties:::::::

Noah was out with Aaron and Aaron's friend Nick only a few minutes before they shot him in the eye. He insisted on going back out. I suggested that he protect his eyes with sunglasses. That lasted a couple of minutes. Then, he came back in crying and he thought it would be best if he wore his Darth Vader mask. That lasted another...WHOPPING two minutes when the proverbial Achilles heel of the mask idea. Noah had to tilt up the mask to shoot his marshmallow. THWAP! Shot in the face, again. Ah, the angst of being a kid trying to smack other kids with stuff. I think they are going by the old adage..."Do unto others before they do unto you".

::::::::::::::::::::::::Platinum Rule:::::::::

During a talk at Church, a sister spoke about the "Platinum Rule" in their house. Most of us are familiar with the "Golden Rule" of do unto others as you would have done to you. They took the rule up a notch by saying do unto others that they need done for them. Supplying what the person needs, and treating them with what they stand in need of is a very personal and added layers to an, already, good way to live our lives.


::::::::::::::::::::::::Mistakes Were Made::::::::

I'm almost finished reading the book and, as usual, have little strips of paper marking pages that I find interesting and wish to reference. Those little strips are between most every page. I resist the urge to grab a highlighter, as this is library property. The concept of an "Ethical Compass" was discussed with a pertinent example of Jeb Stuart Magruder, Richard Nixon's special assistant and was a key player in the plot to burglarize the DNC and conceal the the involvement of the White House. He explained how Liddy came to them with a wild and preposterous plan, which they quickly said no to and when he presented them with a much more scaled back plan the new idea seemed more rational and the group accepted the new idea. On p. 37 of the book he says, "Somewhere between my ambition and my ideals, I lost my ethical compass." as he stood at his sentencing. The authors of the book state concisely what happens that was learned by the Milgram experiment: "...shows us how ordinary people can end up doing immoral and harmful things through a chain reaction of behaviour and subsequent self-justification"..."You get him to take one step at a time, and self-justification will do the rest".

Another chapter deal with physcians accepting fees and incentives from drug companies and then low and behold the amount of a particula expensive drug is prescribed or a certain study fills up with the doctor's patients. This reminds me of an episode of the British show "My Hero" where the doctor hands out a new drug to his patients who are all eager to accept to try it when he says it will when a free trip...then he mutters he will be enjoying the trip to the Sechelles at the end of the month. My advice is to question and research the things your doctor says and the drugs you are taking.

I will go into more later.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::Resolutions::::::::

*enjoy the pool membership

*learn to decorate kickin' cool cakes (thanks to my mom's gift to the Cake Art store)

*Continue to read

*Declutter

*take better photographs

*Keep my mind and ears open for more ways to improve myself and relationships

Smiles!