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!

White Lies...Aren't So Harmless

::::::::::::::::Why Kids LiePaul Ekman, Ph.D.:::

This was a very good read! Dr. Ekman uses decades of research, personal experiences and common sense to discuss the common trait of lying. His stepson, Tom, has the best line in the book, "Face it. Your kids are going to lie to you until one of you dies."
Kids (and adults) are more likely to tell a lie if they perceive they will be punished, the respect for the target is low or the lie has been authorized. There are also those who like to dupe others that they view as gullible and get delight in doing so. Dr. Ekman cautions parents strongly on telling white lies that they perceive as harmless, but kids recognize as just plain lies. I am guilty of putting off telemarketers by telling them that "Victoria's not home." I see how my avoidance of the annoying callers is a lie, so I have repented and will simply be saying, "No, not interested", then hanging up the phone.
Ekman stresses the need to explain to the child the reason the lie is harmful, not only to the level of trust, but, possibly, to physical health. Children who have higher I.Q.s are equally likely to cheat as any other child if the opportunity, pressure and other factors are conducive.
He brings out the concept of The Halos/Horns Effect. The phrase refers to prior knowledge you have of a person effects if you think they are likely to have other good or bad traits. We are dealing with this in our son's Sunday school class. The teacher informed our son, in front of the class, that the reason she was in the class was because he is a behavior problem. This is likely true, but she handled the situation completely inappropriately. She also has formed friendships with the young girls in the class and they can do no wrong. While we see and hear them belittling and acting in a condescending manner to our son. He is also dealing with a child who has anger management problems (a family trait) and has thrown chairs and tossed our son's glasses down the hall. Michael is going to sit in on the next few classes because I am doing something at the same class time. It is probably best that Michael mediates the situation first because I turn red as a lobster and my face shows my intense displeasure.
Try to focus on the cause of the lie, don't yell, don't withdraw affection, assign a punishment that fits the crime, don't tell lies of any kind. If the kids don't need to know certain information tell them that is why you are not disclosing the information, but don't lie. I will close with some advice from Tom Ekman, "But if you create more situations where your child feels less compelled to lie and can tell the truth, then you can make a big difference as to how much your child will lie."

Great book!

::::::::::::::::Pomegranate 7up Revisited::::::::

Michael really likes the new Pomegranate drink. He told me the flavor was "festive"! So, just wanted to add his review.



:::::::::::::::::Thanksgiving Holidays:::::::

I need to make cupcakes for Eve's class and baklava for my dad and Alice's dinner. Aaron is reading for the Thanksgiving Feast at Eve's pre-k. Noah is doing the play "Stone Soup" with his second grade class. Aaron and I will be dissecting a chicken wing for science. Life is full and ever interesting!

Smiles!

Smile And Say Bye To The Bling!

Rachel was thrilled to have her braces removed! She reported that the removal was quick and painless. The orthodontist, Dr. Cohen, took a strawberry flavored mold of her mouth for the retainer. She chose "Ocean Blue" as the color for the acrylic part of the retainer. Michael took her to Bruster's for a congratulatory "Cotton Candy Explosion". Victoria took her to the grocery store to pick out cornn on the cob. Rachel ate two cobs with great joy and a bit of salt and butter!
_{Darcy Baldwin: Save The Date, DJB Angela, DJB MICHAEL at The Digichick
Emily Merritt: MSA kit flowers, LDD Background paper, Tile alpha, *Word Toppers modified
Gina Miller: MSA kit
Catrine: Chalked Alpha
Kylie Clark: Spotted Dog Alpha
Kate Hadfield: MSA kit, Knotted stitches, Newspaper doodles
Weeds and Wildflowers: Wire word freebie
Vicki Stegall: Opps banded frame
Nancy Comelab: Paddelights Polaroids
Two Sisters Design: MSA kit
Ida: Crayon Doodles}

:::::::::::::::::::::::::The Verdict Is In::::::::



Has an aftertaste of apples. Not unpleasant, but not spectacular. The color is quite festive, so this would be awesome for parties.

Got to run!

Frustrated Artist and The Lone Dissenter

:::::::::::::::Frustrated Artist:::::::::

This is a layout of another one of my beautiful nieces, Kyra. One of the relaxing activities for our family reunion was to color. Kyra threw me a pout when her colored pencil was worn to a nub and she had a lot more to shade with that color.



_{Darcy Baldwin: DJB SUSANR at The Digichick
Jenna Desai: Whimsical Doodle
Scarletheels Media: Graphtastic, Painty Alpha
Kim de Smet: Newspaper border
Two Sisters Designs: Punch Label date
Tia Bennett: Joined At The Hip
Meredith Fenwick: Circle brush
Emily Merritt: Meshy Brush Add-on
Sausan Designs: Doodle Frame
Kate hadfield: Doodle Tape, Heavy Duty Staples
Font: Trashed}


:::::::::::::::::::::::::Interesting Test::::::::
I saw this test on Jessica Sprague's blog

Jung Typology Test

Here is how I scored:

Your Type is
INFJ
Introverted Intuitive Feeling Judging
Strength of the preferences %
44 50 25 44


INFJ type description by D.Keirsey
INFJ type description by J. Butt and M.M. Heiss
http://typelogic.com/infj.html

INFJ Career Choices Jung Career Indicator?
INFJ Lifestyle Preferences




Qualitative analysis of your type formula

You are:
moderately expressed introvert

moderately expressed intuitive personality

moderately expressed feeling personality

moderately expressed judging personality

Protrait of the Counselor

The Portait of the Counselor (INFJ)

The Counselor Idealists are abstract in thought and speech, cooperative in reaching their goals, and enterprising and attentive in their interpersonal roles. Counselors focus on human potentials, think in terms of ethical values, and come easily to decisions. The small number of this type (little more than 2 percent) is regrettable, since Counselors have an unusually strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others and genuinely enjoy helping their companions. Although Counsleors tend to be private, sensitive people, and are not generally visible leaders, they nevertheless work quite intensely with those close to them, quietly exerting their influence behind the scenes with their families, friends, and colleagues. This type has great depth of personality; they are themselves complicated, and can understand and deal with complex issues and people.

Counselors can be hard to get to know. They have an unusually rich inner life, but they are reserved and tend not to share their reactions except with those they trust. With their loved ones, certainly, Counselors are not reluctant to express their feelings, their face lighting up with the positive emotions, but darkening like a thunderhead with the negative. Indeed, because of their strong ability to take into themselves the feelings of others, Counselors can be hurt rather easily by those around them, which, perhaps, is one reason why they tend to be private people, mutely withdrawing from human contact. At the same time, friends who have known a Counselor for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that they are inconsistent; Counselors value their integrity a great deal, but they have intricately woven, mysterious personalities which sometimes puzzle even them.

Counselors have strong empathic abilities and can become aware of another's emotions or intentions -- good or evil -- even before that person is conscious of them. This "mind-reading" can take the form of feeling the hidden distress or illnesses of others to an extent which is difficult for other types to comprehend. Even Counselors can seldom tell how they came to penetrate others' feelings so keenly. Furthermore, the Counselor is most likely of all the types to demonstrate an ability to understand psychic phenomena and to have visions of human events, past, present, or future. What is known as ESP may well be exceptional intuitive ability-in both its forms, projection and introjection. Such supernormal intuition is found frequently in the Counselor, and can extend to people, things, and often events, taking the form of visions, episodes of foreknowledge, premonitions, auditory and visual images of things to come, as well as uncanny communications with certain individuals at a distance.

Mohandas Gandhi, Sidney Poitier, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Goodall, Emily Bronte, Sir Alec Guiness, Carl Jung, Mary Baker Eddy, Queen Noor are examples of the Counselor Idealist (INFJ).

Full descriptions of the Counselor and the Idealists are in People Patterns or Please Understand Me II

::::::::::::::::::New Family Reading Book:::::::::::

George's Secret Key To The Universe by Lucy and Stephen Hawking



The story is perfect for Noah. It has a young boy who owns a pig and the book talks about black holes and other science stuff.

::::::::::::::::::::::Holiday Un-Spirits::::::

this is a new drink that looked tasty for those holiday festivities
I have a 2 liter bottle ready for sampling, so I'll let you know the family verdict on this new drink.

:::::::::::::::::::::::Christmas Gift From Shutterfly::::

Shutterfly and Jen Wilson Designs have teamed up to allow for a free elements and paper pack worth $6.00.

Here is the link to there freebies here

:::::::::::::::::::::College For Kids::::::::

Rachel went through her book ceremony for College for Kids at Mercer University. We really enjoy her stories.


:::::::::::::::::::::Links To The Library Internet Dispute::::

Michael was listed as "The Lone Dissenter" in a news article on the issue. That had quite a ring to it.

Check out Michael's blog for the 411 on the Gwinnett County Library Board meeting.

:::::::::::::::::::::Teacher Conference and Braces Removal:::::::

I will post photos of a de-braced Rachel tomorrow! I won't, however, burden you with photos of the teacher conferences! :)

:::::::::::::::::::::Cherie Call::::::::

I am really enjoying her acoustic style. One of my favorite songs by her is "No"

and "One Good Woman"

"No Ordinary Girl"

Smiles, y'all!