Today is Be an Angel Day

I’m not talking about a baseball team, or a motorcycle rider like the Hell's Angels, or a detective like one of Charlie's Angels.  An Angel is defined as a spiritual being, messenger of God.  Roles of angels include protecting and guiding human beings, and carrying out God's tasks.

Be An Angel Day was first celebrated on August 22, 1993.  It was created by Jayne Howard Feldman who claims that she was inspired by Angels to create this day.  The purpose is to be God's servant in doing good things for others. It is intended to do something nice or kind for someone who is in need of help. The type of angelic help you can offer is not defined or limited. It can be physical, emotional, or spiritual.

There can be many ways to be an angel for someone today.  Lending a helping hand to a friend or neighbor, calling to check on someone, if you like to bake, take cookies or a cake to a busy family.  Help a child with their schoolwork.  Help someone load their groceries in their car at the grocery store.  Visit someone in the hospital or nursing home.  Donate to a charity. The options are endless; just do something for someone else. 

I have been trying to research some stories about being an angel, but the ones I found were about actual angels.  If these stories interest you, check out these sites, they are very inspirational. 

http://www.angels-online.com/

http://www.beliefnet.com/

I wanted to share a story of a real person being an angel to me.   My first car was a 67 mustang.  It was a great little car, but occasionally gave me trouble because of its age.  It had been giving me trouble for a few weeks, and I had taken it to the shop to be fixed, and thought the problem had been solved.  I had to take a trip, 90 miles away, for a wedding.  I had to leave after work, which was about 9:30 at night.  I was driving on the Natchez Trace, which for those of you don't know about this road, it’s a long two lane road in the middle of the woods, which is not frequently traveled.   Well about half way into my trip my car dies, leaving me stranded in this dark lonely road in the middle of the night.  This was before cell phones, so I was just stuck.  I put my flashers on, but the occasional car just drove right past me.  After an hour I decided I would just stand out in the middle of the road, forcing someone to stop to help me.  Luckily, the next car to come along stopped, and did not run over me,.  There were actually two cars traveling together, two sons, their families and their parents.  Not only did they  not run over me, they stopped to help me, they fixed my car, then stopped to call my family to let them know what had happened and that I was back on my way.  That was 30 years ago, and I have never forgotten it.

A little kindness can make a big impact on someone when you least expect it.  That reminds me of this story:

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd."

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friend’s tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on. As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.

They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.”

“They really should get lives.”

“He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"

There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends He said yes.

We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books every day! He just laughed and handed me half the books. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors we began to think about college.

Kyle decided on Georgetown and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

Boy, sometimes I was jealous! Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"

He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. “Thanks," he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...

I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story."

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable." I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions.

With one small gesture you can change a person's life.

For better or for worse.

God puts us all in each other’s lives to impact one another in some way.

Look for God in others.

So, today, on Be an Angel day, it doesn't matter what you do, just show some kindness to someone else.

Italian Ice Cream

Today is National Spumoni Day.  Spumoni is a molded Italian ice cream made with layers of different colors and flavors, usually containing candied fruits and nuts. Typically it is of three flavors, with a fruit/nut layer between them. The ice cream layers are often mixed with whipped cream. Chocolate and pistachio are the typical flavors of the ice cream layers, and the fruit/nut layer often contains cherry bits—causing the traditional red/pink, brown, and green color combination. It is popular in places with large Italian immigrant populations such as the United States and Argentina.

Each layer of spumoni ice cream includes much more than flavored ice cream. The chocolate layer, for example, may include chocolate shavings or chunks. In fact, sometimes to chocolate layer has crushed hazelnuts inside. Not only does the hazelnut add a lovely flavor to the chocolate, but it also compliments the pistachio layer. The pistachio layer, of course, almost always includes crushed pistachio nuts. Finally, the fruit layer of spumoni is usually made with candied fruit. Sometimes spumoni is made with strawberry or even raspberry flavored ice cream. However, cherry is the most traditional fruit component to the dessert.

A close relative to Spumoni is Neapolitan ice cream, and some believe the banana split is also related...possibly a cousin.  They both contain chocolate and strawberry, while the split also contains the whipped cream and nuts.

I have to admit that I personally have never had Spumoni.  You know how thorough I like to be in my reporting to you, however in the area I live, I have never seen it.  After researching this treat however, I’m going to make a point of looking for it the next time I go out of town.  It sounds delicious!  If you are fortunate to live in an area where you have access to this wonderful treat, today is the perfect occasion to to enjoy some.

Get Your Fresh...

Today is National Lemonade Day.  Lemonade is a drink made with the juice of lemons, water and sugar.  You can also add other fruit flavors to the mix.  Fruits such as peach, raspberry, watermelon, cherry and strawberry, there is even jalapeno lemonade.  I know this because my cousin got married at the end of July in the middle of a heat wave, outside at a family farm in Austin, Texas.  She served Strawberry lemonade and jalapeno lemonade.  Apparently folks in Texas like lots of things hot!

Not only is lemonade good and full of vitamin C, but it is also a great way for young kids to learn about business.  I’m sure everyone has either had a lemonade stand, know someone who has had one, or passed some kids with a lemonade stand.   Just a few weeks ago I was driving down the street in my neighborhood when these boys chased me down asking if I wanted to buy some of their lemonade.  I think it is an unwritten law that you must buy a cup of lemonade from a kid.  I know I remember when I was young, how important I felt earning my own money.

Recently I saw on the news about some officials closing down a kid's lemonade stand at the U.S. Open and fined their parents 500 dollars.  These kids were trying to raise money for pediatric cancer.  The matter was resolved, the fine was waived, and the kids were allowed to set up at a different location.  I wonder what kind of lesson those kids learned from that experience.

Another type of lemonade is pink lemonade.  The New York Times credited Henry E. "Sanchez" Allott as the inventor of pink lemonade in his obituary: At 15 he ran away with a circus and worked in lemonade concession. One day while mixing a tub of the orthodox yellow kind he dropped some red cinnamon candies in by mistake. The resulting rose-tinted mixture sold so surprisingly well that he continued to dispense his chance discovery. 

My mother made a pink lemonade pie that was my brother's favorite.  It is really quick and easy to make, and no way to mess it up.  All you have to do is stir, pour and refrigerate!  Even I can make it!  Here is the recipe:

Pink lemonade Pie Recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (6 ounce) can frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 2 (8 inch) prepared graham cracker crusts

Directions

• In a large bowl, mix together sweetened condensed milk and lemonade concentrate. Fold in whipped topping. Pour into pie crusts. Refrigerate until completely chilled.

Best Lemonade Ever recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups white sugar
• 8 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups lemon juice

Directions

• In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until chilled.
• Remove seeds from lemon juice, but leave pulp. In pitcher, stir together chilled syrup, lemon juice and remaining 7 cups water.

Jalapeno Lemonade Recipe

makes about 8 cups

• for jalapeno sugar syrup
• 1 jalapeno, cut into 4 pieces (remove seeds for a milder lemonade)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/8th teaspoon salt
• other ingredients
• 1 cup lemon juice (juice of about 6 large lemons), strained
• 6 cups water

• Place the chopped jalapeno and 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Continue boiling till about half the water has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Then add sugar and salt and stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer just until sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Let the syrup cool for about 5 minutes.
• Place a strainer over a pitcher. Pour the jalapeno sugar syrup, lemon juice and 6 cups water through the strainer into the pitcher. Stir well. Serve chilled over ice cubes.

For more information about lemonade day visit this site: http://www.lemonadeday.org/home

World Humanitarian Day - 2011

Natural disasters, conflicts and other emergencies threaten the lives and health of millions of people every year. In the middle of such crises, thousands of dedicated humanitarian workers strive to care for those who have been affected and support local authorities to deliver assistance.

The day recognizes the sacrifices and contributions of those who risk their lives to give others help and hope. It is also about inspiring the spirit of aid work in everyone. Find out how you can join forces with United Nations and aid organizations worldwide and take action.

Background

Humanitarians provide life-saving assistance to millions of people worldwide. They place their own lives at risk to help others in conflict zones and areas of natural hazards. More than 700 humanitarian workers have died or experienced the most dangerous situations while trying to help those in need. Humanitarians provide support for different world challenges such as hunger, gender-based violence, refugees and displaced people, help for children, as well as clean water and access to sanitation. 

World Humanitarian Day was established by the General Assembly of the UN in December 2008 and was first observed in August 2009. The date of August 19 is the anniversary date of the 2003 Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad where twenty-two people lost their lives including, the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.

The total number of people affected by natural disasters has risen over the past decade, and about 211 million people are directly affected each year. Women and children are especially affected because of their ongoing struggles with poverty, insecurity, hunger, poor health and environmental decline. There are new and difficult challenges that arise each year that will require more flexible funding and adaptable humanitarian work. The increasing economic crisis and global challenges such as poverty, global health problems, increase prices and the rising number of people on the move, increases the need for humanitarians each year.

Today is National Potato Day

Can there be a more perfect food?  The potato is so versatile.  It can be baked, boiled, fried, and micro waved, grilled, mashed, shredded, roasted and steamed.  It can be a whole meal, or a dessert.   You can eat them for breakfast, lunch or supper.

There are over 4000 varieties of potatoes.  In general, varieties are categorized into a few main groups, such as russets, reds, whites, yellows (also called Yukons) and purples—based on common characteristics. 

The potato originated in Peru, over 10,000 years ago.  The Spanish introduced the potato to Europe in the second half of the 16th century.   They were a bit leary of the potato,  but soon enough it became an important food staple and field crop that played a major role in the European 19th century population boom.  However, lack of genetic diversity, due to the very limited number of varieties initially introduced, left the crop vulnerable to disease. In 1845, a plant disease known as late blight, that led to crop failures and cause the Great Irish Famine.

China is now the world's largest potato-producing country, and nearly a third of the world's potatoes are harvested in China, Russia,  India and the United States.

Potatoes are also used to make Vodka and food for domestic animals.  Potato starch is used  in the food industry as, for example, thickeners and binders of soups and sauces, in the textile industry, as adhesives, and for the manufacturing of papers and boards.  Research is being done to also use it in the production of plastic.

Potatoes can be served in many different recipes.  A baked potato with butter and sour cream is very popular, one restaurant used to  fill them with broccoli or chili and cheese too.  French fries and potato chips are a great snack.  Hash browns, or breakfast potatoes are a great way to start the day, and scalloped or augrautin make a great dish for dinner.  Potato salad makes a great accompaniment at a picnic, and sweet potato pie is a wonderful dessert, tastes like pumpkin pie.

Potatoes are full of vitamins and minerals, but are best known for their carbohydrate content.  I love potatoes, and usually have some type of potato every day.  My mother loves sweet potatoes and used to tell us when she was going to school, to keep her hands warm, she would put hot sweet potatoes in her pockets on her way to school, and then eat them for lunch.

With all the different ways to prepare the potato, Im sure you can find some way to participate in National Potato Day.  Just remember, it is spelled POTATO, no E at the end as Vice President Dan Quale stated at a spelling bee in 1992!

Did you know that, Mr. Potato Head was invented in 1949 and marketed and sold commercially by Hasbro in 1952.  Mr. Potato Head is an American toy that consists of a plastic potato and attachable plastic parts such as ears and eyes to make a face. It was the first toy ever advertised on television, and has become popular once again thanks to the movie Toy Story.

Puns anyone?

1. The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian
3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.
4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.
5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
9. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.
10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'
13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
17. A backward poet writes inverse.
18. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.
19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris, you'd be in Seine.
21. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, 'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.'
22. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says 'Dam!'
23. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.
24. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my electron.' The other says 'Are you sure?' The first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.'
25. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

Dog Bites

By Diane Forrest,

Today we want to share some information about dog bites with you and how to prevent them and how to treat them.

Approximately 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year.  Most of these occur with your or a friend's pet, and others occur from the property of another pet owner.  There has been much discussion about types of breeds that bite, however any breed of dog will bite if provoked.  Growing up we had a cocker spaniel.  He stayed outside in our fenced in yard.  There was an alley behind our home, and kids would walk down the alley and tease our dog, throw rocks and sticks at him and eventually he retaliated by biting. 

Other actions that will provoke an attack include:

• Bothering a dog during meal time.  My brother was our dog's feeder.  He would feed him every day then come inside.  One day, he simply gave the dog a pat after placing his food down, and the dog took this action as an attempt to take his food, and bit my brother on the nose. 
• "Attacking" a dog or its companions on their territory
• Sickness or injury of the dog
• Intervention when dogs are fighting
• Threatening body language
• Ignoring warning signs
• Attacks may be triggered by behaviors that are perceived as an attack, for example, a sudden unexpected approach or touch by a stranger, or inadvertently stepping on any portion of the dog's anatomy, such as a paw or tail, or startling a sleeping dog unexpectedly. In particular, the territory that a dog recognizes as its own may not coincide with the property lines that its owner and the legal authorities recognize, such as a portion of a neighbor's backyard.

Prevention:

• While some dogs are trained to attack while protecting his home and master, there are some signs that you need to be aware of that will lead to an attack.
• Don’t treat a dog unkindly.
• Never hit, kick, slap or bite a dog or pull on his ears, tail or paws.
• Don’t bother a dog when she is busy.
• Never bother dogs with puppies or dogs that are playing with or guarding toys, eating or sleeping. Always leave service dogs alone while they are working.
• Don’t approach a dog you don’t know.
• Never approach a dog that is tied up, behind a fence or in a car.
• If you find an animal, call the police or animal control for help.
• If you want to meet a dog, first ask the owner for permission. If the owner says it’s OK, hold out your hand in a fist for the dog to sniff. If he’s interested, you can give him a little scratch under the chin (not over the head) and say hello.
• Do be calm.
• Always talk in a quiet voice or whisper -- no shouting -- and take a “time out” if you feel angry or frustrated.
• Do be still.
• If a loose dog approaches you, stand still like a tree. Keep your hands at your sides, and stay quiet and calm. Look away from the dog.
• If you are on the ground, curl up into a ball, like a rock. Keep your knees to your chest and your hands over your ears. Stay quiet and calm. Look down at your knees, not at the dog.
• Always make slow movements, set things down carefully and don’t run when you’re around dogs, as this gets them excited and they may accidently hurt you.

Treatment:

• After an attack has occurred, first control the bleeding.  Clean the area with soap and warm water, apply antibacterial ointment and cover with a clean dressing.
• Determine if the dog has been vaccinated for Rabies.  If this can not be determined, alert your doctor.  Rabies can be fatal for humans.
• Some bites may require stitching or further treatment.  Wounds on the face and hands should be seen by your doctor to prevent scaring.
• Use caution and common sense when around a strange dog, and even your own dog.  Be careful not to provoke an attack, but if you are bitten, take quick measures to clean and dress the wound to prevent infection.