Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Happy Endings

I don’t like books with sad endings. I don’t like tear jerkers. Romeo and Juliet is not my favorite Shakespeare play. I did not enjoy reading Lord of the flies, or The Great Gatsby.

You know that one movie that movie that made you cry and the main character died at the end? I didn’t watch it. I still haven’t seen Episode 3 of Star Wars because I know Anakin is going to turn into Darth Vader.

Growing up my mom sometimes called me her Pollyanna. I prefer to look on the bright side of things. Life is much more enjoyable for me when I look forward to all the wonderful things in life and try not to dwell on the negative.

Even though I am an eternal optimist I know life isn’t always perfect and that people have gone through horrible things I couldn’t even  imagine.  Life is full of struggles and trials that I will have to deal with. Hopefully I will come through a better person and help other people a long the way. Some of my favorite books and stories are ones about people enduring and over coming great difficulties. These are the types of sad stories I like to read and sad movies I enjoy watching.

Stories about people overcoming amazing things or sacrificing to save others. If I am going to cry in a movie I want it to be for a good reason not because a teenager killed themselves because they thought thought their one true love had died.

One of my all time favorite books is Mrs. Mike. It is the story about a young women who moves to Canada to live with her uncle and hopefully improve her delicate health. She ends up falling in love with a Mountie and living in the Canadian wilderness. Her life is not easy and there are several parts in the book that make me teary. But the story isn’t about how hard her life is, it is about how she overcomes hardships and becomes a happier, stronger person because of it.

Mrs. Mike

The Great Escape will be my movie example. It is based on the true story of a mass escape from Stalag Luft III, a prisoner of war camp in Poland during World War II. While many of the men in the movie die, they die fighting for what they believe is good and right.

great escape

Stories like To Kill a Mocking Bird, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Giving Tree, Charlotte’s Webb, and The Scarlet Letter all have something in common. They are not sad just for the sake of being sad. They are the stories of overcoming challenges. They stories of triumph of good over evil. They are stories of people choosing to do the right thing even if it means being persecuted or even loosing their life. These stories remind me that while some times the story of a person’s life seems to be a tragedy if you keep an eternal perspective you can know that it will have a happy ending.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Masking tape

As I was using some masking tape this morning I was struck by the thought of how useful it is.  Back in August I was shopping for school supplies. One of the things on Stephen's list was masking tape. So I got him a roll and figured since I didn't have any at the house I would buy a roll to keep. It had been several years since there was any masking tape in the house and I think I had forgotten how awesome it is. It has come in handy many times since I bought it.

If I could only pick one type of tape to use for the rest of my life I would choose duck tape. But if I could pick two the second would definitely be masking tape.

There are three main qualities that masking tape has that make it so fabulous. You can easily tear off a piece, it is easy to peel off of things and it doesn’t leave a residue behind. So not only can you quickly use it to attach a pirate hat to a child's head you can remove it with out much difficulty.

The following is a list I have created of possible uses for masking tape.

1. Tapping newspaper to the table to use as a drop cloth for painting.

2. Taping paper strips to a chalk board.

3. Taping artwork to a wall.

4. Taping pirate hats to heads.

5. Taping flyers to doors.

6. Wrapping presents.

7. Writing names on the tape and using them as labels.

8. Various art projects.

9. Making a pass-the-parcel.

10. To stop paint from filling the groove at the top of the can cover the rim with masking tape. 

11. Making a straight line on paper.

12. Dividing a room into two spaces.

13. Making a cat crawl.

14. Keeping a diaper on a one year old.

15. Homemade wallets.

16. Turning a piece of paper into a telescope.

17. Put beads on it to prevent them from rolling.

18. Wear a roll of it as a bracelet or if you have a small head a hat.

19. Marking off areas you want to paint.

20. Substitute lint remover.

21. Taping someone’s mouth shut.

22. To use a vacuum bag twice cut the bag open on the back, empty it and tape it closed with masking tape.

23. Matting artwork.

24. Taping things to windows.

25. Giving your forehead a surprised look.

Masking tape. Isn’t it wonderful. Now go and use some masking tape today.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Best pancakes in the universe

At my house we have pancakes more often for dinner than we do for breakfast. They are easy and my kids all like them. Lately I have been trying to mix it up a little bit and do different kinds of pancakes. We have done applesauce pancakes and pumpkin pancakes. They are a little more filling than just a plan pancake and taste good too.

So when I stumbled across this Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancake recipe I thought it would make a perfect Halloween dinner. When I showed Michael the recipe he asked me if it was for dessert or dinner.

They were with out a doubt the best pancakes I had ever eaten.

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Yes, that is a swirl of butter, brown sugar and cinnamon baked into the pancake.

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Mine weren’t as pretty as the ones pictured in the recipe but they were so tasty. It made a lot of batter so I had some more yesterday for lunch.

Instead of syrup it has a glaze made with cream cheese.The pumpkin I used came from my garden. Can you think of a better pancake? No? That’s because there isn’t one.