Fruitful Words

*Spoiler Alert* If you are going to Women’s Retreat 2008 do NOT read any further. Otherwise you will read about Friday night’s Bingo icebreaker game.

Everyone else may continue reading . . .

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How many of you use Google reader to keep track of your blog reading? Or some other reader?

• How many blogs do you track?
• Are they in the same category or varied? What are the categories?

I wonder what my blog reading choices reveal about me. What do they reveal about you?

This could be an interesting meme. You know the drill. Answer the questions. Tag a few people with the info here. Link back.

I’ve done 3 new things from my 51 Things To-do-List:

1. I learned to do one new thing on my blog. You might have noticed: PICTURES! My sista showed me stockxpert - the leading free stock photo site. It is quick to sign up for a free account. Nice choices. Easy to use. And if I can use it, anyone can.
   
2. I read my second just for fun book: The Secret of the Old Clock - the first of the Nancy Drew mystery series. I read all these books as a child. My niece, Es, is reading these now and lent me her copy. It was a fun read - good junk food is the category I’d place it in. I’ll give a recap later.
3. Because of extra money coming in, I’ve been able to tithe extra. I put the money towards the Building fund and the Missions fund. Of course it was tempting to keep it all for my needs. But I’ve been trying to practice what Pastor Mike has been teaching us in his last series on “God’s Remedy for Financial Worries.”

Hmmm. Maybe the extra money was a quiz from God to see what it is I’ve been learning. Keep reading for what I’ve been learning from Pastor Mike.

• Keep your priorities straight. Desire what God desires. God’s will be done in heaven and earth.
• Continue to be generous. Don’t let fear affect my heart. Don’t let fear stop me from helping those around me.
• Make God’s kingdom & righteousness my first ambition.
  
• Take one day at a time. “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes,” Matthew 6:34. The Message

Go here for information on how to contact the church office and get your OWN copy of this sermon series.

What quizzes have been coming your way? How are your goals coming along? What new things have you learned? Do share here in the comments or at your blog.

I’ve been reading the answers people have been leaving to this meme. It’s causing me to think some more; AND the opportunity to investigate blogs outside my norm.

Since I’m the curious sort, I investigated to see how far back this meme goes. Looks like about 11 generations. Heidi (who lives in the Netherlands) is the first person mentioned. Heidi has 2 blogs and I wasn’t able to find the original post. Her blogs are as follows: Celebrate the Seasons, Needle Necessities. She is also part of a group blog titled Creative Home Life.

1. Heidi from the Netherlands tagged Rhondi at Rose Colored Glasses. Rhondi’s answer is . . . Laughed, cried, worked, played, loved, prayed. Rhondi tagged Deb of Posted From Home.
2. Deb’s six words are: Live Life With a grateful heart. Deb of Posted From Home tagged Tara from Days Missed on a Hammock.
3. Tara’s philosophy is . . . Make Lemonade Out of Life’s Lemons. Tara from Days Missed on a Hammock tagged Oliver Rain.
4. Oliver Rain’s answer is . . . Everything Works Out in the End. Oliver Rain tagged My Cakies.
5. My Cakies lives by the following philosophy . . . Enjoy God & Make Him Known. (Side note Look here for a beautiful felt crown for a princess. Can you tell I’m a princess at heart?) My Cakies tagged Jenny at Babyfingers.
6. Jenny’s answer is . . . Exit your comfort zone everyday. Jenny from Babyfingers tagged Julie at the Knotted Apron Strings.
7. Julie’s contribution is “Do the Math . . . Count Your Blessings.” Julie at Knotted Apron Strings tagged Theresa from Knitting Non Pareil.
8. Theresa’s answer is . . . Learn to love who you are. Theresa from Knitting NonPareil tagged Theresa from Stitches of Grace.
9. Theresa’s 6 words philosophy is . . . . Seek first the kingdom of God. Theresa from Stitches of Grace tagged me. My answer is Joyful Hope. Patient Affliction. Faithful Prayer. So far none of those I’ve tagged have responded.
10. Theresa also tagged Amy from Journaling Back to Joy. Her 3 people have answered. Teresa, The Virginia Queen Bee’s Answer: When I am weak, then I am strong. Perri’s, My Life in Bits & Pieces wrote: God’s in control, I’m at peace. Michelle at Happy Mom 777 also said: Seek first the Kingdom of God.

This was fun researching. So many wonderful projects, photos, thoughts and recipes to look at. Have a looksee and tell me what struck your eye. Either on the blogs or about the 6 word summaries.

Also let me know if we can go back further than Heidi. Thanks.

Lemons have many uses: as food, cleaning agents, crafts, and beauty aids. With the barrage of lemons still coming from friend’s trees, do you need more ideas? Here are some of the ideas I’ve come up with for my lemon stash.

1. Age Spots Lightened. Dab lemon juice on the age/liver spots or freckles. After 15 minutes rinse.
2. Clock Powered With A Lemon. Family Fun has the coolest doable projects. Click here for the link to make this clock.
3. Constipation Relief. Put 2-4 tablespoons of lemon juice in 1 cup warm water. Sweeten to taste with honey. Drink this before breakfast.
4. Dog barking training. Train your dog to stop barking by squirting lemon juice in the dog’s mouth every time he barks. Say, “quiet” while squirting the juice.
5. Fingernails whitened and strengthened. Soak those flimsy, yellowed nails in 1 cup warm water with ½ lemon for 10 minutes. Then dip them in a mixture of equal parts vinegar and warm water. Rinse. Repeat as needed.
6. Furniture Polish. Mix together the juice of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of water. Pour a small amount on the furniture and buff until shiny. To make a bigger batch mix together 1 cup of olive oil with 1/2 cup lemon juice. Pour this into a spray bottle. Use up within the month.
7. Insect Deterrent. Put lemon juice into a spray bottle. Squirt lemon juice on windowsills and into any cracks where the ants are lining up. Place lemon peels outside the doors. Roaches and fleas also hate lemons. Mix together the juice and rinds of 4 lemons with 1/2 gallon warm water. Use this to wash your floors.
8. Invisible ink. Dip a Q-tip into lemon juice and write a short note on a piece of paper. Let it dry. When you are ready to read your secret message, hold the paper near a hot light bulb. The lemon juice message will turn brown.
9. Lemon detox. I did this for a week and found it very helpful. I lost a few pounds. But the main benefits were a clearer mind, less allergy symptoms and more regular elimination. Click here to read one site’s information. I did this while consulting with a doctor.
10. Lip Balm – Lemon Flavored. Gather the following ingredients: 4 oz. extra virgin olive oil, 3 oz. beeswax, ½ vitamin E capsule, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Melt the oil and the beeswax in the microwave or double boiler. Add the ½ vitamin E capsule and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Pour into appropriate containers. Let sit for 48 hours until firm to touch. Go here for precautions and other lip balm recipes.
11. Pomander. This is a fun activity for kids to make. You have to push in a lot of cloves, so I suggest that you take a metal skewer and make little holes for the cloves. This is like pre-drilling holes for a screw. This seems to take a long time, so plan on doing this at several sessions instead of all at one time. Go here for the complete instructions.
12. Simmering Potpourri. In a small pan half-filled with water put in the following: 1 sliced lemon, 1 sliced orange, 1/2 cup cloves, and 3 cinnamon sticks. Bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat down so that the water is barely simmering. Enjoy the smell.
13. Wart Removal. Dab lemon juice directly on the wart with a Q-tip or cotton ball. Repeat for several days. If the wart is not gone, dab for several more days.

I hope to make up a few lemon food recipes this next week.

What have you done with lemons lately?

Lemon Tree, the song by Peter, Paul and Mary says,

Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.

(Click here for the YouTube rendition of Lemon Tree.)

Not true! The fruit of the poor lemon can be eaten and used. Tomorrow I’ll share 13 ways to use a lemon.

But Today I’ll share 6 ways you can store the lemons for future use.

1. Put lemons in a jar in the refrigerator. Make sure the jar has a tight-fitting lid to prevent loss of moisture. They’ll keep for many weeks this way. (I couldn’t find out how many weeks.)
2. Put the lemons in a plastic bag and put into the refrigerator. Sources say they’ll keep up to six weeks this way.
3. Keep the lemons on the counter. They’ll keep juicy at most two weeks. The humidity and temperature will determine its length of freshness.
4. Squeeze the lemons. Put the juice in ice trays. Once frozen, put the lemon cubes in a freezer bag.
5. Make candied lemon peel. Put this into a sealed jar in the refrigerator. It will keep up to 6 months.
6. Make preserved lemons. The lemons are marinated at least 3 weeks in their juice and salt. Preserved lemons are used in many Moroccan and Middle Eastern dishes.

Do you have another way that you store your lemons? Do tell!

For more Works-For-Me Wednesday Tips, click here. At last count there were 257 tips.

In 6 weeks about 50 women from church will be going to Women’s Retreat 2008 in the Tahoe area. In order to receive the most impact there and long term, I’m going to journal/assess 4 areas.

I’ll assess my relationships, the challenges/problems in my life, the Retreat experience and my follow up/accountability plan.

1. Assess my relationships. This will be in 3 areas: (a) God, (b) myself, (c) others. I will take the time to ask and honestly answer the following two questions in the three areas. (i) How’s my giving? (ii) How’s my receiving? I am purposefully making them broad categories so I don’t go into this pondering time with preconceived notions.
2. Assess the challenges/problems in my life. Again, I will do 3 things. (a) Look at what’s not working in my life. (b) Look at what’s working. (c) Brainstorm and pray (by myself or with a friend) about what to do next.
3. Assess the Retreat experience. (a) What are the golden nuggets of info that have impacted me? (b) What will I continue to do at home or start once I’m home? (c) These are some of my ideas from past retreats: include pampering in daily life; have planned meals instead of chaotic snacks; implement a flexible, fun schedule and follow it; more time in Nature; have more silent time.
4. Assess my follow up/accountability plan. Without such a plan, all my gold nuggets will turn into dust and puff away with the wind. Therefore, I will answer the following questions. (a) Who will I share my insights with? (b) What do I want her to do with/for me? (c) When will I talk to her?

I will also take time to create an evaluation card for my life. Every three months I will look at that card to see how I am doing. I will share these results with my accountability person.

So what’s your plan to make retreat more meaningful?

Habits . . . .

1. Taking a walk with Chip. This didn’t happen much because Chip was under the weather last week. In fact, I was sure he was going to die. Happily, that didn’t happen. He is in a very perky mood and even eating well. It helped that he and Elisabeth got to spend some time together this past weekend.
2. Sleep. Except for Friday night I was in bed by 11 pm. Friday it was 1 am and up at 4:30 am. Look at #5 under the One Time Events to see why. I am getting serious about my sleep though. The other day I wrote a post on sleep here. I also wrote how to destress your life. #17 is about sleep. Getting a good night’s rest every night is essential. You can really make yourself ill or even kill yourself by slacking in the sleep department. I’m now convinced this is something I can take control over and I need to in order to have a healthier life and longer lifespan. Go here for 33 Secrets for a Good Night’s Sleep.
3. Trash. This has been the easiest habit to form. Picking up trash around church one time a week has been easy and an enjoyable way to spend time with Chip at the same time.
4. Spanish. I just printed off vocabulary words for the next 2 weeks.

One Time Events (kinda) . . . .

1. Funeral planning - I spoke with my kiddos over the weekend about this. They thought I was crazy and obsessing. They do NOT care whether I am cremated and then scattered, buried, or kept in some container somewhere - as long as the container isn’t with them!. Nor do they care if I am marinated (embalmed) and then buried. Now I’ll do research on prices and legalities.
2. Read Thru the Bible in 90 Days. SM and I will meet tonight to discuss this. It was interesting to fly through Genesis without getting bogged down in the details. Now we are flying high above Exodus. So far I would give this reading program a 5/5.
3. Prayer Study. I finished the book on prayer by John Wesley. I want to go back through the book and write down all the things I underlined. Anyone else underline and make notes in their books?
4. Jokes. I can tell 3 jokes - pretty well. I’m on the lookout for joke #4. If I haven’t told you a joke lately, ask me. I’m ready.
5. Hot Air Balloon Ride!!!! Yep. It happened. I can cross this off my list and include it in the list of things I’LL NEVER FORGET.

My 51 Things List is dwindling down s-l-o-w-l-y but building some mighty big memories. How’s it going on your own list of things to do or habits to form? Please share. Let’s keep each other accountable.

Sometimes I don’t know what to write, whether it’s for a post, school paper, or letter. There are all kinds of ideas swirling in the thought soup called my brain. Or there are no thoughts. Writing a list of ideas on one topic helps me corral similar thoughts or kick start the thought process.

Below are five more reasons writng a list is good for you.

1. It is fast to write - so it gets the brain thinking.
2. It forces you to summarize each point in a sentence or phrase.
3. It helps you to see all the points at one time.
4. It helps you stop, sit down, and start writing.
5. You could win a prize!

Network Blogging Tips is sponsoring a List Blogging Challenge. The deadline is April 20th. The prize is a“One Touch 4 Mini 250 GB external hard drive, worth $129.00.” Go here for all the details.

Continue reading for more information on list posts.

• 5 more reasons you should write a list post - Click here to read these. Written by Deb Ng from Network Blogging Tips
• 8 reasons why a list post will help you get back your blogging groove - Click here to read. Darren Rowse from Problogger also explains Simple Lists, Longer List Posts, and Lists as Parts Of Posts.
• Need help coming up with a topic? ChrisBrogan.com has a 100 Blog Topics he Hopes You Write On. Click here for that list.
• Writing a 100 points helps you tackle any issue - Click here to read this post from Luciano Passuello from LiteMind.
• Write a list, change your life. This is the promise of an article in the Scotsman.com. Click here for the full article.
• Even 7 year-olds can write a list. Click here to read about a life list created by a 2nd grader. Leon Ho shared this on his site LifeHack.org.

I’ll be writing list posts all week and then submit the best one Sunday, the 20th.

Get busy writing your list post. Be sure to let me know when you’ve written and submitted your post. It will be fun to have some competition amongst friends.