It’s the seventh of the Seven Gratitudes – it must be double lucky!

Gratitude #1 –  The people who use the power of words to build and create a better world.

This video was made by some people who live near me. Way to be builders, guys.

Gratitude #2 – Lifehacker

The internet is an amazing thing that puts the world into a little box and hands us answers to our questions upon request. Yes, we need to be careful to keep it a tool that serves us and not something that we become slave to, but do you remember what life was like pre-internet? You might, but your children won’t. I remember 20 years ago I visited a woman who was 85 years old. We got talking about how the world had changed in her lifetime and I remember thinking what a remarkable transformation she had been witness to over her lifetime. She went from outhouses and chamber-pots to indoor plumbing and electricity, paved roads, airplanes, microwave ovens and computers. She saw WWII, the Cold War, and Germany being carved up by the Allied Forces. She saw the Berlin Wall come down. She saw so much in her life. I look at how things have changed because of technology and the fast, easy transmission of information, and I realize that the changes in my life will match hers for degree of transformation.

So this is a long way to introduce you to one of my favorite websites – Lifehacker.com. If you want to find tips for making life easier, or put a little more do-it-yourself into your life, this website is the grand Poobah. You should check it out. This is why the interwebs were invented, people. 😉

Gratitude #3 – I love being a woman.

Never has there been a better time to be a woman. We have so many opportunities open to us. So much potential to influence and create a world that is kind and good. We can dream, and set goals, and do the work to achieve them.

Gratitude #4 – Baked Rice Pudding

I love baked rice pudding. I find if I make it with brown rice, then it doesn’t mess up my blood sugar (hypoglycemia problems) like it does if it’s made with white rice. Here’s how I make it:

Brown Rice Pudding

Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Spread 2 cups cooked rice (I use brown rice) in the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle with 1 to 1 ½ cups raisins.

In a separate bowl mix together (I used a stick blender):

3 cups milk

4 eggs

1/2 cup organic sugar (or sucanat, or honey)

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 ½ Tbsp. cinnamon

Pour this mixture all over the rice in the 9×13 pan.

Sprinkle with a little more cinnamon and nutmeg.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour. You know it’s done when a knife poked into it comes out wet-clean rather than wet-milky.

Additional good news: Miss Casi, who told me when she first came to stay with us, that she didn’t like rice pudding – loves it!

Gratitude #5 – Earphones.

I broke my favorite pair of earphones this week. The part you plug into your player or phone snapped off and left a little piece stuck inside my phone. I was able to get it out with a pair of pointy tweezers without too much trouble, but the earphones were still dead. 😦 I went shopping to replace them, and was met with a dismal selection at every store I went to. So I came home and checked Lifehacker reviews and ended up ordering a pair of Monoprice earbuds and I’m loving them. Great sound and for only seven bucks. Check them out if you need earbuds. Right now I’m listening to “New Age Essentials” on Pandora. George Winston is playing and it sounds really great.

 

Gratitude #6 – Whatever Music I Want to Listen to.

I love Pandora.com for this. I know that other internet applications exist, such as Spotify and IHeartRadio, but the one I use the most is Pandora. I enjoy being able to type in a song or music genre and it will play a mix of music that is similar to what I asked for.

Gratitude #7 – The semi-annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is coming up this Saturday and Sunday.

I love April and October for the reason that it gives me the opportunity to sit at a spiritual feast of loving guidance and counsel given to us by a living prophet of God and apostles of Jesus Christ. I am always amazed at how the things they say seem to deal with just the very questions I have or challenges that I am facing. I am also amazed at how the answers to practical difficulties are given to me right along with the spiritual answers I need. If you want to see or hear for yourself you can go to this link here to watch it live.

Last night was the General Women’s Meeting. It was so worthwhile. I took notes as fast as I could, but just couldn’t keep up or seem to get down the sense of what I was feeling. I found a meme that does a pretty good job of it though. 

Have a great week!

winner-winner, veggie dinner 🙂