holiday

This is an excerpt from a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called Loving Your Enemies, presented on November 17, 1957.

...So I want to turn your attention to this subject: "Loving Your Enemies." It’s so basic to me because it is a part of my basic philosophical and theological orientation—the whole idea of love, the whole philosophy of love. In the fifth chapter of the gospel as recorded by Saint Matthew, we read these very arresting words flowing from the lips of our Lord and Master: "Ye have heard that it has been said, ‘Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven."

...Now first let us deal with this question, which is the practical question: How do you go about loving your enemies? I think the first thing is this: In order to love your enemies, you must begin by analyzing self. And I’m sure that seems strange to you, that I start out telling you this morning that you love your enemies by beginning with a look at self. It seems to me that that is the first and foremost way to come to an
adequate discovery to the how of this situation.

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I really really really hate wasting food. Food costs way too much to waste. Unfortunately when you cook big meals, you are very likely to have a lot of leftovers. And if you have a lot of leftovers you have a greater chance of wasting food. In my house we can eat the same meal for three days max. Some of my closest friends do not even eat leftovers for more than one day. Now that is sad... but I cannot change them.

After three days, JT and I start looking at each other funny... the well, what are we going to eat look. Then the leftovers just get shoved to the back of the fridge. As I mentioned in a previous post, thankfully we did not have many leftovers for this Thanksgiving. I would say that only about 25% of the turkey was left. I asked JT if he could slice up the remaining portion of the turkey so I could make turkey salad tonight. I asked him to do it, because if it was left up to me, I would still be cutting it now... hours later. I am slow at that kind of thing in the kitchen.

I searched for a turkey salad recipe online, but nothing make me lick my lips and say oooh gotta get that. So I got creative in the kitchen. I diced the turkey and mixed the following ingredients: green onions, garlic powder, original Mrs. Dash, mayonnaise, sour cream, a little Worcester sauce and a dash of relish. I toasted two slices of some delicious Sara Lee bread and melted a slice of American cheese on the turkey salad. JT enjoyed the sandwich. I made a small batch just in case he would not like it. Now after I get some more green onions and sour cream, I can make a bigger batch tomorrow.

I am not sure if William and Keisha will like the turkey salad, but I know that JT and I will finish that off without any problem. I feel good about not wasting any food.

I remember when I was younger, getting creative with holiday leftovers such as turkey and dressing sandwiches topped with cranberry sauce.

How do you deal with your holiday leftovers?

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I did not participate in the Black Friday sales this year. I think that I only participated in one Black Friday once during college. We did not get up early in the morning but rather later in the afternoon. I only remember going to Best Buy and waiting through some fairly long lines.

I have absolutely no idea what I am going to get for gifts this year. JT has hinted at a couple of items that he would like to have, but of course I did not write anything down. As I have said many times, if I had a memory, I would be dangerous. For many of my close friends and family, I often get them a gift card, because they either already have everything they could ever want or I have absolutely no clue of what I want to give them.

I feel that gift cards make great presents. The idea of making them more personal by uploading your own picture for a Visa gift card or an existing photo for a special occasion, is wonderful. I bet some of my family members would enjoy receiving a picture of William and Keisha on their Visa gift cards this Christmas.

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Thanksgiving dinner was truly success at our home yesterday. First of all, it must have been at least six years since I have celebrated Thanksgiving with my father... so that was great to have him just in my presence for such an important holiday. I am thankful for that.

Having my divorced parents in the same room was another story. But I have to admit that the event in itself was not as bad as I thought it would be. Well it was not that bad for me. There may have been a lot of tension from my mom, but I am not certain. I told my dad last night, that I hope that one day they can not only sit in a room together, but *gulp* have a conversation. What a concept...

I do not want my children to grow up thinking that their grandparents hate each other. Family is important. The twins only have one surviving great-grandmother, two grandmothers and one grandfather left. I want William and Keisha to be close to all of them. Not just one side or one grand parent because of an estranged relationship and secretive past. My children deserve better than that. I will pray for my mother and father. Not to get back together (I can accept that their relationship has long been over), but rather to forgive one another and be amicable, because that is the right thing to do.

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I know that this week is going to be challenging. I have some hectic things going on at work and at home.

I am trying to make a commitment to work on being positive and... especially since this week is Thanksgiving, focus on what I am thankful for.

Today, I want to tell you that I am thankful for all of my friends. Particularly today (Sunday), I want to thank my best friend and a good friend many miles away from me. They saw that I was down and out today and they were there for me to cheer me up. They did not judge me. They cared for me, hugged me, made jokes with me and in so many words told me that everything is going to be okay.

My friends are so important to me and sometimes it feels like I am not always there for them as much as they are there for me. I hope that during our lifetimes that I can be a wonderful friend to you like you have been to me. Thank you also to my other dear friends.

I love you.

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Thank you JT and Papa... the love of my life and my maternal grandfather, who served in the United States Navy and United States Army during the Persian Gulf War and World War II, respectively.

Thank you to all other veterans for protecting our freedom and serving your country with honor.

Happy Veterans Day.

Presidential Proclamation for Veterans Day 2007: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/20071031-6.html

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1. Celebrate it or don’t?

I used to celebrate it more so when I was younger. My Aunt Dot was very into decorating our front porch and having an extravagant costume on. I remember one year, she dressed up as a cat that reminded me of ThunderCats. I do not seem to be very into Halloween as the years have gone by.

2. Scary or just another yearly event?

Just another yearly event and a commercial scheme to rip off parents to buy new costumes for our children and give cavities to them with all the candy.

3. Scare or be scared?

I really hate to be scared... I do not handle haunted houses very well at all. So I guess I rather scare someone than be scared.

4. Give out candy or receive candy?

I prefer to give out candy than receive candy. My candy lasts all the way up until the next year because I eat so little of it. In fact, I just recently threw away some of the children's Valentine candy from this passed February and Halloween candy from last year. Crazy, I know.

5. This year, staying home or going out?

Staying home. I had considered going to the Missouri History Museum but JT did not seem very excited about it, plus the event may have been too old for my babies. Keisha would be too scared from all of the ghost stories.

As the twins get older, I may get more involved in Halloween if that is what they want...

http://captive-heart.com/tuesdaytwosomememe/2007/10/30/halloween/

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As we approach the holiday season, I have been thinking about what gifts to buy for my family and loved ones. Pictures of William and Keisha always seem to make great gifts to the grandparents. I am constantly thinking of creative ways to give them pictures and just in the standard photo frame. I came a cross a site and I thought that a digital photo frame would make a fantastic gift this Christmas. At Digitalframez.com.au, they have an excellent selection of LCD Digital Frames.

I really like this one in particular that is their top sold product:

I think that my mom would love to have a picture of her grandbabies in the frame and set it on her entertainment center in the family room or possibly in ther bed room. I have a great deal of pictures of the twins to select from. I also hope to get a professional picture of our family taken. That would make a great addition to the digital photo frame as well.

To find out if Digital Framez.com.au ships to your country, add a product to you shopping cart, click on calculate the shipping and enter your zip code. When I entered my zip code, I found that the company ships to Australia, China, New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom and United States.

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