There ought to be a law...

 

Come on people. How many 62 year olds do you know that could pull this off? A bikini? At HER age? (and this is a current photo of Helen Mirren - taken this summer). Dang I hate her. Even if I wired my jaw shut and lost 50 pounds I wouldn't look this good. I only looked this good one day in my life and I have a photo to prove it - but you don't get to see it ... unless I get three comments begging me to post it. Then I "might" consider it. Oh heck, I'll post it just to show that I really did once have the goods.  The problem is, even though she's thirty something years older than I was in my best shot, I'm afraid she'd still win.

This brings back the memory of another sad story: the best looking woman at my 40th high school reunion was...my art teacher! It's a sad day when, after forty years, a TEACHER is better looking than any of her former students.

(I'm pinning Helen's photo up on my fridge - maybe it will motivate me to quit "grazing")

The Dark Knight = Satan!

I saw the Batman movie a few days ago and I didn’t like it. I thought it was TOO dark. But I thought that was just me. Amy and Kyle saw it tonight and Amy hit the nail on the head when she said the Joker was Satan. He wasn't motivated by money or power - his only motivation was to turn good into evil. Amy didn’t just “not like” the movie - She hated it. She said it was not only dark, it was so dark that the spirit actually left her. The spirit couldn’t be in a place that dark. She came home, turned on a taped session of General Conference, and started throwing away all her DVD’s that had any “questionable” scenes (Grease, Sixteen Candles, Night at the Roxbury, etc.) because she didn’t want her kids to watch movies with those scenes in them. At first I thought she was over reacting, then I said, “You know, I think you are doing the right thing because it is just like the analogy of the frogs. If you put frogs in boiling water they would hop right out. But if you put them in cold water and increased the temperature just one degree at a time, they’d continue to be comfortable until it was too late. They wouldn’t realize when the water got hot enough to kill them. Each time we see a movie with a scene in it that is uncomfortable, we just ignore it thinking it’s not that bad and the next time we see a similar scene, we don’t even get uncomfortable.”

Parents, don’t let your kids go to this movie!!! I’m sorry I went. It should have been rated “R”

A Mighty Change of Heart

I visited another ward’s gospel doctrine class today because somebody I knew was teaching the class (my daughter). It was an awesome lesson (in my unbiased opinion) – jammed packed with spiritual jewels. Basically, she talked about the difference between “belief” and “conversion.” The difference being that when we are converted to the gospel we are compelled to act: To change our ways and follow the Lord. There was one analogy in particular that has been playing and replaying in my mind that I’d like to share with you. She asked the class if any of them had ever tried to go up a down escalator. It takes a concerted effort. If you stop moving forward, you immediately get dragged down. She likened that to trying to follow Christ. We have to be continuously moving forward, upward toward our Father in Heaven. If we stop, we get dragged down by Satan and worldly desires. She challenged us to pick one thing to work on for 21 days. It didn’t have to be anything big like quit smoking or drinking. It could be something like controlling our anger, being kinder to our family and friends. Whatever we choose we must make a sincere effort to improve that quality in our lives. Since I’m perfect, I don’t have anything to work on…oh wait, I guess that’s my problem. It’s that old “pride” thing again. I guess I have to quit thinking I’m so perfect. But for 21 days…come on.

In keeping with this subject. Here is a list we received from our Bishop enumerating the qualities that indicate a change of heart:

1. Faith crowds out doubt
2. Fear, worry, and insecurity are replaced by peace, self assurance, and self confidence
3. We have no disposition to do anything outside of the will of God
4. We develop an unquenchable desire to serve and help others
5. We generate an uncompromising fidelity to worthy causes
6. We are content in any of life’s circumstances
7. Time becomes precious and is used in worthwhile endeavors
8. We have a keen desire to align our lives with what God would have us do
9. There is a constant striving to realize our full potential here in mortality
10. Our relationships take priority over self centered desires
11. There is a striving for truth and the Spirit that conveys it truly becomes a constant companion
12. The tendency to be critical of others is replaced with a desire to be encouraging to those around us
13. Our ability to live in the present and hope for the future is strengthened
14. The Word of Wisdom takes on new meaning
15. Things of the Spirit overshadow the vain things of the world
16. We develop a great desire to be in the Temple
17. The adversary’s influence in our lives becomes ineffective
18. It is impossible to offend us
19. Our desire to share the Gospel impels us to action
20. Our countenances change to reflect the light of Christ
21. Optimism becomes a constant and enduring quality in our lives
22. We are reminded often of the love God has for us
23. We adopt the Atonement of Christ as a central and fundamental part of our life here in mortality
24. We communicate with God continually
25. We generate a desire to put everything around us in order
26. Repentance becomes a daily activity

Stars Without Makeup

Okay girlfriends, are you ready for this? Apparently we can all be 100% better looking. All we need is a make up lesson.

This is just a teaser. For more, go to: starswithoutmakeup.blogspot.com

2-Ingredient Cookie Recipe!

A two-year old could make these cookies - Heck, even my mother can make these cookies*

2-Ingredient Macaroons

1 (14 oz.) package Angel Flake Coconut

1 can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)

Mix and drop by tablespoon (or use about a 2" melon-baller) on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam (or use parchment paper). Bake at 325 for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Gourmet Variation: you can add a whole almond on top of each before you bake, and then when the cookies cool, either dip or drizzle them with melted chocolate...voila....Almond Joys!

*I say this because my mother doesn't cook. At one time she seriously was considering remodeling her kitchen and taking out the stove because she never used it. She was trying to think of what she could use that room for instead of cooking. I finally convinced her that if she ever wanted to sell her house, no one would buy a house with no kitchen. She abandoned the project. (I gave her a cookbook one year for Christmas that said, "My Favorite Recipes" and when you opened it, it was all blank pages). She has gotten together with her friends four times a year for forty years to play bridge. They rotate who brings the treat - except my mother has been exempt because they all know she doesn't cook. But my mom surprised them once by bringing a pie she had seen in Family Circle Magazine. It was an ice cream pie. All you had to do was put your favorite ice cream in a frozen pie shell and put canned whipped cream on it. One of her friends said, "Betty brought the pie." My mom said, "How did you know?" She said, "because you're supposed to BAKE the pie shell first!"

Note: If YOU have a great 2 or 3 ingredient recipe, I WANT it! Put it in a "comment" to me. Thanks

Measure of a Man

I watched the movie "The Bucket List" again last night and something hit me that I missed the first time. " It's difficult to measure the sum of a person's life. I believe you should measure yourself by the people who measure themselves by you." That is really a profound statement and deserves some reflection.

Most people in today's world measure themselves by how much money they make and/or have accumulated. It's like they believe that whoever has the most toys when they die, wins. But you'll never see a Brink's truck following a hearse. We can't take our money with us when we die, but we can take our integrity.

Are you measuring up to your expectations? Have you taken the time to evaluate your expectations to determine whether they are "worthy" or "worldly?" It's never too late to set worthy goals.

You are 20% better looking than you think!

The next time you look at yourself in the mirror say, "I'm 20 percent better-looking than I think. " It's true. And here's the reason. While you're just looking at your appearance, others see your charisma, intellect, kindness, -- whatever makes you, you.

This was the big news today on AOL. Genius. It IS true. I know a lot of people that I think of as really beautiful - but if you analyze their looks or showed a photo of them to someone who didn't know them, you'd have to say they were just average looking.

The best example I can think of was the Homecoming Queen at my high school. We all thought she was beautiful - because we knew her. When my daughter's see my high school annual they say, "She was the homecoming queen?"

So I say, instead of trying to improve your looks with makeup, botox, or cosmetic surgery, try being a little kinder, more considerate, more tolerant, etc.

"...the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." I Samuel 16:7

Do the very best you can - Always.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a true story that my sister-in-law told me several years ago. She had a friend who was an orthopedic surgeon. One day, after an exhausting day of surgeries, he was about to leave to go home when he was paged to report to surgery again. There had been an accident and a sixteen year old girl had an injury that would most likely cause her leg to be amputated. He answered the call and immediately went to work. He could have taken the easiest and quickest route – amputating the leg. But he had a sixteen year old daughter himself and he knew he had to try to save the leg if he could. After the surgery, he again prepared to go home and one of the nurses stopped and asked him, “how is your daughter?” He looked confused so she said, “The girl they brought in that you did surgery on was your daughter. Didn’t anyone tell you?”

You can imagine what was going through his head. “Did I do everything I could? Would I have done anything differently if I had known she was my daughter?” Fortunately he could answer “yes” and “no.”

We can always think of an easier, quicker way to do the things we do. But we don’t always know what could have been if we had gone the extra mile and done it the best we knew how. You have probably heard the story (don’t know if this is true or just a fable told to make a point) about the wealthy man who felt sorry for a home builder who was struggling so he thought he’d help him out by having him build a home. The wealthy man told the builder to spare no expense. But the builder took advantage of him. He submitted receipts for top of the line materials, but substituted inferior quality materials and pocketed the difference (probably justifying his actions by thinking the wealthy man could afford it and he needed money). When the home was completed, the wealthy man handed the builder the keys to the house and said, “The house is yours. Enjoy it.”

I’m sure the builder's heart sank when he thought back on all the shortcuts he’d made. Now that the home was his, he wished he had done it right.

We don’t get “overs” in life. Things are what we make it. Why not make it the very best we can.

Punctuality

I am an on-time person. I hate to be late and I hate others who are late. I think it is not

only rude but self-centered to make everyone wait for you. The trouble with being

punctual, however, is that nobody’s there to appreciate it.