A Life of Simple JoyReducing stress, increasing joy one post at a time!

Chick Flick Movie Night

Take a break with your girlfriends. Invite everyone over for a movie night. Fix comfort food and have your friends bring comforters, throws and pillows so they can relax while watching the movie. What a great night of comfort: warm soup, a warm throw and the warm comfort of your girlfriends.

Menu

• Tomato Soup
• Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
• S’mores
• Popcorn
• Cocoa

Chocolate Friendship Tea

What a winning combination:  chocolate, tea and friends.  This a a great opportunity to show others how much you appreciate their friendship. Teas are an easy way to entertain. While many women believe a tea is a complicated event, it can be the best way to entertain your friends. Tea is a formal snack. It is not a meal. You want to offer a variety of finger foods.

For this tea, you want to set the table buffet-style.  Stick to traditional tea sandwiches, with the exception of chocolate cream cheese sandwiches.  However, the rest of the table is filled with chocolate treats.  For your tea, save time in the kitchen.  Go to the store and bakery.  Look for interesting treats done in chocolate.  The centerpiece of our table is a decadent chocolate layered cake that makes you shudder in delight when you look at it. You can create your own cake. Just use chocolate cake mix, chocolate Cool Whip to ice and chocolate shavings.

Menu

Tea Sandwiches

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Brownie Cups

Truffles

Chocolate Decadent Cake

Vanilla Tea

HOPE: Even when things are extremely difficult, you must maintain hope. This is not a Pollyanna attitude or even Annie singing about tomorrow. Too often, we only focus on today and how bad things are. We only focus on the bad causing us to become more depressed. Depression leads to inaction which only makes the situation worse. Soon, it becomes an out of control cycle that is almost impossible to escape.

No matter how bad your situation is, you must spend time each and every day envisioning a better future. You must work to maintain hope for yourself and your family. You must make the vision strong. You must find ways to make it real. Mr Diva and I have photos taped to the side of our frig to remind us of the things we are working for today. Some days, the vision is the only thing that keeps you pressing forward. But you must ALWAYS be moving forward. Even if it is only baby steps, make them steps forward. If you slip backward, then make up the lost ground and press farther ahead. Keep the vision in front of you, maintain the hope in your heart and mind and soon the vision becomes a reality. Remember, most people quit immediately before they achieve success. Hang on, press through and see the incredible things that happen in your life and the life of your family.

Maintain F*A*I*T*H when life is difficult and you find a strength, peace and determination you never knew existed within you.

TIME: A passage in the Bible tells us there is a time for everything. This includes the way you react to difficult times. When things get tough, some people freeze like a deer in headlights. Other people run around like crazy. So, some do nothing while others try to do ANYTHING! Whatever you are doing, if you have been doing it for an extended time and it is an extreme reaction, it may be time to change tactics. If you have become so depressed by your situation that all you are able to do is sit there taking no action, you need to MOVE! Now, this doesn’t mean rushing around like crazy. Instead, you need to clear your mind and consider your options. Believe it or not, you do have options. You have options even in the most severe situations. This is where your ingenuity comes into play. Calm yourself and think. If necessary, pretend it is someone else’s problem, then apply your imagination to solving the problem. Sometimes, it is necessary to remove yourself from the situation, take a step back to allow you to calmly and rationally develop a plan of action.

What if you are running around like crazy, trying everything, with nothing working out for you? Well, you need to do the exact same thing I said above. You must take a breath, calm your fears and THINK! Begin using logic rather than emotion. All the action you have been taking is just wearing you down. It is also wearing your family down. It may take shutting down for awhile to give you a new perspective on the situation. I often use this when I have become overwhelmed with my work. Granted, I don’t have small children so it makes is easier for me to lock myself away. However, you can find ways to take time away from it all. Even if you just go to bed early one night, it may be just the break you need to clear your mind and approach your problems anew. When thinks become too much, talk to your spouse and arrange a break. Explain why you need it. You should be able to work out a plan that gives you the break you need.
Time is a valuable tool for you during difficult times. Use it wisely and to your advantage.

INGENUITY: When things are tight financially in your family, the one commodity you have an unlimited supply of is ingenuity. Your creativity is only limited by your imagination. This is a time to let your imagination run free. This is also the time to tap the creativity of your family, especially your children. Kids tend not to filter their ideas. They may not know what works and what doesn’t. While some of their ideas may be waaaaay out there, it is also possible you can take those way out ideas and mold them into workable ideas. Adults often become so frustrated and discouraged, we begin to believe there are no workable answers. This is a major cloud to our ability to think creatively. You will find, believe me, you WILL find your kids are an unlimited supply of ideas and suggestions. Present them with a problem, a challenge and ask them to come up with some solutions. Set a time to meet as a family where each child can present their ideas. Then, sit back and take notes. Decide on the most promising solution. If it needs work, work it out as a family.

As I said in an earlier post, you get maximum cooperation when everyone is invested in the project. If you have one malcontent, they will slow down if not halt the entire project. Learn to listen for discontent. Never brush it off. If someone doesn’t like an approach to a problem, dig deeper and find out why. Although I might seem to treat all this like a game, I am dead serious about the whole process. When things get tough financially for your family, it affects absolutely everyone in the family. You may think it affects you and your spouse more than your kids but when something bothers you, it bothers the entire family. Address any concerns no matter how minor they may seem to you. Use ingenuity to address problems, concerns, rewards and the future and see how quickly attitudes turn around for the entire family.

ATTITUDE: Women are the hearts of their families. Your attitude affects the entire family. If you have a bad attitude, an attitude that is negative, your entire family will have a negative attitude. Everyone becomes edgy and angry. When things are on edge at home, things tend to get bad in all the other aspects of your life.  Suddenly, it becomes a building process, an inverted pyramid that drives you deeper and deeper into a hole of depression.

Learn ways to deal with the stress better so you don’t pass it along to everyone in your life. I always advise women to create “pockets of peace.” I know, it sounds very corny but corny works. A pocket of peace is a little vacation that helps you relax. It can be as simple as a piece of dark chocolate to a soothing bubble bath. Even some deep breathing works. You need to find a trigger that soothes you in a very short period of time. If all else fails, wait until everyone goes to bed, sit alone in the dark and cry, cry, cry. Get it out of your system. Yes, I know, it stinks but you are the grown up in this situation so you need to suck it up.

In addition, you must pray. My husband and I always pray together for added strength and protection. Pray together as a family. The more people praying, the more positive the attitude of everyone. Maintain a positive attitude and see those around respond.

I don’t have to tell you that times are tough. If you and your family aren’t experiencing difficulties personally, then you have seen the problems on the news and online. Odds are, though, you’re going through some lean times. This leaves you feeling uncertain, even anxious from time to time. This is when you need to call on F*A*I*T*H:

FAMILY: When things are difficult, you must lean on and rely on those closest to you. Be honest with your spouse and children. If money is tight, let them know. You need to get everyone on board if you want this to work. You don’t need to scare your kids, making them think the family finances are about to collapse. However, this is the perfect time to teach your kids about family finance and budgets. If they are old enough, get their input and ideas on ways to economize. Make it a family project. Teach kids how to clip coupons. Let them plan the menu and offer a treat to the one who comes up with the least expensive but nutritious meal. Take the kids along to the grocery store and let them do the shopping. Kids are great when it comes to finding the best bargains. Tell them what the budget is for the weekly grocery shopping, give them the list and let them know something special can be purchased with the money saved. It can be a special dessert or the money can be saved up for a special event for the entire family. This is only one way to teach your kids about budgeting and running a household. Combine your imagination with your kids’ enthusiasm and your family will not only get through the current crisis but also any other difficult times in the years ahead.

•    ½ lb butter
•    2 tablespoons granulated sugar
•    2 small packages cream cheese
•    2 cups flour
•    2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat oven 350. Mix ingredients together. Roll out on floured surface. Cut with a glass (yes, a drinking glass.) Put a spoonful of apricot jam in the center of cookie. Bake 20 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when cooled.

•    1 cup butter
•    1/2 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
•    1/2 teaspoon salt
•    1 tablespoon water
•    1 teaspoon vanilla
•    2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
•    1 cup rolled oats
•    red or green candied cherries
•    2 cups flaked coconut

Cream butter with sugar, salt, water and vanilla. Add flour and beat until blended. Stir in oats. Shape dough around cherries (whole cherries) into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place on un-greased baking sheet. Bake in 350 oven 18-20 minutes. cool on racks. Dip cooled cookies into frosting, then roll in coconut. Let dry on rack.

Frosting

•    2 cups confectioners sugar
•    1/4 cup milk
•    few drops green food coloring
•    Few drops mint extract

Combine sugar, milk, food coloring and extract. Beat until smooth. Mixture will be thin.

•    1 package lemon cake mix
•    1 3 ounce package cream cheese, softened
•    3/4 cup milk
•    4 eggs
•    1 1/4 cup ground cranberries
•    1/2 cup ground walnuts
•    1/4 cup sugar
•    confectioners’ sugar

Blend cake mix, cream cheese, and milk; beat with mixer for 2 minutes at medium speed. Add eggs; beat 2 minutes longer. Mix cranberries, walnuts, 1/4 cup sugar; gently fold into cake batter. Pour into greased and floured bundt or tube pan. Bake in 350 oven for 1 hour or until done. Cool for 5 minutes in pan; turn out on cake rack. Dust with powdered sugar.