The care and feeding of "winter skin"

Help for dry skin, posted at Our Blue Castle. I think the most important one for me is drinking more.

From Amy's blog:

#################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### #################################################### ####################################################

Your personality type is RLUEI

You are reserved, moderately moody, moderately organized, egocentric, and intellectual, and may prefer a city which matches those traits.

The largest representation of your personality type can be found in the these U.S. cities: Albuquerque/Santa Fe, Salt Lake City, Charlotte, Richmond, Denver, Providence, Louisville, Washington DC, Austin, Harrisburg, San Antonio, Baltimore, Indianapolis and these international countries/regions Bulgaria, Canada, Brazil, Poland, Finland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Hungary, Germany, France, Argentina, Portugal, Thailand, Switzerland, Spain, Russia

What Places In The World Match Your Personality?
City Reviews at CityCulture.org

Little Hand

Raising Your Spirited Child Part 1 (of 5)

Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

I'm going to quickly go through what's in this book. I don't want to give away so much that you don't need to read the book yourself, but, hopefully, if you have a Spirited Child, having a taste of what's in this book will convince you that it's just the book you need. :)

Part 1 - Understanding Spirit

Spirited kids are more intense, more persistent, more sensitive than other kids. "On the good days, being the parent of a spirited child is astounding, dumbfounding, wonderful, funny, interesting, and interspersed with moments of brilliance. The dreadful days are another story. On those days, you're not sure you can face another 24 hours with him. It's hard to feel good at parenting when you can't even get his socks on, when every word you've said to him has been a reprimand, when the innocent act of serving tuna casserole instead of the expected tacos incites a riot, when you realize you've left more public places in a huff with your child in five years than most parents do in a lifetime. You feel weary, drained, and much too old for this even if you were only in your twenties when your child was born. It's hard to love a kid who keeps you up at night and embarrasses you in shopping centers."

Then follows a list of nine characteristics that spirited kids often have - intensity, persistence, sensitivity, etc. Parents didn't cause their kids to be spirited, and they aren't alone. Spirited kids often grow up to use their intensity creatively.

The first step is changing the way spirited kids are labelled. It's much easier for us mentally to deal with a child who's "flexible," "assertive" and "curious" - rather than one who's "unpredictable," "stubborn," and "nosy." And positive labels help the child to focus on his strengths, rather than feel discouraged as a failure who has nothing but faults.

Is hyper-sensitivity a problem? Is your child unable to adapt, or very perceptive? There's a chapter to help parents determine which specific character traits/temperament types apply to their particular child. There's also a chapter to help parents figure out their own type, and see how it "fits" with their child. That can help you find working solutionsl and establish boundaries based on your specific case and comfort level.

Finished Dorian Gray

It ended exactly like I knew it would. Really, there's only one possible way it could end. But I don't want to say too much and give anything away. ;)

It did get me thinking, though, about our influence on others. Do we inspire those around us to be better people, to take the high road, to feel good about making right choices? Or do we try to make them our partners in crime, encourage our friends to say things they shouldn't, feel justified for the wrong things, or involve themselves in things they wouldn't normally? Are our intimates and acquaintances better people for knowing us? It's an interesting thought, although I don't think there are many of us who have the kind of power or sway over others to influence them as much as was in the book.

What does influence have to do with a book about a painting? Read it and find out!

Next on my list: a whirlwind skim through Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka (I originally got it to read with a friend who isn't going to have time for it), and then a book about Maria Montessori, which I'll be summarizing as I go.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

I'm hesitant to post much because of spoilers. So I won't say much. I think I can say it all in three words: "Worse, and worse!"

I remember my mother saw the movie at some point in her life and it must have made an impression on her because she told all of us kids about it. She used to tell us the storyline of movies we couldn't see. She recounted the entire 'Poseidon Adventure' movie after she saw it in the theater because it was rated PG and we weren't allowed to see it. And she told us the story of The Monkey's Paw. She was narrating before Charlotte Mason became popular! LOL!

I'm in the middle of chapter 14. I've just taken a quick peek at sparksnotes.com, I'll probably take a closer look after I finish the book. I wanted to see if the book that fascinated Dorian Gray so much is a real book, and it appears that it is. Dorian Gray is a fascinating study of the results of choices that we make, and the potential, as Charlotte Mason said, for both good and evil in each of us. Dorian Gray could have gone either way, he had a few golden opportunities to turn his life around, and chose not to. I see a bleak future ahead for him, and a tragic ending to the story. Kinda like watching a train wreck.

My name is Toddler

Athena in a Minivan's Weblog posted some TODDLER LAWS OF OWNERSHIP. I was going to leave a comment, but she installed a new system where you have to type in coded numbers and I can't view them from Mozilla! I even tried the "view image" button, but instead of opening a new window like it usually does, it opened the image in the same window. So then I was able to see the numbers, but the page was gone.

LOL! I don't know what the event of distinction was for which her Baby became Toddler, but Miss M just had her second birthday; maybe she should cease being Baby and be henceforth known as Toddler, too! The laws certainly seem to apply!

Stuffing Rice

This is a crockpot recipe that I, uncook though I am, actually made up myself!

Actually, I just converted my Thanksgiving stuffing recipe so I could eat wheat-free stuffing last year, but everyone else in the family liked it, so I've started making it regularly in the crock pot.

Saute:
1 minced onion
1 stick butter, margarine or oil

Add:
chicken, diced (I used 1 chicken breast)
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Throw in the crockpot with:
1 1/2 cups brown rice
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water

Stir and cook on high 4-5 hours. It takes a LONG time for brown rice to cook in a crock pot.

A Moment of Our Day

Miss M is running up and down right now singing "Defer, defer, to the Lord High Exutioner!" at the top of her lungs (the right tune too). Brother J has just gotten out of his heavy PVC mail hauberk (which he had on for hours) and is helping our mom make dinner while I read Beowulf aloud.

"Lo, so may he say who sooth and right
follows ’mid folk, of far times mindful,
a land-warden old, that this earl belongs
to the better breed! So, borne aloft,
thy fame must fly, O friend my Beowulf,
far and wide o’er folksteads many."

Prophetic, Hrothgar. Prophetic.

What I'm Reading

I started The Picture of Dorian Gray last night. Oscar Wilde casually adds in a lot of his own opinionated comments that make it really interesting, but also make it a book you can't speed through.

My copy is a Barnes and Noble Collector's Library edition. I love them! They're small enough to be comfortable to hold, hardback so they have a solid feel, and the print is large and easy on the eyes. I hope to someday have the complete collection!