December 21, 20012

What will you be doing on December 21, 2012? If you are a doomsday believer, you are probably expecting the world to end that day. There are probably Christians who believe that is when the Second Coming of Christ will occur. All the talk stems around the fact that the Mayan calendar ends its 5,125-year-long cycle. Predictions have ranged from Christ coming that day to the Earth being hit by some large object. If you are true child of God, you don't need to worry as you know you've a home in Heaven waiting for you. The following Bible verses are from the King James translation and will help you to understand that no one, not even Jesus, knew when the end times would happen.

Matthew 24:36
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Matthew 24:42
Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Matthew 24:44
Therefore be ye also read: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Matthew 25:13
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Books, Books & More Books

If you're an avid reader such as me, you know your new year is off to a great start when you become the proud owner of your very first ereader. I went out with my sister on Monday, and broke down and bought myself a Nook Simple Touch. My ultimate wish was for the Nook Tablet, but settled for the Simple Touch for now since I was really wanting something to download library books onto.

As soon as I got home with it, it was immediately plugged into my computer to start charging. (Note: if you buy one, be aware that it took mine almost 24 hours to charge to full capacity.) While my new "toy" was charging, I began to surf around for free books to download. Once the Nook was charged, I downloaded almost 30 books. Barnes and Noble is one of the first places I went to. I'll admit, most of the free book sites don't offer the latest books on the market, but that's ok. One suggestion I would make if you are considering purchasing an ereader, whether it be a Nook, Kindle, Sony or some other type of ereader, find out from your local library if they offer ebooks for downloading. If they do, you may want to find out what you need to do in order to download books onto your ereader. Some places, such as Barnes and Noble, offer bargain deals. You could also consider making friends with people who have ereaders and you can share books.

As I said, I love to read and have always loved to do so for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, my interest was history. I loved reading biographies about such people as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Boone, etc. Around the time I turned 18, my sister brought home a paperback by Kathleen Woodweiss, The Flame and the Flower. This book started a lifelong love of historical romances. It's funny that after 40 years, I still remember that book. Even though books about American history and historical romances are my favorites, I also like books about Native Americans, cave people/pre-history, and some syfy/paranormal items.

Favorite authors? I enjoy Jude Devereaux, Johanna Lindsay, Victoria Alexander, Mary Balogh, Gayle Callen, and Heather Graham, just to name a few. Cassie Edwards has written several historical romance books about Native Americans. In the syfy/paranormal genre, I like Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Gena Showalter. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, a husband & wife team, wrote several books about early Americans that I really enjoyed reading. This past September I attended my first book signing. Zak Bagans, host of the "Ghost Adventures" on the Travel Channel, had written a book entitled Dark World. in which he talks about some of the adventures he, Nick Groff, and Aaron Goodwin have while checking out haunted places. It was great to meet someone and have them sign a book for me.

Days of Our Lives

I've been a fan of Days of Our Lives (DOOL) since the very beginning. It's the only soap opera I keep up with; even my spouse watches it with me. If you're not familiar with DOOL, it has been on NBC for almost 50 years. It started out centering on the family of Tom and Alice Horton. Tom was chief of staff at the Salem Hospital, and Alice was well-known for her homemade donuts. Tom and Alice were the parents of 5 children: Tom Jr., Mickey, Bill, Addie, and Marie. (NOTE: For some unknown reason, NBC's DOOL site doesn't have Tom Jr. and Marie listed in the family geneaology.) If my memory serves me right, Tom Jr. and Bill were doctors, Mickey was a lawyer, and Marie was a nun. I can't remember what Addie did, but I do know she had leukemia, but died after being struck by a car while out for a walk with her young daughter, Hope.

Nowadays the show centers around the Brady, DiMera, and Kiriakis families. Over the course of the show, each family somehow got intertwined with each other either through marriages or affairs. Said affairs would ultimately result in a birth which really mixed up the families. Unfortunately, there have been instances where history has been rewritten. Case in point: When John Black was introduced, everyone thought he was Roman Brady. It eventually was revealed that he wasn't Roman, but he had no memory of who he actually was; therefore, he took the name John Black. It was found out later that he was Forrest Alamain, nephew to Vivian Alamain and brother to Laurence Alamain. Everyone had always thought Forrest was deceased. But, as I said, the writers rewrote John's lineage by making him a DiMera/Brady. It was written that Stefano's father had had an affair with Shawn Brady's sister, Colleen, thereby producing John. This not only made John a half-brother to Stefano, but a first cousin to Roman and Bo.

Speaking of weird lineages, I wonder how many viewers realize that Hope and Julie are actually half-sisters. They share the same mother, Addie Horton, with Julie being several years older than Hope. Julie eventually married Hope's father, Doug, thereby also becoming Hope's step-mother. Told you it was weird. :-) It is my hope that you will come back often as I will be sharing some spoilers with you as I come across them. Until then...

Merry Christmas

From my house to yours, may your Christmas be merry and bright! Remember that today is meant for celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ! As we open the brightly wrapped presents, always know that not only was His birth a great gift, but also His death and resurrection was the ultimate gift.

Christmas Shopping

It seems that the older I get, the worse I get on doing my Christmas shopping. When my kids were growing up, I usually had all my shopping done by November. Now that they are adults? I keep getting started later in the year. :-) This year has really be hard getting anything done due to my son being involved in an auto accident leaving his right foot crushed. Therefore, his dad and I are playing nursemaids.

Don't know about you, but I LOVE shopping online. The kids have wishlists on Amazon, which makes it VERY convenient when doing their Christmas shopping. My daughter also likes Bath & Body Works. So far all the gifts I've bought this year for their stockings have been bought online. Tomorrow I'll actually go out to the brick 'n' mortar stores to pick up some gifts.

Stockings you say? Yes, my kids get all their gifts put in (and around) their 48" stockings. The picture you see is one of these stockings. I bought the stockings back in 1985 at a home party, and they are used every year. It's funny in that both of the kids have certain spots on my living room floor they place their stockings each year on Christmas Eve. I do not put any of their gifts under the tree. Why? The looks on their faces on Christmas morning is my present.

New Watkins Catalogs

New 2012 catalogs are now available. If you would be interested in having one, please let us know and one will be sent to you asap.

Brownie Pie à la Mode

Nutrition Facts:
Makes 8 servings.

Nutritional Information Per Serving:
Calories 300
Protein 6 g
Carbohydrates 50 g
Sodium 270 mg
Fat 9 g
Saturated Fat 2 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Dietary Fiber 1 g

Ingredients
1/2 cup/125 mL reduced-calorie hard margarine
1/4 cup/60 mL Baking Cocoa
3/4 cup/180 mL sugar
3/4 cup/180 mL all-purpose flour
1 tsp/5 mL Baking Powder
1-1/2 tsp/7.5 mL Original Double-Strength Vanilla
2 egg whites
4 cups/1 liter nonfat frozen yogurt or ice cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Melt margarine in small saucepan over medium heat; stir in cocoa. Remove from heat and add sugar, flour, baking powder, vanilla and egg whites; mix well. Spread batter into 9-inch/23-cm pie plate coated with no-stick cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes or until pie tests done. Let cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into 8 wedges. Place on serving plates and top with yogurt. Garnish with sliced berries, if desired.

The above recipe is from Watkins Products. If you would like to order the Baking Cocoa, Baking Powder, or the Original Double-Strength Vanilla, please let us know.