A Week of Learning

For someone like me who loves to learn new things, this past week was a treasure trove! It seemed that every day there was some new bit of information making itself available to me. Since I like to think my blog can be a way to share my newfound knowledge, I'm going to share some of the things I learned along with the source from which I gained the information.

1. Potato chips burn well, but still not as well as tortilla chips. However, the funnest flammable snack food we've found so far is Bugles (the chips, not the instruments). If you light the pointed end, they burn, and the smoke comes out in little trails from the big open end. We learned these things by further experimentation in a couple of kitchens this week. We're either fun parents or seriously in need of new hobbies.

2. The Catholic church uses a Bible that includes more books in the Old Testament than the Bible used by other Christian denominations. I found this fact while studying some Biblical references online. I can't believe I reached my 40's without knowing that. It was interesting to read about the books and the variety of Bibles that are considered as official for use by the Vatican and also for use by members.

3. The rule for when to use a hard 'g' vs. a soft 'g' (sounds like a 'j') is that it is a soft sound when g is followed by an e or an i. I learned this from the Electric Company while Cheyenne watched it in the hotel in Vernal. I've always just read the words without realizing that there was a rule telling me which way to pronounce it. You must realize, of course, that there are exceptions like girl, give, etc. But it also explains why there is a 'u' in words like 'guess' so the word has a hard g sound even though there is an 'e' after it. That was way too much information, wasn't it?

4. I learned how to make an olive tree! Not one that grows olives, mind you, just a decorative tree to serve olives at a nice dinner. My niece really added to the beauty of our holiday dinner last week by laboriously making a beautiful fruit bouquet. She also made a fancy vegetable tray, and she taught me to make an olive tree. It was somewhat ironic in that olives are one of approximately three foods I just don't eat. Nonetheless, it was fun to start from scratch and make it look pretty. We used a cone made of floral foam, covered it with kale and lettuce, then placed decorative clumps of olives on it for the masses to take off and eat. Once again, my creativity only seems to come out when food is involved. What does that mean?


5. I like nice people. It's been sad for me to watch lots of different situations this last week in which people have been way less than nice. In extreme situations, people have taken other people's lives. In less extreme situations, sports have gotten out of hand, hateful comments have been lobbed at others who have different beliefs or views, and even family members have said mean and hurtful things to each other. I'm sure I make my share of mistakes on a regular basis, but I at least try to be nice. I've known for a long time that I like it when people are nice, but I re-learned that this week.

6. Cryotherapy is a crazy way to treat muscular ailments! While watching my guilty pleasure of The Amazing Race, I was introduced to cryotherapy as the contestants had to participate in a session in Prague, Czech Republic. The concept is that extremely cold temperatures are used to treat and heal athletes as well as others with different kinds of arthritis and other ailments. People dressed in not much more than underwear, hats, gloves, socks, and masks for their noses, go in a small room for 1-3 minutes with temperatures dropping as low as 180 degrees below zero on the Celsius scale!! For those who don't want to find a calculator, that is about -290 degrees Fahrenheit!!! I didn't believe it was even possible till I read some more about it online. And if it's on network TV and online, how can you argue? Don't expect me to be signing up any time too soon. If you want to see for yourself, go here.

7. I heard a great story that made me think. A mother was trying to get her son to take a bath, something he fought every day. Finally, he said, "Why do I have to take a bath when you never have to?" The mother realized that she always showered early in the morning before he got up. he'd never seen her bathe so he assumed she didn't do it. The point being made was that sometimes our kids don't know what is important to us because they may not see us read out scriptures while they are at school or write a check to a charity when we're paying bills or any number of other things we do out of their sight. It's made me really think about the things I want my kids to know about me and the things I find important.

Truth is, I learned a lot more than that this week, but I've shared the most exciting things. Isn't it great that there is so much to be learned? It's one more reason that I want to get up tomorrow. Who knows what juicy tidbit awaits me! I hope you all learn something new today as well. If you want to share a little tidbit in my comments, I also learned last week that you can subscribe to comments and I'll be emailed when you leave one. Isn't that just one more cool thing? I can't wait to learn from you.