Halloween is the only holiday I know that offers kindness to children we may not know. It is a time in which everyone gains something. We who have seen a number of Halloweens enjoy the costumes, the screaming and the excitement of young people running around from house to house praising or complaining about the latest offering.
I know there are those who darken their homes for the night and pull in the welcome mat. However, the true test of kindness is giving to someone who you don’t know… sharing some of your good fortune with others… even if but for one night.
Roger Freberg
special thanks to Karla for saving this old picture of her sisters!
Laura and I were up in silicon valley staying at a nice hotel. We came down to breakfast and ordered the love of my childhood existence…. cooked oatmeal with fruit, brown sugar and other good stuff! Laura looked at me after her first bite and said, ‘this is good!’ At first, Laura thought that something had changed in her that suddenly and inexplicably changed her attitude towards oatmeal from dread to anticipation? It was the quality oatmeal, it’s preparation and it’s presentation.
Anyway, when we returned I pulled out my favorite Oatmeal and threw it into a rice cooker… and it turned out perfectly! A note of caution, if you use a rice cooker, take the lid off and keep an eye on it until you find a routine that works for you.
By the way, after 37 years of marriage, it’s nice that we can still surprise each other.
I’ve been blogging a while on a few of the items I have been making that have a Greek accent. I have enjoyed rolling grape leaves with a favorite stuffing of rice, onions, garlic, various seasonings and beef or lamb. Delicious!
However, one blogger told me that he didn’t know how to roll grape leaves and asked for help, and he wasn’t alone. Here’s how to do it:
1) Lay out your grape leaves as shown above starting from left to right with each leaf overlapping the one slightly vertically… and horizontally.
2) place your filling as shown… it doesn’t take very much as you will see
3) lift the far left edges of the leaves and roll firmly
4) when you reach the far right… tuck both the top edge and bottom edge under.
There is a process for treating the leaves if you use fresh that isn’t too difficult and you should be able to find it on-line. The real challenge for many is if you buy the kind that comes in a jar. The interesting thing is that typically, each jar has two rolls and each can be removed if you take out the last roll placed in the jar…first. Look carefully and you will clearly see that one was placed in last. Gently separate the leaves and place in a large bowl and pour boiling water over them ( to reduce the saltiness) and rinse careful a couple of times.
Since the time I wrote this blog nearly 3 years ago, this continues to be a favorite with people visiting my site over and over. We do know relationships are very important to people, and why some relationships work and others dissolve is the elusive 64 million dollar question. So much time and effort has been given to analyzing why relationships fail, and far too little effort has been made to understanding why some relationships work. I believe, it is often more helpful in studying why things work.
I decided to see what folks were saying about this age old question and there is much to read for those interested.
Here’s an interesting sitethat after you slug through the graphs yourself a few truisms pop out that might surprise you. One thing popped out, almost everyone is happy with s0meone pretty much like themselves. And it should not be surprising that people with similar personalities gravitate together…
However, I was most interested in how the INTJ (Laura) and the ENTJ (Roger) paired up. Were there any surprises? Here is part of a cautionary statement:
“Similarly, Intuitive Thinking types (ENTP, INTP, ENTJ, INTJ) have only a 59% satisfaction rate when paired with another Intuitive Thinker. These types tend to be among the most critical of their partners and may be harder to please in general.”
As I mentioned in the post three years ago, it is how we (individually and as a couple) address our areas of potential conflict that ultimately measures the extent of our compatibility. Knowing that we — or others — may be hard to please and even critical at times might cause us to pause and fully assess the impact we may have in releasing an instinctive salvo! What is important is not our differences, but our willingness to work together.
What I found most interesting was they types of personalities that attracted both personalities. The INTJ and the ENTJ are compatible with people who share all but one factor:
INTJ with INTP, INFP, INFJ and oddly enough the ENTJ
ENTJ with ENTP, ENFP, ENFJ and also with another ENTJ
Outside of the consistent difference in the extrovert/introvertfactor ( the I or the E), both personality types prefer people who might be explained this way:
the N : “Intuitives tend to be more abstract in their perceptions, and tend to think more about meaning, connections, and possibilities. Intuitives are often more imaginative than realistic.”
the F: “Feelers prefer decisions that are consistent with their values and help to build harmonious relationships.”
the J: “Judgers tend to prefer structure, schedules, and plans. They like clear expectations and feel accomplishment from completing tasks.”
the P: “Perceivers prefer an open-ended, spontaneous and flexible existence. They enjoy feeling that their options are open and that there are many possibilities available.”
These are broad definitions, but do point to some interesting dynamics between ENTJ’s and INTJ’s.
So, with all these similarities and with an INTJ that already is predisposed to like him 😉 … how can an ENTJ resist?
There are a lot of nice things about living in small town America… except for lower prices, selection and availability of certain exotic products like …. food, clothing and gasoline.
Fortunately for us living in the back and beyond, there is the internet. It is our window on the world and our way to connecting with all the things and people we love. Laura my bride of 37 years is very partial to Brazil nuts… I mean… who isn’t? My daughter Karen is also… she wants to make up some Baklava with some! (It should be a very meaty Baklava) In our neck of the woods you are lucky to find Brazil nuts in a can of mixed nuts… otherwise they are very scarce! So, I found a way to make everyone happy and be easy on my pocketbook.
Here is my secret for all things nutty…. a third generation family business… how cool is that!
So, with the Olympics set for Brazil and the Reputation Institute’s next Conference in Rio… what better way to celebrate these events than to enjoy a Brazil nut… or two.
As they say, one is too many and a million is not enough!
