Farewell my friend.....

This essay is actually the work of Lori Borgman and was first published in the Indianapolis Star on 15 March 1998. 

"Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned, but overbearing, regulations were set in place.
Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, teenagers suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they had themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer paracetamol, sun lotion or plaster to a pupil, but could not inform the parents when a pupil became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home, but the burglar could sue you for assault because you protected yourself and your own.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion, his daughter, Responsibility and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm A Victim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized that he was gone."

Quick Neighbor Gifts for Christmastime for about $1.50 per neighbor

a blogger i follow for deals, Raining Hot Coupons sent out a great one today, and it let me assemble some handy neighbor gifts for the holidays, for about $1.50 each (3.04 / 4 pack tape, .70 final price by stacking coupons for the on sale gift wrap). The deal expires tomorrow (Nov 8th) so you can still snag it too- just follow the link on her post.

Combined with a bit of curling ribbon that i had on hand, and some cards that took all of about 10 minutes to print and cut and glue to backer cardstock cut just slightly bigger, well, that was right in my happy zone of super easy, practical, and fits with my goal of interacting with the neighbors more in positive ways :)

Easily save the rest of the can when your recipe only uses a bit of tomato paste

You know how every recipe ever that uses tomato paste only calls for 2 tablespoons? Maybe 4 if you're lucky? And those pesky cans come in the 6 ounce variety...which is 12 tablespoons, by the way. Not terribly handy. My personal favorite is the pizza sauce one that calls for 8 ounces. Grr.

So here's the easy way to keep the paste on hand, pre-measured and ready to use:

just freeze it. But don't just chuck the can in there like Martha says, that means you will have to try and saw a frozen lump apart, or even worse, try to pry a frozen lump out of a frozen can.

Take your handy dandy tablespoon measuring spoon, and make some glops on wax paper. 2 tablespoons is one ounce of paste, so make sure you have room in your freezer to lay a decent sized sheet out for a good minute. Ok, an hour, but who's counting? I, being very organized, forgot, and did the packaging part a day later. Or two. Close enough. Once they're frozen through (or once you remember that you're doing stuff and get back to it) pry them off the wax paper (it's easy don't worry) and either pack them two by two with a foodsaver, or wrap in wax paper and put them all in a ziploc. (Wrapping is essential if you aren't vacuum sealing as they'll stick together far too easily).

Label, pop them in the freezer, and use one or more as needed. They thaw in just moments since the paste has a very low water content and they never get that hard frozen state going.