BOOK REVIEW WHERE HAS OPRAH TAKEN US? BY STEPHEN MANSFIELD

When I started to read this book WHERE HAS OPRAH TAKEN US? THE RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE OF THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS WOMAN BY STEPHEN MANSFIELD I was not really sure what I would really feel about this famous woman of our time. I learned a lot more about Oprah Winfrey than I ever thought I would. What more does anyone have to utter but her name "OPRAH" to have someone shake their head and picture her face in their mind? For years we watched her on TV talking to some of the greatest people of our time. Through all of this she makes it look easy. She makes her everyday life look easy.





She was a woman we learned that had a terrible, terrible childhood. Her childhood ended the same day she lost her innocence when she became pregnant at the age of 14 years old by a family member. The most horrible in all of this is that no one believed her, not even her other family members who were supposed to help and protect her.


There was nothing else for her to do but to carry on. She was and is a strong woman . As a child she was taken every Sunday to Church. At the age of 21 she continued to go to church but no one was fooled, her faith had changed.


She has become to all of us a strong woman, a woman of courage, a woman who wants and does help the people who she believes need her help. But through all of this she seems to have chosen her own Religion , her own beliefs and her own ideas about spirituality. One of her biggest beliefs is her belief in the power of destiny. She felt that way ever since she was four years old and had a conversation with her grandmother. The problem is that when someone is as well known and people look to them for guidance than it is much more important what their feelings are about spirituality. She is a story of hope and triumph. But there is also a feeling of not really knowing what it is all about.


A book which left me asking; who really is the real Oprah and where has she really taken us?

This book was sent to me without charge by Booksneeze.com to read and review this book. The opinions are all of my own .

DOING FUN THINGS WITH MY GRANDCHILDREN

Well we have been planning what we hope will be a fun weekend. It seems like my grandchildren are growing soo fast that if I blink they look totally different. My husband Poppie who died a little over a year and a half ago loved Halloween. When Mommy and her brother and sisters were little he went all out. One year he bought a black cauldron and a fake hand at a costume shop. I thought he was finished but then he brought dry ice home the afternoon of Halloween. He then showed us a mask which was the grim reaper. That night he delighted in scaring the kids who came to trick or treat. One mother got so scared that she ran 2 houses up the street and had to come back to get her child.
Last year our first Halloween without him was really hard. We are so happy that we found PUMPKINTOWN U.S.A. about 20 minutes from our house. This year we hope to bring our newest family member to have some fun. Hopefully we will have good weather. Then on the way home we will stop at a local orchard and buy some great items like pumpkin flavored syrup, apple butter , pumpkin butter and more . I know that Poppie will be watching us. Nana

GOING TO PUMPKINTOWN, U.S.A.

We really can't wait until this weekend. If all goes as planned and it doesn't rain we all want to go to PUMPKINTOWN USA in Ct. We all went there last year and it was a blast! The kids could not have had more fun. There was small mazes for the kids, life size stuffed pumpkin headed people dressed as policemen. firemen , a bride and groom and more. There is a store where you can buy awesome pumpkins, winter squash, all different kinds of butters and more. They have a car shaped like a pumpkin.

OUTBACK HERE WE COME !

Today in the mail I got my coupon for a free steak dinner at OUTBACK RESTAURANT !What a great company. A few weeks ago they had a special giveaway. It was If you were one in a million. At first I had trouble because the website was so busy. But I was able to get through. I am very pleased that I got the coupon in only a few weeks. I even got an email telling me it was on the way. What a great company. We went there a few weeks ago and it was delicious. This gives us another great reason to go back !!!!

WALMART DEALS

The WALMART near us is changing over to a super WALMART. The other day I stopped there to see if any clothes were marked down for the grandchildren. I was so excited I couldn't believe my luck. There was a sign that said that for that day only all red sales tags were half price. Between the clothes, adult and children, and the toys I was able to do some Christmas shopping. I always try to get some done starting around September because it is a great way to save money by buying an item when you see it on sale. It also is easier to budget so that you have to spend your budget all at once. Mommy and http://www.dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com went later in the day and found out that some items were actually 75% off . All in all a lot of great deals. You never know what you will find when you go shopping .

STAINED GLASS HEARTS BY PATSY CLAIRMONT BOOK REVIEW

When I first starting reading this book I really did not understand what the title was all about. Stained Glass Hearts. What is stained glass really? It is the power of God being able to pick up the broken pieces of our lives and put us back together again. There is a time when all of us need to be put back together. She has been there herself, and this gives her an edge, a way to explain how we can really do this .
Her beliefs are made clear is this statement, "What if God has a plan for this brokenness?... Stained Glass Hearts offers the hopeful message that God is ready and willing to mend us and then mold us for His glory."
This is her third book which deals with the topics of redemption and light. The paragraph which stood out most to me was "When I felt scared or angry, I attached danger to my feelings, creating a firestorm of terror...When I admitted to myself that I had suffered through hundreds of anxiety attacks and yet I was still alive and sound of mind, the entrenched, scary thoughts began to lose their power over me."
I myself have treid this whenever I am nervous. I keep telling myself that in a few minutes I will be laughing about this. The book is a very heart healing story. It is wonderful for someone who feels that they are broken beyond repair in more ways than one.
Disclosure , I was given this book free to review by http://www.booksneeze.com .The opinions are all my own

BUSY DAY CAMPAIGNING AND RESTOCKING FREEZER AFTER HURRICANE IRENE

Wow, I have had a couple of busy days. My daughter ran for office yesterday , did not win but I am very proud that she even tried. It was so hot that we decided to get CEASARS PIZZA. Ready whenever you are and just $5.00. Can't beat that price ! Today Mommy decided to go to Big Y . They had steaks on sale with a silver coin. Mommy got 5 steaks for $12.00. I was so glad so we could try to restock some of the FREEZER after Hurricane Irene. They also had butter on sale for $3.00 and you can print out Big Y coupons on their web site. Makes it $2.00 a pound and freezes well. We went to a vegetable stand today and got quite a few items. We love to buy in bulk and spilt to spilt it up among the families.
The other day I was going to be home all day Sunday so I decided to cook chicken in the crockpot. I put drumsticks in coated with honey barbeque sauce. Then I cut up into 4 pieces 2 gala apples that Mommy , Bobo, Sissy, Daddy, Aunt and Uncle LaLa picked. when the apples cooked they blew off the skins and the apples became like applesauce. I love the fall, apples , pumpkins and wonderful smells of cooking again because the days and nights are cooler.

FUNKY MONKEY T-SHIRT REVIEW

Oh my goodness . I was sent a t-shirt from http://www.tshirtprinting.net to review. It was the funky monkey. It was just the right size and did not fade or shirt when it was washed. Everyone commented on the monkey logo. If I ever needed a T-shirt with any kind of printing or logo I would certainly go right to this company. They come in a lot of different colors . I was sent the gray color. I guess all the kids will be fighting for this one.

I was sent this t-shirt free from www.tomoson.com for a review. All the opinions are my own and I will post reviews that I have done .

BRAWNY PAPER TOWELS AT SHOP RITE !

Tomorrow we will be going to the SHOP RITE grocery store. We really need paper towels and they have Brawny Paper Towels 8 PACK for $5.99. If you spend $20.00 you get back $5.00 coupon for your next purchase. So we will each by 4 packages for $23.96. Have 2 coupons for $1.00 off 2 . $21.96 get $5.00 back . Not a great deal but I really need paper towels. So they are about $.60 a roll.
I hope all of the rain is over. We have flooding all over .

On another note I love the fall. I love pumpkins, apples , cider and more ! We will start to share recipes, ideas and thoughts soon.

I can't wait ! Our kids , grandkids are getting excited . One of my daughter's , Mommy's sister has been eating pumpkin doughnuts, pumpkin muffins and pumpkin flavored coffee . All at DUNKIN DONUTS . Tomorrow we will start on the apple treats. i want to go to an orchard this weekend and get some great fall foods . Yeh !! What great fall ideas do you have ?

THIRD DAY OF SCHOOL , BOBO AND SISSY REALLY MISS EACH OTHER

Today was the third day of school for Bobo. He really wants to stay home with Sissy and Sissy wants to go to school with him. I am really sad when they are separated in the morning. But I am sure the school year will go fast and Sissy will be going before we know it. Mommy and her brother and 2 sisters grew up while I blinked. I was shocked on the second day of school when Mommy opened his backpack and there was a fundraiser already. Hello, he is too little! It seems a little too soon for me. I guess Mommy and me have some work to do , lol.
As your children are growing up you think you will never get through it. Every day seems to run into the other. Now I (Nana) like other Grandmothers I am sure wish that those days were back.
So I would just like to reflect on my first Grandchild's experience on his third day of school. I hope it doesn't go by too fast and I hope we can stop and enjoy every minute. Nana !

ARE UNIFORMS A GOOD IDEA FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS ?

About 5 years ago when Nana (me) was on the Board of Education in our town we kept on discussing and coming back again and again to this very question. There was a meeting where many many students and parents came to voice their opposition.





Well, this year after all these years of discussion it has finally come to fruition. I always understood the reluctance of some to give up wearing their own choices ,who believe that this is a way to show their own identity, but of more importance I believe is the fact that school work is more important than a fashion show. What some do not understand until they participate is that it is a lot cheaper to cloth a child with uniforms then it is to have to have different cloths each day.





When a child wears uniforms you need probably 5 shirts, 3 or 4 pairs of pants and or skirts if a girl. Someone may think that because the shirts might be about 20 dollars each that you were not going to be able to afford this. It equals out to be about $250.00 for the whole year. There is no way that I know of that I would be able to use only this amount for a whole school year





The students all look similar, and there is no peer pressure because of the cloths. They are able to concentrate on their schooling. I totally believe that uniforms are a great idea for our children. I would hope that all schools entertain the idea .

HOW TO RESTOCK YOUR FREEZER WHEN YOU HAVE LOST IT ALL

I have really been trying to figure out how to restock my refrigerator and my freezer the cheapest way. So what I have been doing is reading the ads and going store to store. We went to BJs Club Warehouse and bought big tubs of cream cheese , and fresh muffins. We also bought garlic , onions ,bananas and more. We went home and separated it for each house just like we did the tomatoes and peppers we picked. We are going to go to our local produce stand and divide all of those up also. It is usually almost always cheaper to buy in bulk. If you do not have a large family or people to share with it probably will not save you any money. Tomorrow BIG Y starts their weekly ad and it is buy 1 get 2 free. I will certainly be getting a lot there. SHOP RITE has an ad until Saturday and they have Black Bear Hot Dogs in a 3 pound box for $6.99. I'll buy these separate them and freeze wrapped separately.


Have to make sure I have lots of freezer bags and plastic wrap.