Golden Legacies

…or at least, several million Americans!

Ok, time for true confessions here…Steven and I are Big Brother 8 addicts! The ultimate reality show airs on CBS three times a week  http://www.cbs.com/, and we are glued to the set.

I won’t get into the details of the show, but I will say that it definitely demonstrates the power of video to document peoples’ stories.

One contestant, Dick, is especially interesting because he and his estranged daughter are both in the Big Brother House for the summer, and are trying to heal their relationship as millions watch.

If you’d like some creative ideas of how to put your family stories, photos, and memoribilia on video–sans drama–give us a call and we’ll talk.

We promise to make it more creative than hamsters in a cage!

Hello, Everyone

It was another enjoyable, relaxing weekend on our 10 acres in the country.

Steven was finally able to eradicate the algae from the pool, thanks to some good advice from our pals at West Meade Pools. http://www.westmeadepools.com/

So we were able to savor a swim this afternoon…it is so relaxing! I always sleep well after some afternoon pool time.

Now Steven is firing up the grill. We got a $10 gift card from Kroger, so we used it on some steaks that already were on sale. Basically, we got about $20 worth of steaks for around $5!

My 84-year-old mother told me about the potato salad her mother used to make…this was years ago in the 1920s and 30s. It was called Virginia Potato Salad and since they lived in the country and did not have refrigeration, it did not contain mayo.

I looked Virginia Potato Salad up on the internet, but did not come up with anything. So I decided to replicate the recipe based on what my mother told me….I cut and peeled several Irish potatoes and boiled them. Then I cooled them and added celery and red onion. The next step was the dressing…olive oil, balsamic vinegar (although my grandmother used apple cider vinegar that they made at home!), salt, pepper, and sugar.

Hopefully my mother will enjoy it and it will remind her of happy times of childhood…she said her mother used to make the potato salad every year for their school picnic.

I did a taste test awhile ago, and it actually reminded me a bit of my other grandmother’s German potato salad. I asked that grandmother for the recipe when I was in my early 20s; I tried to make it, but it did not turn out. My grandmother passed away shortly thereafter and unfortunately, I lost the recipe. There are a lot of German potato salad recipes out there, but I still wish I had my grandmother’s!

I’d love to create a family legacy book for someone’s family recipes, and add in family stories…so if you have a lot of family recipes you’d like to preserve, let me know! and we can create a wonderful format for them. 

Ok, time to go shuck some corn!

The weather has been delightful this weekend…low humidity, nightly lows around 60s and daytime highs in the 80s, plus lots of sun!

Yesterday Steven and I went to the Franklin Farmer’s Market and once again enjoyed our favorite group, the Franklin Square Pickers.

Afterwards, we went to lunch at Panera Bread. http://www.panerabread.com/  We frequently have business-related meetings there, but it never works out that we can stay for lunch. So we made a special trip and it was worth it! The tomato and mozzarella salad was fabulous!

Then we ran some errands and did some shopping. I fixed a light supper–a pasta salad and some fresh Peaches and Cream corn from the farmer’s market–and then we watched some TV.

Today was another beautiful day…Steven cleaned the pool while I scrubbed and hosed down our beautiful, white wrap-around porch which gets pretty dirty in the summer.

We also enjoyed some pool time this afternoon.

I don’t know when I have had a more enjoyable or relaxing weekend!

Hope you all had the same!

This morning, I managed to get some much-neglected housework done (yeah) while Steve worked on the pool.

Our poor pool…it is full of yucky green algae! We did not have this problem last year, so it took us by surprise. There was about a week when we did not keep the chlorine levels up; that, combined with extremely hot, dry weather followed by lots of rain and humid weather, plus (we think) a cheap pool cleanser product we bought at Wal-Mart, created an abundance of green algae.

Steve toiled all morning in the hot sun, following the advice of a pool shop employee we talked to a few days ago. She told us to get chlorine levels high, then brush and vacuum for 48 hours. It did not do any good!

So finally we broke down and called Gary, our pool guy. We hesitated before we called him because he is almost like a lawyer, billing you for everything!

But we were desperate so we called him and it did not cost a cent. His advice was to double-shock the pool this afternoon, then backwash it this evening, then double-shock it in the morning and backwash it again tomorrow afternoon.

Hopefully this will clear up the algae so we can use the pool!!!!

In other news from the country:

a) racoons tore my up mother’s fancy schmantzy bird feeder designed to keep squirrels away; the racoons raid the feeders at night and sometimes drag them around the yard. One time last summer, a feeder completely disappeared.

b) we saw a deer this afternoon…a half grown female. They are always so peaceful. Last summer we hardly saw any, this year they must be used to us.

c) We might stop feeding the stray orange and white cat because Tiger Lily is afraid of it. We thought it was a female, named it Lucy, but yesterday we saw evidence that Lucy is a boy! His fate is undetermined as of yet…we are having a hard time deciding what to do.

These are our memories of a peaceful, relaxing, summer day…what are yours? 

This morning’s business section of The Tennessean had an article about Ephren Taylor Jr. At 24, Ephren is the youngest African-American CEO of a publicly traded company.

His story is an interesting one, and highlights the importance of family in business success. I was interested to learn more about him so I found this interview by Donny Deutsch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPGKnDkH2HM

Ephren got his entrepreneurial start when he was in third grade, selling pencils and erasers on the playground when other kids were playing. 

When he was in 8th grade, he wanted a video game but his parents told him they could not afford it. “Make your own,” they challenged, so he did and sold it to his classmates.

In high school Ephren created a dotcom company called goferretgo.com. It matched teenagers with job openings and internships at companies like Wal-Mart and Target.

It also made Ephren a millionaire when he was still in his teens. In the interview with Deutsch, Ephren said a key factor in his success was his parents telling him he could do or be anything he wanted. They also gave him a supportive environment in which to create his entrepreneurial interests, as did his teachers. Ephren told Deutsch that he did not concentrate on getting good grades in school, he concentrated on what he was good at: creating successful busineeses that serve others. Thus, his teachers let him out of school at 11:30 each day to work on his business.

Back to the Tennessean interview at http://www.thetennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070708/BUSINESS05/707080346/1003.

In it, Ephren shares his wisdom for success: “You first have to conquer what I call the dark hall of fear. There are so many excuses, so much fear and illusion holding people back. And that includes lack of capital, lack of time, lack of education. One is getting off yourself and getting rid of those excuses…”

This young man offers a unique legacy for people of any age who wish to start a business and be succeesful in life, not just financially. But his parents and teachers also leave a legacy of support, unity, and acceptance that allowed Ephren Taylor Jr. to find and fulfill his purpose.

By the way…Ephren’s next venture is partnering with several African nations to produce sources of biodiesel fuel. This is a venture that truly has the power to change our planet.

One of Steve’s and my favorite shows is TLC’s Little People, Big World.

In essence, the show is a “living family history.” It is real life footage of the Roloff family: parents Matt and Amy and kids Zack, Jeremy, Molly, and Jacob.

Matt and Amy have forms of dwarfism, as does Zack. The rest of the kids are of average height.

The purpose of the show is to demonstrate that “little people” can do the same things as anyone else, just in a different way. It also depicts a loving family facing challenges and having fun.

Tonight’s episode was very poignant. Matt, who has had a great career in software sales, has developed a stool for hotels to make available for little people. He has had a hard time convincing hotel chains that the stools are important–they think any old plastic stool will do, but Matt demonstrates by falling–that the steps on the plastic stools are not the right height.

Finally Microtel Inns  http://www.microtelinn.com/ which has always been one of my favorite low-cost places to stay anyway, decided to put one of the stools in each of their inns.

Matt attends their national management meeting and shares that some years back his boss sent him across country to close a huge deal. When he got to his hotel he was unable to watch TV because he could not reach the remote. He had to brush his teeth in the bathtub because he could not reach the sink. He had to sleep on the floor because he could not get into the bed.

Wow! this brought tears to our eyes…the things I take for granted!

It’s always good to look at life through someone else’s eyes…

I was reading a magazine today titled “Faith and Family: True Inspiring Stories” and it contained an article on “faithbooking”.

According to the article, faithbooking combines memoir writing with scrapbooking, although on the scrapbooking side it uses more photos and fewer stickers (some of which can get a bit sappy, IMO). Its purpose is to record spiritual moments throughout your life.

If you are interested in doing some faithbooking, you might start by asking yourself these questions:

What do I believe?

How does faith affect my life?

What am I grateful for?

What life advice would I like to share?

What lessons have I learned?

After reflecting on these questions for a bit, start writing! And don’t worry about being perfect!

For more on faithbooking, go to: http://www.bellaonline.com/subjects/7251.asp

An amateur genealogical researcher discovered that his great-great
uncle, Remus Starr, a fellow lacking in character, was hanged for
horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. The only known
photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows. On the back
of the picture is this inscription:

“Remus Starr; horse thief; sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885,
escaped 1887; robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by
Pinkerton detectives. Convicted and hanged 1889.”

In a Family History subsequently written by the researcher, Remus’s
picture is cropped so that all that’s seen is a head shot. The
accompanying biographical sketch is as follows:

“Remus Starr was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His
business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian
assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in
1885, he devoted several years of his life to service at a
government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings
with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital
investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In
1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in
his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.”

Courtesy of Dan Miller at www.48days.com

As a follow-up to the story we posted Friday about Hannah Klamecki, the 5-year-old who was rescued after spending two nights alone in the woods, Hannah is doing fine!

On Good Morning America Saturday, Hannah’s father Mike noted that she is afraid of the dark, afraid of bugs, doesn’t like to get dirty and can barely swim, yet she overcame all of those fears and challenges.  She never doubted that she would find her grandparents’ cottage. She did not find the cottage, but she did find her rescuers.

Sadly, her grandfather Dave Klamecki’s funeral is today, but as Hannah began to recuperate from her ordeal and talk, she said that her grandfather pushed her onto the shore of the Kankakee River just before the turbulent current swirled him away.

It is comforting to think that Dave’s final act was one of love and courage to help his beloved granddaughter.

Not all of us will be called upon to act in such drastic and heroic circumstances, but we can all respond to the call of love in our own way.

I would like to wish all you Dad’s a very happy Father’s Day. I think I just may fire up the grill today and cook up a Father’s Day treat.

Steve