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IRONGEEZELLE.COM

Irongeezelle™
November 2008

A monthly webzine for smart, savvy women
who live an active, healthy lifestyle!

Send Us Your Sass: Irongeezelle@msn.com

(A Camelia named Freedom Bell)

Let us rise up and be thankful
for if we didn’t learn a lot today,
at least we learned a little,
and if we didn’t learn a little,
at least we didn’t get sick,
and if we got sick,
at least we didn’t die;
so, let us all be thankful.
- Buddha

"Got no check books, got no banks. Still I'd like to express my thanks - I got the sun in the mornin' and the moon at night."
- Irving Berlin

"Once, when my feet were bare, and I had not the means of obtaining shoes I came to the chief of Kufah in a state of much dejection, and saw there a man who had no feet. I returned thanks to God and acknowledged his mercies, and endured my want of shoes with patience."
- Sadi

The Freedom To Be Thankful
By t.grzenia

Yes, money is too tight to mention. There are cutbacks and credit crunches. There are bears mauling our financial securities, but there is so much more than this man-made panic that flushes us with anxiety at present.

There is,still ,I hope, in our hearts and minds the sense of how much we all have, especially here in this country, in the here and now.

For instance, we have so many underappreciated, unrealized, sometimes misconstrued, freedoms.

Freedom to worship: And yes, that means all religions, no matter how diverse from our own – Moslems, Christians, Jews, Buddhist, Taoists, Wiccans, Pantheists – everyone may worship. Every one of these belief systems is surely equally grateful to a Creator, a being, a spirit, a force, a universal mind, no matter how this is interpreted and understood. And yes, inherent in this freedom of religion, there is freedom from religion, if one chooses, as long as one honors the humanity of the guy next door, the community and respects the world we all live in.

Freedom to vote: No matter what our individual “red” or “blue” or entirely independent platforms are and in whom we trust to represent us, we are free to cast a vote without fear of physical, economic, and social reprisal. That’s why, it is always disappointing that so few of us elect to vote. We should rejoice at the fact that we can pick who represents us and vote in every election.

Freedom to choose: Ah, not what you are thinking at all. We are free each and every day to make a choice: A choice for “yes,” instead of “no.” A choice for the positive, instead of the negative. A choice for the lightness of being. A choice for seeing the goodness in all others – fundamentally, after all, we are all a crapshoot of the same DNA with similar desires for peace and health for us and our loved ones.

Freedom to make a difference: No, none of us will probably affect life on a grand scale, but then, who has in the course of human history? We do, however, have the ability to affect one other person, even ourselves each day. Volunteering is just one way in which to express this freedom.

Freedom to be at peace: To be first at peace with ourselves, then with our family, then our friends and our neighbors. Maybe focusing on that small peace will give us a larger chance at “giving peace a chance,” than to profess peace with messages and actions of strife and discontent.

Freedom to be healthy: To honor one’s marvelous machinations, the body, by heeding its message. Listen, you can hear it: It wants to be fit. Of course, not all can be healthy all the time, but we attempt to be free from pain and disease through making free will choices. We have it all at our disposal here in this country.

Freedom to learn: The world is truly our oyster and full of knowledge. Learning one new thing a day is a joy beyond imagining and open to everyone. One only has to look and listen.

Freedom to love: At last, the most important freedom, being free to love another with acceptance and an open heart, and allowing others to do the same, with the realization that all of us are worthy of receiving and giving love.

For all these freedoms at my disposal, I am truly thankful this Thanksgiving and every day.

Thanks to Barrie Shepley Of Personal Best for sharing

The 9 things we all need to survive (now and always)

1. Toothpick
2. Rubber Band
3. Band Aid
4. Pencil
5. Eraser
6. Chewing Gum
7. Mint
8. Candy Kiss
9. Tea Bag

And here is why:

1. Toothpick - to remind you to pick out the good qualities in others.
2. Rubber Band - to remind you to be flexible, things might not always go the way you want, but it will work out.
3. Band Aid - to remind you to heal hurt feelings, yours or someone else's.
4. Pencil - To remind you to list your blessings everyday.
5. Eraser - to remind you that everyone makes mistakes, and it's okay.
6. Chewing Gum -- to remind you to stick with it and you can accomplish anything.
7. Mint - to remind you that you are worth a mint to your family and friends.
8. Candy Kiss - to remind you that everyone needs a kiss or a hug everyday.
9. Tea Bag - to remind you to relax daily and go over that list of your blessings

Source: www.personalbest.ca

Just the Thanksgiving Day Facts, Ma’am:

Is that all there is to Thanksgiving?

In the fall of 1621, the religious separatist Pilgrims held a three-day feast to celebrate a bountiful harvest, an event many regard as the nation’s first Thanksgiving. It eventually became a national holiday in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving. Later, President Franklin Roosevelt clarified that Thanksgiving should always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month to encourage earlier holiday shopping, never on the occasional fifth Thursday.

Calories Consumed on Thanksgiving: 4,500 per person.

Weighing in With a Menu of Culinary Delights

46 million
The preliminary estimate of turkeys Minnesota expects to raise in 2007. The Gopher State is tops in turkey production. It is followed by North Carolina (39 million), Arkansas (31 million), Virginia (21.5 million), Missouri (21 million) and California (16.8 million). These six states together will probably account for about two-thirds of U.S. turkeys produced in 2007.

690 million pounds
The forecast for U.S. cranberry production in 2007, essentially unchanged from 2006 and 11 percent more than 2005. Wisconsin is expected to lead all states in the production of cranberries, with 390 million pounds, followed by Massachusetts (180 million). New Jersey, Oregon and Washington are also expected to have substantial production, ranging from 18 million to 52 million pounds.

1.6 billion pounds
The total weight of sweet potatoes — another popular Thanksgiving side dish — produced by major sweet potato producing states in 2006. North Carolina (702 million pounds) produced more sweet potatoes than any other state. It was followed by California (381 million pounds). Mississippi and Louisiana also produced large amounts: at least 200 million pounds each.

1 billion pounds
Total pumpkin production of major pumpkin-producing states in 2006. Illinois led the country by producing 492 million pounds of the vined orange gourd. Pumpkin patches in California, Ohio and Pennsylvania also provided plenty of pumpkins: Each state produced at least 100 million pounds. The value of all the pumpkins produced by major pumpkin-producing states was $101 million.

If you prefer cherry pie, you will be pleased to learn that the nation’s forecasted tart cherry production for 2007 totals 294 million pounds. Of this total, the overwhelming majority (230 million) will be produced in Michigan.

1.8 billion bushels
The total volume of wheat — the essential ingredient of bread, rolls and pie crust — produced in the United States in 2006. Kansas and North Dakota accounted for 30 percent of the nation’s wheat production.

841,280 tons
The 2007 contracted production of snap (green) beans in major snap (green) bean-producing states. Of this total, Wisconsin led all states (310,200 tons). Many Americans consider green bean casserole a traditional Thanksgiving dish.

$9.5 million
The value of U.S. imports of live turkeys during the first half of 2007 — 99.5 percent from Canada. Our northern neighbor accounted for all of the cranberries the United States imported ($2.2 million). When it comes to sweet potatoes, however, the Dominican Republic was the source of 63 percent ($1.7 million) of total imports ($2.7 million). The United States ran a $4.9 million trade deficit in live turkeys during the period but had surpluses of $9.4 million in cranberries and $15.3 million in sweet potatoes.

13.1 pounds
The quantity of turkeys consumed by the typical American in 2005, with a hearty helping devoured at Thanksgiving time. Per capita sweet potato consumption was 4.5 pounds.

An Organic Feast
144,086
Number of certified organic turkeys on the nation’s farmland, as of 2005. Most of these turkeys were in Michigan (56,729) or Pennsylvania (48,815).

The Turkey Industry
$3.6 billion
The value of turkeys shipped in 2002. Arkansas led the way in turkey shipments, with $581.5 million, followed by Virginia ($544.2 million) and North Carolina ($453 million). In 2002, poultry businesses whose primary product was turkey totaled 35 establishments, employing about 17,000 people.

$3.86 billion
Forecast 2007 receipts to farmers from turkey sales. This exceeds the total receipts from sales of products such as rice, peanuts and tobacco.

The Price is Right
99 cents
Cost per pound of a frozen whole turkey in December 2006.

Where to Feast
3
Number of places in the United States named after the holiday’s traditional main course. Ex: Turkey, Texas

8
Number of places and townships in the United States that are named Cranberry or some spelling variation of the red, acidic berry a popular side dish at Thanksgiving.

28
Number of places in the United States named Plymouth, as in Plymouth Rock, the landing site of the first Pilgrims.

Source: www.census.gov

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