BUILDING YOUR HOUSE

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, “This is your house… my gift to you.”

The carpenter was shocked!

What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently.

But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Your attitude, and the choices you make today, help build the “house” you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, Build wisely!

https://livelifehappy.com/

 

Portuguese Quick & Easy Pudding Recipe

Ingredients

3 eggs2 cups of sugar2 cups of milk1/2 cup of flour1/2 cup of cornstarch1 tablespoon of grated coconut1 tablespoon of confectioners sugarGrated coconut (to taste), to garnishLiquid caramel (to taste), to garnish                                                                                     

Directions

1. Preheat the oven with a pan of water.
2. Mix the first 7 ingredients with the help of hand mixer/blender.
3. Line a puddding pan with liquid caramel, add the batter to the pan and bake at 180ºC or 350ºF in a water bath for 20 minutes.
4. Unmold and let it cool. 
5. Serve sprinkled with coconut.

Recipe & Photo Credit: chocolatemorno.blogspot.com

 

PAPER DOLLS

 

OUR VALUE

 A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?”

Hands started going up.

He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.” He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up.

He then asked, “Who still wants it?”

Still the hands were up in the air.

“Well,” he replied, “What if I do this?” And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.

He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. “Now who still wants it?” Still the hands went into the air.

“My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. You are special – Don’t ever forget it!

https://livelifehappy.com/

SUPER ANSWER BY A FEMALE.....

 

On a flight, a guy asked  a beautiful lady sitting next to him. "Nice perfume ..... which brand is it? I want to gift it to my wife." 

Lady replies, "Don't give it to her, some idiot will find an excuse to talk to her!"

Portuguese Cavacas (Pastry) Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups of flour1 cup of oil8 eggs at room temp1⁄2 cup milkSugar Glaze:2 cups of confectioner’s sugarZest of one lemon6 tablespoons of milk                                                                                                         

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C or 350°F.
2. Grease regular size muffin tins or popover tins.
3. Using an electric mixer or stand mixer (on level 6) beat all ingredients for at least 20 minutes without stopping.  Fill the muffin or popover tins no more than half way.
4. Place on the middle rack. For moist Cavacas, bake for about 45 minutes; for dry Cavacas bake for 1 hour.
5. Combine all of the glaze ingredients and stir until smooth. 
6. While the Cavacas are still warm, spoon the glaze over each one or just submerge each one in the glaze.
7. Serve on the same day since they will dry even more for the following day.

Recipe & Photo Credit: Thao, ingoodflavor.com *
Adapted from Maria Lawton, author of Azorean Cooking

THE SEASONS OF LIFE

 There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn to not judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said no – it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed, he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfilment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but one season in the tree’s life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are – and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life – can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfilment of your fall.

Don’t judge a life by one difficult season. Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

https://livelifehappy.com/