11.13.2007

Take My Advice and Have A Cookie

One year ago today, I posted for the very first time on this here blog. Of course, the second post didn't occur for months and months, but regardless, today is my one year blogoversary. Looking back at my first post I feel as though I have come a long way. A year ago I was a frustrated mom, dissatisfied with the public school my daughter was attending and struggling to overcome the influence of mainstream culture. Today I am a full-fledged homeschooling mama, deeply satisfied with where we are as a family and miles and miles from the mainstream.

This past year has been filled with many words, sentences, punctuation marks and pictures (I think perhaps I have written more this year than in all the years I was in school), and to celebrate I am holding a contest. I will draw the name of one lucky commenter and announce the winner next Monday, but your comment must be specific. I have received many words of advice over the years, and probably given too much advice myself, and now I want to hear some of your advice. It can be advice you have received, whether good, bad or ugly; it can be advice you wished you had or had not followed; it can be advice you've offered, solicited or not, or any other words of wisdom that have crossed your ears or lips. Let us hear your two cents.

Here is some of the best advice I have received:

From my uncle: Never sit in the middle seat when on a date with a guy that has a truck with a manual transmission.

From my mom: You might want to start using some moisturizer.

From a friend: You can do everything, just not all at the same time.

From a neighbor who lived on her own: Never drink alone.

Well, some advice is meant to be ignored.

In addition to your good advice, I'd like to know your favorite cookie, because the grand prize for my little contest is a cookie jar.


It's not just any cookie jar, however, as I am taking this special opportunity to launch yet another one of my ideas: the Pay It Forward Cookie Jar. I love this little cookie jar, but I have no room for it in my kitchen, and cookies never last long enough around here to be stored in a cookie jar. So I will make a batch of your favorite cookies, put them in the cookie jar and send them to you. When the cookies are gone and the jar is empty, you can make a batch of cookies to fill the jar and give the cookie jar to someone else, who will hopefully pay forward the jar to yet another person, so on and so forth. It is a simple gesture that will hopefully have a far reaching effect, and not just on our waist lines. Who knows how far this cookie jar will travel, or what type of cookies it will hold, but one thing is certain: it will delight cookie lovers wherever it goes.

So I advise you to leave a comment sometime this week. You may just have the advice I need to hear, and I may just have the perfect cookie for you. Many thanks to everyone who stops by here - I probably wouldn't write so much without you.

17 comments:

  1. Oh fun!!! I just love this idea, Molly... both the advice gathering,a nd the travelling cookie jar.

    Okay, I tend to get really worked up over stuff, and often hear my husband saying, "Relax!"... and really, things would go so much better if I did. Simple, but so profound, for me, at least. Just relax.

    As for the cookies.... just one favorite??? I guess I'd have to vote for chocolate chocolate chip. (You know, dark chocolate cookie with chocolate chips/chunks... might as well throw some nuts in there too. :-)

    Happy Blogiversary!

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  2. Happy 1 year blogiversary Molly!

    My advice would be to read all of the directions first, understand them and then take things 1 step at a time. Don't let the magnitude of the project stop you from tackling it - it will get done one step at a time.

    My favorite cookies? Hmm. Molasses.

    So so happy to have found you here - your words always enrich my day.

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  3. Happy 1 year blogiversary!

    My advice would be to get all the facts before you make a life-changing decision. That is something I kick myself in the butt for, because we didn't ask every possible question first. We made a change and then found out too late it wasnt all it played out to be and then we couldn't go back. I try not to regret anything in life, and it's hard not to regret this decision, but that's my advice: Get all the facts!

    Fave cookie? White Chocolate macadamia cranberry cookie! Yum!

    And by the way, I made those pumpkin muffins you posted about-- absolutely scrumptious!! Even Hubby the non-pumpkin eater ate one! (ok, so he made a face, but he ate the whole thing!)

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  4. How I love the sitting next to the guy in the truck advice; and this idea is just brilliant.

    OK. I've gotten lots of good advice. I don't follow it all but would if I had it stuck more prominently in my mind, or embroidered on my wall - now there's an idea..

    One piece that I got over a decade ago that has served me well is - What other people think of you is none of your business. This helps me not to get attached to others' surprising outlooks on me or on my children or about anything else that matters to me. It's their business, not mine.

    Congratulations on the year and I hope to be reading you many more.

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  5. Happy blogiversary!
    I for one am happy you've become a writer, and look forward to more. So my advise is: Once you commit to a project...finish it, stick with it!
    Now if I could only listen to my own advise, Mom's shower would be done. (I am working on it today)
    Don't enter me in your contest, because any cookie is my favorite and we don't need any at our house!
    Love
    Dad

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  6. I'm not sure where to start with my response. Do I respond to your comment about me or Dad's comment first. I think I'll start with your comment about my advice to you. I don't remember saying that to you and if I did it was because you must have made a comment otherwise it would have been rude. Your skin looks wonderful. I think your idea about passing the cookie jar is wonderful and before I read Dad's comment thought it would be wonderful to win the jar and be able to pass it on. So put both of our names in the drawing.
    I have 2 advices I've heard:
    "Be a fountain, not a drain"
    "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent" Eleanor Roosevelt.
    Back to the cookie jar, it would be very cool to keep a log of where the jar travels.
    FYI - peanut butter cookies are very yummy.

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  7. Congrats on a one year anniversary. I soo enjoy your blog.

    Some advice that has always stuck with me:

    You'll never regret having another baby but you may regret not.


    Favorite cookie? Oh, I love those layered cookie bars with the coconut, pecans, and other goodies. But, I really love a nice oatmeal cookie as well.

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  8. "A fountain not a drain"... I love that.. and I love your folks Molly! I see where you get your wit and warmth :-)

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  9. One of my favorites came from a greeting card, "Forgive quickly; kiss slowly."
    Paradigm changer from my favorite counselor, "sometimes acceptance is more helpful than understanding."
    and the biggie is like Madeline's, "What people say and think about you is more about them than you"

    and I like oatmeal cookies, yummmm

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  10. oh! And HAPPY Blogiversary!!! I love this place!

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  11. How about a great quote from a book I have been loving... "I don't want to just skim the surface of life; I want to have deep and meaningful relationships with my family, my friends, God. And this I do know: you can't love in a hurry." breathe
    by Keri Wyatt Kent

    Cowboy Cookies :) **I don't have a favorite cookie - I love them all**

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  12. Happy blogoversary! I love this idea too, all of it.

    Advice...whew! Some advice I would probably give to myself right now if I could take it truly to heart: slow down. Enjoy it all. I try to do that, to live that way, but I tend to take on alot of things, all at once, all the time, and rush through life at top speed.

    I like alot of cookies. I have a particular affinity for chocolate ginger cookies with chocolate chips that I particularly like.

    I'm glad I found you here in blogland!

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  13. Advice:
    * Choose your parents wisely.
    * Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. – Plato
    * Don’t play pool with anyone named Fats; don’t play poker with anyone named Slim; don’t get into bed with anyone named Shuugah.

    and finally, in honor of cookies:
    * Life is short – eat dessert first.

    The only real cookie: Toll House chocolate chip. -- Mark

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  14. Ooh! Forgot my cookie - chocolate chip. All the way.

    Love that forgive quickly, kiss slowly advise from Auntie g-ma.

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  15. Geez, your family has good advice don't they? Lucky you! Here's a piece of advice that came out of my mouth just a few minutes ago: Always chew with your mouth shut! (But you probably already have that one down.) Another bit of advice I heard once was given to someone standing next to me who was muttering to himself. He muttered to himself a lot and loudly and someone said to him, "George, if it doesn't have EARS, talk to it with your mouth SHUT." George and I stood silently a good long time pondering that one.

    I am a fan of peanute butter cookies with chocolate chips in them and I am a fan of your blog -- Happy Blogiversary!

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  16. Here's my advice: Just because your child is in a bad mood doesn't mean you have to be. For example, if they're screaming, don't scream back. If they're yelling and impatient, don't start acting that way, too.

    And here's my favorite cookie: Snickerdoodles

    • 1/2 cup butter, softened
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
    • 1 large egg
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
    • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
    • 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1 cup sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer, and stir in remaining flour. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

    Combine the 4 tablespoons sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture to coat. Place balls of dough 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes or until edges are beautifully golden. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

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  17. Don't worry about something that hasn't happened. It is a waste of time.

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