Common Sense

Kasia Haroldsen

My friend Kasia Haroldsen   www.kasiasmusic.comhttp://www.kasiasmusic.com/ posted this on Facebook last week.  I thought you would enjoy it.  Gloria

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. 

No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:-

Knowing when to come in out of the rain;

            Why the early bird gets the worm;-

Life isn't always fair; -

And maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies,

Don't spend more than you can earn and

Adults, not children, are in charge.

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.

Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate;

Teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch;

And a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife Discretion, his daughter Responsibility, and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights,I Want It Now,Someone Else Is To Blame,I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

Thanks Kasia,  Common sense is always a good to remember to have.

Publication in the Latter-day Sentinel

Hayden family employs frugal, ambitious approach to successful business

By Gloria Warnick, Sentinel Staff Writer

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September 13, 2011 — Balance between a business, family and an active church life is sought after daily by the Tanner Family of Hayden, Idaho. They have blended the various aspects of their life in many ways but one that helps daily is something called "extreme couponing."

Tamara and Tom Tanner have a bustling LDS family and business, Hayden Valley Assisted Living. Their three children are 9, 11 and 13. Hayden Valley Assisted Living has 16 residents and is a full house. The Tanners are opening two more assisted living homes this year, Bristol Heights 1 and 2. Within a few years, they plan to open buildings 3 and 4 of Bristol Heights.


With a blend of smart spending, an emphasis on family and a consistent work ethic, Tom and Tamara Tanner have turned Hayden Valley Assisted Living into a successful venture. Contributed Photo.

Add this to busy weekends of camping and four-wheeling with family and friends while maintaining their home in a clean and orderly fashion. How is all this achieved? What is the secret to their balanced life?

"We put our family and living the gospel as our top priority and everything else seems to fall in place," Tom said. "Each member of our family is very involved and our family has grown closer together. My wife and I love being able to work with each other every day. We know we are here for a reason and we feel very blessed."

Tamara agreed heartily but she also talked about the practical division of duties they have agreed upon. She spoke about how she handles the grocery shopping, which can be daunting. It seems providing three meals a day, plus snacks, to 20 people can be a massive task.

"The best advice I've ever received was from a checker at Wal-Mart," Tamara said. "She saw the amount of food Tom and I were buying every week and she suggested CouponMom.com. I go there each Sunday, they have the latest coupons, and their coupons are listed by the area. I check a variety of resources, for example, the local newspapers, and I keep a binder."

Each weekend, Tamara sits down and goes through the print ads. The result is "huge savings."

"During the week when I do my shopping I go to the store that price matches," she said. "Not only does this help me and Tom but we are teaching our children smart shopping techniques that will serve them all their lives."

Everyone at the Tanner home is involved not only in being a part of extreme couponing, but in mowing the lawns and emphasizing service in their family and in their ward.

As a couple, Tom and Tamara feel lucky because they get to spend every day together.

"Our days are one continuous date." Tamara says. "Tom and I go to the movies and lunch together. Then when the children get home, they want family time. Because what they want is important to us, we incorporate this into our days, after homework, of course."

The Tanners acknowledge that saving, dating and grocery shopping do not comprise everything involved in running a business. Tom and Tamara find that dividing duties is important, not only between the two of them, but within the running of their business. They have hired a competent staff with a good administrator.

Balance within a family while running a business is a challenge and has to be worked at every day. Tom and Tamara Tanner say it is much like four wheeling - once you get the power on and the wheels moving, just keep steering.

Horse Liniment?

With age, have come aches, pains, stiff joints and if you are my age, well I think you know what I'm talking about.  I heard that relief was available in the form of a horse liniment.  What?

Well, I don't know about you but when it comes to getting rid of aches and pains I'll try anything natural once. 

So this morning I stopped in the Feed Store, Yes, I said Feed Store and bought some horse liniment....Veterinary Liniment Gel actually.

Absorbine, Veterinary Liniment Gel to be exact. A topical analgesic for sore muscles and joint pain relief.  When I checked out the gal at the desk asked.  Are you using this for yourself?

"Honestly?"  I replied.  "Yes."

She laughed and said, "I thought so.  No one buys this stuff for their horses.  They use it for themselves.  I know I do."

That made me feel better.  However, I was afraid the smell would send my family running out of the house.  Was I ever surprised!  It actually smelled like spearmint.  And oh the RELIEF!  Thank you Horse Liniment people.

My problem now?  I keep finding new aches that I didn't know hurt before!  Good thing I bought the big bottle!

Day of Service

Saturday, I joined with around 1000 volunteers from several religions in giving service to our community.  This was organized by volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I live in the Northwest part of Idaho, near Canada and the winters here can be harsh.  For example, two or three winters ago I got in my car to go to work one morning, pushed the button that lifted the garage door and couldn’t back my car out because the snow was three feet deep. I was completely shocked.  I didn’t know that snow could fall so deeply, so quickly.  When I went to bed the night before there was only about 2 inches of snow on the ground. You may have heard of the white out that the Spokane Region of the United States had a couple of years ago.  That is the region I live in. Winterizing our homes is important.  I mention this because that is the reason why this project was so important.

It’s also why the other two projects, the scraping and repainting of City Gazebos is vital to preserving the opportunities that families have when using our parks.

So we winterized, we scraped, we painted and then we ate, danced and shared.  A wonderful group of musicians, Coeurimba, set our toes tapping and our children twirling.  Kasia Haroldsen, a local artist, from Spokane, wrote an original work of music titled “I am a Follower of Jesus Christ” that was used as background music, Super One Foods, a chain of local grocery stores, provided the food, and Jason and Heather Ball organized a huge list of community organizations under the direction of The Hayden Lake, Idaho Stake Presidency, Dirk Baird, Dave Asper and Grant Oyler.

I wish I could list all the people that contributed to the organization of this day, like Rusty Dan, but I can’t. but I can tell you, it was awesome and here are a few pictures that I hope you enjoy.

Call Me!

Cire’ Gray and Mark Chapman, a married couple with one son have been filling our homes with the frontier phone book.

Contractors for Premier Delivery Services out of Fife, Washington, Cire’ and Mark have been making sure we have our phone books since 1999.  Some of us will remember the book as the GTE phone book, then the Verizon book, and now Frontier produces this book.  Our contractors service 8 counties in the Pacific Northwest, from Hills bough to Lake Chelan to Moscow and Sandpoint. 

Family groups, wanting to teach their children a work ethic return time after time.  Other groups, such as wrestling teams, college students and the BSA organization participate in making sure these books arive at our doors.

Mark and Cire’ live in Deer Park and while the phone books are important, going home for the weekend to weed and gather the fruits of their garden is also important.  And as local people know, gardens are in full harvest mood right now.

As I talked with this couple I was delighted to make another connection with Cire. She was an art teacher for years and now uses her artistic nature to create quilts and wonderful vases with a process called welting.  She wraps cording with fabric and as you can see adds touches that are fantastic.

Here are a couple of pictures of her work that I want to share with you.  If you are interested in her work she can be contacted via e-mail at markandcire@hotmail.com

Sorry,  I don’t have her phone number, but you could probably use the new phone book to look them up.

Be a conch

This is a conch:

It’s a sea snail.  And if I were a scientist I would tell you that there are many different species. That technically the conch belongs to the marine gastropod mollusks  in the family Strombidae.  Specifically in the genus Stombus family….etc etc etc.   You get the picture.

But for anyone born north of Miami, A conch does not refer to this slow moving creature that lives in a shell. It really an attitude. That, is what I wanted to talk about: the conch attitude.  You see this creature spends it’s life creating beauty.  It doesn’t have a easy life but that doesn’t keep it from doing what it does, to the best of it’s ability. For example:  It creates a hard durable shell that has been given many uses:  such as a musical instrument. 

 A Hindu priest blowing a Shankha (A shell of Turbinella pryrum) during a religious ceremony.

People create all kinds of food from it.  

 

Conch Fritters

From start to finish this dish takes 35 minutes.

2 cups freshly bruised conch, cleaned and diced
3 teaspoons tomato paste
1-1/2 Tablespoons flour
2 onions, diced
1 Bahamian sweet pepper, diced
2 stalks of celery, chopped
3 Tablespoons baking powder
3-4 cups vegetable oil
Hot Peppers and salt to taste

Combine all ingredients (except oil) in a large bowl. Blend well.

Heat oil in deep frying pan or pot until water dropped into oil sizzles.

Drop batter by the Tablespoonful into hot oil. Fry until brown.

Drain on paper towels and serve.  Makes 40 fritters.

This creature is undaunted in it's quest for a life of beauty .  If it gets irritated by a grit or piece of sand….and it does live on the ocean bottom so that is likely to happen, the creature makes itself comfortable by secreting a mucus over and over again and in the process creates a pearl.  I like pearls!

The point is no matter what happens in the life cycle of this creature it creates beauty from adversity. And then it leaves a legacy long after its own life span for the people to use.  I like that attitude!  I choose to be a conch.