Hasta La Gadget!

CENTRAL POINT, Ore. (AP) — Pat Hanson of Central Point says she’s lost about 10 pounds recently, an aftereffect of a fall, and noticed in church earlier this month that her mother’s wedding ring was loose on her finger.

After the service, Hanson used the restroom and, whoops, the ring got flushed. “I just panicked. I wanted to dive down that toilet right after it,” Hanson told Medford Mail Tribune (http://bit.ly/1FpkJz4).

The ring, she said, dates to 1920. Her mother died in 1989, and she’s been wearing it daily since then.

There was little she could do on a Sunday but pray. The next morning, Nov. 10, she and a friend went to the regional sewer utility, Rogue Valley Sewer Services.

Out to the Shepherd of the Valley Catholic Church went four workers, two trucks and portable closed-circuit TV gear.

No luck. The sewer workers broke the news to Hanson. Then the next day, without telling her, they went back to work.

“We didn’t want to get her hopes up,” operations manager Shane Macuk said.

They plugged the sewer main so they could inspect the line when it was dry. They vacuumed up some likely spots for items to accumulate and sorted the vacuumed material in a process similar to panning for gold.

Eventually, worker Travis Cox spotted the ring, and eventually the crew got it out.

With the ring cleaned up, repaired and resized, Hanson is praising the sewer workers and citing the patron saint of lost items.

“I’d done a lot of praying to St. Anthony,” she said. “I feel I ought to write a letter to the pope and let him know we had a miracle here in Central Point.”

___

Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/

When I was a kid, my grandmother, aunts and mom all cooked together for Thanksgiving. Everyone would get together a few days before to get started on their special dish. Grandma had to make the stuffing, and one of my aunts was great at mac and cheese and cheesecake. That tradition has been passed down to the next generation, and now my sister, mother, grandmother and I all cook different dishes.

Cooking is one of my favorite pastimes, but cooking a big meal without a plan can take time away from family and friends and add stress to the season. Most of us would rather watch the Bears play the Lions from the couch, not from the kitchen. With that in mind, here are a few tips for removing stress from Thanksgiving and adding more time to focus on family.

1. Make cooking a family affair.

Invite all the cooks over to prepare their special dishes that can be prepared in advance a few days before the holiday. It makes for great memories and family fun — plus you get a little bit of all your favorite family recipes mixed into one meal!

2. Start prep early.

Prepare fresh vegetables like green beans and collard greens early Thanksgiving week. Cook them halfway and then freeze them. I often prepare our stuffing early by chopping all the vegetables and baking the cornbread and preparing the stuffing by mixing it all together without cooking it. I then freeze the two pans for a day. Just don’t forget to defrost it the night before Thanksgiving to have amazing stuffing and vegetables for the whole family!

3. Use prepared sides to help save time and frustration.

Cooking everything from scratch can really add to your to-do list. I like to buy a few prepared sides and make them my own. For example, I’ll pick up a side of sweet potato casserole from the store or restaurant and add my own twist! I just crush the pecans, bake them and spread them on top using brown sugar to add that caramelized touch. Then pop it into the oven for about 45 minutes and it’s done.

4. Let the kids help.

As a mom, I know it can be hard to cook that big meal with little ones needing your attention. I always give my kids fun tasks so that they can contribute — and so that I can multitask. For example, the kids will set the table, help decorate the house, or even decorate cookies or cupcakes. They also like to go with Dad to run last-minute errands on the big day as he prepares to fry the turkey.

5. Don’t fret!

Something could go wrong — it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a few mishaps, like another run to the grocery store because you forgot the chicken broth. Don’t let that worry you! Take the time to enjoy the day with family and friends you don’t see very often. If someone adds baking powder instead of salt to your favorite side dish, don’t fret — you can always make a last-minute trip to the store or a restaurant for another side (but make sure they’re open Thanksgiving Day!).

6. Make the kitchen a welcoming place.

Don’t fight the tendency for people to congregate in the kitchen. Carve out a place where friends and family won’t be too in-the-way, then put some snacks out so they know they’re welcome. On Thanksgiving Day, think about small jobs you can give guests who come in asking, “What can I do?” They’ll feel helpful, and it will take at least a couple of things off your plate.

7. The dishes can wait.

As the host, when you leave the table, you’re leaving your guests. All the dirty dishes will still be there later; enjoy the time you have with your family and friends.

8. Think about leftovers in advance.

Think ahead about what needs to be reheated and how much oven, stove and microwave space you have. Sometimes I will make a cold side dish like potato salad to save room and time heating.

I hope these tips help provide a stress-free Thanksgiving!

Violent protests that erupted after a grand jury’s failure to indict a white police officer for shooting to death an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, are making world headlines, with editors and reporters reflecting on the state of American justice and race relations.

Spain’s El Pais reports that the grand jury decision “confirmed the town’s worst fears and unleashed a new wave of anger,” rendering Ferguson a “ghost town under police blockade.” The newspaper also profiles the activists who have gained prominence in Ferguson in the wake of Michael Brown’s death Aug. 9. “Most are led by young blacks and while many didn’t know the deceased, the case has united them, ” the newspaper writes. “This is not America’s or the black community’s problem. It is a global problem of people who feel oppressed,” Tory Russell tells the Spanish newspaper.

The BBC points out that the death of Michael Brown and the decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson do not stand in isolation, but were preceded by the acquittal of George Zimmerman for shooting to death Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. The network warns that while the grand jury’s call already triggered widespread clashes in Ferguson, it could also “inflame racial tensions elsewhere across the country.”

Also in the U.K., The Guardian notes the dilemma faced by U.S. President Barack Obama as he urged protesters to remain calm after the verdict. “Obama’s early, and at times emotional, intervention in the national debate that followed the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012 was blamed by many critics for inflaming racial tensions, and the White House had strained to avoid similar intervention in Ferguson,” the newspaper writes. “But he has also struggled to make clear that his sympathy also lies with many demonstrators in the city who feel that the police are not always on their side.”

“Officers in Ferguson are also not alone in shooting unarmed black men,” the Economist writes, looking at similar cases across the U.S. “Systemic racism is still a problem, and so-called ‘justifiable homicides” are on the rise,’ the magazine reports.

In Canada, The Globe and Mail parses the legal aspects of the grand jury decision. Criminal lawyer David Butt argues that “legal conclusions flow from microscopic dissection of very tiny slices of life: In this case, a few brief minutes of interaction between a police officer and a young man. Larger questions around the prevalence and role of racism in policing, racism in Ferguson, and racism in the United States, were not part of the jury’s work. But we can understand things quite differently if we trade the legal microscope for the social telescope, lift our eyes up from the courtroom, and scan the horizon and skies.”

Echoing comments by Konstantin Dolgov, the human rights envoy for Russia’s foreign ministry , that events in Ferguson reflect simmering U.S. tensions over racial discrimination, Russia Today on Tuesday ran an interview with Josh Pasek, an associate professor from the University of Michigan, headlined, “Racial animosity in U.S. not over.” Pasek says: “A lot of what we are seeing here is that in the environment where we now are, having a black president of the U.S., a lot of people had this sense that big stark divide that the racial animosity in America was over. And that is not the case.”

Sebastian Fischer argues in an opinion piece in Germany’s Der Spiegel that Obama’s speech in the wake of the grand jury announcement fell short. “It was a weak, tired appearance,” Fischer writes. “This is not enough.” Fischer urges Obama to travel to Ferguson and give the speech of his lifetime, a speech that will direct all the outrage, anger and sadness towards fighting racism in America.

Writing for Le Monde in France, Gilles Paris describes the protests and clashes in Ferguson as evidence of a racial fracture in a town in full demographic transition. While pointing at the “disproportionate and ineffective” deployment of Ferguson’s police forces during the protests and “unimpressive measures” by the town’s authorities, Paris argues that Ferguson’s racial divide “could only widen” with the decision of the grand jury.

Also in France, Le Figaro sees the protests as the continuation of 50 years of racial riots in the U.S. sparked by altercations between police officers and members of the black community. “Since the end of segregation, the same scenario has repeated itself at steady intervals.”

In the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Allison Kaplan Sommer reflects on two arguments frequently made in the region in recent days: The excessive force with which U.S. police reacted against protesters in Ferguson is similar to how Israeli security forces address Palestinian protests. Some even blamed the U.S. influence on U.S. law enforcement for the heavy tactics in Missouri. Sommer argues that while most of these arguments lack a foundation, she does see one large similarity: “As absurd as I find this tear gas-driven solidarity, I do see one major similarity between the Israel-Hamas conflict and Ferguson, as I watch the talking heads on the U.S. media and their counterparts in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem endlessly try to work out how to solve their respective problems during this long, hot summer: dangerously short-term thinking.”

“In Ferguson — as in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank — crises must be used as an opportunity for out-of-the-box solutions that could prevent the next explosion.” Sommer writes. “It’s not just the right time to solve big problems — it is the only time.”

More On Ferguson From HuffPost:

Photographic Evidence Reveals | ‘First Year Law Student Could Have Done Better Job’ | 61 Arrested | Ferguson Smolders After Night Of Fires | Protest Locations | Americans Deeply Divided | Police Chief: ‘Worse Than The Worst Night We Had In August’ | What You Can Do | Darren Wilson Interview | Darren Wilson Could Still Face Consequences | Timeline | Students Protest | Photos Of Darren Wilson’s Injuries Released | Shooting Witness Admitted Racism In Journal | Peaceful Responses Show The U.S. At Its Best | Reactions To Ferguson Decision | Prosecutor Gives Bizarre Press Conference | Notable Black Figures React | Jury Witness: ‘By The Time I Saw His Hands In The Air, He Got Shot’ | Thousands Protest Nationwide |

Holidays, family and divorce come with great complexity. This year, I have finally developed the tools to navigate through it. Given that I grew up with divorced parents, I have learned a lot through that experience and been able to apply tactics — in my own post-divorce holiday times.

Every Christmas, I get a gift for my five- and seven-year-old children to give to their dad, my ex-husband. I spend a great deal of time thinking about the right item because I want it to be a very special exchange for all of them. I also buy gifts for his mother and sister. They are still my children’s family and I do care that the holiday is acknowledged and everyone feels included. And again, it makes my children excited to bring gifts to them all.

What works for our family may not work for everyone, but this is just one way I handle the holidays. Generally, I don’t have two of my kids over Christmas so I think by being involved leading up helps me feel connected. It makes me feel good that the children have something special that we all share.

Since my parents were divorced over 20 years ago, holidays have been a difficult time for me to navigate. I seem to revert back into feeling like a child again. Holidays had become a time of trying not to hurt family members’ feelings and less about being with the family. The guilt I would feel from one side or the other made me never want to instill that on my own children. I can greatly identify with the feeling of being caught in the middle.

Some people believe you shouldn’t separate the kids for the holidays — but I am not opposed to this. I would almost rather split the kids than split the day. And if I alternate the holidays like some do, that leaves me much sadder on the off years. I know it used to leave my mother quite sad.

You would think in this day and age, we could all just have holidays together — one very happy one. We generally all get along and it would be good for the kids. And good for me, who at 42 years old feels like a child as I go to my dad’s Thanksgiving for lunch and then to my mom’s for dinner. And then the next day, we travel three hours to my husband’s family’s Thanksgiving repeat.

But, I guess we all win at the end. I am enormously blessed. I eat three amazing meals. I get to see more family than I could hope for.

I have really made an effort to start my own traditions. A week before Thanksgiving, we have a wonderful birthday party for my stepdaughter and invite my entire family. Birthdays are a time when everyone can get together — and family members can intersperse with friends. Everyone is welcome (which is how holidays ought to be).

I also try to create traditions out of the non-holidays. For example, Sunday nights are special family nights. I covet those days when all five children are home and do my best to make each meal special and fun. Holidays are about warmth and love. I certainly don’t want to mess with that but rather embrace it in my own way.

And for this Thanksgiving, I have given a new tag line for my company, Babo Botanicals. That is “Family Comes First,” naturally because family is about love and health all year round.

I’ve been longing for a role model. Someone to look up to. I’ve been searching online, in books, everywhere for someone who I’d like to emulate.

Over the years I’ve had many different role models.

There was Tina Tuner when I was about 8, The German exchange student who stayed with my family when I was in highschool, Sonia Sanchez in college. Once into the real world, there were many working writers I longed to be like, and then after my best friend passed away I sought models in Buddhism and the fields of healing.

Well, again, here I am, looking, searching, for female role models.

It’s not so much the want to be like somebody else, but the want to impact the world in a similar way. A want to find someone who teaches what I’m looking to understand.

I grew up believing that wanting to be like others was bad. I went to an all girls school that was pretty competitive, and the need to fit in sometimes was pretty fierce. It’s not good to follow the crowd. Be your own person. Draw outside the lines. All statements of truth for sure. But how are we supposed to grow if we have nothing above us to reach toward?

The less and less we see women in roles we want to emulate, the less likely we are to strive to become those roles. I’m constantly hunting for role models. Female role models. Relationship role models.

Role models are kind of like my therapy. By seeing what can be accomplished I know my life can always be different. My narrative can always be edited and rewritten.

By seeing other women who are enjoying their careers, loving being a mother, appreciative of their partners, it makes me feel like I too can have that.

Maybe that’s my new role model — the roles themselves.