The Rule of Halves

Something I read in The Complete Tightwad Gazette (yes, I read the whole thing):

Take however much you normally use of something (laundry detergent, face cream, shampoo) and try using half that much. Do you still get the desired result? Then try using half that much again. Continue until you do not get the desired result, then add a little more. That's how much you really need.

Ta-da! You've saved some money and used a little less of the planet's resources. Congratulations in advance!

Pop Quiz III Winner!

Is the baby. I found that list on the back of some Kirkland Signature brand wipes. Imagine that.

I use them when we're out and about, but at home a wet washcloth does just fine. Ingredients: cotton, water.

While you're here, are there any questions you'd like me to answer on Mormonism Monday? It's hard to know what people we sometimes term "those who are not yet members of the Church" might be interested in. So requests are always welcome!

Pop Quiz: Better living through chemistry

From the back of a package found in my home:

Water, propylene glycol, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, tocopheryl acetate, PEG-75 lanolin, disodium cocoamphodiacetate, polysorbate 20, citric acid, disodium phosphate, disodium EDTA, ethylene brassylate, 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1, 3-diol, iodopropynyl butylcarbamate.

Hopefully obvious hint: it isn't edible. Have at it, gentle readers.

Mormonism not on a Monday: Homosexuality

It's been a busy couple of weeks in Mormondom. General Conference was great, though part of a talk by one of the apostles started a bit of a firestorm.

Here's the talk in full, by Elder Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1298-23,00.html

From what I understand, the sentence that upset the Human Rights Campaign (and many others, I'm sure) has actually been altered from the original.

Here is the statement released Tuesday in response to the HRC's concerns:

http://beta-newsroom.lds.org/article/church-mormon-responds-to-human-rights-campaign-petition-same-sex-attraction

Here's the gist, in my own words: God's laws surrounding sexuality apply to everyone, gay or straight. And marriage has existed since before the universe came into existence. We can't redefine it because we didn't define it in the first place.

That said, love one another. Love your neighbors. All of them. And please don't say, "Hate the sin, love the sinner," as if you don't sin. Everyone sins. All the more reason to live as the Savior did, with gentleness and kindness and love unfeigned.

Pop Quiz II Winner! (And my thoughts on breakfast)

Auntie R! Though you probably cheated, just like your mother.

Don't get me wrong: I love cereal in all its wondrous iterations. But the ones that are 40% sugar by weight, not so much. Much better for making a frooty necklace than actually eating.

When it comes to breakfast, remember Eloise: You have to eat oatmeal or you'll dry up. Anybody knows that.

Speaking of which, here's what my LP and I have for breakfast most mornings:

1 cup oatmeal (not quick! it's not a whole grain! flee! flee from the quick oats!)

1 1/2 cup milk

Microwave in a nice big bowl for four minutes. Mix frozen berries in with the LP's portion for quick cooling and extra yumminess.

Pop Quiz II

Have at it, my friends:

Sugar, Corn Flour, Wheat Flour, Whole Oat Flour, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Salt, Sodium Ascorbate and Ascorbic Acid, Reduced Iron, Natural Flavors, Red No. 40, Blue No. 2, Yellow No. 6, Zinc Oxide, Niacinamide, Turmeric Color, Blue No. 1, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Thiamin Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Palmitate, Annatto Color, BHT, Folic Acid, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12.

Mormonism Mondays: Tithing

So it isn't Monday any more. I'm busy, okay?

For the official word on tithing, read up here. My take is as follows: When you make money in some way, you move the decimal point one space to the left, and give that to the Church. Prosperity, happiness, and the occasional miracle ensue.

Also, you get some practice in remembering that money is just money, and that however you managed to get it is just a result of the Lord blessing you.

And, most importantly, when you're reading what Bruce R. McConkie has to say about people who don't pay their tithing, you're not racked with guilt, fear and awful shame. Talk about priceless.

Pop Quiz Winner!

Is Lois! The correct answer was chocolate cake, but Janice cheated, so Lois was closest in her guess. Sorry, Mom!

We were actually discussing this the other day, Lois and Janice/Mom and I. They say all those weird chemicals in cake mix make a better cake than you get from scratch. Say it ain't so. Does anyone out there have a good, real cake recipe? I'm sure we can find something better than Polysorbate 60 to feed each other on our birthdays.

Pop Quiz

Here are the ingredients. Can you name what's in the box?

Sugar, enriched bleached flour, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, modified corn starch, cocoa processed with alkali, dextrose, baking powder, propylene glycol monoesters, carob powder, cornstarch, salt, mono- and diglycerides, natural and artificial flavor, cellulose, guar gum, polysorbate 60, cellulose gum, TBHQ, citric acid, soy lecithin.

Bonus points if you can tell me what a monoester is, what TBHQ stands for, or the purpose of polysorbate 60.