The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1014770
C-4 Wednesday, August 15, 2018 The Press-Dispatch HOME LIFE TO ADVERTISE: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: ads@pressdispatch.net Visit: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Deadline: 5 p.m. on Monday Youth First Today by Emily Sommers, Youth First, Inc. Back-to-school mindfulness for all ages To enter the Birthday Club, email your name, ad- dress, phone number and birthdate to birthdayclub@ pressdispatch.net. Only the person's name, town and birthday will appear in the paper. As an added bonus, one lucky person each month will receive a free three month Press-Dispatch subscrip- tion. This month's birthdays have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Sue's Flowers, Gifts and Coun- try Gatherings. THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS John B. Shawhan ........................ Plainville ........8/15 Judy Schell ................................ Petersburg .......8/17 Shelia Adkins ..............................Hazleton ........8/18 Estelyn Eversoll......................... Petersburg .......8/19 Patsy Gilham ................................ Otwell ..........8/21 THIS MONTH'S SPONSOR Flowers, Gifts & Country Gatherings 310 W. Morton St., Oakland City 812-749-4500 www.SuesFlowersIN.com PUBLIC AUCTION Saturday, Sept. 15 • 10 a.m. EDT 5 miles east of Petersburg on Hwy. 257 • Otwell To consign today, contact: Hill's Auction Center WM Keith Hill IN #AU01020879 812-789-6367 or Jason Keeker 812-354-2419 J.D. 2030 utility tractor (1 owner), Ford 3600 utility tractor with loader (2858 hrs., 1 own- er), 1997 - Four Star horse trailer, aluminum, 3-horse slant with full living quarters, (1 owner, loaded), Claas Rollant 46 round baler (1 owner), 1996 - 25' Gooseneck trailer. TRACTORS – TRUCKS – JEEP – HAY EQUIPMENT FARM EQUIPMENT – TOOLS – MOWERS Auction service hillsauctionservice@outlook.com Owners: Estate of Dan Bush & Larry Powell For complete listing, go to auctionzip.com HOME FOR SALE 2 country acres, 3 bedroom, 1½ bath brick ranch with basement, 1½-car attached garage on good paved road, extra clean in move-in condition. All window treatments and appliances included: refrigerator, range, dishwasher, washer and dryer. New 200 amp electric service, high efficiency gas heat and central air, Pike-Gibson water. Surrounded by farm property. Private, but not totally secluded. $139,900. Call to see! 812-664-2451 Just like the teachers, school social workers come into the building sev- eral days before the first day of school to prepare for the new school year. One thing I have noticed upon returning is that "summer brain" is a real thing! Summer brain is not a good or bad thing; it just means it is time to change patterns and create a new rhythm. As school social work- ers we briefly talk about problems with students, parents, and teachers and tend to spend more time discussing solu- tions to maximize the suc- cess we hope for in our work. So, if the problem is summer brain…the solution is mindful- ness! Mindfulness means paying attention to the present mo- ment and noticing inner experi- ences like thoughts and feelings. Research shows that mindfulness can help reduce stress and anxiety. Parents, children and teens may benefit from discussing their percep- tion of mindfulness with each other and, hopefully, this article will encour- age just that. What examples can you come up with where you are already using mindfulness? You might surprise your- self and build confidence by starting there! It is certainly very rewarding to do this with a classroom of students, no matter the age, who share their wis- dom so freely. Here is a brief list to encourage mindfulness as we begin the 2018 -19 school year. See if you and your fami- ly can add to the list. • Create a "daily" gratitude jar where all family members can write down and contribute one good thing (or more) about their day or something they think they did well. • Establish a particular space at home for everything that will be need- ed for the following day to ensure back- packs are loaded up and ready to go. Making lunches together the night be- fore can also be a family mindfulness activity. • Frustrated with an activity? Take a time-out and come back to it later. • Check your self-talk…is it kind and encouraging? • Write some positive inspirations and post them around you. • Deep breathing exercises and stretch breaks can be very helpful. • Challenge irrational thoughts by asking yourself, "Is this something that I can do anything about today? " If so, take the necessary steps to do just that. • Eat mindfully. Notice how your food looks and smells. Rather than rush- ing, eat slowly, mindful- ly and take in all of the senses. • Make a daily in- ventory of the things you felt you did well and those you felt you might have done bet- ter. • Remind yourself it hap- pens a little at a time…not all at once! • Journal! Journaling can benefit by providing an emotion- al and physical release as well as providing insight and inspiration. • Take a walk or enjoy any exer- cise you prefer. • Get outside in nature…enjoy the sunset and take in all of the sights, sounds and smells! • Experience a loving-kindness meditation…YouTube has some great examples. • Listen to music. • Take time to laugh. Easy does it. Remember, mindful- ness is all about the daily practice, and the more we practice something the more permanent it becomes. Good self-care has a positive ripple effect to all of those around you, too. This column is written by Emily Som- mers, MSW, school social worker for Youth First, Inc., a local nonprofit ded- icated to strengthening youth and fam- ilies. This fall, Youth First will provide 54 Master's level social workers to 75 schools in 10 Indiana counties. Over 60,000 youth and families per year have access to Youth First's school social work and after-school programs that prevent substance abuse, promote healthy behav- iors, and maximize student success. SLOW COOKER CHICKEN WITH BACON GRAVY By Monica Sinclair While scrolling through Facebook this week, I stopped on a recipe that made my jaw drop and my mouth water. I love bacon and I love gravy and this recipe puts the two together, so I knew I had to share it. I happen to have most of the ingredients already, so it will be tried very soon. Enjoy! INGREDIENTS • 1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts • ¼ tsp. pepper • 1 tsp. dried thyme • 1 tsp. minced garlic • 6 slices bacon, sliced and cooked • 2 (0.87-oz.) packets chicken gravy dry mix • 1¼ cup water • ⅔ cup heavy cream DIRECTIONS 1. Add the chicken to the slow cooker. Sprinkle with the pepper, thyme, garlic and bacon. 2. In a small bowl, mix together the gravy mix packet and the 1¼ cup water until smooth. Pour the gra- vy over the chicken. 3. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3.5 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time. 4. When the cooking time is done, add the heavy cream. 5. Shred the chicken with 2 forks and give everything a gentle stir until the gravy and the cream are mixed. 6. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes. magicalslowcooker.com MEALS IN Monica's MINUTES Share your favorite recipe! www.facebook.com/mealsinminutes Monica's Meals in Minutes PO Box 68, Petersburg, IN 47567 mealsinminutes@pressdispatch.net FACEBOOK MAIL EMAIL Katiedid vs... by Katiedid Langrock Octopuses for breakfast Vice President Mike Pence announced plans for Space Force, a new mili- tary branch that presuma- bly would be dedicated to saving us from the evils of those weird octopus dudes Will Smith killed in Inde- pendence Day. To be fair, oc- topuses are insanely smart little freaks of nature. I'm fairly confident that in addi- tion to being able to shape- shift into anything from an old tire to your least favorite sister, Martha, they can read minds and may even- tually take over the world. The octopuses we have on Earth must be stopped, let alone the ones falling to Earth from the evil skies! However, I felt profound- ly sad when I heard of this "Star Wars"-like mission. From the time I was a child, I have wondered why the as- sumption we have about al- iens is that they are just as evil, trigger-happy, murder- ous and territory-spreading as we are. Could it not be that on the planet made of one massive diamond (it's a true thing; look it up), the endlessly reflective rain- bow light made all of its lit- tle marshmallow creatures, I don't know, happy? Per- haps their days are spent building crystal snowmen and living in shiny castles like the one in "Frozen." Financially, it behooves us to think the skies are filled with Alf over Jabba the Hutt. I know I'm not the on- ly person who thinks Space Force sounds a tad on the in- sanely expensive side — so expen- sive, in fact, that we might want to welcome an attack from the marshmallow men of the di- amond planet. Rumor has it that their guns shoot tennis bracelets. Surely, the mon- ey could be spent on some- thing more practical, such as vaccines for toe fungus and loud talkers. A friend of mine recently shared what she hopes our government would spend the money on. She strayed from the more expected answers of better schools, healthy drinking water and access to health care for all. Instead, she focused on a very specific group: new moms. "I hear that in Russia, they are paying people money to go home and have a baby," she said, her face contort- ing and grimacing oddly. I had heard something along those lines, too. Many coun- tries, in fact, have been try- ing to figure out what to do about the dwindling popu- lation and rapidly declining birthrates. "If the government wants to get women to have more ba- bies, you need to help the moms out," she said. I agreed. "Abso- lutely. A ffordable child care is des- perately needed," I said. "Oh, yeah, that, too. But I was talk- ing about diet plans," she said, inadvertently sticking out her tongue. My friend recently began an incred- ibly restrictive but also in- credibly effective diet plan. It also is incredibly expen- sive. The diet plan consists of exclusively eating energy bars that, by the look of her face as she chewed, are not what you'd call tasty. "How about after we new mamas are done putting on 80 pounds to bring you children, you give us a nice, paid-for diet plan so we can get our bodies back? " she exclaimed. "You want our govern- ment to pay for energy bars and wine? " I asked. "Yes. Yes, I do. I also want a barbershop quartet to oc- casionally drop by the house with one of those car-sized checks and sing me a har- monized song about how I deserve this money simply because I'm raising the next generation." A barbershop quartet did seem like something sorely lacking from my own life ex- periences, but when I asked her whether there might not be better things the govern- ment could spend its mon- ey on, she rolled her eyes and said, "What, like Space Force? " Then she shuddered — not so much from the idea of Space Force but from the disgusting energy bar she was forcing herself to swal- low. I agreed that there un- doubtedly are better things we could spend money on than Space Force, but I added that if money would be going toward diet plans for new moms, the food would have to taste better. It was then that my friend explained that the bars are only for a month. Then she'll be restricted to lean meats. "What are lean meats? " I asked. "You know, turkey, salm- on, scallops, octopus." "Octopus?! " "Oh, yeah, and anything like it." Like space octopus? Mr. Pence, I'm no Neil de- Grasse Tyson, but I'm think- ing we may be able to kill two birds with one stone. Like Katiedid Langrock on Facebook, at facebook.com/ katiedidhumor.