The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/912793
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, December 6, 2017 D-1 HOME LIFE TO ADVERTISE: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: ads@pressdispatch.net Visit: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Deadline: 5 p.m. on Monday Tech Solutions by Christian Hinojosa THE DEADLINE FOR ALL REAL ESTATE ADS IS 5 P.M. EVERY MONDAY Youth First Today by Dawn Tedrow, Youth First, Inc. Agree to disagree in a respectful manner Three affordable home automation gadgets APPETIZER WREATH By Monica Sinclair It's week two of Christmas recipes and this week, I thought I would give you an appetizer to bring to your Christmas party. It's very colorful and requires very little effort. Your dish will draw everyone's attention at the party! Enjoy! INGREDIENTS 2 tubes (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent rolls 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, sof- tened 1/2 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon dill weed 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1-1/2 cups chopped fresh broccoli florets 1 cup finely chopped celery 1/2 cup finely chopped sweet red pepper DIRECTIONS 1. Remove crescent dough from packaging (do not unroll). Cut each tube into eight slices. Arrange in an 11-in. circle on an ungreased 14-in. pizza pan. Bake at 375° for 15 -20 minutes or until gold- en brown. Cool for 5 minutes before carefully re- moving to a serving platter; cool completely. 2. In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sour cream, dill and garlic powder until smooth. Spread over wreath; top with broccoli, celery and red pepper. Source: tasteof home.com 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 MEALS IN Monica's MINUTES There are a lot of things to be unhap- py about in our world today. Everyone has their own opinion when it comes to politics and current affairs, and many are not shy about expressing their feel- ings. If you open up your social media news feed and read through the com- ments, you will see a lot of negativity. What about you? Have you taken a look at your own attitude and behav- ior lately? We try to raise our children to be well-rounded individuals, to know the difference between right and wrong and to handle conflict appropriately. Sometimes things are said just for the sake of stirring up an argument with someone who posted their opin- ion. We feel hurt by things people post, and want them to know they have of- fended us. But what is the right way to handle this conflict? We must remember that our chil- dren are observing our reactions to these situations and they are often mir- roring our behavior. As a parent, I am entitled to my own beliefs that influence how I raise my child. However, I am also responsible for ensuring they conduct themselves in a way that is respectful. Perhaps it is time to review the idea that we can "agree to disagree." Be mindful of how you respond to situations you disagree with. I am al- so guilty of uttering something under my breath about the latest news. What I would like my child to take away from the moment is that I don't agree with what is being said or done. But your child is also hearing the words you are saying and thinking of how to apply it to situations in their young life. Unfortunately, our bad behaviors may teach our children to handle a situation in an inappropriate way and they may ultimately be punished for it. We are setting our children up for failure by not keeping our own reac- tions in check. The next time you are watching the news and disagree with what is being reported, take a moment to think about how you should respond. What do you want your child to learn from your re- action? How would you like them to react to a difficult situation at school when you are not present? The first step in expressing your- self in a positive manner is by starting with "I feel." Surprisingly, many chil- dren don't know how to describe their feelings, so it might be helpful to have a list of feelings available for them to look at while instructing them in this skill. "I feel angry" and "I feel sad" are some examples. Once the child understands how to identify their feelings, you can begin teaching them to identify what is mak- ing them have this feeling. For exam- ple, "I feel angry when you tell me to pick up my toys." Practice modeling this behavior around your children and continue to encourage them to use their words in- stead of acting out inappropriately. As always, be sure to praise them for us- ing their words in a respectful and ap- propriate manner. This column is contributed by Dawn Tedrow, LCSW, school social worker for Youth First, Inc., a local nonprofit ded- icated to strengthening youth and fam- ilies. Youth First provides 39 Master's level social workers to 57 schools in 7 southwestern Indiana counties. Over 60,000 youth and families per year are served by Youth First's school social work and afterschool programs that prevent substance abuse, promote healthy behav- iors, and maximize student success. You wake up at 5:59 a.m. to the warm glow of sunlight in your bedroom. Peer- ing out your window, you see the stars still out and the moon shining brightly. "Alexa, set scene 'Morning,'" you say. Within seconds, your house illumi- nates into soft shades of orange, blue, and white for an energizing ambiance. As the clock strikes 6 a.m., your home's heat kicks on. You find your morning coffee waiting for you in the kitchen. You enjoy your breakfast and leave your house at 6:30 a.m. Behind you, your lights and coffee maker power themselves off. Your home's temperature is allowed to drop below 50° to save energy. Throughout the day, your lights turn on and off at seemingly random intervals to make your home appear occupied, deterring potential home invaders or sketchy neighbors. That evening, as you drive up your driveway, your garage and front room lights turn on to greet you. You walk inside your recently warmed house to find your T V already tuned to the evening news. When you walk into your comforta- bly cool bedroom at 10 p.m., you com- mand, like an officer in 1969's Star Trek, your house lights to turn off by saying "Alexa, set 'Bedtime.'" A single soft light in your bedroom slowly dims over the next hour. You now fall into a natural deep sleep. Wouldn't it be great to have a futur- istic home like this? I sure think so. And that's why I'd like you to know something – for under $1,000, you can have your home transformed in- to a "home of the future." Let me walk you through the three devices that made this 20th century sci-fi-esque day possible. PHILIPS HUE How are you able to enjoy sunlight at 6 a.m.? This is thanks to Philips HUE lights. These Wi-Fi enabled lights can be controlled using nearly any phone or smart hub. At your fingertips (or even just your voice), you'll have timers, beautiful scenes, GPS capability, and 16,000,000 beautiful colors. These lights are my personal fa- vorite of available smart home devic- es. They're relatively affordable at about $70 per bulb. These bulbs are installed in regular light sockets for ul- timate ease of installation. NEST LEARNING THERMOSTAT In this perfect home, you may have noticed your home's temperature smartly adjusting throughout the day. This is thanks to the Nest Learning Thermostat ($249). It has tons of cool features, like voice control, detailed energy use reports, and smoke detection (with add-ons). You'll save an average of 10 to 12 per- cent a year on your energy bill, thanks to its adaptive adjustments. As you adjust your home's tempera- ture throughout the day, the Nest ther- mostat learns your habits and creates a schedule accordingly. BELKIN WEMO MINI Who wouldn't want their coffee made and T V turned on for them with- out even flipping a switch? Belkin agrees and has graced us with their Belkin WeMo Mini for just this purpose (or anything else you can think of ). At just $ 30 each, the WeMo Mini is the cheapest and simplest way to mod- ernize your home. All you have to do is plug your WeMo mini into a wall outlet and your coffee maker into the WeMo. Then set your desired on/off times via the WeMo app and… voilà! You've au- tomated your first task. You can do the same thing with near- ly any other device, such as a T V, lamp, space heater, or even a toaster. And at just $ 30, why not? BONUS: AMAZON ECHO 'ALEXA' Talking to many of these devices is made possible through an Amazon Echo device. The least expensive in the Echo family, the Dot, is just $50 and allows you to speak commands to a large variety of home automa- tion gadgets and listen to online mu- sic, podcasts and radio. Alexa can al- so tell you information, set timers and more. Google, Bose and Apple also make similar assistants. Technology is super exciting and can make your life so much easier. However, getting started isn't always so easy. Email me at christian@calibre-cs. com if you have any questions, are in- terested in having us set up home au- tomation for you, or just want to share your knowledge and experiences. Christian Hinojosa is the director of Service Operations at Calibre Comput- er Solutions in Princeton. For comput- er tips, information, and free software tools, check out our website at http:// www.calibreforhome.com.