min-myinnersoul

........ Nor any drop to drink, goes The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge. He could very well be describing the labour situation in India. It seems to be one of perennial shortage. How can this be ? After all, India is a land of 1.2 billion people. The unemployment rate is officially at 9.4 %, but we all know that the real number is much higher. This is because of seasonal employment in agriculture and unemployment outside the seasons. Underemployment is even higher - getting some job just to exist, but capable of doing much more. While India's growth is impressive in recent years, it has created nowhere near the number of new jobs required to cater to the number of people entering the job market every year. And India is a young country, not an ageing one. More and more people join the workforce each year.  The unemployment situation is so acute that the government runs a hugely expensive National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. And yet, ask any company what their bigges

Chicken Azteca has become a family fave at our home here lately. It's super easy, and I love a good crock pot recipe. My kids have said, and I quote, "Mom, this is FANTASTIC!" I'd say it's a keeper;o) I do apologize for my failed attempts of food photography. It is way more tasty than it looks:o) Here's what you need: -3 chicken breasts or 1 pack of the thin cut chicken breasts 1 15 oz can of black beans rinsed and drained (make sure to rinse and drain, or it will look like mud) 1 med chunky salsa (16 oz) 1 16 oz package of frozen corn 1 to 2 tsp of cumin 1 to 2 cloves garlic 1 can pet. diced tomatoes( I use a can of Rotel)   1 8 oz cream cheese Put everything except the cream cheese in the crock pot & cook on low for 4 to 6 hrs...pull the chicken breast out and chop it to bits.  Put the chicken back into the crock pot, and add the cream cheese. Stir until combined. Serve with sour cream, cheese, and chips!

My family and I have the privilege of attending a congregation with two excellent preachers. We have heard some very inspiring sermons since we have been going there. Last night, the sermon given was very much needed...for myself that is:o) The title of the sermon was, "Live a life worthy of your calling." The speaker used Ephesians 4:1-3 as the core of his message. As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.   2   Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.   3   Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.(NIV) Here are the points he laid out using these short verses: 1. Live a Life of Humility This is a tough one for me. I really like to have my ego stroked. I have contemplated shutting down this blog on several different occasions b/c of my desire to be told how fantastic my projects are. That's usually when I have to take a break from blogging.

Hey Guys! I'm back, and I'm looking forward to sharing some projects with you in the next few days. I wanted to let you know that my  Provost Plaque  is in the running for "Best of March" over at  Saturday Mornings . Voting is going on now, and will end April 1st.  Click on the button below to vote!

This blogger is extremely bleary eyed and prickly these days. Nocturnal slumber is not coming easy. No, we are not afflicted with the weighty travails of modern business ; we are letting younger and more energetic men and women shoulder such onerous responsibilities. (Notice the royal "we" ; high praise by this blogger in the last post has completely gone into the head ! ) No affliction of the body either. And yet, repose eludes. The villain is a certain creature that God created to inflict misery on man. When confronted with this creature, pressing matters of the business world fly out of the window. Affairs of the state be damned. All concentration is on the futile act of achieving extermination of this malevolent species. This blog therefore takes a holiday from business until this emergency can be tackled. You see, the business world has already got well into the class warfare of man against this torturer. First came coils that emitted smoke, which presumably the crea

I know that I said that I was taking a break from blogging this week...I really am.  I had a few moments of not doing anything, so I thought I would share with you guys what I made yesterday for the Homemakers group that I am involved with. I had to do a presentation about Homemade Beauty products at our monthly meeting last night, and I decided to make a few of the things to hand out to the ladies. The first thing I made was a Honey Lemon Sugar Scrub. Here are the ingredients  2 1/2 cups sugar,  1/2 cup sweet almond oil,  4 teaspoons lemon juice,                4 Tablespoons honey,  4 drops lemon essential oil   Directions: To make the sugar scrub, combine the sugar and sweet almond oil in a large  bowl and stir well to combine. Add the lemon juice and stir again. Finally, add the honey  and lemon essential oil and stir again to mix.  Store in an air tight container. Another Homemade Beauty product I made was Aloe Vera Lip Balm This was so simple to make. I found the little heart cont

Something is happening in the blogworld. The female species which loves to start tags asking such earth shattering questions as "What are you wearing" seems to have vanished. No tags have been floating around for a year or so now - presumably the undying curiosity as to what you are wearing has been satiated. The holiday has now been broken by a tag from the star blogger cum author cum artist Preeti in this post of hers. No choice but to pick it up and as usual twist it to suit an allegedly business blog. The rules , I am obliged to post, are The tag has three parts..Movies,Music, Books/ Authors Write a movie, book and author with each alphabet of your first name. The book, movie or song should be one that you really liked. If you say why it matters to you, it would be great! We will all discover new songs, movies and books this way. Tag as many people as there are letters in your name. (if your name has 4 letters, you have to tag 4 people and so on) Mention that the

I know that in the last post I shared t-shirts with you, but some things have come up this week that haven't allowed me to get done what I had set out to do for this week. I did get this shirt made for E yesterday so that he would have something green to wear for St. Patty's Day....by the way... Happy St. Patty's Day to you all:o) He was really excited about this shirt. I am sure that a lot of you have seen all of the tutorials out there for freezer paper stenciling. That's how I made this shirt. Really easy. I will definitely be making some more shirts using this technique. *** Just a little note to all you lovelies out there. I am going to take a break from blogging for probably about a week or so. I have some dresses that I have to alter for some girls in the coming days, and my mother is having surgery next week and will be needing my assistance. So with all of that on my plate, I won't have time to do any other crafts. Just keep checking back periodically, or s

Here are some cute little T's that I made for E. He is so excited about these:o) The shirts were purchased from Walmart. The only thing I don't like about their boy t-shirts is they have a pocket. I have to remove the pockets and that is definitely a pain, but I do love paying only $3.50 for each shirt. I can't decide which I like best.  They are so fun:o) They took very little time to make and E is so happy about them. He can't wait to wear them to preschool. I have some fabric that I purchased from Joann's the other day that will match BOTH of these shirts perfectly. I see some new shorts in E's very near future;o) *** I am in the process of reconstructing my site. Hopefully it will be easier to access things, and look a little cleaner:o) 

I know that during the week last week, I just kind of sprung on you guys that I would be hosting "a boy" week.  I realized that there just aren't enough projects out in bloggy world concerning our little boys. It's hard to create for them. You don't normally hear cute, crafty and boy in the same sentence:o) So hopefully this week, we can help change that a little;o)   E has patiently watched me make things for S.R. for the past few weeks and I told him his time was coming. And now it's here:o) To start the week off, I am sharing with you this messenger bag. We are labeling it as an "Explorer" bag, so that it sounds a lot cooler than it actually is:o) I had some leftover canvas from my kitchen curtains, and a little bit of "boy" scrap fabric in my closet, so this project was 100% free to me. Here are the measurements for the bag: 6-12"x9" panels(main panel and flap) 4-9"x3" panels(the sides) 2-12"x3" panels(the

Readers of this blog are familiar with the mythical Ramamritham - the ubiquitous bureaucrat who frames awful rules and procedures. You can refresh your familiarity with this character here . Frequently this pest merely frames irritating rules that makes lives miserable, but rarely does he do direct harm. But this time he has outdone himself with his mischief and and is now proving to be a real menace. I am referring to the amendments he has proposed to the Indian IT Act, blandly named as the Draft Rule under Section 79 (nobody accused Ramamritham of possessing imagination) Strip away the legalese and the implications are this the government can shut down any website, including blogs, for the vaguest of reasons Bloggers are responsible to censor reader comments ; if somebody comments inappropriately, its the blogger's problem Intermediaries have to do due diligence on all user material. So presumably the ISP should shut you off if you show your finger to Ramamritham Only an idiot w

Whew! This party was so much work, but I think it paid off. Everyone had a fantastic time, especially the birthday girl and her mommy;o) We couldn't have asked for better weather either!! Here are the pics of the rest of the party. Food Table The new cakes. I decided to be bold and go for a two layer cake this time. I think it turned out really cute. I am definitely a fan of fondant.  All the "little" party guests got their own personal Barbie cake. Here is a close up of a few. These proved to be slightly more difficult. I used store bought icing and it didn't want to stick to the dolls. I'll have to come up with something different next time... if there is a next time;o)   They still turned out pretty cute though:o) Another shot of the mantle. I was so excited with how the banner turned out. SUPER cute! I have been collecting the Hallmark Barbie ornaments since they started coming out with them in the 90's. I pulled out a few that had coordinating dresses:o)

This is what Miss S.R. will be wearing at the party on Saturday. This isn't what I had intended for the outfit to be, but I think it turned out really cute. The shirt was actually supposed to be a skirt, but I didn't make it right. I guess that's what I get for making something on the fly when little bit is down for a nap:o) When she tried the skirt on, she hated it. So I thought, maybe I could put some straps on it and call it a shirt. Well it worked:o) Can you tell I love ruffle pants?:o) She just looks so cute in them!! There is a possibility of some monogramming but we'll see how much time I actually have:o) Lots of cleaning, hair cutting, and baking going on today.  Have a great Thursday!!!