Dear Cora: Modesty

 Note: I will suggest that this is a ladies-only post. Thank you very much! :-)

"I would really enjoy hearing your elaboration on how you view modesty. I am a (16 year old) christian, and I wear both skirts and pants, jeans most of the time.... however, hearing people talk about only wearing skirts and hearing valid, biblical reasons makes me wonder if I should stop wearing pants. haha, that sounds funny. Anyways, I would (really, really) love to hear a bible based view on why to wear pants. Thanks a bunch!!"
~Laurel

Dear Laurel,

 Firstly, I would like to stress this point: If God has called you to abandon wearing jeans and switch to skirts, do not listen to me. My first reason is unique to me and my life situation, and may never apply to you.

Okay? Okay. On with much talk about clothing and stuff.

1. My dad told me to never, ever, ever wear skirts while doing work around the farm. As a fireman/EMT, he has seen too many people die or be seriously injured from wearing loose clothing (like skirts) around machinery. So in order to obey him, I must not wear skirts working around the farm. He also believes I should not wear skirts in any situation where I might get dirty, like, say, cleaning the house or gardening. So... Only pants at home. So I don't have very many skirts at all. When I'm out of my dad's house and in my own, I will probably continue this rule, as... well... my dad raised me to be uber-safety-conscious. :-)

2. I say I wear men's pants. Why not women's?
*Women's jeans (aside from work-jeans and a few brands of regular jeans) are designed to be sexually attractive. From the fancy stitching/patches/etc. to the cut of the legs, to the use of stretchy fabrics that fit like a second skin to the hips, they are meant to make men look at places they should not.
*Women's sweatpants are also made to hug the body, often with words in inappropriate places. Again, sexual attraction.
*Even the slacks I'm required to wear at work get the wrong kind of attention from male customers.
*Women's shorts - ALL of them are too short/tight/revealing.
*Skorts - Don't get me started. It looks like a wrap mini-skirt. So what if there are shorts underneath? No one knows that. They see a flappy, little mini-skirt.
*Men's pants - They don't style for sexual attraction, because most women don't get a high off of seeing men in tight pants. They style for coverage and comfort. I'm willing to take teasing and put-downs to cover my body and ward off the stares of others. I value The Cowboy too much to purposely make myself "used goods" when I marry him.

3. Shirts - I know Laurel didn't ask about shirts, but I'll throw this in just for kicks and giggles.
*I strongly avoid V-necks and wraps (even with a shirt underneath), as they draw the gaze of the beholder down to regions he should not be ogling.
*Words and decorations on the front must be big enough for the beholder to understand without intently studying.
*Necklines: Nothing lower than 1.5" below the collarbone for me, please. I have been known to wear something lower than that (slightly lower, not "Yikes!" lower), but as a general rule? No.
*Quoting Miss Jocelyn Dixon, "Tight enough to show you're a woman, but loose enough to show you're a lady." Nearly every Christian young lady I know looks poured into her shirt. It makes me ill.
*Sleeveless is iffy.
*Shoulderless/strapless are OUT OF THE QUESTION. Period.

4. Bathing suits. Again, Laurel didn't ask, but I'll go ahead.
*There are no modest bathing suits in my book. If I don't feel comfortable wearing something in my grandmother's living room for tea, I will not wear it in public at all. I wear long shorts and a black T-shirt over a bathing suit when I swim (in case the shirt comes un-tucked, you know).

There's all the TMI you could ever want. ;-)

Thursday Thirteen: Names That I Like 2

For today's Thursday Thirteen, I'm posting girl names I like. Last week, I did boy names. These are names that just strike my fancy at the moment, not ones I'm planning on using for kids or whatever. ;-)

1. Brigitte
2. Honoria
3. Jess
4. Katherine
5. Lorelei
6.Lysandra
7. Maxine
8. Milly
9. Svetlana
10. Tanya
11. Tess
12. Tzeitel
13. Wendy

Linked over HERE. What is a list of 13 things you want to post?

My Dear Mother and the Meaning of Life

The meaning of life is not 42. It's very far from 42. My dear mother is convinced that we exist for no purpose other than cleaning the kitchen. How we came to discover this:

Cora: "Where should I put the Weck?"
Dear Mother: "You can clear off the counter over there... Actually, it might help to clean the whole kitchen first!"
Cora: "You ALWAYS think cleaning the kitchen helps. If I was going to do a sewing project in the basement, you'd tell me that it would help to clean the kitchen first!"
Dear Mother: "Well... it would! You're not going to escape from cleaning the kitchen. When you're 80, you'll still be cleaning the kitchen!"
Cora: "Douglas Adams was wrong, then. The meaning of life is NOT 42! It's cleaning the kitchen!"

 I did get the dishwasher unloaded, reloaded, counters cleared... and then commenced baking... So it really doesn't look like I cleaned at all. Guess what I have to go do now!

Embrace the cleaning of the kitchen. It IS your destiny.

:-/

Well, Knock Me Over With a Feather!

Check out this headline:

Calif. county bans toys in kids' meals in attempt to cut fat

Really? Where's a wall. I need a wall... *smacks head against it*

Katie's Whole Wheat Pan Bread

My friend, Jenna, over HERE was asking for favorite recipes that are relatively healthy. I think this fits the bill...

This is the food my family refers to as "hard tack" and devours the moment I make it.

WW Pan Bread
From my dear friend Katie

7/8 c Warm Water
1/3 c Oil
1/4 c Honey
  1  t Salt
3 1/s-4 c Whole Wheat Flour

Mix into a stiff dough and roll flat on baking sheet. Poke repeatedly with fork and score into squares. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until done. Fend off hungry family members until you get a bite.

There is no picture because it was all eaten before my darling brother came home with the camera. *Rolls eyes*

~From Cora's Cooking And Poetry Book
(a Thomas Kinkade journal serving a better purpose)

There's a Snake in My Boot!

Once upon a time
 (about an hour ago)
I pulled up to the gas station
To fill up my truck's tummy.

I stepped out of the truck
(right down into a puddle)
And thought, "My lands!
Methinks a snake has made a home
Inside my tire tread!

The hiss was loud - too loud
(and angry, seems to me.)
I bent down to the awful noise
And found the wretched beast.

Shiny was the awful thing,
(small and silver, too.)
It sat there hissing up at me
And I a mite confused.

For it was no snake inside my tire
(instead, a giant screw)
Embedded in the rubber
And naught there could I do!

I called up my dear papa
(he can fix these things, I know!)
He said to bring it home
For I was not far away.

So I took my poor C-3PO
(that is my lil' truck's name)
Back toward my house,
But on the way...

My eldest brother'd come
(to follow me)
and see me safely home.


Big thanks to my brother, Mighty Mike! :-)

On a side note, the bats in the barn are very much alive and well. :-/

We're a'doin' this a-gain.

Yesterday, I said to myself, "Self! I want to make a snackie that only I will eat so my peeps will leave it alone." So I made something that my family has, in the past, lovingly referred to as "Whole wheat hard tack." Oil, water, WW flour, a little honey, and salt. I mixed it up. I kneaded it up. Then I baked it up.

And then The Lego Maniac ate it up.

...What? AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! Nothing is safe around a teenage boy.

So today, I said to myself, "Self! The darling brother is probably sick of it now. It is my chance!" So I ground up the flour and commenced baking.

The little bro just looked up from the computer and said, "Hey, are you making more of that stuff?" Cora: "Um... yes?" Darling brother: "I have to work this afternoon, so make sure there's enough for me to take some with for snackage!"

...What?

*sigh* Hopeless. It's hopeless.