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Tips for Your Virtual Holiday Party!

If you’re hosting a virtual Christmas party here are a few tips to make it go smoothly: Coordinate ahead of time which platform you’ll use, and make sure older family members are set up in advance . . . have a loose plan, like what time to log on, and an activity to fill any awkward silences . . . and keep it short . . . and take some pictures or screenshots as memories of 2020.

Christmas is basically here!

1. Send out invites. On Zoom, Skype, or FaceTime . . . and make sure older and less tech-savvy family members will be able to participate by helping them get set up in advance.

2. Have an agenda. It can be loose, but at minimum it should include a time to log on, as well as a designated game or activity to fill any awkward silences. 5x Fast….fill in the blank….change a movie title etc..

3. Keep it short and sweet. Like maybe do dinner while on the call together or open presents at the same time, but not both. Virtual fatigue is a real thing.

4. Make sure everyone knows about the mute button. Background noise is bound to happen, especially when there are kids involved. So make sure everyone knows how to mute themselves, or be ready to do it yourself as the host.

5. Lastly, Take pictures or screenshots. They will make for some great “2020 memories” in a few years.

{Katie’s Baby Blog} My Messy Kid!

My child is so messy!! Is that normal?!…..I know it is! Haha, but she is seriously a mess when it comes to eating. I can’t tell you how many bottles of stain remover I go through trying to get stains out of her cute clothes.

The worst part is…she loves being messy. She squishes food between her fingers, rubs it all over her face and hair and makes crumbs out of anything and everything she can.

I have tried to tell her “no” probably a thousand times. She doesn’t care. I take away her tray and food…doesn’t bother her at all.

She’s just a messy girl. I thought she would grow out of it when we transitioned from “baby” to “toddler”…that was a funny joke.

I guess we will just keep working on it in hopes that one magical day, Lily won’t tear apart her PB&J sandwich and then rub it all over her face.

Please send recommendations my way. Maybe a way to trick her into eating nicely?? If I offer a treat…that gets squished, too.

Peep the video below for a perfect example…

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Christmas Lights End Up Tangled

Unless you’re very lucky, or very well-organized, your Christmas lights are likely all tangled up when you get them out of storage. One way or another, you’ll eventually end up on your hands & knees, fighting to untangle that seasonal snarl. And you’re not alone: a few years ago, even the British grocery chain Tesco hired temporary “Christmas light un-tanglers” for the holidays. But, why are Christmas lights so prone to tangling in the first place? And what can be done about it?

There are several issues at play here. First, cords in general are inherently prone to tangling (think headphone cords, telephone cords, etc.). And, according to science, the longer the cord, the higher the probability of knots forming. Plus, the more flexible the cord is, the more likely to tangle it will be, more so than a less flexible cord. While long cords get tangled more easily than short ones, a cord with a larger diameter will be less flexible & thus reduce the risk of knotting. So, in other words, the ratio of length to diameter is what really matters. That’s why a garden hose can end up tangled; even though it’s fairly stiff, it’s also very long compared to its diameter.

But there’s more. If a cord has a metal wire inside of it, as Christmas lights do, then it acquires a kind of natural curve, as the wire, which was previously wrapped around a cylindrical spool, tends to retain that shape. Christmas lights can be even harder to straighten than other wound materials because they often contain a pair of intertwined wires, which give them a stubborn, intrinsic twirl.

Then, there’s the additional problem of the lights. All those little projections of lights get in the way of each other, and make it super difficult to pull one strand through another. That means once you’re tangled, it makes it that much harder to de-tangle.

So, what can we do about this? Well, aside from manufacturers using different, better materials for both the cords & the lights, the only real “solution” is to coil the lights very carefully when putting them away, and to use some twist-ties to help keep them in place. Otherwise, you’ll just have to use the old-school method when faced with a hopelessly tangled mess of cord: find one of the free ends…and just work your way out from there. Eventually, you’ll work it out. You can do it!

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected]!

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Is Christmas On December 25th?

Each December, we throw a big shindig in celebration of the anniversary of Jesus’s birth. But, without a birth certificate or other official record of His actual birthdate, December 25th seems like it’s an arbitrary date for our Christmas traditions. So, how was it chosen as THE date?

The Bible doesn’t name a month, day, or even season, for Jesus’s birth, so historians rely on other clues to estimate when it occurred. In the Nativity story, shepherds tended their sheep, which some say is evidence Jesus was born in the Spring. Others say Israel’s mild winter temperatures allow sheep to graze even in December. According to Slate.com, it’s also possible for sheep set aside for religious sacrifices to have been given free rein, cold night or not.

The primary rationale comes from the story of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth, who was old & without any children. One day, her husband, Zacharias, a priest who was burning incense in the temple, was visited by the angel Gabriel who told him Elizabeth would have a son. The thought was that Zacharias was probably in the temple for Yom Kippur, which is believed to have always taken place on September 24th. Nine months after September 24th is June 24th, so they chose that as the birthdate of Elizabeth & Zacharias’s son, John the Baptist. Gabriel later visited Mary to say that she, too, would bear a son, and mentioned Elizabeth was in her 6th month of pregnancy. So, that means Jesus would’ve been conceived in late March, and born in late December, the night of December 24th, to be exact.

The first known record of December 25th celebrated as Jesus’s birthday was in the year 336. Because it was mentioned in a book containing other important religious dates related to Emperor Constantine, some assumed a celebration probably occurred on that day. So, 336 is said to be the 1st known “Christmas.”

Whether Christmas was celebrated on December 25th before 336 may forever be unknown, but we do know the custom quickly caught on (spending the holiday watching A Christmas Story marathon wouldn’t come until much later). By the end of the 4th century, bishops were holding Christmas Mass across Rome, with pagan festivals falling out of fashion.

Since the origins of Christmas are just as subject to interpretation as Jesus’s actual birthdate, we should all feel free to play Christmas music whenever we want!

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected]!

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What’s The Difference Between Ice Cream & Gelato?

With all the snow & ice on the ground around us, an odd-yet-interesting question popped into my weird brain: what exactly is the difference between the 2 frozen treats of ice cream & gelato?

One of the main differences: butterfat. Ice cream’s main ingredients involve milk, cream, sugar, and egg yolks, but the secret to making gelato is using much less cream & sometimes little or no egg yolk, which leads to a smaller percentage of butterfat in gelato. The FDA has mandated that ice cream cannot contain less than 10% milkfat (though it can go as high as 25%), while gelato sits in the 4-to-9% range.

The churning method for each is also different, which modifies each treat’s density. Ice cream is churned much faster, causing more air to get whipped into it. Ice cream’s higher butterfat content comes into play there, too: because of all th milkfat involved, ice cream’s mix absorbs the air more readily. Gelato, on the other hand, is churned much slower, so it absorbs less air, creating a denser dessert.

The serving style for the 2 treats aren’t the same, either. In order to get perfectly stacked scoops of ice cream on a cone, buckets of ice cream must be stored at around 0°F to maintain consistency, while the softer gelato is stored at around 10°F to 22°F. Ice cream can then be scooped into fairly uniform balls with a round ice cream scooper, while a spade or paddle is best for molding gelato into a mound in a cup.

You can’t really go wrong with either, both are delicious, but there is 1 more difference to keep in mind: taste. If you want a bolder flavor, you want gelato. The density of the cream & the lesser amount of butterfat means it doesn’t coat your taste buds, so gelato can seem to have more intensity to its flavors.

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected]!

{Katie’s Baby Blog} Snow Day!…or not.

I was a little disappointed yesterday when I got home and tried to get Lily excited for the snow. I wanted Tim and I to take her outside to play, but she was totally against it!

She liked looking out the window at the snow, but when I asked her to go outside and play in it, I got, “No, I don’t want to go outside!!” I tried to get her snow pants on, and her favorite boots…nope. I even tried to coax her with M&M’s and stickers. She took them both and still shook her head “no” at me about going outside.

So once, I finally gave in and said “okay, fine we will stay in,” we decided to make Christmas cookies!

Now that…she loved doing 🙂 My cute little helper.

I can’t really blame her….I don’t loveeeee the snow either.

<3 Katie Ryan

 

 

{Katie’s Kitchen} Triple Chocolate Chip Christmas Cookies

Brought to you by Catoctin Mountain Orchard.

These are my favorite chocolate chip cookies! Chocolate chips, whit chocolate chips and M&M’s!

Pre-heat the oven to 375.

In a mixing bowl, add 12 TBSP of butter, 1 egg, 1 tbsp. water, 1 tsp. of vanilla extract, 2 cups flour, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup of chocolate and white chocolate chips mixed together, 1 cup sugar. Mix into dough.

Form 1 inch. balls with dough and place on a cookie sheet. Next, take red and green M&M’s and gently press into the top of the dough balls. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes after they finish, before transferring to a cooling rack.

Super quick and easy with common essential ingredients…and I had some cute help to go along with it (see pictures below)!!

Ingredients:

-2 cups flour

-12 tbsp. butter

-1 egg

– 1 cup sugar

-1 cup brown sugar

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1 tbsp. water

-1 cup mix of chocolate and white chocolate chips

-1 cup Green and red M&M’s

 

 

 

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: The Difference Between MDs & DOs

Going through health care provider qualifications can be daunting, especially as their names often come with designations that don’t really make their title clear. Most of us know an MD is a “Doctor of Medicine”, but what is a DO?

MDs & DOs, or “Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine”, get pretty much the same medical school training & experience. But, MD’s are mostly “allopathic”, or remedy-based, while DOs take a more holistic, or whole body, approach.

Their educations are largely the same for both, with 4 years of medical school followed by a residency. In fact, DO & MD graduates train in the same residency programs. But, DOs get roughly 200 hours of additional hands-on training with the musculoskeletal system, called osteopathic manipulative treatment, which is the manipulation or massaging of tissues to alleviate pain.

For chronic back pain without an injury, an MD might prescribe pain relievers. Meanwhile, a DO might investigate other potential sources of the pain by viewing the entire overall patient, looking for other causes like stress or other conditions. DOs take environment, nutrition & overall health into consideration. DOs are also taught to emphasize overall wellness, a more systemic approach.

MDs & DOs may have marginally different educational curriculums, but an individual physician’s approach to practicing medicine isn’t always bound by that guidance. An MD can take a holistic approach, while a DO may not use osteopathic manipulative treatment as much, or at all.

Neither MD nor DO programs are any easier or harder to get into or graduate from than the other. And, after graduating, both have virtually the same abilities in practicing medicine, including writing prescriptions. So, selecting an MD or a DO for your personal care is mainly one of preference. In the end, it’s the doctor you choose, not their title, that matters.

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected]!

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: How Do We “Smell” Snow?

Does snow have a scent? Your initial response might be “no”, since snow is only frozen water, which should be odorless. But, if you’ve ever predicted a big snowstorm based on a familiar tickle in your nose, then you understand the answer isn’t straightforward. So, what exactly happens when we “smell” snow?

The answer has less to do with specific odor molecules as it does with the climate. There’s a perfect storm of physical conditions needed to be able to smell snow. When temperatures near freezing right before it snows, it’s actually harder to detect scents in the air than it is during milder weather. Cold weather slows molecules in the air down. With less molecular activity, certain smells become less pungent. So, when “smelling snow”, you’re actually just smelling fewer other outdoor odors than what you’re used to.

But, if there was nothing else to it, a snowstorm would smell no different than a cold, dry day. The difference-maker? Humidity. The air is more humid than usual right before a snowstorm, which is what causes the flakes to fall: when the atmosphere hits its maximum amount of moisture, it dumps some of that wetness onto the ground in the form of rain, sleet, or, in our case, snow. That humidity also has the added effect of giving your sense of smell a quick boost. So, for many, the sensation of a warm, moist nose smelling certain elements in freezing weather ends up being linked with pending snowfall.

While all of that’s happening around you, there are systems at work inside your body that help to explain the unmistakable scent of snow. We sense the cold air we breath with our trigeminal nerve, which is the same nerve that interprets the sensations we get from tingly hot peppers or cool mint toothpaste, as well as other facial sensations that cause some folks to sneeze in sunlight. This is separate from our olfactory system, but we still lump that information with other more conventional scents like coffee or pine.

So, those elements (cold weather, humidity, and a stimulated trigeminal nerve) combine to create something that isn’t an odor, but a sensory experience we’ve come to associate with snow. Which is why, if you were to ask someone to describe the scent, they’d likely use words like “clean,” “fresh,” “cold”…all things that don’t have much of a scent at all.

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected]!

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