The Art of Wifehood - lessons from a 'rib' (part 3)

    2. Woman, you are your husband's PROTECTOR.

    The Rib protects the heart, lungs and other internal organs of the thorax.

Woman, protect your man especially in prayer. Protect his weaknesses, his fears, his deepest darkest secrets. Protect his interests and his vulnerabilities. Just as in order to harm the heart you have to go through the ribs first so also woman, before anyone can get to your man in any way, they must go through you and through the shield of prayer and protection you have erected around him.

Protect the core of his being, protect and thereby nurture his dreams and inspirations. No matter how inconsequential it may seem now, protect it. Remember, never despise the days of little beginning. Remember Samson and Delilah? Now she is not a prime example of a good wife, BUT they had to go through her to get to Samson. She did not protect his secret and that was what was used to get to him. Do not underestimate the power God has given you, woman, but DO NOT abuse it. Your true power lies in submission (another topic entirely!). The rib protects the heart, woman protect your man’s identity and the essence of who he is.

The rib is constant, never moving, never leaving, and never changing except to grow in line with the rest of the body. Woman, stick to your husband’s side and grow with him as he grows. As you pray for changes in him you also must change and grow...it is and will always be a 2-way street. When the rest of the organs are falling apart, the ribs do not follow suit. If your man seems to be falling apart whether due to a loss or difficulties, whatever it is, cover him and stand by him. Hold him, comfort him, love him and where necessary give him space to get himself back together. Like it or not woman, sometimes you will have to be the one to hold it all together when all around you seems to be falling apart. I wish for you the strength and the discipline to do so.

(one more to go...Guys, I'm coming for you after that!)

The Moses Effect

The Art of Wifehood - lessons from a 'rib' (part 2)

And while we are on the subject, WOMAN shut it! I mean it, put a cork in it. 

Let me explain a bit what I mean by covering and why I said shut it. When you have laundry to do, you don’t go yelling and announcing that all your clothes are dirty and you need to launder them. Even to a close friend the most is probably ‘oh I was just doing some laundry’ or I’m about to do my laundry if they catch you doing it, or I will be doing laundry so I can’t make that time etc. You do not list every item of clothing you are laundering or why. When I was in Uni (I feel old), I would put my laundry in the prettiest bag I could find and go to the laundry room, wash and dry and REPLACE them in the same bag. Ladies, note the prettiest boys are usually the ones that are full of it and need a lot of work, but do you know what, the prettiest ones when they get their act together with the right person with the right conditions and timing have the potential to also be the best. NOTE: After you wash clothes, you leave them to dry. When you talk a little bit, (shut it) leave the man to God and leave him to sort himself out. If you keep checking the clothes they take longer to dry out and may not dry as well as if you'd left them to run their natural course. Keep prodding hubby to change and don't be surprised if he gets irritated and/or it seems to take a lifetime and then some before you see any change. Also when baking a cake you NEVER open the oven halfway even if to check the progress else it will fall and never rise properly even if it had risen. When you see a change or something important is happening, sometimes the best thing you can do for hubby is to shut it and pray that it gets better and is sustained . Don't mention that he is neater now on day 1 of him picking up after himself, give him time to improve himself his own way, Then appreciate the effort and praise him, don't go trying to make him change another thing. YOUR HUSBAND IS NOT ANOTHER HOME IMPROVEMENT PROJECT.

People seeing me walking with a pretty bag never knew I had laundry to do. It’s the same, people seeing you should not be able to tell that you feel like strangling him at that moment (it happens...lol). Wait until you are both together indoors and then privately have it out. If someone comes by, you don’t pull out the laundry from the machine or the bucket, you stop and hide it in the bathroom or leave the machine on and close the door of the laundry room and then when they go you get back to it.

Again, if you have a visitor when you both are having a heated discussion, no matter how close to you and your hubby, they should not be able to tell. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I wash, I generally don’t dump everything in and wash, I separate colours, textures, type of materials and I use a specific amount of soap depending on volume as well as specific temperature of water AND it lasts for a specific time. Deal with whatever it is appropriately, don’t make a mountain out of a molehill and stop trying to squash a mountain to look like a molehill. Ladies, keeping a grudge just makes you bitter and petty and very unattractive. Hash it out, argue, sort it and MOVE ON. Stop reminding him every argument after of what he did before. Oh and the only way your clothes will stay clean is when they are never worn, the only way any human being is without fault is if they are dead. Only God is perfect, DEAL WITH IT! And when you are hashing it out, the whole world does not have to hear. When a washing machine is on, if it is a good one, the only way you can tell is if you see it running. The only way a neighbour can tell you’ve been doing some washing is usually when you have to spread your clean clothes to dry and even at that you don’t spread your delicates for public viewing. The only thing people should see is a man (and a woman) who has gotten better and matured like fine wine. You see when you give him room he will keep improving (as should you because it is a two way street) and the evidence will be seen by all around. But it not every improvement the world has to know (e.g he makes love to me so much better than before...please we really do not need to know that!). You see when you are wearing proper underwear, I may not see it but I can tell. Same thing. When everything in your private relationship with hubby is going well, it will reflect in him and his work, his friendships and activities. (He doesn’t have to drink to a stupor or constantly visit restaurants).

NOTE: The Right Conditions and Processes will always produce the Right Results.

(That being said, any man that lays a finger on a woman is not a man, make sure you check out all the signs and labels before you pay the price. Don't cover or condone a man who lays his finger on you. If he does, don't let it progress to marriage, you cannot change this, only God can)

(There's more....)

Laugh a little - Football humour

HAHAHA!

Well...this says it all really....lol!

The Art of Wifehood - lessons from a 'rib' (part 1)

After God created the man, God decided to create ‘...an help, meet for him’. Not a HOUSE help but a help, meet. That is to say ‘an aid that would be a counterpart/proper for the man’. (I used the Hebrew translation to see meaning of original words used). Now to do this, he caused man to fall into a deep sleep and took out a ‘rib’ and from this fashioned a woman. (Note: the Rib is a pretty curvy bone...ergo...:D) Now, God is a deliberate God and there was a reason God chose the rib, he did this as a way of portraying the role of a woman.

          A woman has 3 specific roles:

   1. Woman, you are your husband's COVERING.

    The Rib surrounds the chest enabling lungs to expand thus facilitate breathing by expanding the chest cavity

It covers everything. It hides every deformity, every defect, every weakness in the organs, the rib covers. If someone says they have a heart defect for example, the rib does not open up to show it. No matter how bad, the protective ribcage remains and even after it is fixed it still stays. Woman, cover his faults just like the ribs protect a defective heart. Now, I didn’t say accept it, I said cover it. The difference? Accept means to regard as proper which is in effect, pretending   a problem doesn't exist, Cover on the other hand means to protect or conceal or to defend meaning you are aware there is a problem but rather than airing dirty laundry you choose to cover it while it is sorted out. Woman, don’t go blabbing every single fault your man has. Don’t go castigating and criticising him, after all you chose him and you saw the faults. Instead cover him and speak well of him.  Take a leaf from Abigail's book, even though Nabal was wrong, she took off after those who would do him harm, she covered him and thus saved his life, she didn't sit around calling him names. The Proverbs 31 woman, the bible says, ‘...she will do him good and not evil’.

BUT in covering him or his faults do not make him feel it is all right to be lazy or rude or whatever. See, the rib surrounds the chest but in a manner that enables the lungs to expand. It ensures that the lungs have enough room to expand but it does not dictate the level of expansion it simply gives it room to grow. Cover him but give him the room to grow ON HIS OWN.  When you cover bread dough, because of the ingredients in it under the right conditions, it will rise without your interference. Same principle, cover him, speak good of him ALWAYS, in private mention with love and respect to him any areas you feel he can improve on and then give him room to act on it in his own way. Woman, you have no right whatsoever to demand change from any man. Who died and made you God? Give him room to grow into the man he is meant to be. 

The rib in carrying out it's function also enables breathing. This, I'm sure you will agree is vital for life. In covering him, DO NOT smother him. Abeg, please, let the guy breathe and relax. If he says ‘Sweetheart, the guys and I are heading out’...give him a kiss full of promise, call the girls up and go hang out or settle down and catch up on the sleep you've missed (*wink*) or just do something on your own, whatever it is do not begrudge him time on his own. As John Gray (author: Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus) says ‘Men are like rubber bands. When they pull away, they can stretch only so far before they come springing back.’ GIVE HIM SPACE, space to miss you, space to value what he has with you, space to reassert his autonomy and space to remember why HE chose YOU. Space. Stop calling every second ‘just to make sure he’s ok’, stop checking his phone and please STOP CLINGING. In time you’ll make his skin crawl. Tell me ladies, if you bought two face creams to try out and one felt really oily and sticky, but the other felt airy and light...which would you keep? I know which I would choose. If he truly loves you, you have nothing to fear, he’s YOURS....

(to be continued)...

My Quest for the perfect Madeira Cake

First attempt. 06/03/2012:

Update. Second attempt 30/07/2011:

Yup...getting there!

So, here's my recipe. It's pretty simple so whatever your size of cake just remember that the self-raising flour, sugar and butter are the same measurement as are the egg and the plain flour. (for the egg just round up or down as you see fit if you get what I mean). Feel free to use either lemon or vanilla, I like to use both. And feel free to tweak to your taste.

What you'll need:

                                                       8-inch (round)                      9/10-inch (round)

Self-raising flour                                       10 oz                                   12.5 oz

Plain flour                                                 5 oz                                    6.25 oz

Sugar                                                       10 oz                                   12.5 oz

Butter                                                      10 oz                                   12.5 oz

Eggs                                                          5                                          6/7

Vanilla Essence                                          1 tsp                                     2 tsps

Lemon Rind (grated)                                1 lemon                                 2 lemons    

Lemon Juice                                       half of a lemon                          one lemon

Milk (optional)                                         1 tsp                                       2 tsps

What to do:

1. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add the lemon rind, juice and vanilla essence. (you can use vanilla flavouring instead but essence is a bit more concentrated and therefore better).

  

3. Add the egg a little at a time mixing briskly to avoid curdling. You can add a little flour with the egg to avoid curdling.

4. Add the self-raising flour and plain flour and mix until a thick but pourable consistency is achieved. (next time I bake I'll take a picture of what it should look like)

5. Add the milk (optional) and mix well but not too much.

Note: if adding milk, use less lemon juice. If you want to use lemon juice, forgo the milk. The more lemon juice you use the looser and more crumbly your cake and vice versa.

6. Pour into a lined cake tin and scoop out centre towards the side of the tin (this is so that it does not form a dome but instead has a nice flat surface.

7. Bake in the oven at 160*C for 1.5 hours.

8. Leave to cool for 10 mins in tin on a wire rack. Then turn cake out on tin and directly onto wire rack and allow to cool. 

9. Enjoy your cake. Wrap in foil and store in airtight tin to enable it last longer.

Tip:

- Use 6 newspaper sheets folded to wrap the outside of your cake tin. This ensures that the outside takes longer to cook enabling the inside of the cake to bake properly without the outside getting burnt.

- Use a good baking liner for the inside, it makes it so much easier to take your cake out of the tin. Mine is reusable and my cakes don't stick to the sides of the cake tin! Nothing I use it for sticks really which is quite good.

- Make sure to scoop the centre out well. This is so that when it eventually starts to rise that's when the centre starts to fill up and rise and you don't end up with a dome.

- Use unsalted butter where possible. Yes, there is a difference.

- You can use more grated lemon rind if you wish but don't use too much lemon juice, it will make the cake too crumbly and it will just fall apart in your hands when eating.

SAP HR: Basics of Time Management

INTRODUCTION
So, What is time Management? Maximizing the use of time, ensuring that all time especially in the business/ work environment is accounted for.


How does SAP come in? SAP ERP (Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing) is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software developed as part of their HCM offering to make it easier for employers to manage their enterprise's human capital. One aspect of this offering is Time Management.


It is essential for employers to be able to evaluate their employees work and availability. This information is used in various other areas of the business and is a factor that influences company-wide decisions. Companies have several options for recording working time such as Time Manager's WorkPlace, Central Time Sheet, Offline Menus, Time Recording Systems and Employee Self-Service (ESS) applications


SAP and TIME MANAGEMENT
In SAP, the core time management infotype is IT007: Planned Working Time. Here employee planned working time is assigned using Work Schedule Rules. 
Standard SAP System also contains public holiday calendars. You can change existing and define new public holidays and public holiday calendars.

• Public Holiday Calendars are assigned to Personnel Subareas.
• Planned working time: daily work period from start to end of the day, excluding breaks. It is represented in a work schedule. 
• Personal Work Schedule: information on an employee's working time, including deviations from and exceptions to an employee's normal working time. 
• Daily Work Schedule: information on a day's working time including breaks
• Period Work Schedule: a set sequence of daily work schedules
• Work Schedule: period work schedule + public holiday calendar

To record time in SAP, the following systems can be used:

1. Online by Time Administrators
2. Separate Time Recording Systems
3. Cross-Application Time Sheet (CATS)
4. Employee Self-Service (ESS) applications
5. Customer systems with an interface to SAP system

Ways of recording time data:

1. Time Manager's workplace ( multiple infotypes + multiple employees)
2. Maintain Individual infotypes (one infotype + one employee)
3. Fast entry (one infotype + multiple employees)

Methods of recording employee time data in SAP System:

1. Negative Time: record only working time deviations from assigned work schedules e.g illness, annual leave etc.
2. Positive Time: record all actual times i.e. start, lunch time, break time, end etc. There are 2 ways:
1. Automatic: use separate time recording system and upload to SAP and process in time evaluation
2. Manual: enter data manually using IT2002: Attendances