December 2013 Newsletter

A message from BJ...

Wow, the month of November just flew by, where in the world does the time go?  Thanksgiving has come and gone, Christmas 2013 is just around the corner and 2014 begins very soon!  I think the old saying is true, TIME SURE FLIES!

I am sorry that I missed our Thanksgiving Dinner on the 23rd, but a family illness kept me out of town that weekend.  I heard that the dinner was a huge success and was attended by over 50 people!  I am glad that you were able to get together, enjoy a great meal and talk to your friends and neighbors. 

December will again offer us a chance to get together with friends an neighbors to celebrate Christmas and the New Year.  Watch your calendar and be sure not to miss the fun!

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!



Christmas at Aripeka West...

This year we have decided not to have a contest for decorating your homes and yards at Aripeka West.  We do hope that you will continue to decorate for Christmas even without the incentive of a contest.  We love seeing the great colors and sights of the season.  We are planning a different type of contest for this Christmas.

Aripeka West will host a Christmas Party on Friday December 20th.  The theme will again be our traditional "SOUP PARTY".  Please bring a pot of soup to put on our grill above a bed of embers to keep it warm.  We will have bread, a salad and deserts to accompany our many soup choices.

In the past we have had many varieties of soups, so anything from Asparagus to Zucchini and everything in between will be fine.  Remember to place your soup in a pan that can sit on the grill about 2 feet above the embers, there will be no flaming fire so most metal pans will work fine!  If you do not have a suitable pan, try the "thrift " stores in the area, they have lots of pans that will work for very little money!

We are also planning our "White Elephant Gift Exchange".  We will draw to see who picks first and so on and then the fun begins!  These are our Rules for the exchange.

Aripeka West’s White Elephant Gift Exchange 2013

THE GIFTS:

1. There is no theme for gifts, any gift you pick out will be fine
2. The gift should be valued as close to $10.00 as is reasonable.
3. The gift should be something someone would actually want or use. It should be in new condition.
4. The gift should be wrapped or in an envelope before arriving to the party. Gift bags are OK but must be completely sealed..
5. Gift certificates are OK, but must be boxed and wrapped.

6. Please place your gift under our Christmas tree when you arrive at the party.

THE GAME:

1. Each guest who wishes to participate must contribute a gift. Everyone gathers around the Christmas tree.
2. Choose a number on a paper slip from our bowl of numbers.  On the first turn, the guest with paper slip #1 chooses a gift, opens it, and all admire it.
4. On the second turn, the guest with paper slip #2 gets the choice of "stealing" any unwrapped gift (#1's) or choosing a wrapped one. If #2 steals #1's gift, then #1 must open a wrapped gift.
5. On the third turn, the guest with paper slip #3 gets the choice of "stealing" any unwrapped gift (#1's or #2's) or choosing a wrapped one.

The game continues based on the following:

1. If a gift is stolen from you, you can steal a gift (within limits, described below), or open a wrapped one.
2. The turn proceeds until a wrapped gift is chosen.
3. A gift cannot be immediately stolen back from the guest who just stole it.
4. The fourth "owner" of a gift gets to keep it. The gift is "dead" after it has been stolen three times.
5. "Owners" of "live" gifts must keep them visible and hold them up when requested.
6. The gift exchange ends when the last wrapped gift is opened. Usually, guests are encouraged to perpetuate the gift stealing as long as there are "live" gifts, but no one is obligated to do this.

At this years Christmas party we will have a "Photo Booth" please take photos of your friends and family, takes lots of pictures of everything and everybody, then post them on our Facebook Page (Aripeka West MH & RV Park).  If you have not already "liked" our page, please click to "like" it!

The CONTEST this year will be decorating your Christmas Hat!  Whatever type of "hat" you choose, just throw on the decorations!  Your hat might be a Santa hat, then again it might be Reindeer Antlers or a Wreath or a Christmas Tree, oh just let you imagination run wild, pick you headgear and decorate!  Everyone has a vote, and we will announce the winner right before the White Elephant Gift Exchange.  Please vote for your favorite "hat" and drop it in the box provided.

The Christmas party will begin at 6PM on Friday December 20th, hope to see everyone there.

Thanksgiving Dinner...

The food was great!  We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon eating turkey and ham with all the trimmings.  For dinner there was potatoes, gravy, dressing balls, stuffing, green beans, broccoli, baked beans, squash, carrots, yams, peas, great northern beans, corn, cabbage, cranberry salad, cranberry sauce, chicken & dumplings , deviled eggs and more! Then there was the desert table, pumpkin pie, apple pie, sweet potato pie, berry pie, apple crisp, cookies, cake, brownies and more!  At dinner we served around 50 people, maybe a few more than 50! The line was long, but moved pretty fast once it got going!

The day was beautiful with sunny skies and temps near 80°, a prefect Florida Thanksgiving!  Our Dinner was on the 23rd and the temps were great, glad we did it early, the temps for Thanksgiving Day were much lower, in the 60's, would not have been as nice for our outdoor event!

Windy and Cooler...

Fall has finally brought us some cooler weather, but along with the cool, came the wind.  When the wind blows, lots of tree branches and palm fronds fall.  We have been trying to keep them picked up, but you can help us by moving the palm fronds and small branches to a spot on your lot near the road for pick up.  We will get them moved off your lot as soon as possible. Thanks for pitching in!


A fire to warm you...

We want you to enjoy the Fire Pit in the RV Park this winter, so please if you need more wood for the fire let us know.  We are happy to get the wood to keep your fires burning, but remember that if you start the fire you must stay with the fire, it is your responsibility to keep an eye on it until it is out.  Also, make sure it is not too windy when you start a fire in the Fire Pit, we don't want burning embers falling on RV's or in the woods surrounding the park.  No ground fires are permitted on any lot in the RV or Mobile Home Park.  Only fires in grills or in outdoor above ground fireplaces are allowed at Aripeka West.  If you use your grill or outdoor fireplace, you must stay with the fire until it is completely extinguished.


At Aripeka Community Center...

On Monday December 2nd there will be a Pot Luck Supper at the Aripeka Community Center.  We will celebrate the opening of our "new" Aripeka Post Office and say a big "thank you" to Carl Norfleet for the role he played in making it happen!  This event has been planned by many of the same folks who worked so hard to "Save our Post Office", from getting signatures on our petition to calling the media and attending the meetings! These people worked hard, please plan to be there and show them your appreciation for a job well done. This just goes to show you that when a community pulls together and stands up for what they believe in, it can happen!  Welcome back to Aripeka USPS, we missed you!



The "New" Aripeka Post Office...

Our Post Office re-opened on November 25th and in order to receive the key to your PO Box you must complete the paperwork that was placed in your PO Box in Hudson.  If you have not been to your Hudson PO Box since Saturday November 23rd, there may be mail in that box.  The last delivery to your Hudson Box was on Saturday November 23rd and mail was delivered to your Aripeka Box on Monday November 25th (mail in your Hudson PO Box through November 23rd was not transferred to your Aripeka PO Box). 

The USPS is asking for a Photo Id and one other ID that traces you to your physical address of 9230 Elmira Avenue w/ Lot #.  If you live in the Mobile Home Park, your physical address is located on your WREC (Electric) Bill and that should work as your 2nd ID.  In the RV Park, if you have a problem, the park will give you a letter if your rent receipt is not enough.  You MUST have a Photo ID to get the key to your PO Box.

New Year's ...

At Aripeka West, we do not have a New Year's Eve Party, but on New Year's Day we will have a few little things out to celebrated the beginning of 2014. For those of you who would like to stop by, we will be watching the Big Games, shooting a little pool and if the weather is very cooperative we will have the Ping Pong table set up.  We will be celebrating with friends and neighbors and some foods that are said to bring "Good Luck" in the new year!

Some Lucky Foods

Black-Eyed Peas
A common food on American tables, black-eyed peas look like little coins and are thought to bring good luck those who eat them.  Another belief is that as the beans grow when they cook, those who eat them will “grow” with good fortune.

Cooked Greens
Cooked greens, which look like folded dollar bills, are believed to bring money and prosperity for the new year.

Pork
Pork signifies abundance and plenty of food.  Pigs also root forward into the ground, which symbolizes progress.

Cornbread
A favorite throughout the year, cornbread is especially venerated as a New Year’s treat in the southern United States. Its color resembles that of gold. To ensure extra luck, some people add extra corn kernels, which are emblematic of golden nuggets.

Round Cakes, Donuts and Fruit

Represents coming full circle, one year rolling into the next.


Holiday Traditions...

Start a NEW TRADITION this year...think of something you can do as a family and continue it year after year.  Watch a special holiday movie, go to the movies as a family, bake cookies for your neighbors or your church, visit Santa and get a family picture taken, cut your own Christmas Tree at a local tree farm, pick a name off one of the local Angel Trees and make Christmas great for a child who may otherwise not get a gift, donate a toy to Toys for Tots or another of the Christmas charity Toy Drives, decorate your yard and home for Christmas, take a drive and check out the decorations in the surrounding neighborhoods.

You can probably think of many other ways to make new traditions, while continuing your current traditions!

How do you celebrate the holidays?  What are your traditions?  Tell us about your family traditions, we are writing a blog for Aripeka West Daily and would like to include you.  Just email AripekaWest@gmail.com and let us know!

Holiday Pies...

What pie is your favorite?  At Aripeka West a few different pies have been served at our events in the last month or so.  Although Pumpkin Pie is supposed to be the traditional pie for the holidays, this is most likely because pumpkin was readily available at this time of year in days gone by.  Now, you can get any type of pie at your local supermarket or buy the ingredients to make the pie of your choice, so which one do you choose?  In addition to Pumpkin Pie, you can find many varieties of Apple Pie, Pecan Pies, Cherry and other Berry Pies, Chess Pie, Cream Pie in all flavors, Mincemeat Pie, Rhubarb Pie in a couple of varieties, Lemon Meringue Pie and many others.  So which is your favorite?  Post you favorite and a recipe for it if you have one on our Facebook Page Aripeka West Recipes. While you are there check out the recipes that are posted, you may find something interesting!  Remember to "like" Aripeka West Recipes when you visit! 

Turkey or not...

Tradition on Thanksgiving says Turkey, but Christmas opens the door to other choices. There is of course the Florida Seafood Christmas, The Italian Christmas, the Prime Rib Christmas, the Ham Christmas, the Cuban Mojo Pork Christmas, Pork Crown Roast Christmas, Beef Wellington Christmas and the list goes on...   The are many ethnic Christmas Dinners too, in Germany and Great Brittan they may serve Goose, in Spain and Greece they may serve a Lamb Roast, so what do you serve?  Post it on Facebook Aripeka West Recipes with the recipe if you have it!

Great Christmas Movies...

1 A Charlie Brown Christmas
 Charlie Brown sets out to find the true meaning of Christmas in this animated anti-commercialism classic.                                 

2 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
This sixties stop-motion-animation movie is impossibly cute, right down to Sam the Snowman.                          

3 It’s a Wonderful Life
Whether or not you have your own guardian angel hovering, the lesson here is that it's not money that makes you rich.                                 

4 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Decking the halls and other traditions are all colossal failures for the Griswold family -- riotous because it hits close to home.                                 

5 Home Alone
A game changer for the Christmas-movie category: it has action, like a zip line to the neighbors' house.                                 

6 Frosty the Snowman
This holiday staple features one of the most memorably catchy Christmassy theme songs ever.                                 

7 Miracle on 34th Street
Uplifting without being cloying. It's no wonder that this movie is a much-beloved holiday chestnut.                                 

8 White Christmas
The follow-up to Holiday Inn is once again full of Irving Berlin tunes, with Bing Crosby providing the vocals. What's not to love?                                 

9 A Christmas Story
This comedy satisfies two sets of audiences: kids (Ralphie gets his BB gun) and parents (it does exactly what they warned him it would).                                 

10 How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Boris Karloff's dulcet baritone lends sinister charm to everyone's favorite Who hater in this short, sweet Christmas special.

11 Elf
It may star Will Ferrell as a dim-witted elf, but the movie's payoff is old-fashioned, familiar, and welcome.      

12 A Christmas Carol
George C. Scott plays Scrooge in this classic made-for-TV version of the Charles Dickens holiday tale.                                 

13 The Santa Clause
Tim Allen deconstructs Saint Nick -- and reconstructs his waistline -- as a hapless Santa in training.                                 

14 Holiday Inn
Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire celebrate a year's worth of holidays, against a steady flow of Irving Berlin tunes.                   

15 Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
It's rather hard to say who's the real star of this funny live-action version: is it Jim Carrey or Dr. Seuss?

Wonder if they will all be on TV this Christmas Season?

New Year's Resolutions...

What doesn't work, what works
1. Go on a Diet
Some weight loss experts will tell you flat out, diets don’t work. For many people, unfortunately this is very true. For other people, particularly those whose eating habits are super unhealthy in the first place or who find it easier to cede control over what they eat, they aren’t a bad option.
But typically diets only work for awhile – usually for as long as you stick to the carefully regulated plan. And studies show, after awhile, most people get tired of following such a strict regimen and go back to eating pretty much what they ate before. Sadly, diets actually make many people gain weight, which a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine attributed to the boomerang action of hormones that control appetite and fat metabolism.
What Does Work: Making small changes to your eating habits. Here are a few small changes that pack a big calorie punch. Giving up that daily soda habit: 150 calories saved a day. Switching from your daily bakery muffin (400-600 calories) to a bowl of oatmeal at your desk (150 calories): 250 – 450 calories saved a day.  Swap your latte (180 calories) for a cup of house java with half and half (80 calories): 100 calories saved. Better yet, switch from half and half (3 tablespoons = 80 calories) to nonfat milk (3 tablespoons = 15 calories and save an extra 65 calories per cup. Total for making all three changes: as many as 765 calories a day. And that’s without eating any more veggies!

2. Stop Smoking
Well, it’s not that you can’t stop smoking. You can, and you should. Sooner, rather than later. But if you’re waiting for that perfect day when you’ll just be able to stop because you promised yourself you would (likely after a few too many New Year’s Eve toasts), it’s not going to happen.
What Does Work:  Rather than list the techniques that work best (there are a number of really successful ones), I’m going to defer to Stanford University internist Kelly Traver, MD, author of The Program: The Brain-Smart Approach to the Healthiest You. Traver has written an entire book about how to use current neurological understanding to make healthy lifestyle changes and can tell you exactly why you should quit and how to quit and stay quit. (There’s even a website and iPhone app based on The Program to help you get started.)
Add these 10 extra tricks and you’re even more likely to succeed.

3. Get More Exercise (Related Resolution: Join a Gym)
The problem with this one is, it’s too vague. In other words, it’s too easy to make a stab at, and then let yourself slide because it’s cold outside, or it’s too dark when you get home, or your muscles hurt, or the gym’s too crowded and the equipment smells sweaty.
What Does Work: To make a significant lifestyle change and make it stick, you need to replace an old habit (being a couch potato or workaholic) with a new one. You also need to make it pleasant, or at least not too unpleasant. A few ways to do this are to start a new sport, one you actually like, or join forces with a workout buddy you actually like and want to spend time with.
What’s worked best for me, though, is to change my thinking to make exercise a no-matter-what priority, the same way I do any medical need, such as taking my prescription blood pressure medication.
4. Lose 20 Pounds
Like quitting smoking, it’s not that you shouldn’t lose weight. If your body-mass index is over 25, you qualify as overweight and you want to tip the scales downwards. But the typical promise, “I’m going to lose 20 pounds by June so I can wear a bathing suit,” is not going to be kept. Just ask anyone who made this resolution last year.
What Does Work: Not attaching a number to your goal. That’s not to say you shouldn’t watch the scale. While this used to be controversial (and is an absolute no-no for anyone who’s struggled with an eating disorder) recent studies suggest that regular weight checks are important for keeping any weight loss program on track.
What really works: calories in < calories out. Despite all our efforts to develop new weight loss pills (two of which, Qnexa and lorcaserin, came on the market this year) and come up with new diets, it’s pretty simple says Harvard School of Public Health, summarizing the last five years of weight loss trials. Cut out 500 calories a day (see above for ideas) and up your exercise to burn an extra 250 calories a day — and keep at it, month in and month out – and you’re on track for significant weight loss you can sustain for the rest of your life.
5. Stop Biting My Nails, or Twirling My Hair, Or….
It’s almost impossible to break a physical habit with willpower alone, experts say. That’s because we’ve been doing it so long (hence the name habit…) that we’re no longer aware of it.
What Does Work: Becoming aware of the cues that trigger our habits, even when we’re not paying attention. According to Psychology Today, “habit reversal therapy” can target even the toughest habits (procrastination, anyone?). I’m going to leave it up to the experts to explain this concept in detail, but suffice to say it’s based on the idea that you have to understand the “cravings underlying behaviors” before you can eliminate them. For a more fun read on this subject, check out The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business by New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg.

December 2013...