Oh Mrs. DeBoth

Mrs. Jessie Marie DeBoth is about to make some you folks mighty angry.

I've been looking through her cook book again and on one of the first pages she has a handy dandy chart of daily calorie requirements. There are different requirements for four areas: Heavy Work, Medium Work, Mild Work, and Sedentary Work. Thankfully there are some examples after each category so we can find which one we fit into.

Sedentary Work (bookkeeping, teaching, desk work, etc...)

No she didn't! She didn't just call teaching the lowest, most sedentary form of work! Listen lady, I was a teacher in the 90's and I did a little more than sit at my desk eating cream puffs all day.

Mild Work (light work done sitting or standing such as selling and executive work involving thought)

What? You mean teaching ranked lower than work that involves sitting or standing and THOUGHT. Yeah, as a teacher I sailed through most days on cruise control never having to THINK about anything or solve any problems. Good thing I didn't have to fire up the old brain and use more calories.

But that's ok. I'm willing to overlook her dated views on teaching because of the nice chapter on Party Suggestions. There are 8 ideas given for splendid centerpieces or table decorations. And they have such lengthy, detailed instructions that surely even I can reproduce one of these decorations today. How about number 4, the Irish Harp Decoration. Let's see now, what are the directions...

"Make a harp of green cellophane and fasten it at the base to a folded yellow paper, preferably gilded."

Oh, that's it? That is it?? I would really like to see how people took these instructions and what kind of "creations" sprang forth. I can't even form an image in my mind that remotely fits with those instructions and would result in a pleasing centerpiece.