StarGazer

Frankly, Jack, comments like that are an instant turnoff to most girls of a dateable caliber. A good start would be to clean up your act, or at least your language. Also, after reading that middle paragraph, I'd like to quote my superviser's favorite phrase- "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results". It seems to me like you're stuck in a personal rut dug with your own excuses, and that, my friend, is a major red flag to a single gal. Reading that makes it seem like you think the world's against you and that everyone's trying to keep you down...you couldn't pay me to sit through a dinner listening to all of that, let alone maintain a relationship based on that foundation. Sorry if that sounds really harsh, but it's a girl's perspective...maybe it will help.

We have a journal kept by a relative who made the trek, and the only reference he makes to cooking meat is that it was always cooked on a spit over the fire, and salted. He also wrote that when they had extra meat, they'd pack it in salt to keep it until they needed to eat it. Hope that helps!

I have an idea that might be more fun for the younger kids... Have a volunteer be the Stripling Warrior. Make it the goal of the game to fully arm the Stripling Warrior for battle (not sure how well armed the real warriors were, but for the sake of the post let's pretend they were fully armed). Each additional piece of armor or weapon is a case scenario, and once the kids figure out how to respond to the scenario, you get to dress the warrior with that piece of armor. For example...the Stripling Warrior needs a sword. The sword scenario is that a friend curses, and it makes you uncomfortable. How do you respond? You might need to tailor the scenarios to fit the age group, but the point is to get all the armor on the warrior so he's ready to face the world. Depending on how creative you wanted to be, you could make some pretty fun pieces like a wooden sword, a shield, helmet/headband. If you make it quality, it will last for several lessons.

I'm from Georgia...and I do say "y'all" on a pretty regular basis