There is always time to be positive... but apricot pineapple monkey bread never hurts!

I've been working on this great post for tomorrow for the past week or so, but honestly life intruded this week and instead I'm leaving you with this positive list to ponder.  LOL My great post will appear next Saturday.

1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
2. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, t heir conversational skills will be as important as any other. 
3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want. 
4. When you say, 'I love you,' mean it. 
5. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye. 
6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married. 
7. Believe in love at first sight.
8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much. 
9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely. 
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling. 
11. Don't judge people by their relatives. 
12. Talk slowly but think quickly. 
13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?' 
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk. 
15. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze. 
16. When you lose, don't lose the lesson. 
17. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.
18. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship. 
19. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. 
20. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice. 
21. Spend some time alone.

APRICOT PINEAPPLE MONKEY BREAD*
BREAD
1 cup scalded milk
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1teaspoon salt
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup rum
1/2 cup minced walnuts
2 packages dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 Jumbo eggs, beaten
4 1/2 - 5 cups flour
TOPPING
20 ounce can crushed pineapple, drained well
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar, super firmly packed
1/2 cup apricot pineapple preserves**
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2+ teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup golden raisins*
1/4 cup rum*

• Soften the yeast in the warm water.
• Stir together the sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
• Soak the raisins in the rum until needed. Drain before adding to the bread.
• Combine the milk, shortening, sugar and salt. Cool to lukewarm.
• Add yeast to milk mixture and then the eggs, the raisins and nuts.
• Add the flour. Mix to a soft dough.
• Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl. Turn over once, cover with a cheesecloth and let rise until double in size.
• Punch down and let stand ten minutes.
• Prepare the topping while the dough is standing.
• Melt the butter in a saucepan.
• Add the preserves, brown sugar, cinnamon and almond extract. Cook until smooth and fairly thin.
• Add the pineapple (and raisins if you're using refrigerator rolls) and heat through.
• Roll into many small balls about the size of golf balls.
• Grease a Bundt cake pan. (I like to use my pineapple upside down cake pan.
• Arrange a layer of the balls haphazardly in the cake pan.
• Dribble about half the topping loosely over them.
• Arrange the other half of the dough balls.
• Pour remaining sauce over top.
• Allow to rise until double in size (about 1 1/4-1 1/2 hours)
• Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes.
• Enjoy

*You can cheat and use 3 cans of refrigerator biscuits instead if you're in a hurry. If you still want the raisins you can add them to the topping instead.
**You can use pretty much any flavor you want - I also use raspberry, peach and blackberry depending on my mood. A lot of times I combine the peach and blackberry half and half.