Hair of The Blog week 2

Okay I'll be straight with you guys and tell you that it feels very strange to be posting pictures of my naked legs on this blog. That was never my intention but this whole Hair of The Blog thing is so much fun and my new found blogger friend Rachel is such a hoot and has been another light in my life this last month that I could in no way not enter her contest. However I can tell you I will not be winning any competition with those legs above! There are no hairs on those suckers!

But after chatting with Rachel she told me I could enter my eybrows too! Woohoo...I think. Yeah okay it's kind of ambarrasing but at least when my playgroup mommies see my unwaxed brows they won't think I'm not aware of what's going on above my eyes.. I know ladies okay...I know! :)

Okay so here you go. I know the pictures are blurry but it doesn't matter! The furriness still shows through! I had these babies waxed last week-seriously! I need to scrounge up my 7th grade photos, the days where I allowed caterpillars to take up residence above my eyes. How can one part of your body be so furry and yet another part not so much?

Fabric Tease

Look at my new fabric I just ordered from Sew Mama Sew I had to share b/c well isn't it just lovely! Since we're going to stay in our home a little while longer, oh yes I'll have to update you on that topic here in a few days. I decided to go ahead and make some new curtains & cover some chairs with some kick ass fabric! Check out that website if you sew or know a sewer and want to get them some fab fabric as a gift. I dig graphic prints with color, obviously, but they have a wide selection of modern prints-check it out!

Look at the cute little coffee cups and silverware! That fabric is for a set of cafe curtains for my kitchen. I'm thinking of seriously painting my kitchen walls above the beadboard that turquoise blue-I just love it and it will compliment the yellow tones in the cupboards! Now if I can just coax my huz to do it for me hah! The blue fabric with the orange print, so cute! Well that fabric is to cover 6 chairs (seats) my mom is giving me to go with my dining room table, we broke the other chairs over the last 8 or so years. And the top fabric will be turned into curtains for the dining room windows. I'm bringing spring in this home early baby!

Guest Post: Everybooty Poops

Do I use cloth diapers or do I use disposable diapers? That question is on the minds of a lot more momma's these days. And it's a personal decision that only you can decide for your babe. And from my own experience I know it can be overwhelming to sort through all the information on the pros and cons of cloth diapers.

My friend and fellow blogger Heather over at BoLOGna Samwiches is going to share her experience with deciding to cloth diaper. She has scoured the hills of....no I'm just kidding no hill scouring yet but she has scoured the streets of Columbus looking for cloth dipes (more on that later.)

Everybooty Poops cloth diapering has come a loooong way baby. There is way more detailed information about the cloth experience than I could ever conceivably squeeze into this one post, but I'll do my bestest to break it down for you...

Why would you?

As to the ongoing debate over which has more environmental impact: landfill waste vs. water usage, I choose to side with the landfill camp. For me, knowing that my kid's dirty diaper bomb will outlive my kid's kid is scary. Not to mention, by choosing cloth it's one less petroleum product i'm using. And not buying a product that was trucked a million miles to me, saves a little on gas too.

You'll save money (assuming you don't fall prey to the lure of high end boutique cloth diapers-good luck with that!)

And if you take care of your diapers, you can use them for multiple kids, potentially saving oodles of cash. Presumably it costs between $2K and $3K to diaper a kid till age three in disposables. You'll really be saving, considering you can get a pretty righteous cloth stash for around $300-500.

Lastly, squishy cloth butts are so freaking cute! See!

How hard is it?

I did tons of online research before jumping into the world of cloth. Lots of mom bloggers swore it was just as easy as disposables, not a lot of work etc. ummmm, yeah right. First off, just the trial and error of figuring out what works for you takes some time (maybe it won't be the same for you, but part of my "fun" is trying new fluff!) So once you go through finding what you like and building your supply, you're now left with taking care of it. not to dissuade any potential cloth'ers, but storing the dirties, washing/drying and stain removal are more work than just tossing it in the trash. absolutely doable but it will take more steps; mostly just more loads of laundry, something you're doing already!

What kind do i get?

In order of complexity or simplicity depending on perspective: pockets, all in one's/two's, fitteds, contours, tie-nappies, prefolds, preflats and flats. fabrics can be bleached or unbleached cottons, bamboo terry (french and loop) bamboo velour, bamboo fleece, or hemp. covers can be wool, fleece, polyurethane laminate a.k.a. PUL and you can get just about any non synthetic material in an organic version. there are probably a few i'm missing-there are tons of types! For more detailed info just do a little research.

What else do i need?

Snappis or pins if you're using diapers without snaps or velcro closures (unless you plan to just lay a prefold in a cover.) A bigger diaper bag because cloth butts are BIG. Wet bags for storing the dirties-unlike how your mom probably did, you don't soak diapers in pails anymore. They are stored in PUL lined bags and tossed in the wash on wash day. Cloth wipes (or not.) Safe diaper creams because some fabric types left coated by diaper creams lose absorbency. Safe laundry detergents, important if you use wicking pocket styles or have a sensitive skinned babe-worth reading up on. Stash storage, diaper scrapers or sprayers for when they start solids; it's no less messy than cleaning it off your babes behiney.

Where do i shop for all this stuff?

WAHM's on etsy or hyena cart are a great place. Used (yes you can-i have-you "strip" them-google that too) on Diaperswappers.com or craigslist. you can buy new pretty much anywhere-TONS online or avoid shipping (which can get pricey) and go local. My two favorites in Columbus are The Parent Shoppe selling their own Clover designs and Sprout Soup.

How do i choose from all that's out there?

Test drive by using sample packs, diaper services, or borrow from friends! also, read great reviews at places like diaperpin.com. If you end up not liking a certain style, no worries, some mama out there somewhere is going to buy it off of you. I promise! Just don't try and sell to me, I'm officially 'on the wagon!' at least until the season changes...then maybe...

So what do i use and why?

A little bit of everything. mostly prefolds made of bamboo terry-Panda Tushies shout out! that I love love love. Far superior soaking abilities than my unbleached indian prefolds. And unlike hemp, which also absorbs more than cotton, bamboo doesn't retain odors, is naturally antimicrobial and is great for the environment in many ways (go google it yourself.) I'm not even going to attempt to explain all the different folds you can do-diaper origami! But two of my favorites are called the "diva" and the "ooey" and i prefer snappis. I also have a few fitteds and a hybrid prefitted. prefitteds are prefolds that have been converted to a fitted minus any closures, thus requiring a snappi or pins. These are great for making changes more quickly and the bonus of leg elastic holds messes in better. I even have a tie nappy though its not very absorbent so doesn't get used much. My cover of choice is wool. I have a few in the short soaker style; they work great under clothes or 'as is' in warmer weather. I have a couple of longies or pants style, one that I 'upcycled' from an old wool sweater. I also have some fleece covers that are just pants I bought on clearance at old navy. Fleece is a lot like wool in terms of breatheabilty, just slightly less absorbent. I have pockets (which is how I started my cloth journey) that I use for outings and times when baby is really fussy or I'm in a hurry or feeling lazy etc. Most have velcro closure and a few with snaps. So far I don't have a preference there, but some folks do (velcro can scratch chubby baby muffin tops.) I own two big wet bags that I alternate as I do laundry (which i usually do every other day) and two small wet bags for short outings. I have three snappis and a bottle of wool wash. I use additive free sun detergent that's only $3 a bottle at Big Lots. I use a regular old drying rack for sunning out stains-sun will bleach anything! And I use california baby diaper cream whenever a rash happens. My only complaint is that my stash is oddly stored on the back of my couch due to space constraints and one very naughty diaper eatin' dog. Here it is in all its fluffy glory!

I built my stash mostly through diaperswappers and craigslist at considerable savings since they were mostly used (read more at my blog regarding the time i replied to a "free" posting on craigslist-gag.) I bought a lot initially but after trial/error I've resold what didn't work for me and I estimate my current stash at around $380 give or take. A lot of money up front, but well worth the investment for our one income, blue collar family. And when I'm done, I can even resell it-can't say that about disposables!! I'm glad I chose to go cloth and hopefully someone somewhere found this post useful and is busy researching their own cloth journey.

Rest? Slow Down? You Speaky eng gish?

I've been thinking...

I think I need to slow down. I feel like life is passing me by. My kids growth is passing me by. Enjoyment of both of these things is nonexistent for me. Sure I see my kids daily and I appreciate their changes and new words and new milestones but I feel like I'm not able to stop and relax, rest, take it all in. I feel like I honestly go from one thing to another, moving, moving, moving all-the-time. I don't know why. Perhaps my personality, perhaps anxiousness, perhaps a need for somethig else, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. When it comes down to it it doesn't matter why- I just need to stop. I feel so disconnected.

Maybe as you read this you're thinking I'm full of crap and a pathetic mother. And maybe you're right but that's beside the point. I realize I am not great at this whole mom and wife thang but I want to do better, I want to be better at this.

I understand sometimes there are deeper issues that prevent us from doing or being what we want. For instance depression. Huge, HUGE struggle of mine. Sickness, ahhh the cooped up winters, gotta love em! And also other things like grief, marital issues, relational issues and the list goes on.

But for me even amidst my struggles I realize that a lot of it comes down to making choices and sticking to them. Of course I will fail at times. I will get sick or become down at times and not be able to complete all the tasks or desires I have in mind for a day or a week, but I need to get back on track. I now realize for the sake of my family, my babies, my husband.

Also, I forget this truly isn't a burden even though I often think of it as that. But instead something I wanted, something I do absolutely love and enjoy. I adore watching my kids faces as they're engaged in a story that I'm reading to them. Or watching their intense expressions as they're creating with their play doh. Or watching them giggle at something their sibling is doing to make them laugh. I truly adore it and forget how grateful I really am for this. Sure it is hard, but my ungrateful perspective and constant discontentment definitely make an already difficult task of raising babes so excruciatingly more difficult. Much much harder than it need be.

Although I don't believe that making lists or schedules will solve my struggles I do however feel that they will help me with my perspective and help me with keeping my desire at the forefront of my mind. And what is my desire again? To truly love my kids by investing in time, energy and affection with them. This will come in the form of getting on the floor and playing with them daily, reading to them daily, romping on the floor with them daily and engaging with them in conversation (which includes teaching them counting, colors, shapes, whatever they need to learn.) Also other ways I will practically love them is I'm going to try to get a handle on the laundry, keep the kitchen in order and consciously try to engage my honey in conversation in the evenings to keep up our relationship.

I would really love it if you guys could fill me in on how you manage to keep your desire to be a good momma bear at the forefront of your brain? Maybe it's natural for you- that's your default. Or maybe you're like me and struggle with it. But please share! I believe our greatest resource as moms is eachother. And I'm desperate to learn how others are succeeding at this task or if you're like me and have hit a wall and need to shift your perspective back to the job at hand, please feel free to share that as well.

yo ma give me some chocolate

Typology Test

My friend Liz over at Breathe It All In, posted a link to the Jung Typology Test. I took the test and came out and ENFP (Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving). I read all the descriptions of the type and it honestly describes me pretty accurately. I find these kinds of tests fascinating! You should check out her blog for the link if you'd like to take the test.

Maybe the information below will allow my friends to understand me a little better, who knows!

This is what one dude says about ENFP's.

"ENFPs are friendly folks. Most are really enjoyable people. Some of the most soft-hearted people are ENFPs.
ENFPs have what some call a "silly switch." They can be intellectual, serious, all business for a while, but whenever they get the chance, they flip that switch and become CAPTAIN WILDCHILD, the scourge of the swimming pool, ticklers par excellence. Sometimes they may even appear intoxicated when the "switch" is flipped. One study has shown that ENFPs are significantly overrepresented in psychodrama. Most have a natural propensity for role-playing and acting.

ENFPs like to tell funny stories, especially about their friends. This penchant may be why many are attracted to journalism. I kid one of my ENFP friends that if I want the sixth fleet to know something, I'll just tell him.
ENFPs are global learners. Close enough is satisfactory to the ENFP, which may unnerve more precise thinking types, especially with such things as piano practice ("three quarter notes or four ... what's the difference?") Amazingly, some ENFPs are adept at exacting disciplines such as mathematics.

Friends are what life is about to ENFPs, moreso even than the other NFs. They hold up their end of the relationship, sometimes being victimized by less caring individuals. ENFPs are energized by being around people. Some have real difficulty being alone , especially on a regular basis.

One ENFP colleague, a social worker, had such tremendous interpersonal skills that she put her interviewers at ease during her own job interview. She had the ability to make strangers feel like old friends.
ENFPs sometimes can be blindsided by their secondary Feeling function. Hasty decisions based on deeply felt values may boil over with unpredictable results. More than one ENFP has abruptly quit a job in such a moment.

Hair of The Blog 2009

My new blogger friend Rachel over at Reservation For Six has put together the first ever Hair of the Blog!
The deal is I must post a freshly shaven bodypart, I chose my legs below the knee, and I can't shave them after today. This contest will go from 1/24-2/13 and each week I'll post an updated pic of my legs so you can see the progress of my hair growth.

So what's the purpose of this contest? Well to win a prize of course! And you know cause I'm kind of twisted and strange and this kind of contest is right up my alley!

I will say this...I don't think I'm going to win. I may get some serious furry eyebrows if they're left to their own devices but my legs get a little bit of hair and it's in patches. I get this from my mom who has literally no hair on her legs or on her arms, I'm not kidding.

But at any rate follow me...er my legs on this journey and we'll see where it takes us.

freshly shaven legs week 1

Baby J 9.5 months

Baby J is now 9.5 months. He's crawling all over the place. My other two babes didn't start until around the age of 1-this is new for all of us! And he's also waving. This may sound dumb but honestly I didn't know 9 month old babies could wave, that they were capable. He also repeats sounds that you say. If we say "da da da da" he'll say it. He'll also say "ma ma ma ma" and "ba ba ba ba". Tonight I said to him "no no no no" and he said "na na na na". He also does this funny thing where he'll scrunch his upper lip up to his nose and then inhale through his nose and then we'll laugh and it makes him sniff louder and then we'll both laugh together. He's really a cutie, we're lovin him.

I just bought a new baby carrier today so I can keep him close while the other babes play about. I already have a Sleepy Wrap a Hip Hammock and a Snugli. I know, I know! Why the hell did I buy another one?! I wanted something that didn't completley tie the babe to me but instead allowed us both a bit more freedom unlike the Sleepy Wrap (although I plan to use it to carry the other babes on my back or the Huz's back when we're out as a family). The Hip Hammock doesn't necessarily tie the baby to me but it's a carrier that I can't use really at all b/c when Baby J is in it the strap on it digs into my neck and it's not very supportive to my back after even just a few minutes. I've really not used the Snugli too much with any of the kids. I was out with W taking a walk when he was a babe and I almost fell b/c I couldn't see my feet and I felt awkward with it on. The baby carriers I was considering were the Hotsling or the Poppy Pouch (silly ass names I know.) I went to a local store today, Sprout Soup, and tried on a bunch of wraps and slings. I ended up loving the Scootababy Carrier. It's kind of funny b/c I was not at all interested in it but the lady helping me told me it was her favorite so I thought I'd give it a go. I wore that sucker around the store, with Baby J in if for almost an hour! They have awesome things there so of course I had to look around. The Scootababy is incredibly comfortable and I felt that Baby J was totally secure and although I had some slight pain in my hips, I don't recall my back hurting at all! I'm excited to take the kids out and about more now since I found a comfortable carrier that frees me so I can sprint across the room in enough time to save Super N from certain death.

Speaking of Super N... she's almost 2.5. She just ate a pb & j can you tell? What a fun, polite and sassy litte girl! She is talking so much now and asks questions. I just filled out paperwork for her to start preschool next August. She'll go two days a week and I know she'll love it.

Oh my gosh this kid is talking so much now! He is incredibly inquisitive and full of imagination. He really loves preschool and although sometimes he gets sad when I drop him off, b/c he doesn't want me to leave, he seems to recover pretty quickly and jumps right in.
I had a conference with his teacher a few months ago and she mentioned he was an excellent artist. That's my kid! He also doesn't transition well and gets timeout for talking...yeah that's my kid too! It's so cool to see this in him since art is such a love of mine! But more b/c he truly seems happy when he's drawing or playing with playdoh or doing someother craft. He will turn 4 soon, I can't believe it!

Craftin

I got all crafty today! The playgroup moms schooled me on the art of twirly princess skirts. I've been pondering making one for Super N and decided today that I wanted to. I was able to make it up to Joann's today and get some tulle and some elastic and voila! She loves it and it was about $5 for all of the supplies and it took me 1 hour to make.

You see Baby J there behind her? Well we didn't notice him crawl by. We noticed about 2 minutes later as he was half way up the stairs-scary!

Hair and Skin Care

I have a friend that I have known for 20 years and I adore her. She resides in Boston with her hubby and is currently pursuing her Phd.

She recently introduced me to her online store, Identity Hair and Skin Care where she sells handmade hair and skin care products made by her. She's got a bachelors in Biology from MIT-so she's a brainy chick who knows how to roll in this arena (and she also uses big words like saponification.)

I purchased some of her handmade products recently and received them in the mail today. They smell divine and are made from simple & natural ingredients. They're incredibly affordable as well, $3.75 for a bar of beautiful handmade soap!

Lavender & Milk Soap and Herbal Infusion Soap

I got the info below from her website to give you an idea of what goes into her products.

Handmade Soap

Identity soap is made by mixing natural plant oils and lye, a chemical process called saponification. The finished product consists of soap, glycerin, scents, added ingredients, and moisturizers. Handmade soap is excellent for people of any skin type because it cleanses and refreshes without over-drying and stripping the skin. The different types of soap bars include essential oils, moisturizers, herbs, milks, honey, as well as other ingredients that enhance each soap in its own way!

Hair Care Products
All of us have different hair care needs, and Identity specializes in hair conditioners, oils, and moisturizers. For dry hair (such as that of people of African decent), oil-based products are necessary for moisturizing and styling. Many of these products that are on the market are made from petroleum based oils (such as petrolatum), which are lower quality and simply sit on the hair without penetrating. The hair remains very dry, while only appearing to be moisturized. All hair creams, lotions, and oils from Identity are made from natural plant oils, which absorb into the hair, improving it's condition. Products are made to keep dry hair and scalp moisturized with less build-up and dandruff.
More oily hair simply needs a good rinse-out conditioner, or a light leave-in conditioner. All of the moisturizers at Identity can be used as rinse-out conditioners, or hot oil treatments. They add shine, moisture and manageability between washings!

Lotion
The lotion at identity keeps things simple! We use basic ingredients, no fillers. Specifically, we include skin-nourishing natural moisturizers such as shea butter, cocoa butter, glycerin, aloe, and essential oils to make high-quality, rich lotion, beautifully scented! We have two varieties - one rich for dry skin, the other lighter for slight moisturizing or for summer / after sun.

Check out her store if you have the chance and see her handmade offerings!

Hey Look!

Hey someone stuck my husbands head on a book! He's the furthest guy on the right (dude w/ glasses.) That's kind of cool! He worked his tail off the last year writing and organizing two chapters for this book ontop of his already busy schedule of working full-time and writing a curriculum for these nuts here (who allowed us to go to Vegas this summer by paying for the whole deal...woot!) And he still comes home and turns into Daddy (you know like Clark Kent turns into Super Man, totally like that.) Good Job Babe! We love you lots!

A Little Story From My Past...

I've been inspired by my fellow momma bloggers Super Ninja Mommy over at Two Under Two and Tara over at The Cupcake Cafe, to think of a story from my past and share it with you guys. They both just recently shared stories from their pasts that cracked me up! Now I don't presume to think I'll make you laugh but maybe you could humor me and pretend it's funny. You know lie to me.

Okay so when I was 12 me and 2 of my friends rode the bus downtown to the City Center Mall. The City Center Mall doesn't really exist anymore but when it was open it was a pretty hoppin place for a while. So we rode the bus down there and thought we'd just walk around for a while and do what 12 year old girls with no money do-ride the escalator up and down and try to look cute so all the older boys notice you.

When we were getting ready to leave we shuffled over to the hotel lobby that was connected to the mall and asked the hotel attendents if they could tell us where the bathrooms were. They told us and we headed in that direction. We made a wrong turn at some point and ended up walking into a banquet room that had about 6 large tables in it. Each table was covered with different types of food. My friends and I quickly scanned each table and zeroed in on the very last one. The one that was covered with an assortment of desserts. The one that had two large glass bowls filled to the brim with full-sized candy bars. We forgot we had to pee.

A guy in a suit appeared and didn't seem to mind that we were there. He was very polite to us and welcomed us to take whatever we wanted! Say What? For real? Yes that's what he said and then he left. It was clear that we all were thinking the same thing b/c as soon as Suit Man left we all took off runnin for the candy bar table! We grabbed handfuls of candy bars-full sized candy bars. You'd think we hadn't eaten for days the way we were shoving those candy bars down our pants and in our pockets. You know what? We managed to get every single one of those candy bars into our drawers. When we were done we realized it was getting late so we headed for the bus stop. When we got on the bus we headed straight towards the back so we could check out are booty.

It must have occurred to us a few minutes later how odd of a situation we were in cause we all 3 just burst out laughing. How strange we thought. And why did we feel the need to take 200 candy bars and shove them in our pants? Like we were really gonna eat 200 candy bars between the 3 of us? We could not stop laughing, it was so weird and so damn funny. Not to mention the damn candy bars kept falling out of my waistband and down my pants-it was too unreal and the situation kept making me laugh.

My parents were a little bewildered when I showed them my cut of the booty. I had to convince them I didn't hold up the UDF.

History Is Always Being Made But This Is A Doozy!

WOW Obama's Inauguration is today, how exciting! There are expected to be 2 million people in DC. What an exemplary time in our American history.

Gardening with the Babes

I wanted to share my plans this year for gardening with W & Super N. They adored my gardening endeavors last year and really wanted to be apart of it. So this year I thought we'd create a garden specifically for them and that way I can began to teach them how to take care of the plants (or actually we can learn together, I'm new at this too!)
This year I'm going to take a few ideas from the book Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots: Gardening Together with Children- I adore this book! Not only does the author create the sweetest illustrations, it's just lovely but also her ideas are fantastic and clever and really allow you and your babes to enjoy gardening in a non traditional way.

What we're going to do this year is a Pizza Garden. Essentially it's a circle that is 6ft in diameter and just like a edible pizza, it is divided up into triangles. Each triangle holds a different herb or veggie that can be a topping for your pizza. Say one triangle holds a Tomato plant that is caged upwards and next to that is a section of basil and oregano. Another section may hold eggplant, god I love eggplant (roasted with some olive oil and goat cheese thrown ontop, yowzer!) Back to the plan at hand....my kids will love this and best of all it will be their garden! How sweet is that?

I think at this point what we'll include in this garden, of course I need to consult with W & Super N since afterall it's their garden.

Garlic
Tomatoes
Oregano
Basil
eggplant
thyme
onion
peppers (not sure what kind yet)

The book also has some other fantastic ideas that we may incorporate into our existing gardening, check it out if you have the chance.

Aye!

Happy Birthday MLK.

An excerpt from MLK's Speech 'Where Do We Go From Here' addressed to the Southern Christian Leadership ConferenceAtlanta, Georgia August 16, 1967.

" It is perfectly clear that a violent revolution on the part of American blacks would find no sympathy and support from the white population and very little from the majority of the Negroes themselves. This is no time for romantic illusions and empty philosophical debates about freedom. This is a time for action. What is needed is a strategy for change, a tactical program that will bring the Negro into the mainstream of American life as quickly as possible. So far, this has only been offered by the nonviolent movement. Without recognizing this we will end up with solutions that don't solve, answers that don't answer and explanations that don't explain.
And so I say to you today that I still stand by nonviolence. And I am still convinced that it is the most potent weapon available to the Negro in his struggle for justice in this country. And the other thing is that I am concerned about a better world. I'm concerned about justice. I'm concerned about brotherhood. I'm concerned about truth. And when one is concerned about these, he can never advocate violence. For through violence you may murder a murderer but you can't murder. Through violence you may murder a liar but you can't establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate. Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that.

And I say to you, I have also decided to stick to love. For I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems. And I'm going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn't popular to talk about it in some circles today. I'm not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love, I'm talking about a strong, demanding love. And I have seen too much hate. I've seen too much hate on the faces of sheriffs in the South. I've seen hate on the faces of too many Klansmen and too many White Citizens Councilors in the South to want to hate myself, because every time I see it, I know that it does something to their faces and their personalities and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we are moving against wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who has love has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality.
I want to say to you as I move to my conclusion, as we talk about "Where do we go from here," that we honestly face the fact that the Movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole of American society. There are forty million poor people here. And one day we must ask the question, "Why are there forty million poor people in America?" And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life's market place. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. It means that questions must be raised. You see, my friends, when you deal with this, you begin to ask the question, "Who owns the oil?" You begin to ask the question, "Who owns the iron ore?" You begin to ask the question, "Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that is two thirds water?" These are questions that must be asked. "

Potager Gardening 2009: Seed Starting

Babes Playing in the Garden

Regardless of what's going on on the house front, I've decided to go ahead and start my seeds in the next month. For those of you who aren't aware, last year I started seeds in my basement with a grow lamp and heating pad setup. You can read about my seed starting endeavors and such from last year here http://anxiousmonkey.com/search?q=garden.

Last year I planted an array of veggies and some berries. I had some successes and I had a few failures but overall I'm still pumped to pursue this passion of mine-that is to grow my own food and cook it. I bet you didn't know that was a passion of mine, I don't write about it much if at all. Perhaps I will soon. I've recently become inspired by this gal here http://www.restaurantwidow.com/ check out her blog, you won't be disappointed!

I've tweaked my plan this year to try not to overwhelm myself, like I did last year. I'm going to stick to about 10 veggies/fruits and a handful of herbs. Oh god that sounds hard...what to choose, what to choose! The link above has a list of veggies and herbs I planted last year but I ended up adding another 10 or so veggies. I've always been an all or nothing kind of girl. I'm trying to simmer that part of me just a tad for my husbands and children's sake (ooh I think I need a comma there, it looks like I have more than one man! I don't roll like that but...oh well! I'm a bit tarded in the comma arena-I'm sure you've noticed.)

I currently still have my 4- 3'x3' raised beds outside and I will do the Square Foot Gardening Method again- it's so damn easy and it looks pretty too! Although I desperately want to grow strawberries this year, I'm going to wait until next year when hopefully we'll be moved.

Something I had hoped to do last year was to grow in the winter by using cold frames. I love the book, Four Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables From Your Home Garden All Year Long. In the book are illustrations on building your own cold frames. I'd hoped to grow greens over the winter and other veggies but with the house stuff and some health issues I wasn't able to commit to a winter garden. But I plan to have a garden all year long this year.

What I think I'm going to purchase this year is

1. Swiss Chard (I had great success last year growing this!)

2. Scallions (These didn't grow real well last year, I don't know why. But I adore onions and will attempt to grow these buggers!)

3. Heirloom Tomatoes (I grew a few varieties of tomatoes last year...they were awesome!)

4. Spinach (This grew well last year.)

5. Dwarf blueberry bush, potted

6. Dwarf Fig fruit tree, potted

7. Zucchini Summer Squash Hybrid

8. Bush Beans

9. Mustard Greens

10. Fennel

Herbs:
-Cilantro (I adore you!)
-Parsley

-Ginger Root (Been told it won't grow here, i'm going to try anyways.)
-Mint mix (Some for my garden and some for my window box. Yum mint tea & I'll make some mint ice cream this year...woot!)
-Lavender (For the side yard and perhaps the garden too. Oh yes maybe lavender & mint ice cream!)

At any rate, I hope I don't bore my friends (ya'll) with my gardening endeavors this year. I really enjoyed it last year even amidst the chaos of having a colicky baby and my other little peeps running around. I can't wait for spring- Isn't Spring such an awesome time of year?!

Oh yeah I'll have to update you on the chickens I plan on raising in the backyard.....

I'm just kidding! Ha I got you! I'm sure some of you thought I was for real cause you know I'm a little nutty like that. But I tell you it is a secret desire!

More pics from the last year (from the Huz's camera phone)

Super N at COSI for a Farm Workshop

Baby J in Vegas

Super N at COSI, same workshop

Some pics from the last year

Baby J's once-in-a-blue-moon bath

W & Super N at Lakeside

Salvadore Doggy

A year after the Huz and I got married we got a dog, a puppy to be exact. A 4 week old 1/2 English Springer Spaniel and 1/2 Great Pyrenees puppy to be even more exact. He was the cutest little fluffy, wobbly guy. We managed to get our puppy the same day we were moving into a new townhouse. That first night we slept on a mattress in the living room, I can't remember why exaclty. I think it had something to do with helping the puppy become acclimated to our home. But what really happened was the damn dog cried for hours on end and then just kept peeing on our floor the whole night. We named him Salvadore Doggy (you know Salvadore Dali...Salvadore Doggy...yeah, yeah.)

Salvadore was such a fun and lively dog. He was also an injury prone dog. Have you ever met a dog who sprained it's tail b/c it wagged it too much? Well that was Salvadore. And he did it not once but twice. He also managed to sprain his back not once but twice. He pulled a claw out of his foot, not once but...twice. You see this was a special dog. We loved him just the same.

Once when he was about 6 months old we were awakened by a constant thumping sound. We sat up in bed and could see from street lamps shining through the windows that Salvadore was repeatedly walking into the wall...no shit. We jumped up and drove him to the 24 hour Animal ER and found out he had an infection that was causing him to do weird things. Well they do and xray and then call us back and there on the xray right before his belly was a screw! The dog swallowed a screw! Not a little screw but a honkin 2" screw! WTF?! Well he fortunately passed the screw and the cost managed to stay under 1k but holy crap!

When we started to have kids the huz and I vowed to eachother that we wouldn't be one of those families who give up their dog after they have kids...no matter what. My how things change after you have children...especially your patience and understanding and ability to "deal" with life. You see Sal was overall a sweet dog. But he started to get incredibly jealous after Super N was born. He started to shred poop filled dipes all over my couch. He also started jumping the fence and wander around the train tracks just behind our house. I'm not sure what's going on back there on the tracks but often he'd come back wet and smelling disgusting. Like skunk mixed with poop. We concluded he must have been rolling himself in some sort of trash & animal poop sludge mixin it up on the tracks...disgusting. Well guess who had to bathe him after this little adventure, every single time.

It started to become apparent to us to start to look for a new home for our furry baby, sadly. We searched and searched for about 4 months until one day we came across an older couple who was retired and wanted an older dog for their older dog to play with, Sal was almost 7 years old at the time. The couple came over with their dog and Sal him played it up in the backyard. They played well together and the couple seemed to fall for Sal right there. They took him that day back to their piece of land with a pond. We periodically receive emails and pictures of him. And they told us he likes to dive into the pond.

As difficult as it was to give our furry babe away, we felt we couldn't love him the way he should be loved anymore. Our house is small and it quickly became tight with a wild dog and two small babes. We were fortunate to find a couple who were willing to love our dog and take good care of him. We think about him and miss him a lot but we feel it truly was the right decision for us.

Oh yeah I can't forget to tell the best story ever that involves Sal. One day I had come home and I went to open the gate that I had blocking Sal in the dining room and kitchen. I walked into the kitchen and there on my floor was a dead rat! Now I know that peeps often refer to mice as rats but no I'm talkin about a 1ft from head to tail RAT! He was laying on the floor belly up...dead. Sal had apparently thrown down with him and kicked his ass. Of course I'm like totally calm but flippin out in my head. At that time I had only W but I was 7 months pregnant with Super N. I kept thinking about how unsanitary and disgusting rats are and that it was in my house and how the hell did it get there etc. And you know all this passed in my brain in a matter of 1.5 seconds. I quickly grabbed like 6 shopping bags and slid them into each other than grabbed about 10 papertowels, folded them up and grabbed the bugger by his tail! I wanted to run him to the dumpster out back but I really wanted to show the Huz when he got home from work too! So I sat the bag with the rat on the basement stairs. You better believe I thoroughly scrubbed and sanitized all the floors, baseboards, everything the rest of the day. I also found how he got in. We had a hole in the floor of our laundry room, it goes directly under the back of the house. The rat apparently smelled food and came on in. That night I sent the huz straight to Lowes and he bought a piece of steel and drilled it into the floor covering the hole. We've had no issues with rats since.

W's conversation with Gramma

The kids were giving Gramma and Grampa hugs as we were about to leave and this is a conversation between W, my 3 year old, and my mom.

W: (hugs gramma and happens to put his head directly between her breasts) Gramma you have breasts? They have milk in them?

Gramma: No

W: The dogs drunk it all huh?!

Gramma: yeah

A Girl's Love

When I was 5 I had my first exposure to zombies. Ever since then I've been truly in love. I know most everything about zombies and I can converse about my love for hours on end. Although I can't remember the content in a book I read yesterday... I can however recall all the details of my love as documented in popular movies throughout the last 25+ years.

And this lovely sticker has found a new home on MY minivan. I'm like a giddy school girl.

My Jeans Feel Looser

So my Gap Curvy's are fittin better this week. I've been trying to figure out why cause I haven't been watching my weight necessarily or what's going in my mouth. There is an absence of fudge around the house since Christmas has been packed up and shipped out but I didn't eat a ton of that high fat (OH MY GOD GIVE ME MORE) goodness over Xmas to justify a drop in weight now.

Standing in the kitchen scarfing down a little bit of noodles for lunch today I realized I kept turning around to see if the little boy was coming around the corner to scream at me in baby babble. I saw a shadow on the floor moving in the dining room so I knew he was lurking. I quickly put the fork down and swallowed my noodles and turned around in just enough time to see him come over the horizon...I mean through the kitchen doorway.

You see Baby J is crawling now which means every time I'm eating he finds me, sits down at my feet and starts bouncing on his butt and screeching at me. His voice becomes louder and louder and I eventually crumble and either give him a tiny piece of what I'm eating or quickly put it away. He of course doesn't like it when I put it away but I found that if I quickly pick him up and whisk him away it is a sufficient distraction. Oh Lord! I thought before he started crawling that I'd only have to worry about keeping the floors clean and keeping little unnecessaries out of his mouth when he was crawling. But little did I know I'd have to share my food with yet another turd! Come On! I thought I'd have at least another few months before he caught on that mommy's got yummies. Shit the jig is up! Well at least I'm slimmin down!

This is so frickin industrious of me...we'll see how far I get.

I'm providing my next 2 weeks of menus.

Breakfast:

Mon- Yogurt Parfaits (we copied Mcdonalds since the kids and I enjoy them.) w/ a banana.

Tues-Banana Crumb Top Muffins(I'll add wheat germ to the muffin batter.)

Weds-Apple French Toast Casserole

Thurs-Yeast Pancakes (I'll throw in some ww pastry flour.)

Fri- Oatmeal

Sat- Leftover brkfst items from the week.

Sun-Copycat IHOP Harvest Grain & Nut Pancakes (I have some batter frozen.) and Turkey Bacon

Mon- Lemonade Muffins

Tues- Baked Oatmeal

Weds- Toast w/ poached eggs

Thurs- chocolate chip pancakes

Fri- yeast waffles

Sat- Leftover breakfast foods from the week

Sun-Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Lunch:

Mon- Friday: PB&J w/ apple slices or macaroni & cheese w/ apple slices

Dinner:

Mon- Fried Rice w/ leftover sticky chix I made on Sunday.

Tues- Chicken and Dumplings w/ leftover sticky chix

Weds- Creamy Burrito Casserole w/ a Spinach Salad

Thurs- White Chix Chili & cornbread

Fri- Lemon Garlic Pasta & White Bean & Tomato Salad

Sat- Chinese Chicken w/ Swt & Sour sauce, steamed rice & steamed broccoli

Sun-Brown Rice & Lentil Casserole w/ corn (I'll throw some tomato sauce in the cass.)

Mon- Hamburger Soup w/ Homemade Rolls

Tues- Thai Coconut curry w/ noodles and tofu

Weds- Really Good! Vegetarian Meatloaf w/ mashed pot's & peas

Thurs- Delicious Drumsticks w/ Rice & Noodle Pilaf & green beans

Fri- Beef Stroganoff and Steamed Broccoli

Sat-Elsa's Chicken Curry over rice

Sun- Portobello Stuffed Rigatoni (from a bag) w/ Tomato Sauce (I'll throw some TVP in.)