Living-Deliberately.com

There’s a monster big post coming in the next few days on our Dave Ramsey party….it was Saturday and such a beautiful day!! I’m anxious to post about it but the kids cleared the photos from my digital camera, I’m waiting on the film to be developed and scanned, friends to email me the pics they got, and I need to assemble some notes for the interview it’s going to be included in for the upcoming issue of The Gazelle Gazette.  I’m still processing the whole weekend…with our oldest coming home from 3 long weeks away, a visit from Grandma (thanks for all your help!), a preliminary photo shoot for prettyposie.com (still under much construction but such an exciting project!), a new dog that showed up (anyone want an obedient, sweet, and a bit playful hound/greyhound mix? We call her Sasha), and the same dog finding a way to get her whole-self into Das Chicken Haus to gnaw on the neck of one of our hens (who is fine btw), I’m in need of a thoughtful, caffinated, meditative, prayerful Monday A.M.

My new business, a sort of spin-off of what I love to do around here, is taking off wonderfully! I’m having so much fun with it that it’s almost not fair…what a great fit for me and “work”.  One of the neatest things about it is the fantastic people I’m meeting along the way and getting to learn about fascinating work they do. Here’s a sampling….

• This business was Tim’s idea before it was mine and he’s been amazing encouragement. Tim’s goal is to be truly rich in the things that really matter in life and his blog is an exciting catalog of truly rich people and life events. Today’s post was a good reminder of how exactly we can slow down a bit and inject a little true wealth into our busy days, taking it from a philosophical idea and into the nitty gritty of our daily life.
  

• Patti Wood’s work intrigues my mind.  She reads body language, analyzing debates, interviews, photos….as well as working as a speech coach for public speakers. In setting up her blog I got to read a lot of her archives and gain quite a lot of insight into behavior that we tend to subconscously pick up on but can’t always articulate. I realized how this was affecting me when I was looking at some celebrity photos yesterday and wondering how what the caption read and what the subjects really felt differed! Today she’s reading Alec Baldwin’s interview on The View about his daughter’s phone messages….Alec is one of my favorite characters on 30 Rock and he was the “baddie” in a move David and I watched and enjoyed the other day, Fun With Dick and Jane. He’s an interesting person that I’ve always had the impression of that he lives very differently in public and private.  I’m still working on her sites but I’ll be watching for her notes with anticipation!

• I’ve just started with Sheryl Lynn of Women Celebrations. Just talking with her was a treat and a total inspiration! In watching The Secret earlier this year and thinking about the law of attraction, I certainly saw it come into play with my introduction to Sheryl and her work. There is a vibrant energy to her groups and her goal of one million women celebrating and encouraging one another. Check out her website (I’m still in the beginning phases of her new blog). Encouraging and lifting one another up is a bit counter to common behavior of stomping on one another in a competitive world and her endeavor totally invigorates me!

If the last few weeks are to be any kind of indicator, this work is going to be fun, fun, fun!

Brian Glass has a Nourishing Traditions blog that he posted in reponse to my rant on Buttermilk below. GREAT BLOG BRIAN!!!! It’s goin’ in the side bar!! Love it!

And while I haven’t fallen off many logs yet…making my own buttermilk will definitely happen here! Thanks for the tip!

New feature around here: each month I’ll highlight a food product that is nasty for it’s nature…it’s additives, it’s mis-labeling, it’s participation in a lie about what is good to eat.

Do I sound a little hostile today? That’s because I’m steamed about Mayfield’s “whole” milk Buttermilk and even more steamed about the company’s “liar, liar, pants-on-fire” blog about it.

First of all, let’s start with the product as it’s presented in the grocery store: Mayfield Cultured Whole Milk Buttermilk.  Since converting to a Nourishing Traditions  (see book link in sidebar) lifestyle, I reach for whole milk products over those with the fat lessened or removed. And, true to dairy practices in this country, it’s true that milk with the fat removed often has powdered milk added back in to make it creamy. That leads to a host of other stuff that has to be in there to stabalize the messed-with product. And, I’m of the opinion that messing with food is ONE thing….messing with it and presenting it as a WHOLE food is WRONG and MISLEADING.

Enter in Mayfield’s Buttermilk. I was in a hurry and the store was out of the kind I normally buy so I grabbed it. Around here Mayfield is “local” so it gets a certain respect (undesevered imo). Their ice cream is popular and one of only two brands my country grocery store even carries and it’s loaded with crappy additives.  We go through a lot of pancakes and waffles around here so buttermilk is a weekly purchase; I knew I wasn’t buying “well” but as it was “whole” and I was in a hurry, I grabbed and didn’t read the back.

My priest’s wife is the one who alerted me to it’s list of ingredients. And here’s where steam started coming out of Tia’s ears….

“Cultured non-fat milk, cream, salt, food starch–modified, locust bean gum, mono and diglycerides, carrageenan, dextrose, sodium citrate, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3″.

Does that sound WHOLE to you?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Worse, I found this at Mayfield’s site:

“Today, we simply add pure strains of cultures to pasteurized low-fat or whole milk.  We incubate the milk at 70 – 72 º F for 14 – 18 hours until the lactic acid and Buttermilk flavor develops just right. ”

LIARS!!!

“Whole” should mean whole. In this case, I’m almost positive they get away with it because when they’re done screwin’ around with it the total fat content equals what unadulterated buttermilk would contain.

I’m tellin’ ya people….don’t assume your “milk” is really just pasturized product from a cow. Don’t assume “cheese” is just cultured milk.  Things need to change but until they do, it’s up to us  to READ THE LABEL. And when you’re in the store, steer clear of Mayfield’s products. They lie to consumers, present a “wholesome” image that is bunk,  and meanwhile we loose control over what is available to nourish our families with. I don’t feed my kids “carrageenan” and I don’t want “locust bean gum” in my MILK.

I had an agenda for the day today but soon found it was scrapped by my little Sammy Cat, who is ready to deliver and decided she wanted me with her. No easy time in the private dark like Grey, this was going to be a lot different! Sammy used to sleep curled up in my apron pocket as a kitten and she’s a lot more fragile and tiny than Grey. Her nesting spot is behind the washer and she was already having contractions when she came and got me, so I let her be. It’s away from the kids and as long as I’m not running laundry (thank God I’m caught up!) it’s also pretty quiet.

She was restless this morning, moving to my feet and looking at me questioningly when a contraction came. I cleaned the bathroom and laundry room and gave cleaning instructions to the kids through the door. My computer (isn’t wireless internet fantastic!!) is in here with me and I settled in for an afternoon’s work a few feet away from Sammy. I dont’ think she wants my help; just my presense.

And just a moment or so after I sat down, having taken a break to put Rowan to bed, I saw her grooming herself vigorously, moreso than she has been the last few hours. One kitten lay near her belly and she is furiously cleaning it. It is so much smaller than Grey’s!! And it looks just exactly like Momma; grey-tiger on top and white on bottom. I don’t know many she has in there yet but I’m glad I started this day with an attitude of flexibility….

Here’s one that I enjoy every single day of the week, one section at a time…

The Sunday NY Times

We got a sample subscription, four free weeks followed by four discounted weeks. I probably have to nix the full deal until we meet a few more financial goals. But I can guarantee I’ll still pick up a copy when I’m in town; both my food co-op and my coffee shop sell it. I love it!

Section after section I appreciate the wordiness, the fantastic layout, the attention paid to details. The content is often challenging but in a cerebral way…not mindnumbing TV with commercials and the writing is always well done. Even the ads are beautifully laid out! NY is a world and a half away from my little town here and I wouldn’t necessarily want to live there (though a visit involving many little restaurants and musuem tours sounds wonderful!). It’s often spread out all over my bed on weekend mornings but I take the time to read almost every article, or at least a pretty thorough scan, throughout the week. It’s best savored on a morning for sleeping in, covers and a loved one nearby, and hot coffee too. Only a plate of eggs benedict, swirls of golden hollandaise and sunny yolks subtly intact, served in that very bed, with that same loved one and that hot coffee would make it better and as the family cook I haven’t figured how to get it and stay in bed yet!

So, always a treat, the Sunday NY Times is my simple pleasure this Saturday. I loved the responses last week; don’t forget to post your links if you write one too!

That’s my term for “working out all the details”, “things falling into place”, and “making the arrangements”. It’s what I really mean when I mention “date night” : get a sitter, have the money, have the energy, have the time. Or “take vacation”: have the time, have enough flex in our work to leave, take care of the pets, have the money. And oh Lord help us…we don’t say “night with out the kids” because the first four stars rarely line up and this would be  the huge astroid that would blow it all to bits even if we managed.

Today was the kind of day that makes me wonder there is any order in that starry universe. Could anything possibly go right? It was a beautiful day but it couldn’t be savored. I’ve got great kids that don’t get enough of me. The stairs needed a coat of putty but the knife broke. The money didn’t make it in so the supply list couldn’t be bought for the weekned project, which is actually a big deal because it means the kids sleep in the living room TWO extra weeks at the least. Yes, that includes the weekend we are planning a HUGE party. Every job I worked on for my new business hit a snag and halted. The paint for the stairs didn’t stick and has to be resanded and then primed first. With as many home improvement projects as I’ve done, how in the world did I forget that step?!

Sigh.

But the power bill came today….that broken oven and broken dryer (sorry folks, long time member of freecycle here and there is no time in my schedule for scouring out deals; will do without a bit longer) really saved some money. I mean REALLY! Tempts a girl to go homestead it (almost). Honey brought home a favorite candy bar. I might have a new client. The day lingered and we had dinner outside and watched the kids play calvinball baseball. Baby learned to put on his own shirt. All those snags and bumps actually gave me a snatch of time at the end of the day to cuddle and laugh and watch some fantastic jump rope in the driveway.

Maybe a few stars are lining up after all. Not enough for that cosmic miracle, the (dun dun duuuuuun music) Date Night!!! , but enough to remind me that there is a wonderful order about after all and maybe I should just shift my focus to a new constellation.

Sun Drops. Ever heard of ‘em? They are natural m & m’s. They are REAL chocolate, no corn syrup, and earth tones. That last point is a little stickler for me…growing up red food dye was poison and I wasn’t allowed to have it. Blue m & m’s hadn’t made the scene yet. So my little bag of “plain” had brown, tan, orange, yellow, and at some point, green. Earth tones. I still refuse to eat the “safe” red ones and the blue ones are just wrong. Ditto the rainbow of colors they’ve come out with since. Rainbows of colors are for skittles…duh. Anyway… back to Sun Drops. My food co-op sells them in bulk. They are WAAAAAAYYYY better than that mass produced version. They use cocoa that comes from sustainable ag farms sans the abuse being talked of at other chocolate companies’ farms in Africa (more on that in another post). They are made by Sunspire. Get ‘em. You’ll be as hooked as I am in at first bite.

Chewymom has a nice little rant today that I’d share with the planet if I could! This is exactly why, when someone is trying to make better food choices, it can be nearly more important what you DON’T eat than what you DO. And, in this country, shopping at the vast majority of grocery stores, it will take plenty of effort to avoid just two nasty, umbiquitous, ingredients: High Fructose Corn Syrup and partially hyrdrogneated corn oil.

And shout out to Julie…she has a nice image of Bono’s book on there too ;-).

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Because he was about to get hit!!!

Story behind the story: a gorgeous rooster lives down the road, taking his fill of the bugs and worms on two sides of the road. There is a meadow on one side and he likes to peruse that area when it’s early and dewy and hangs around his house on the other side of the road during the day. So Herr Rooster, (and he is that pretty variety with the luminscent dark feathers on his body, a golden head and neck, and very red cock and waddle), was struting his stuff across on the shoulder. As I neared in my lane and another car neared in the oncoming lane, Herr Rooster decided pretty fast that he better make a dash for it! Our two cars both swirved to avoid him and nearly hit each other, while he puttered quickly to the other side and gave those long feathers a good shake and dust off when he arrived.

Now can you imagine that accident report?!!

John Lennon wrote it, many have recorded it. The one that closely matches how it sounds in memory, and in hope that it can be true both for mine and for other marriages I want so much to survive, is peter Breinholt’s version. Hear it on Rhapsody.

Grow old along with me
The best is yet to be
When our time has come
We will be as one
God bless our love
God bless our love

Grow old along with me
Two branches of one tree
Face the setting sun
When the day is done
God bless our love
God bless our love

Spending our lives together
Man and wife together
World without end
World without end

Grow old along with me
Whatever fate decrees
We will see it through
For our love is true
God bless our love
God bless our love

Grow Old With Me by Peter Breinholt

Last night David and I were watching online coverage of the VA Tech killings and they were just starting to line up student interviews. One young man said something that has bothered me all day. His dorm was the building next to the one that had the first shooting. He’d heard about it but said, “you know..a small shooting. You don’t think anything of it and go on with your day.” And so he did. He went on to class where he witnessed the second shooting and was later on the news being grotesquely questioned by the talking head, “so did you actually see dead bodies being carried out?”

Ugh. A shooting occurrs in the building next to you, people die, and you just go on with your day like nothing happened?!‘” And while they were investigating the crime, it seems the school wanted to go on with business as usual, not shutting the day down, classes, and jobs.

I guess the disturbing answer is that yes, Virgina, we really are that desensitized to violence. Or at least this post-911/post-Columbine generation is. The first shooting, if it had even made the news, would have been a blip few would have even noticed. Maybe something would have been said about better dorm security. It took the open campus to be shot up and over 30 people to be killed before we all gasped. The speeches I heard seemed to talk about the idealistic safe place schools are supposed to be…a disillusion for another era I think. Truly one can not hide from deliberate violence like this, as the newscasters seemed to make special effort to exploit last night, letting all the would-be suicide terrorists know this was a vulnerabilty no one could protect.

But no matter how violent the world-at-large becomes, when it happens to our neighbor and we do nothing….that seems to be a tragedy that can beget nothing good.

Those crazy Monkeys had this hilarious video today…

or almost anyway….between being out of town and days upon days of rain, the grass is well above our ankles. Today is blissfully sunny and I could, theoretically anyway, mow it, only there are tons of little flowers amidst the blades of grass and cutting them seems a shame.

I shouldn’t mow anyway. Headache prone that I am, getting all varieties…three day migraines, sinus whoppers, tension in late afternoon, fatigue and hangoverish throbbing monsters and today’s start-in-the-middle-of-the-night-blinding-fog, I’m maxed out on OTC pain relief, which is only taking the edge off.  Right after I made the kids’ breakfast I took my oatmeal and coffee and snuggled on their bed-futon piles of pillows and blankets in the living room, set up because their room is dismantled for the weekend’s wall building to make one room two. An ice pack on the crick in my neck that I can’t get to crack, I swirled butter and cinnamon into my oatmeal and noticed that we had sort of a “second spring” going on outside.

It’s a like a redo because we had an early heat wave where spring sort of exploded forth and then a cold snap came and killed everything. “April Showers” became a soggy reality, bringing with it a snow mix at some points. My neighbor calls it a “dogwood winter” because winter returns in the midst of the Dogwood Tree’s white bloom and lo and behold that is surely what occurred.

But when that happens we also get a double whammy of the freshness, the brightness, the new life. We’ve had new kittens, baby birds, little flowers that open for the afternoon sun.  The sky is a piercing blue and the sunrise was pink, making the mountain glow in warm colors that almost mimick the autumn. Carndinals, Martins, and Jays are swooping around…I’m not the best of birdwatchers so there are many other varieties that I can’t name hopping around on the budding branches.

My typical routine in the morning does not include staring out a window watching wildlife and sunrises so maybe that’s the “gift” my headache gave me today. I’ll take the que and slow down enough not to include mowing and let the flowers have another few days; rain comes again tomorrow.  On this sunny day laundry will still get hung, words will get arranged and rearranged on a page, meals will be made, stories will be read to little ones on the porch rocker. How often do we get a “second” chance at Spring and how often do we actually slow down to enjoy it?

I’m going to start a new feature…highlighting one of my favorite simple pleasures every Saturday morning. The only criteria is that it has to cost less $20 and be something that contributues to my quality of life in large ways. Sometimes it will be a treat, sometimes a favorite tool, sometimes a necessary thing that is much appreciated. I’d love this to become a carnival of the simple things we enjoy, so if you blog about your own be sure to post a link in the comments section.

Simple pleasure:   New windshield wipers. 

Yes indeedy, right up there with new socks! It seems our wipers get worse and worse and every rain storm we vow to change them but when it’s dry again we forget. Around here, we have one driver who adjusts the wipers with the rain fall and one driver who will insist vision is fine without them and never use them. Unfortunately, the one who never uses them is the one who is generally in charge of car maintenance ;-).  And so, at the point where one little rubber thread was flapping in the wind one day and we had about a two inch band of cleared windshield in a heavy spring rain while the rest ran in blurry rivulets,  the little red hen took herself to Advanced Auto and saw they were running a special. It was a discounted price AND free installation. Herr Rooster was much pleased to have one thing crossed off his list without even trying (now there’s a simple pleasure if I ever heard one!) and the one who uses the wipers can see again. A good thing as we enter a weekend with a snow/rain mix in the forecast!