Hurray for Friends!

Yesterday Courtney finally earned the privilege to have a sleep over. She invited her friend up (I can't spell the friend's name so I won't even try) and she spent the night. Jacob was jealous but was very kind about the whole thing. The friend was polite and the kids all had fun. We hardly noticed she was here and the best part of all was that the twins were completely occupied the whole time.

So, when the friend left the twins reattached themselves to your's truly. That was ok because that's the way my life usually is with them. Well, Skip took Jacob down to the neighbor's to get some wood. He came home with Jacob AND the neighbor's little boy. Courtney chimed in and the three have been playing great all afternoon! I called my neighbor and asked if he could just stay through dinner and watch a movie with my kids. Yay!!!

Today has been a good day!

Yes, Please!

These little babies were introduced by Apple this week and I think it would look adorable riding around in my little car with me. It would be the perfect travel companion and I just . . . I just . . . well, I just WANT ONE!!! I have no good reason for wanting an iPad. It certainly doesn't fit in the category as a "need". I can't afford one to save my life but I just think they are hecka cool. And so there it is. I'll just sit here and experience what it is to "want" one.

That Darn Stomach Ache!

Last night while the twins were eating dinner, I went to my office to get some work finished. I wasn't feeling that hungry and the three of us were the only ones home (pretty typical these days).

Courtney came back to my office, crying, saying that her stomach hurt. I did the usual, "Well, maybe you just need to go poo!" She informed me that that was simply NOT the case. I asked her to point where she hurt and it alarmed me when she pointed right where the appendix was. Trying to stay calm, I asked her to go into my zoning room so that I could see what's what. I pressed different areas on her feet and was relieved when she didn't jump as I pushed the appendix area. I then told her that I thought maybe I should zone her feet and see if we can figure out what really was the problem. When I reached the part of her body that correlated with her colon I realized that there was indeed blockage. I worked on it for a bit and sure enough the gas started releasing and her ache relocated telling me that whatever was causing the problem was now on the move. Long and short, the blockage was moved and she felt fine within about 15 minutes.

Okay, well fast forward to this morning. The twins are getting ready for school and Jacob comes out to the kitchen rubbing his stomach and informs me he has a stomach ache. I look at him and tell him to quit being a faker and go get ready for school. He says, "No Mom, really. It hurts!" Still pretty sure he's trying to pull one over on me I say, "Jacob, if you want your feet zoned just ask for a zone and we'll take care of that tonight."

Jacob then smiles, says "OK" and skips away to finish getting ready for school. Stinker!

Better Together

Lately I've been eating a totally vegan diet. No sugar, no processed foods and absolutely NO animal products of any kind. Of course, to eat this way requires a lot of prep work. You can't just walk into the kitchen and throw something in the (yikes!) microwave. Microwaves are a great big fat no-no in my life!

At any rate, I have been making fat salads that are just to die for almost every night for dinner to accompany whatever soup, rice dish or stir fry I seem to come up with. What's the coolest part of all this is that Skip has been joining me in the kitchen. He is in there dicing, chopping and slicing away. When there is a stir-fry going on, he loves to take control of that too. I am so enjoying this journey of mine with my man right there helping me prepare these yummy vegan meals.

About one or maybe two nights a week I throw some animal flesh out for dinner for the fam (gross!). I eat a different meal on those nights. Now . . . how do I get the peeps in my house to stick around for clean up?

Feeling Groovy!

Why? I'll tell you why. Things just are in a good spot today. That's why. Here's some stuff that is just elevating that mood of mine:

• Just finished paying some bills - not all but some (I HATE paying bills. They suck)
• I just got a water distiller yesterday and I love, love, love it! It's in there happlily distilling water for me as we speak. Furthermore, I don't have to ration my precious water any more!
• I finally made a decision about my foot zoning dilema. I've decided to use my home as my office. Like wow! The rent is free and the ambiance is priceless. Can't lose!
• I'm heading out for a walk with the twins and Pierra to shake the stress from the bills away.
• We are watching a movie after dinner with a fat bowl of popcorn tonight (we don't get to go out on date nights anymore because of babysitting challenges so this is as good as it gets anymore. I'll take it)

So there it is! It feels good to have some of the ugly black clouds lifted out of my life. I'm ready for some sunshine in my life so come on . . . bring it on!

Blue Too

Just read Brandilyn's blog and I need to ditto her remarks. I don't know if I'm "blue", though, or just down right pissed off.

Since October (heck since about a year and a half ago!) things just haven't been going well. Today we got another zinger and, frankly, I want the bus to stop. I want off and I want off NOW!! Enough is enough. I'm tired of crying. I'm tired of trying to pretend that life is great. I'm just tired of feeling like there is just a huge weight on my shoulders that has been cemented there permanently. I want my life back.

Okay. Thanks for letting me get that out. I don't feel any better, however, but I'm braced for the next hit.

Porridge

It's funny how life is full of little cycles.

I grew up eating hot cereal every morning for breakfast. My mother, being from England, always called it "porridge" (like the three bears) so we did too. It was my job for a period of time to prepare the big pot of porridge (there were seven of us kids) while the boys were out feeding the animals and milking the cow. For whatever reason, I thought it was fun to put one raisin in the porridge and then see who scored the raisin.

Well, I HATED having porridge for breakfast every morning. I thought it was stupid and tasted like crap. I even made up fun things when I told my friends what I had for breakfast because I was embarassed to admit that I had "porridge".

Fast forward to my life as a mom. I cook a variety of things for my children for breakfast. This morning, after I woke up the twins, I asked Jacob what he would like for breakfast. He said, "OATMEAL!!"

So here I am making a pot of cereal. Instead of hiding a raisin, though, I put bananas and strawberries and they loved it! Now, I wonder what they will tell their friends they had for breakfast this morning . . .

Cuttin and Choppin

It seems when you make the choice to go vegan and do it right - not eating any sugar or processed foods - there becomes a whole new added element thrown into food preparation. You actually, uh, have to "prepare" the food. Wow!

So here we are after two weeks of eating this way. I've spent quite a bit more time in the kitchen than before and I'm actually enjoying it somewhat (I hate cooking, remember?). Tonight and last night it wasn't just me in the kitchen either. Skip has been right there with me. I can't say that he enjoys the food that comes out of our labor persay, but he does seem to enjoy helping with the preparation (and I think he likes it when I say, "Wow, honey, that's a great meal you put together!").

Last night was the bestest stir-fry that I've ever tasted (well, pretty darn close if not the best) and tonight we had lentil soup paired with a fabuloso salad. Tomorrow? Don't know yet but you can bet your bippy it will involve a lot of cuttin and choppin!

Nightmare!!

Last night I had a horrible dream. I dreamt that Skip and I were traveling around Arizona going to antigue shops (that's not the horrible part for me but it would be for him, lol). For whatever reason, we had Pierre with us.

As we were on our way back to where ever it is we came from, I noticed that Pierre was not with us. I was mortified. "Skip, we HAVE to go back and figure out where he is!" I was crying and was trying to remember if he had a collar on that has his name and phone number on it. I couldn't remember anything. Not where I left him, not anything!

I was envisioning him watching us as we were driving away and couldn't help but feel that he was really scared. Skip then said that he was going to take Nole (whoever THAT is!) and go back and look for him. I already knew that if anybody had found him that they would keep him because he is so darn cute.

I woke up and it took me a couple of minutes to realize that it was just a dream. I quickly went out to the garage and greeted my happy little furry pal. Dang I was so happy to see him. I couldn't stop petting and holding him (he must be thinking, "What's up with this? I don't know but, hey, I like it a lot!").

Thank you!

Dear Friend:

I know you read my blog because you told me you do. I just wanted to thank you for listening to me today. I know you have a busy life with work and home and I so appreciate that you took time out of your life to hear me.

Thank you also for confirming to me that I am not losing my mind and that I do understand things correctly. This has been a hard thing that we are going through and it seems that it's just going to be getting a little more difficult before it gets any better.

I'm grateful for your sense of humor and your words of encouragement. Thank you again!

I love you man!!!

I'm Full

I'm full - translation is "I really don't like what you cooked but I know you'll get pissed if I tell you that."

Lately I've been making mostly vegan food. The more I study and learn about our body the more convinced I become that animal products (meat, dairy, eggs), sugar and all processed foods are just poison for our bodies. My twins have enough challenges and I feel that if I'm feeding them foods that their bodies are happy with then that is just that much more ahead of the game that we can be. Right?

Lol. Last night I made quinoa (one of my faves by the way) with pine nuts and basil. It was way yummy (well at least to Jacob and I). Jacob had seconds. Courtney, however, proceeded to tell me that she was "full". I gave her "that look" and asked her to please finish her dinner. She did, with lots of drama, of course, and then asked for dessert when she presented me with her empty plate. Ahem! NOT!!!

This morning I heated up some rice with raisins for breakfast. They put honey and rice milk on it and I left the room for a spell. I came back through as Jacob is saying to me, "I'm full." I then laughed and said, "Dude, finish those last couple of bites. Your body will be happy it had a nice breakfast today!". For whatever reason, that logic made sense to him and he finished with a very dramatic face.

So if you happen to be at my house and don't care for the food I prepare, just say "I'm full" and I'll get the message!

My Lovely Mugs!

Being an herbalist means that I drink a LOT of herbal tea! I love herbal tea and drink many different kinds during my day. Some super duper yummy and some not so yummy but super duper therapeutic.

Anyway, one of my favorite things is my little collection of tea mugs.

The red one on the left was given to me by Brandilyn for Christmas in my stocking box. It's big and its RED!! I love red and I love big!!!

The next one is really a special one to me. I've had this mug for a long time and can't really remember where I scored it from. I'm a horse nut (duh) and I'm obsessed with Native Americans. I think they so had it going on and still do. Well, when Brandilyn moved to Idaho she stole this cup from me (naughty little daughter child!). I stole it back and then bought her and Dave cups just like it for Christmas last year (she got more of a teal colored one cuz that's her favorite color in the whole wide world). I also then bought a second one for my house which my husband promptly put his initial on (can't really figure that one out but whatever).

The third cup was also given to me by Brandilyn. When she was younger she went to a ceramic place and painted it. She put the initials "ofum" on it which is a nickname her and I gave me (hers are bpdc). We both know what they mean and only a few select peeps that we trust get to know what they mean as well.

The fourth cup was given to me by Cory and Sarah for Christmas this year. It has an Apache blessing on it that is absolutely beautiful. I love this cup and I love thinking of their little family when I drink my tea from it.

So there you have it, whether you wanted it or not! I love my tea mugs and I love that they all hold a LOT of herbal tea to keep me happy throughout my day. So here I go back into the kitchen to fix yet another cup of tea!

Who's That?

I recently got this in an email and it's one of my favorite grandma stories:

After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warning. As she left the room, she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice,

"Who was THAT?"

I laugh about this because every morning after I shower and wrap my hair in my towel (my twisty towel that Brandilyn got me for Christmas!), I go wake up the twins and fix their breakfast. I tell them to please get their breakfast finished and get ready for school without playing around. I then exit the kitchen and go back and finish getting myself ready.

It makes me feel like my alter ego gets to go out and issue stern warnings and then in about 15 minutes a "put together" mom emerges feeling ready to face the day! At any rate, the story is hilarious and I look forward to having grandchildren so that I can discover my own funny stories to write about!

What a Pig!!

Today I had my Activity Day Girls. A group of girls from church aged 8-12. They are fun and we meet twice a month and do fun activities.

Today our activity was making scripture cookies. They had to look up specific scriptures to determine which ingredients they needed. They all had a lot of fun and it was kind of entertaining to watch these young girls getting excited when they figured out what each thing was.

Fast forward to when these cookies came out of the oven. After they had cooled a bit I told the girls that they each could have some. I then turned my attention to other things like packing up my gear, cleaning up the kitchen etc. Well we made like three dozen cookies and when the activity was over I told the girls they could divide the cookies and take them home. No biggie. Well, the girls all informed me that one of my girls (who shall remain nameless) had already eaten six cookies! I was a little blown away.

It came time to leave and this particular girl was getting a ride home with yours truly. Because there were several cookies left the two girls I was taking home each packed up a baggie with cookies for "their families" (yeah, nice thought). Well, Miss Piggy procceded to inhale about three more cookies in my car as she is explaining to me that she stayed home from school yesterday with the stomach flu. What?!?!?!? "Girl you had better not hurl those cookies up in MY car!"

She then said, "Yeah, I better not eat too many more because my stomach is still getting better from being sick."

You think? And I thought my teenage boys ate a lot! Gadzuke!!!!

That Gut Feeling

You know when you get that feeling down in your gut that you should do or not do something? It kind of nags at you. Yeah, I got that feeling over the weekend in a big way. Did I follow my instinct? Uh, no. Now, I'm paying for it in a big way.

So the lesson here? When intuition is knocking on your door DO NOT ignore it! Go with it. It's usually the best thing!

However, what is IS. I can't change it. It sucks but suckage is what I need to learn to sit with for right now. So suckage it is!

Spoiled Brats!

My dogs are hopeless. Just simply hopeless.

When the weather was cold about a month ago (really cold! Well, at least by our California standards) we started letting our canines come into the house for the night because we felt sorry for them. One of them is old and arthritic so she especially was a concern. Pierre, well he's just so dang cute how could ANYBODY leave that little guy outside all night long?

Okay, flashing forward to like NOW! Yeah. Those dogs of mine sit at the back kitchen door and just look in our window with those sad eyes. Holly (the old one) even barks when she feels like we aren't noticing her sitting there. Really, it's like 45 degrees outside and they have big fur coats on! They need to stay outside!!!

Fine! I give. The dogs are inside snoring right now. I admit it, I'm weak!

Tea Time!

I've decided that I have become a tea maniac! As I was having two cups of tea this morning (yeah, at the same time!), I came to that conclusion. I seem to be drinking tea most of my day. Mind you, I ONLY drink herbal teas and they just keep my world a-hummin!

In no particular order here are some of my faves right now:

• Green tea
• Peppermint tea
• Smooth Move tea (well, maybe not a favorite but definitely enjoy the side effects)
• Pomegranite tea
• Sleepy Time
• Chamomille
• Lemon Ginger

I especially love the Yogi Teas They have really cute little messages written on the tab of each bag. I also really love that Brandilyn always has tea available when I go visit. Go Brandilyn!

Well, I gotta run. My tea kettle is whistling and you know what that means! It's tea time!!!

The Good Stuff

In my ongoing quest to get back to my happy self, I decided to take a look at the wonderful things that I have to be grateful. Wow! There's a lot! Amongst them are:

My winter veggie garden! I love my garden. Whenever I walk outside in my front yard I pick out all the nasty little weeds that think they have the right to live there. This garden makes me so happy. Not only is it pretty (in my opinion, of course) but it's edible! A super duper plus!

Pierre! I love this little guy. After his near miss with the big, bad coyote, I have become fiercly protective of him. Although he is technically Brandilyn's pup, he has bonded with me and really wants to be my dog. Sorry, Brandilyn. I'm just so grateful that he's healed and healthy again (of course we are STILL paying that vet bill, grrr).

My Gator. It quit working the other night while I was feeding my horses. I abandoned it on the driveway and quickly forgot to mention it to Skip because I got caught up in homework, dinner, kids etc. The next morning while I was going to feed I remembered that it was broken and I was bummed (insert sighing, kicking and being ticked like a teenager here). When I got to the place where I had left it, it was gone! My wonderful man had just fixed it and put it away without saying a word to me! My hero!!!

Like I said, though. There is a boat load of more wonderful things that are great in my life. I guess the trick is to focus on all the wonderfulness and just take a sideward glance at the icktified crud. Right?

Just What I Need

Boy was I hopping mad when I was informed that one of my children (who shall remain nameless) was suspended from school for the balance of the week (happened on Tuesday). I mean, really?????

So here I was grounded from my life out there for three days (five if you count the weekend but that was already a done deal). Well, I was not going to be the only miserable individual. Nope, not me! I have made a list and checked it twice and this child has worked their little buns off. My kitchen has been scrubbed from top to bottom. All the drawers and cupboards are sparkly clean. The Christmas tree got taken down and put away. The wood got restacked. The garage got swept out.

Me? Well, yeah. I've got to spend three days at home (which is an ongoing complaint of mine that I don't get to spend enough time at home) and actually got to take a little snooze a couple of those days. I got my little office/spare bedroom all set up with my stuff from my office and made a nice vegan dinner for the fam each night (well, Skip wasn't that excited about the vegan part. I'm sure he was expecting some meat and potato fare. Ooops, sorry).

As it turns out, having a kid suspended from school can be a beautiful thing. Depends on who you are and how you look at it! Me? Well it turned out to be just what I needed! Thank you, child of mine (sucks to be you!).

Figuring It Out!

How funny is it that I am in school and studying and studying how to apply herbs, fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and whole grains to our lives so that our bodies will function at their optimum and then I wait until a book like Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Diet" comes along to actually apply the principles of what I learn?

Yeah, well, that's the way it is! To be honest, though, my latest text book that I just finished was "Eat to Live" and the wheels had already started turning. Somehow, though, the information was overwhelming and I just couldn't figure out how to organize myself to actually start.

However, here I am in full swing now and actually (after four days) starting to get the hang of the whole deal. Go me! The first couple of days were pretty scary but this morning I feel energized and ready to tackle my life again. The depression has lifted and I'm feeling like ME!!!

So, here's to a great start on a great new year!

The 2010 Plan

It's taken me frickin forever but I finally did it! I came up with a plan for 2010! I so suck at making New Year's Resolutions. They just aren't my thing. However, 2009 sucked so bad that I decided that I should have a positive outlook for 2010, right? Okay, here goes:

• I will be kinder to my body by eating foods that make it happy (not that make "ME" happy but foods that make my body happy)
• I will be kinder to my planet by attempting to recycle and use more earth friendly products (way harder than it sounds)
• I will be kinder to those around me by doing something nice for someone each day (I even have it on my calendar each day to remind me)
• I will be kinder to myself by not beating myself up when things in life just don't go according to "the plan"

That's it! Just all about kindness because a little kindness goes a long way and, baby, I have a llloooonnnng way to go!

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

I like surprises! I really like being the surpriser more than the surprisee, though.

Anyway, Skip and Brian were driving to Idaho to take Brian back up to school. Brandilyn and I were both super duper sad that I wasn't coming. I couldn't take it any more. I had received two calls from my Princess where she was pretty upset and made arrangements to go, unbeknownst to her.

I just arrived today and she was pretty blown away. I'm happy to be here with her. I miss her so much and struggle with being so far apart.

Yay, yay, yay for surprises!!!