Things to remember

I tend to keep too many windows open on the computer.  I used to place them in folders, but those tend to get lost, too.  Here is a list of what i currently have open, so i can shut these things:

Vegetable gardener - a post about cold frames.
Natural News - Ron Paul's farewell speech and warnings
Green Med Info - Info about radiating food
Deliciously Organic - GF recipes (desserts, graham crackers)
Skinny Ms - more GF dessert recipes
Whole New Mom - MORE dessert recipes
Say What You Need to Say - No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Coconut Oatmeal Squares
WikiHow - exercises to strengthen ankles
Spark People - exercises for strengthening abs, fighting low back pain
Only Natural Pet - online options for healthy food for our cats
Acorn Buds Yarns - Cute knitted cat pattern
Good Earth Farms - a WI farmer with healthy meat for Duane (if i can't find something closer)
Weston A. Price Foundation - an article on treating childhood (and adult?) illness traditionally

I'm definitely seeing a pattern here.  These things tend to show some of what has been on my mind recently.

I can justify my many dessert recipes by saying the holidays are coming and i'm looking for alternatives.  (The no-bake cho recipe writer is delusional thinking that Smart Balance is a good choice, but this can be made into a "healthy" dessert with some adjustments.)  What this tells me is that i'm thinking about sweet too much.  

The exercises are to regain losses i've had with the broken foot.  

Michael Pollan posted a request for reader’s rules about eating.

1. Don’t eat egg salad from a vending machine.
2. Don’t eat anything that took more energy to ship than to grow.
3. If you are not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you’re not hungry.
4. Eat foods in inverse proportion to how much its lobby spends to push it.
5. Avoid snack foods with the “oh” sound in their names: Doritos, Cheetos, Tostitos, Ho Hos, etc.
6. No second helpings, no matter how scrumptious.
7. It’s better to pay the grocer than the doctor.
8. You may not leave the table until you finish your fruit.
9. You don’t get fat on food you pray over. (Meals prepared at home, served at the table and given thanks for are more appreciated and more healthful than food eaten on the run.)
10. Breakfast you should eat alone. Lunch you should share with a friend. Dinner, give to your enemy.
11. Never eat something that is pretending to be something else (artificial sweeteners, margarine, etc.)
12. Don’t yuck someone’s yum. There is someone out there who likes deep-fried sheep eyeballs and, well, more power to them.
13. Make and take your own lunch to work.
14. Eat until you are seven-tenths full and save the other three-tenths for hunger.
15. I am living in Japan and following these simple rules in preparing each meal: GO HO – incorporate five different cooking methods, GO SHIKI – incorporate five colors, GO MI – incorporate five flavors.
16. One of my top rules for eating comes from economics. The law of diminishing marginal utility reminds me that each additional bite is generally less satisfying than the previous bite. This helps me slow down, savor the first bites, stop eating sooner.
17. Don’t eat anything you aren’t willing to kill yourself.
18. When drinking tea, just drink tea. I find this Zen teaching useful, given my inclination toward information absorption in the morning, when I’m also trying to eat breakfast, get the dog out, start the fire and organize my day.
19. When you’re eating, don’t talk about other past meals, whether better or worse. Focus on what’s in front of you.
20. After spending some time working with people with eating disorders, I came up with this rule: Don’t create arbitrary rules for eating if their only purpose is to help you feel in control.

Michael Pollan is the author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Tomorrow's list

Ok, didn't get to the banana bread, & didn't finish quite all the laundry, but got a good deal done.

So, for tomorrow:

• breakfast for Duane & me
• remember supplements &ACV
• laundry - a load of white clothes
• laundry - a load of duvet covers
• laundry - a load of table cloths
• kitchen clean up
• blueberry coffee cake
• banana bread
• eat lunch
• dinner for Duane & me
• remember evening ACV

Other things as they come up.

Crazy kind of day

Ok, i just posted at the other blog, essentially the same thing. But people actually read that blog. I don't think anyone does this one (can you say boring!).

I'm totally scattered today. Ate stuff i'm not suppose to eat. I don't know if that is the problem or the weather. Plus, i should not be hungry, but i am. Need to work on dinner before long. Have a lot of stuff yet to do, and here i am.

I'm sad to see all the sites dedicated to using coupons and "saving money." Some of them even post pics of what they've bought, & how much they have saved. But, 90% of it is processed "food" or worse, OTC drugs. The stuff that has no nourishment. Might as well eat cardboard. I'm serious about that. And the OTC drugs have been proven not to work and have really awful side effects. I don't comment about these posts at those sites. No point. But i find it very, very sad to see folks talking about saving money on things that will, eventually, cause obesity, infertility, ADD/ADHD, learning disabilities, diabetes, heart problems, asthma, osteoporosis, cancers of all kinds, possibly contribute to autism and behavioral problems, oh, the list goes on and on.

I know conspiracy theories sound crazy, but it is hard sometimes not to believe that there is a conspiracy going on. The government subsidizes crops that are made into fake foods. The fake foods create desire for more fake foods & also creates chronic disease. Chronic disease equals lots of meds and doctor visits which provides lots of money to large corporations and creates more serious chronic disease. I know it sounds crazy, but the US spends more on subsidized food sources and medical care than any other industrial nation. But we have one of the worst health care systems when dealing with chronic disease and outcome. People think throwing more money at the government or health care is the answer, but it is NOT.

Change of pace.

Another thing i find sad is following some of the mommy blogs. I'm not sure why i'm doing it. It is especially hard to see families that have two or even three children under the age of 3. Kaylee would be three in May. The fact that more time goes on without a baby just gets harder and harder. Of course, i also read posts that remind me that things come in God's time, not ours. And i know that. And i'm wondering if it is time for me to accept that we may very well, in fact probably will not, have a family.

We don't have the resources to do IVF, and i've real issues about that anyway, for us, anyhow. I'm trying not to judge how other folks grow their families.

Even if we decided to head for adoption, that can be just as expensive as IVF, we haven't the resources to support a pregnant mama to be, and to be honest, i just can't see that someone would choose us anyway.

Foster care is a possibility, but i've issues with that as well. First i read a blog about one situation. They had had 2 little boys since they were very small. They were then 2 and  3 and didn't remember their mom. She was a drug addict, and had been "clean" for 3 months. The courts that had intended to let this couple adopt the boys decided to send the kids back to their mother. The couple was definitely bitter.

I also have issues with the foster system over medical treatment/using drugs.

So, the only option that seems to be open to us is to have our own children, and  it sure doesn't look like that is going to happen. If it does, however, it will certainly be a miracle from God.

Also, there is the issue of my fatigue. Would i even be able to parent, or would 90% of it fall to Duane? If it did, how would we manage that?

Another change of topic.

These are the things i have done on the quest of better health & getting pregnant/carrying a pregnancy (and have tried to be environmentally sound in the process):

• candida cleanse
• gluten-free eating
• replaced all Teflon-coated cookware with corning ware
• gotten off all Rx meds
• quit all OTC meds as well
• taken a variety of supplements
• been careful about food choices trying to eliminate processed items
• stopped using deodorant/antiperspirant
• changed shampoos
• changed skin care/moisturizers
• changed hair color products
• stopped using commercial cleaners
• stopped using bleach
• changed to natural products for laundry
• changed to natural products for cleaning (vinegar, baking soda)
• don't wear jewelry
• seen a naturopath
• worked with a couple of acupuncture folks
• get regular chiropractic care
• get semi-regular cranio-sacral & PT care
• no amalgam dental fillings
• drink a lot of water
• carry glass water bottles rather than buying plastic
• eat mostly organic foods
• eat mostly vegetarian (not vegan)
• have LOTS of folks praying

That last is not least. I can't think of other things i've done, but i've done quite a lot.

Enough! Time to go do other things.

Another Tomorrow

Ok! I accomplished everything on that list today, except i have a load of towels to do. It will get done while we're watching TV tonight. I did the extra, except the banana bread.

So, what i would like to accomplish tomorrow:

• breakfast for Duane and me
• remember supplements and ACV
• laundry - a load of medium clothes
• laundry - a load of medium clothes
• laundry - a load of ?? whites?
• kitchen clean up
• picture onto blog
• banana bread
• eat lunch
• dinner for Duane and me
• remember evening ACV

I'd also like to go to town and get a plant. And start some tomatoes. And fold and put away the laundry in our room.

Duane really liked the enchiladas and black beans, not so fond of the rice. I need to learn how to make better rice. Still, it is nice to have + feedback. Usually his response is "It's ok." Which is discouraging when i'm trying so hard.

Dinner plans

Ok, so i'm trying to take this one day at a time. The plan is to do a breakfast and a dinner for Duane and me each day. He's on his own for lunch. I need to plan something for me.

Thursday breakfast - yogurt, fruit and granola
Kathryn lunch - yam and veggies/cheese
Thursday dinner - cheese enchiladas
Friday breakfast - oatmeal and raisins
Kathryn lunch - yam and cornbread (?)
Friday dinner - tuna casserole
Saturday breakfast - yogurt, fruit and granola
Kathryn lunch - veggies/cheese
Saturday dinner - psghetti and sauce (sausage for Duane)
Sunday breakfast - banana bread (?)
Sunday lunch - eat out?
Sunday dinner - cheese souffle, etc. Pizza for Duane?

This will all be contingent on what i actually accomplish. Subject to change!