A New Sart To a New Life

This just makes my heart happy!

Because You Can Never Have Enough Pictures Of A Giant Cat!

100 Year Diet

So I have been having headaches for oh, well just say a decade or so. Most of the time they are not bad 3 or 4 a week, I take a Tylenol and they go away. Sometimes they are worse than others but not too bad, just annoying. My friend said "I bet it's something you eat". I said it's stress, doctor says maybe caffeine. Who knows!

But I was intrigued enough to find out so my friend (who is ever so smart with nutrition and a role model for healthy living) introduced me to the elimination diet. Let me just say that it is the worst diet in the whole world! You are supposed to eat NOTHING but fresh raw fruit, fresh raw vegetables, plain chicken and plain pork for 10 days. Then you can slowly add thing in and see if you get a headache.

Well I made it 5 days and it was the longest 5 days of my life! I did not figure out what caused my headaches but I did come to some realizations. 99% of what we put in our body is JUNK! Even diet drinks are nothing but unnatural products! Yogurt...full of corn syrup and artificial dyes.

So while I did not like not being able to eat hardly anything, it did open my eyes as to the junk we eat without thinking. I have decided I'm going to start what I'm calling The 100 Year Diet. I am trying very hard not to put anything into my body that was not around 100 years ago. No corn syrup, no processed, junk no dyes or fake sweeteners.

It takes some creativity and label reading but I'm having fun with it. Who knew that all natural rolled oats with a little cream and 1/2 teaspoon of brown sugar was really good? Did you know you can get 100% natural peanut butter that taste great? The only ingredient is peanuts! I even found Dannon makes a yogurt with nothing but natural ingredients.

The best part is that I feel really good, have not had a headache and lost 5 pounds. I now feel good when I send lunch to school with my kids and know it's really healthy. Dinner feels more like an experiment than a chore, and after not very many days my body stopped craving all that junky stuff.

Not to say that never again will processed products enter my body (yesterday I had a pumpkin spiced latte and I have yet to read a book where the pioneers stopped off at Starbucks for a pick-me up) but I am eating and living more consciously, and that feels good.

Scale Tipping Cat!

Sorry I've been away for a while. Busy with kids back to school, and I have started working at our local animal shelter. Which is where I found this big guy who needed a home and since our 10 year old kitty just died (sad story) there was a spot avaliable in ours.

We named him Murphy or Murph, and he weighs in at 17.5 lbs! He is one large cat! But so gentle and sweet to everyone!

The World Needs To Know This!!!!

So after 2 years of "country" living and dealing with the flies that come with that I was at my wits end! I have spent much time and money trying to find away to keep flies out of my house. I have been spending hours keeping my kitchen an unhealthy clinical clean just to starve out the little buggers, then today I get an e-mail from a friend. 12 cents later I am fly free!

The e-mail gave simple home remedies to everyday problems. One of them was to keep flies out of your house hang a plastic bag, half full of water, and 4 pennies up in your door frame.

What the heck I think, I have tried EVERYTHING else!!!

Normally there are 30 or 40 flies hanging to the side of my house just waiting for the door to open. I take my little water bag, get up on a chair, and hook the bag to the door frame. As soon as the sun hit the bag...BOOOM! Every dang fly in the area took off!

I googled it and apparently the science is that their eyes are so big they pick up the tiniest reflection and get spooked!

Forget drugs, global warming and cancer screening...this is what we should be spending our advertising dollars on! The world needs to know!

Summers Great!

Our Back Yard In Full Bloom!

Here are some shots from the back patio

These are my Cana Lillies. In another month they will be 8 feet tall.

Wish this shot had turned out better so you could see how beautiful the pond is right now.

My Flocks are attracting bees and butterflies.

The pond is full of life! Fish, frogs, newts, and plants all live here, and it is my favorite spot in the yard!

The garden is giving us about 4 squash, 6 cucumbers, dozens of patatoes and tomatoes on almost a daily basis. Not to mention all the beans and lettuce. We are giving it away by the truck loads.

Pink Wars!

Back to school shopping has begun! That is the good news. The bad news is that with it comes the yearly battle of the wardrobe. Specifically, Lou Lou's wardrobe. Every year she wants pink EVERYTHING. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to pink. I love a good frilly dress or sparkly hair bow as much as the next person, but it would be nice to have a bit of variety in her dress.

This year I finally figured out a way. We went shopping, and bought 10 or so pink shirts, pink shoes, pink hair bands, jeans with pink accent, and a few pink skirts. Then I found the cutest teal dress, old fashioned buttons, faded seems. It is a dress straight out of the 40's, so cute and simple. But it also came in pink. The pink however was not nearly as cute and we already had a shopping cart full of pink. So, me, being the the very clever mother that I am, removed all the pink dresses from the rack, hid them in a row of Pokemon shirts and called out to Lou Lou.

"Oh, Lou Lou, look at this super cute dress. It is so pretty. And look, I bet it twirls like a dream. It is just too bad they don't have it in pink. I guess we will just have to put it back. (dramatic sigh) Oh, well, (shoulder shrug)"

wait for it...wait for it...

"I still like it even if it is not pink."

BULLS EYE!

"I guess I could have one dress that is not pink"

Eureka! And we have a winner! She's happy with her mound of pink and 1 teal dress, and I am happy with the hint of variety. As for the next boy to come along and want a Pokemon shirt only to find a pink dress...? Eh, you can't please everyone.

Here Is What I'm Up To

This is a blog I have been following. It is Year Of The Bible. And everyday there is new text to read until you get through the whole Bible. It started on June 1 and will end next June 1. If you want to folow along here is the site. The reading is not to heavy just 2 or 3 chapters a day.

http://www.southminstersyearofthebible.blogspot.com/

Animal Quote Monday

"Summertime and the living is easy..."

People of the Pool

Our neighborhood dues are expensive, and most of the time when I see dead grass in the common area, or hear an annoying little yapper all night long I wonder what in the hell we are getting out of our money. But today the price seemed worth it.

The kids and I went to the neighborhood pool, we do it 5 to 7 times a week! In fact we kind of take it for granted that we can just walk 4 blocks and be at a very nice private pool with only our neighbors around to compete with for water space.

My sister-in-law was there, as she usually is, with her 4 kids, and we did what we usually do. But today I realized the community within the community. We often see the same moms, or dads, the kids that go to school with ours (the school is next to the pool by the way.)

This pool community is really quite fascinating if you step back and really look. You have your kids, big ones near the deep end, small ones in the shallow, those in between kids with floaties on their arms bobbing in the middle.

Us, the moms, sitting on the sides with our sunglasses and soccer mom visors discussing the best place to find an affordable swim suit and swim diapers that really work. We take turns yelling at our kids to stop splashing, or not to jump where it's so shallow.

The hours wind away as we laugh about our husbands never getting to that honey-do list, and pass around the spf 8 sunscreen (so we can still tan through it). We make each other feel better by talking about our stretchmarks and cellulite and reassuring one another that they are not so bad, you can hardly see them.

Undoubtedly there is a mom with a really young one shaded under a beach towel in her arms. She tells of her horrific birth story and we all try to top it. This is where we really feel proud of being a woman because, as we all agree, men could never go through what we do and still be able to walk upright.

The kids shout to us to watch them swim under water, hold their breath, front flip, and whatever else they have learned this week. Every few minutes a loud "MARCO" followed by "POLO" is heard.

Every single child in the pool tattle tales at least twice, and when they do we all roll our eyes and tell them to try and work it out on their own, (we got that from a book I'm sure.) When our youngest is showing signs of stress, and or heat stroke, we pack up the floaties, pool noodles, goggles, and soaker balls and the other moms wave us off.

Our oldest grumble about having to leave and beg for 5 more minutes, the younger ones are only seconds away from a melt down and a few are already well on their way to tantrum, but nobody minds because we have all been there. We are the people of the pool, all linked by chemical-filled water and an incessant need to talk with someone who does not pick their nose.

Today the neighborhood dues don't seem so bad.

3,700 miles Of Fun!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Plinkie's Adventures

Meet Plinkie. He is a 5 inch stuffed flamingo adopted from the Minnesota zoo, and as you can see he quickly became the family mascot.





















Plinkie at the Bad Lands of South Dakota













Plinkie in Yellowstone












Plinkie made some friends along the way













I don't remember where this is... I'll ask Plinkie



















Patriotic Plinkie
















Wild west Plinkie
















Plinkie at the corn palace

HOME!

In the near future there will be posts about our family's 2 week trip across the US. But seeing as how we just got back last night, this is how I will be spending the day...

Happy Anniversary Charlie!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

This Is Really Great! Must Watch!

I Like Dumb Dog Tricks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DalB-CvO7Qc

This is kinda fun!

Animal Quote Monday

"Truth is the tallest of all mountains"

Animal Quote Monday

Unless life also gives you sugar and water your lemonade is going to suck!

-unknown

Brotherly Love

This is a the final paper I wrote in my seminary class and I will present it on Thursday. It goes along with a paper I wrote earlier in the class. Basically the assignment was to pick 5 verses from Matthew and dwell on them for 8 weeks. The picture is of me and my brother, a person I admire and love very much.

Matthew 28:16-20

I have been putting off writing this paper because I could not find an angle to take it that had not been done. The one thing I found from the three commentaries and five versions I have read on this passage is that they are all very similar. It seems to just be given that Jesus is telling the disciples and us to go out and spread his word.

My question that I have been dwelling on is, what is that word. The obvious and what I have heard preached is that Jesus is the son of God, if you want salvation you must come through him, be Christian like the rest of us. But what if there is more here than has met the eye for the last 2000 years?

This is what I have been thinking…

It started when I wrote my paraphrase and tried to get inside the minds of the 11 who were there on that mountain. How had they felt? What had their thoughts been? And it went further when I was sitting in church last Sunday listening to the sermon. My pastor preached on the ascension in Acts 1:1-11. She talked about how the disciples watched Jesus ascend into heaven and just stood there starring up at where he’d been. She went on to say that she would have done the same thing. But is it what we should be doing.

If we stand and stare up to heaven, who is here to get things done? Who will do the work Jesus has asked us to do? She played a song by Johnny Cash called “No Earthly Good.” The main line is, “ But you're so heavenly minded and you're no earthly good”

It was a good sermon and got me to thinking about what we are to be doing here and now. But it wasn’t until a day latter when my brother, who was visiting and had been at church with me, commented on the sermon. He just briefly said how much he had enjoyed it and how he had never heard before a pastor say that we ought to be more focused on earth than heaven, or at least as much. He even confessed that he had gone to the pastor’s blog and reread the sermon.

That was the moment it finally hit me, and the moment I realized what the Spirit was saying in this text. For you see, my brother is gay, and has been very hurt by the christian faith. In fact, I was shocked he had even heard the sermon; I thought he had just been playing with his blackberry, and I had given up hope that he would ever see God as more than a ploy to damage those who are different than us, because lets face it, that happens all the time, in all religions.

What if we read this text again, but we wipe out everything we have ever heard about Jesus, Christianity, the disciples, and the kingdom of heaven. I encourage you to do that for just a minute. Try very hard to come at this as a total stranger to all things religious. Look at it as if you have never before heard of any of these people.

(NIV) Matthew 28:16-20
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him: but some doubted.
18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing you in the name of the Father, Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”


I did, and here is what I heard. Eleven scared, confused and lonely people, they have been hurt by their very own. Their religion, their God, these things have turned out to be nothing they thought they were. Where was their happy ending? Where were the trumpets and victory that the scriptures promised? The faith they had devoted themselves to all their lives had killed their teacher, master, and friend.

Had a faith with so much promise really turned into an angry mob that would go to any length to silence some one who would challenge conventional thinking? Even if that someone was God himself? They had become no earthly good.

And then, there he is, their teacher. A man they had known, and yet not known at all. Coming back to them after being killed by the very faith he believed in. He was not a man or teacher in their eyes now, but he had become a God. Or, they were finally able to see him for what he had been all along. And does he tell them to go out and avenge his death? To right the wrong the world has done? To prove to everyone that they were right all along and that now, finally every one will know it and realize how sinful they are?

No, he tells them to go to all corners of the earth and make everyone a teacher, disciple, baptizing them in the Father, Son, and Spirit. And what happens when you baptize? You submerse, cover, and surround.

In this new light after letting the past go about what I’ve heard this means, I saw something new. I saw this through my gay brothers eyes, through the homeless eyes, through the eyes of the oppressed and battered, and I can never again unseen it.

I have dwelled in the word, and the spirit has shown me that I, along with the eleven, have been called to embrace ALL of the earth, all of God’s children. Submerse them in Jesus’ love, cover them in God’s grace, and surround them with the Spirits strength. In short, love the unlovable, comfort those who have been hurt, be what Jesus was, and do what Jesus did.

What similarities do we share today with the world back then? Are we so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good? Our we worshiping tradition over God? Dwelling in the word is an amazing thing, it can allow us to let go of preconceptions and see in God’s word what God needs us to see. This can be a fresh light, a new way of coming closer to being the people we are called to be.

I think of my brother and others like him. They have been hurt by the very book, and people that have been called by God to baptize them. Jesus did not say, “Change them to be like you when you baptize them”. Or “If you try hard enough you can make a gay person straight, the homeless man on the corner wealthy, or even a sinner to repent.” He simply asks us to embrace them, and surround them in God, Himself, and The Spirit.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Cousins By A Nose

Two of the cousins had a sleep over tonight, and as I watched them watching "Open Season 2" I noticed that they all have the very same nose. A cute little button nose!

From left to right we have an 8, 4, 6, and 6 year old. The 2 in the middle are my kids' cousins and they live just 2blocks away. Fun for all of them. Two older ones are missing here, and they have the same nose too! Round pinchable cheeks also the same!

Life Lessons

Regina Brett's 45 life lessons and 5 to grow on
by Regina Brett *columnist

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.
It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here's an update:
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Animal Quote Monday

Scientists announced today that they have discovered a cure for apathy. However, they claim no one has shown the slightest interest in it. -George Carlin

...is it me, or does he have an extra foot?...

Night Shots

The yard is starting to come along now so I was playing around with some night shots of my favorite spots...

Some of my Shasta Daisies... they look awesome with the night back ground!












My Bleeding Heart just got done blooming, and the Hostas are not quite up yet...














This is our second spring in this house so all our plants are still young... even so, they are coming along well. By next year I'll have twice as many Lilly pads by this time.

The water is mirky because I was digging around in the rocks.
















This is brand new this year. Look how little the Water Iris is... just a sprig.
















Too dark to see the purple Salvia in bloom... I'll have to get a shot in the day, but I'll wait till the annuals bloom!

Planting Day

I look forward to planting day ALL year! It is the day I get to put all of these (see left) into the ground, and can be reasonably certain they won't die of frost.

This day usually happens between April 30th and May 12th. When all the snow is gone off the giant mountain to our North, I know I can plant my annuals.

I buy these guys in March when they are cheap (well cheaper), baby them, keep them in a warm covered garage, fertilize them, and when the snow is off the peak... IT'S TIME!!!





This year I had over 100 plants to get in the ground, but it is so fun for me to be digging in the dirt in my bare feet! Plus, this gives me a jump on my summer tan every year!



Planting day is an all day event that the whole family does.

Banjo is fascinated by our coi pond, and always has been. She like to put her feet in it and watch the fish nibble them.

Right now the pond looks kind of sad, but when the plants get going, and the algae will die back it will be beautiful!

The dogs are not real big on planting day because it means we close the gate to the garden area. No more dirt to dig in. Can't you see the frown on Dolly's face? She is either sad about the garden, or that I'm taking her picture after giving her that stupid hair cut.

When the flowers start to bloom I'll post the pics. It's beautiful!

Animal Quote Monday

"In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer." -Albert Camus

Bird Cam

This is really cool! There is a building downtown where I live that is always home to a Peregrine Falcon couple. This year they set up a live cam to watch the nest. The babies are due to hatch any time now, and it's fun to get to glimpse nature at work. It is super windy here today, and you can see it on the cam. I'm wasting a lot of time on it!

http://www2.fiberpipe.net/falconcam/live.asp

You Go Grandma!

Animal Quote Monday

Sarcasm: The bodies natural defense against stupid.

A Cinco De Mayo Recipe

I never use recipes. I make them. And here is a favorite for Cinco de Mayo.

Skinned chicken breast (I do 4 at a time) in a shallow baking dish. Cover the chicken with sour cream and leave some extra in the pan around the breasts. Pic your favorite salsa and add a few spoon fulls to the top of each breast. Add a can of chick peas all around the chicken in the bottom of the baking dish. Cover the whole thing with shredded cheese (Mexican blend) especially the breasts. Then just bake it. It is very yummy, and VERY fast!

Animal Quote Monday

I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals. -Sir Winston Churchill

* For Lou Lou... who loves pigs!

Ten Years Ago...

Ten years ago today, Charlie took me on a picnic, and had a ring hidden in the basket.

That was the start of a most wonderful adventure! I'm proud of what we have done together in the last decade, and of the family that we have.

I'm lucky to be in love with my best friend!