Miscellany

Blogger, the blogging application I use, just launched a revamped site. So far, I like the look - a little more modern, crisp, and user-friendly. If you don't have a blog but have considered writing one, check out http://www.blogger.com for a free and easy-to-use app.

I'm eating lunch right now and it's leftovers of last night's dinner. I'm still amazed at what I'm putting in my mouth. And those of you who know me well will be amazed, too. It's Vegetarian Chili (Health Valley brand Mild Three-Bean Chili) over brown rice. First of all, I don't like chili. Second of all, I don't like stuff mixed together. Third of all, I really like meat and I don't like vegetables. So what am I doing eating this stuff? As I mentioned in my "Who Is A Mother?" post, I'm trying to lower my cholesterol and I'm attempting to learn to tolerate that which I do not enjoy. Most of the time, I don't enjoy what I'm learning to tolerate, although I could definitely eat this chili again (which I am doing today for lunch.) I even ate the tomato chunks, onions, and carrots in the chili - knowingly. They didn't just creep onto my fork by hiding on the underside of a red kidney bean (usually I don't allow anything to creep onto my fork without my inspection anyway); I actually chose to eat them!

Last week I found Yes, I Made It Myself, a blog mostly about knitting (which I'm not much into) but also occasionally about organic food, voluntary simplicity, and walking communities (all of which I'm very interested in.)

This weekend we transplanted some shrubs (forsythia, hydrangea) and bulbs (tulips, daffodils) from our yard to our church's property. While digging up the plants in our yard on Friday night, we uncovered numerous cicadas. This doesn't bode well for my outdoor activities over the next couple of months. Don't get me wrong - I think that they are biologically and ecologically fascinating, but that's in a, "Hey, did you know such and such cool thing about cicadas?" kinda way rather than a, "Wow, how great that they're crawling on me and getting stuck in my hair!" kinda way.

Last week, Elesa sent me an article on what appears to be a great new book that I can't wait to read. It's called Confessions of a Slacker Mom by Muffy Mead-Ferro. The author describes a new motherhood paradigm shifting into reverse from the currently-hot "Super Mom" bonanza of acquiring every new and perfect learning device to make your child smarter and running your children to every type of activity you can dream up in your head for them to participate in. I was so happy to read about this book and that there are others out there discussing the same topic. I thought I was alone in my desire to simplify our childrens' lives instead of making them more busy and go-getter like. We have always planned to limit our kids' activities (soccer, t-ball, ballet, karate, scouts, etc.) and give them more chances to develop themselves through imaginative play and not be bombarded with piles, buckets, and bins of toys all over the house. This article showed me, "Phew... it's not just us and we're not just crazy!"