1. You can tell school is out: there are kids all over the place. Yesterday, as I was driving to the grocery store, I had three different sets of kids fail to "stop and look both ways" as I was passing them. I'm glad I was looking! I also hope that school being out means more opportunity to spend more time with my teacher-friends. There are several I would love to see more of. While I'm not a big fan of the high temperatures, I think I can appreciate summer for the social time it can afford.
2. The garden is planted! Nick spent much of is time last weekend getting it finished. We need to go back to the farmer's market for a few more tomato plants and he doesn't yet have any lettuce planted, but otherwise, it's all in. We'll see what grows. I have several garden posts already planned but I need to figure out where the usb port on this computer is before I can upload the pictures I've taken. More on that to come.
3. It's been three days since my last Pepsi. If I make it through the afternoon, it will be four full days, 96 hours. This in itself is not a huge accomplishment, yet. Sadly, my longest stint without a soda is five days. Yes, once upon a time, I rarely ever drank a soda. Then, I took it up again when I found it constantly around at my parents' house. (Viscous cycle: Mom bought it because I drank it, and I drank it because she bought it!) But now, it's time to stop. I told Nick that I was giving up soda except when we have pizza. Now, I should clarify, and to him as well, that I only mean to have it when we order pizza, at a restaurant or for delivery. We have pizza quite often. I love pizza. This summer we are going to grill pizza and I'm hoping to convince him to skip the meat and load them up with a produce. On those occasions I'll stick to water or some drink where I can control the sugar content. Soda, from now on, is a special occasion.
4. A couple friends and I have signed up with a food co-op called Azure Standard. We'd read several times about this West Coast-based coop on several food blogs, especially those following the whole foods or traditional diet movements. While I am not certain we could ever make the leap to a strictly traditional model, such as in Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, I do appreciate some of the principles of a whole foods diet. Such as, make whatever you can from scratch and buying little to no-processed food. I read Mark Bittman's Food Matters a few years ago and am sold on the fact that processed foods are not that friendly to our health. I know I should pick up other tomes on the subject, such as Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, but I can't imaging that I'd make it through at this stage of life. Maybe when the kid's are a little bit older. Still, I read several blogs that embrace the whole foods or slow foods, or whatever you'd like to call it, philosophy. And they have lead us to Azure Standard. Mostly, I like the idea of getting food in bulk at a good price. Today we'll hopefully pick up our first order and learn about how this works.
5. I have found myself in a season where I am spiritually hungry. Maybe that's because it's a season of change: learning to be a family of four, being a mother of two, trying to become healthy, learning to be an "urban agrarian". Maybe it's just that it's past time for a spiritual growth spurt. I don't know. But I find myself gripped by a strong desire for a small women's accountability group: a place to be real, to be encouraged, and to make fast friends. Someplace where I am challenged and refreshed. I am not yet sure where to find this or how to get it, but I'm on the look-out. I have some hopes for a lead. Until then, I'll keep plugging away and keep praying that God will use what is in place in my life already.
Hope you're having a great Friday! It is chilly and rainy here. I desperately wish I was cooking down some banana butter or bubbling some marmalade on the stove. As I told a friend, today's the kind of day to have something sweet and sticky percolating on the stove. Alas, I didn't have the foresight. As much as I wanted a rainy day like this today, the forecast was sunny. So I made plans for the zoo instead of doing prep work for orange vanilla marmalade or going to the store for the bananas. However, my plans have also changed for tomorrow, so maybe I'll cut some citrus rind tonight and set it to soaking so I might can orange tangy goodness tomorrow. Happy Weekend!
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