People say that you can tell a lot about a person by just looking at her friends. If that's true, I guess I must be a damn fine human being because my friends are so amazing...
I have friends who work their butts off roofing our garage and doing projects around our house so that our living space is improved in so many ways.
I have friends who make a home cooked meal for me so that, even though my husband is working, I can still enjoy my birthday to the fullest.
I have friends who, knowing that I am having a bad day at work, will stop by my cubical and make me laugh - just to make that bad day a little more tolerable.
I have friends who will come to an event I am in charge of at work - just because I needed them.
I have friends who help us move... several times... even from one state to another.
I have friends who will show up with two pints of Ben and Jerry's, and help me gorge on ice cream to melt away the sorrow or celebrate success.
I have friends who, no matter how few times we see or talk to each other, we are still as connected as we ever were, whether we were just down the hall, down the street or across the country.
I have friends that will listen to me while I blather on in some random, mundane story, and will ask questions because they are genuinely interested.
They'll sit and read my blog, because that's how much they care.
Golly - I really am so fortunate.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
The Food Revolution
You see all the advertisement and propaganda about "eat unprocessed foods," "buy local," "get more whole grains" - and on it goes.
So now you actually TRY to do that. Suddenly you start seeing that bottom line on your grocery bill and you're eyes bug out of your head. MANY of your hard earned nickels are now in those reusable canvas grocery bags in the forms of organic whole wheat flour, local vine-ripened tomatoes and free range chicken - all environmentally sound and healthy choices. But that's ALL you bought??
In an effort to try to improve our eating styles (and hopefully saving a bit of cash), I started making a few food items at home and growing our own veggies. I now bake my own whole wheat bread, make blueberry muffins from scratch (PERFECT for the lunch bag and packed full of delicious blueberries, and lots of whole grains!), and now I'm even attempting homemade granola bars (though Caleb calls me a hippy for doing it).
To make bread from scratch, which I have to do about every two weeks, I have to plan for almost three hours so that I can correctly put together the ingredients, and wait for two raising periods, and THEN bake it. The muffins I have down to less than an hour and I'm still working on the granola bars.
Is the time it takes to do these things worth it? I ask myself that a lot as I work my upper arms to knead the bread dough. I figure that for each loaf of bread, it cost me about $1.50 per loaf. So I am saving some cash. And I know there aren't any creepy chemicals - and I know where the bread came from - my own two hands.
I purchased a quart of strawberries from a local farmer today on my way home. They were $5.50 - over a dollar more expensive than the quart I bought two weeks ago from Shaw's. I thought to myself, "Holy cow is this really worth it???"
And then I took a bite. The deliciously sweet strawberry, with just the right amount of tartness, melted on my tongue. And all of a sudden, I knew. This IS worth it!
Every time I make toast out of my own bread, I think "Hey I made that" and it tastes delicious. When I take a bite of that homemade blueberry muffins packed with all the good things for your body, it makes me happy to know that I chose to eat something better for me than a doughnut. And I know that I have made a better choice for me and my family.
So is it worth it? I'm not going to get all preachy on you. But take into consideration all of the things that come into play. When you make choices that affect your grocery bill, you are also making choices for your health and the environment.
But if you do decide to start buying local, organic, or whatever, make changes a little at a time. Pick up a few staples here and there. You will spend more on each item (that's a unchangeable fact), but in the long run, breaking it up over time will seem a little less painful. After a while, you'll just get used to it, and incorporate it into your grocery budget.
Oh... and put down the Ring Dings. That's a good first start :)
So now you actually TRY to do that. Suddenly you start seeing that bottom line on your grocery bill and you're eyes bug out of your head. MANY of your hard earned nickels are now in those reusable canvas grocery bags in the forms of organic whole wheat flour, local vine-ripened tomatoes and free range chicken - all environmentally sound and healthy choices. But that's ALL you bought??
In an effort to try to improve our eating styles (and hopefully saving a bit of cash), I started making a few food items at home and growing our own veggies. I now bake my own whole wheat bread, make blueberry muffins from scratch (PERFECT for the lunch bag and packed full of delicious blueberries, and lots of whole grains!), and now I'm even attempting homemade granola bars (though Caleb calls me a hippy for doing it).
To make bread from scratch, which I have to do about every two weeks, I have to plan for almost three hours so that I can correctly put together the ingredients, and wait for two raising periods, and THEN bake it. The muffins I have down to less than an hour and I'm still working on the granola bars.
Is the time it takes to do these things worth it? I ask myself that a lot as I work my upper arms to knead the bread dough. I figure that for each loaf of bread, it cost me about $1.50 per loaf. So I am saving some cash. And I know there aren't any creepy chemicals - and I know where the bread came from - my own two hands.
I purchased a quart of strawberries from a local farmer today on my way home. They were $5.50 - over a dollar more expensive than the quart I bought two weeks ago from Shaw's. I thought to myself, "Holy cow is this really worth it???"
And then I took a bite. The deliciously sweet strawberry, with just the right amount of tartness, melted on my tongue. And all of a sudden, I knew. This IS worth it!
Every time I make toast out of my own bread, I think "Hey I made that" and it tastes delicious. When I take a bite of that homemade blueberry muffins packed with all the good things for your body, it makes me happy to know that I chose to eat something better for me than a doughnut. And I know that I have made a better choice for me and my family.
So is it worth it? I'm not going to get all preachy on you. But take into consideration all of the things that come into play. When you make choices that affect your grocery bill, you are also making choices for your health and the environment.
But if you do decide to start buying local, organic, or whatever, make changes a little at a time. Pick up a few staples here and there. You will spend more on each item (that's a unchangeable fact), but in the long run, breaking it up over time will seem a little less painful. After a while, you'll just get used to it, and incorporate it into your grocery budget.
Oh... and put down the Ring Dings. That's a good first start :)
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Stringing Words Together
You may have noticed, I changed the name of my blog. I can't imagine that you noticed (or even care!) but I thought if I was going to be more serious about this blogging thing, I should probably have a title that actually means something.
Inspired by Tetzlaffino, who boldly started her own blog (props to you lady!), I have decided to retry blogging. I renamed the blog "Stringing Words Together" because I find that, as I age and progress in my career as a designer, I find it harder and harder to string two coherent words together.
So I am going to try it again, at least once a week, to post something. Maybe Tetzlaffino has restarted the trend, and more and more of our friends will blog or maybe return to their blogs. (Ahem... BUTTER!) My hope that with the motivation of my friends, I can keep at it, flex those writing muscles and perhaps even share some wisdom and humor along the way. It might not always be commentary. I am also going to try to do some character journals. We'll see how it goes.
Now what I need is people to follow my blog. That way, when I fail to post something, there is someone out there who might give me a virtual kick in the pants to get on it.
I currently have three followers. Let's see if I can increase that to ten by September 1. Any takers? Make sure to click that magical button that allows Blogger to send fun little messages to your inbox to let you know when I have written something witty or interesting... or just SOMETHING.
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