Lucky Me

After a weekend like this, I am trying to figure out all the best ways to count my blessings.

1. I am lucky to have a husband that has absolutely no problem with being alone with the kids when needed--especially when the need is for me to go to a friend's house for the evening. I had a fun time at Naomi's on Friday night, helping her "kick off" her new Arbonne skin care business. (By helping, of course, I mean hogging her couch, rudely interrupting with questions she didn't know the answers to yet, and eating all her watermelon and lemon-poppy-seed scones. Okay, I wasn't really this rude. But I certainly didn't have anything to do with setup or takedown. Just being a plain-jane, bump-on-a-log type guest. And I really did ask a lot of questions.)
2. Jude was lucky that all he got when he fell backwards off the poorly-designed playset at the park-at-the-bottom-of-the-hill on Saturday was a scraped and bruised lip and elbow. And he still walked all the way home with Jason and Noah.
3. I am lucky that I have found a way to earn an income over the internet while not moving my bum from my chair--even if it means I had to spend my entire Saturday working while Jason entertained the children. (Fortunately, this doesn't happen all that often.)
4. I am lucky that I have a sense of humour, since as I was mopping up the 2 gallons of water overflowing from the toilet that Noah had just plugged with toilet paper, I realized that someday, I would be able to look back and laugh. Not anytime really soon, but someday.
5. I am lucky that I have the opportunity to make lots of new friends in our new community--even if it hurts like the dickens sometimes to not see a familiar face at the grocery store, or that there is no one at church with which there is shared history. No one who remembers that crazy night of the 30-hour-famine from youth group, or when Dave wore glow-in-the-dark red heart boxer shorts on his head at the Valentine's banquet (same banquet as two posts back), or how I got the giggles at my wedding and laughed all the way through my vows because I couldn't stop, or who knows when my kids' birthdays are or vice-versa, or all the other million little memories that make up community with someone. Yes, I know those things will come (and Burdicks probably both remember the giggles thing), but it takes a lot of bloody time. I miss the safety net. Thank goodness for Amanda--our history almost couldn't go any further back, since we became friends on the first day of Grade One. Now, if only we could get them to move all the way up to Peace River...

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I have a confession to make: I love Bif Naked. Okay, I don't know if that blanket statement is completely accurate, as I have really only heard one song of hers. But I do really love the song "Lucky." I first heard it in the college cafeteria, as I was sitting there with Candace over lunch, bemoaning the fact that I was completely in love with Jason, and he so totally was not in love with me (yet.) The music video came up on one of the overhead TVs. I've loved the song ever since.

Recently, I downloaded it from Napster and burned it onto a CD, and Friday night on the way to and from Naomi's party in Grimshaw I played it, like, four times. And, I discovered that after that half-cup of coffee I had at the party, it roughed my voice up enough that I sounded kind of like Bif when I was belting it out at the top of my lungs (minus the lip-ring-induced lisp).

The lyrics aren't much, but it's the strings! and the crescendo! and the percussion! and the guitar! and it's just so amazing! Sometimes, simple lyrics get the message across better than really cleverly-worded ones, as long as the music is as awesome as this song's.

It was a Monday, when my lover told me,
"Never pay the reaper with love only."
What could I say to you, except, "I love you."
And "I'd give my life for yours."

I know we are... we are the lucky ones.
I know we are... we are the lucky ones.
I know we are... we are the lucky ones, dear.

Remember the time we made love in the roses
and you took my picture in all sorts of poses?
How could I ever get over you, when I'd give my life for yours.

I know we are... we are the lucky ones.
I know we are... we are the lucky ones.
I know we are... we are the lucky ones.
I know we are... we are the lucky ones, dear.

My dear, It's time to say I thank God for you.
I thank God for you in each and every single way.
And, I know... I know.. I know.. I know...

It's time to let you know, time to let you know,
Time to let you know, time to sit here and say...

I know we are... we are the lucky ones.
I know we are... we are the lucky ones.
I know we are... we are the lucky ones.
I know we are... we are the lucky ones, dear.
We are the lucky ones, dear...

Remember the words of Ram Dass: "Death is like taking off a tight shoe."

Just so you know, Bif is not my usual listening repertoire. My tastes are eclectic, though: from a Looney-Tunes-induced affinity for classical music (with a little help from my dad) to a little Aerosmith here and there (again, only a few select songs), from Josh Groban to Rich Mullins, from Allison Krause to Great Big Sea, from Diana Krall to Chris Tomlin.

Speaking of which, there are two new CD's I've been meaning to mention:

1. Il Divo - This self-titled album from a quartet of sexy, young, vocally-stacked men singing in English and Italian should be called "Il Divino." This was given to me by my mother-in-law. She said, "When you're in the car by yourself, turn it up and they're singing just for you." Well, several months later, when I finally got some alone-in-the-van driving time, I followed her advice. Car music? Pffft! Bedroom music, man!

2. Switchfoot The Beautiful Letdown - I bought this from Costco online sometime this spring. At first listening, I was surprised at the edginess of the music, as all I had really heard of them before was their folkier, calmer stuff. However, I gave it another try, and got totally hooked! My favourite song on the album is "Twenty-four". It is just so... so... [pause while I try to think of eloquent words; bring up online thesaurus; type in "amazing," since I've already over-used that adjective in this post. Ah, here we go.] boss, fab, fantastic, gnarly, heavy, wickedly stupendous! (I'm fairly impressed with this thesaurus! Look at all the cool slang words!)

Rather than boring you with more lyrics in this post, I'm just going to say, you should buy it. Really.

And if you already have it--lucky you, too.

Big Bum

"Humour is perhaps a sense of intellectual perspective: an awareness that some things are really important, others not; and that the two kinds are most oddly jumbled in everyday affairs." - Christopher Morley, Inward Ho

Tonight after supper, as Jason and I were enjoying a bit of post-consumption conversation, Jude excused himself from the table, and then presently came back and made this announcement:

"Mom, Dad! My went poop on the potty without using my hands!"

I laughed as Jason explained to me that this was a big deal for Jude today, that he could balance himself on the toilet seat without using his hands as ballasts.

Then Jude said, "Daddy have a big bum, Daddy no need hands!"

Laughing, Jason and I replied in the affirmative.

"Mommy have big bum, too!"

I hid a smirk, and Jason said, "I'm not going there."

What a wise, wise man I married.

Why I Was Destined To Marry A "W" (or The Power of A Nickname)

"I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floatin' around accidental-like on a breeze. But I, I think maybe it's both." - Forrest Gump

"TP."

"Popilchuk? No."

"TS."

"Sawyer? C'mon!"

It's English 10. Cara, Pamela and Tegan (I think. Tegan, you were in on this, right?) were teasing/comforting me as only friends-who-know-too-much-about-you can. The boy I had a long-time crush on was unable to attend our Youth Group's Valentine banquet, so they were playing a little game to see if they could figure out who would be a suitable date for me. Despite my complete lack of confidence where boys were concerned, I was playing along (sort of.)

The game was this: while in a lull before class, they were looking around the room and pairing my first initial with the last initial of the males in the room. A little "just-a-date's-not-good-enough-let's-see-if-your-names-would-work
-if-you-got-married" to break up the afternoon. Of course, because we were, after all, teenagers, and my friends seemed to enjoy getting a rise out of me moreso than was healthy, they were putting my initial with all the boys I would be least likely to want to accompany me, or would be least likely to want me to accompany them. Go figure.

"TL," said Pam.

"I'm not Chris's type."

"TC."

"C'mon, guys, that's enough."

Finally, they stumped me.

"TW," said Cara.

I peered around the room earnestly. I knew the first and last names of everyone in that class, and the middle names of some, but I could not, for the life of me, think of the person to whom they were referring.

"Are you guys just making this up, now?"

"No, TW," chirped Cara again.

I could see realization dawning on the faces of my other two tormentors, so I knew that this must be a real person. I looked around the room again. Still nothing came to me.

Just then, the teacher called the class to order. We faced forward in our desks and paid attention (as much as one ever pays attention to a substitute teacher). In actuality, I was doing a mental role call in my brain of every person in the room, and some that weren't. Finally it hit me like a paint pellet right between the eyes.

"Garrett Watson?!" I exclaimed in a hyperventilating whisper, leaning toward my friends. "You're kidding, right?"

"Is there a problem, Miss Hilman?" came the imperious voice from the front of the room.

"Uh, no," I mumbled, to the titters of my friends. Sheer glee filled their eyes and I felt the heat rising up my neck and into my face. I spent the rest of the lecture alternately glaring at them and fearfully glancing across the room at Garrett, afraid he somehow knew about the terrible game my friends had been playing.

(Side -
Just in case Garrett should ever find this blog through a random Google search or something, I just want to say: the only bad part about this was that you really weren't my type. Really not. As I am sure you would agree that I wasn't yours. And possibly, just maybe, I might have thought you were a bit immature in grade 10. And my friends, if asked in the right conditions, under a full moon, with no less than a pack of wolves surrounding them, threatening them with certain death if they told an untruth, might have agreed with me. In the years since then, I have only seen you a few times, but I am sure you have turned into a delightful man, as I know your mom and I've always liked her, and thank goodness we don't stay at the maturity level we are at in Grade 10, eh?
- End side)

Well, this wasn't enough. They [my so-called friends-turned-torture-masters] couldn't leave well enough alone. They decided, after this delightfully humourous episode (on their part, at least), that my nickname should henceforth be "T.W.". Apparently the fifteen or so other nicknames I had already collected that year weren't enough. (For someone as seemingly un-popular and socially inept as I was, my friends sure thought I deserved a lot of nicknames. Maybe my real name is too hard to say. Or remember. Or something.)

Later on that night, we were at a youth group event at our church, and Cara was enthusiastically regaling my second-cousin Laura with the Tale of Talena's Torture, and had just got to the part where they had decided to call me "T.W." from now on, when Laura pipes up with "What's the "w" for, Windstick?"

To this day, I'll never know why she said that. But the reign of "T.W. Windstick" was born.

It became one of my more commonly-used nicknames. To my relief, most people shortened it only to "T.W.", and as long as they didn't ask where it started, I was fine. (I think Cara was the only one who insisted on adding the "Windstick" until we lost contact sometime after high school.)

With a nickname like that, you would think that it would die off at graduation. But apparently, that little episode in English 10 was the foreshadowing of things to come. (I wonder if we were studying the parts of a story that day?)

My first serious boyfriend was Richard Wadsack. By "serious", I mean that we dated for longer than three weeks, and before we broke up, the word "marriage" had crossed our lips--probably more enthusiastically over his than mine, as I was only 18, and he was 26. (My dad probably would have given me stronger lectures about the age gap, if only he hadn't also been dating a 26-year-old at the time.) At any rate, I had only met him once at a conference, and after meeting him again after exchanging phone calls for six months, I realized I was not ready for the type of relationship which he was (Duh! I had just graduated!), so we "broke up." (Thank goodness. I really can't imagine having the moniker "Wadsack" my entire life. Although the last time I spoke with him, he had found some other lady who had willingly taken it on, and I am so happy for them.)

My next brush with the letter W got me closer: I found Mr. Wright. After dating for six months, Dean and I actually got engaged. It looked like the fulfillment of the "T.W." prophecy was close at hand. However, after some rough times, and some serious soul-searching, we also broke up. That's a really long story I don't want to get into, but it looks like destined to be Mrs. Wright, I was not.

And then Jason. Jason had been on the perimeter of my vision since grade 10. (How close to the same time as the "Night of the TW Windstick", I don't know.) Sometimes so far on the periphery that I couldn't see him at all. But we did have one date in that year. I had asked him out--I don't think he had really even noticed me before. He is, after all, four years older, and had spent the majority of time that I had been part of his church's youth group away at college and summer jobs and all that. We went to a movie. I don't remember which one. But I did write in my journal afterwards, "Now Jason. There's an open door that I am not sure if I will ever go through. He's a nice guy, but I don't know if he would ever want to date me."

We barely spoke for the next five years.

To make a long story a little shorter, we got to know each other when I accompanied him on his third trip to India. After developing our friendship for a year and a half, we were engaged.

And on May 27, 2000, "T.W." became a nickname no longer. It was my monogram for life.

A Word About Oils...

Did You Know...

• ...that the process used to make most vegetable oils, plus storing them in clear glass bottles, leaves them oxidized and rancid before they even reach the grocery store shelf?¹
• ...that because of this, these oils are "either not readily available for use as energy or for structural purposes because they are in a polymerized unusable form, or they contain toxic components?"²
• ...that usable vitamin B12 occurs only in animal products?³
• ...that "during the period of rapid increase in heart disease [in America] (1920-1960), American consumption of animal fats declined but consumption of hydrogenated and industrially processed vegetable oils increased dramatically?"⁴

¹Information taken from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, Ph.D.
²Mary G. Enig, Ph.D. Know Your Fats
³from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, Ph.D., pg. 28
⁴USDA-HNI, Taken from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, Ph.D., pg. 203

Please see this page from the Weston A. Price Foundation website for more information on Fats.

----------------

After Jenn's comment, I realized I should probably expand on this a little.

First of all, read this short post on Fat Processing: Extraction and also Fat Processing: Hydrogenation.

Also, the following is taken from the WAPF site on the "Know Your Fats" page. (This page also includes a plethora of articles about safe and un-safe fats.):

WAPF: Know Your Fats: "The following nutrient-rich traditional fats have nourished healthy population groups for thousands of years:

* Butter
* Beef and lamb tallow
* Lard
* Chicken, goose and duck fat
* Coconut, palm and sesame oils
* Cold pressed olive oil
* Cold pressed flax oil
* Marine oils

The following new-fangled fats can cause cancer, heart disease, immune system dysfunction, sterility, learning disabilities, growth problems and osteoporosis:

* All hydrogenated oils
* Soy, corn and safflower oils
* Cottonseed oil
* Canola oil
* All fats heated to very high temperatures in processing and frying"

When purchasing olive oil, or any vegetable oil, purchase the purest you can find (extra-virgin, in the case of olive oil), preferably organic, and make sure it is either cold pressed or expeller-expressed. Olive oil is full of anti-oxidants, and is extremely good for you.

Also, since heat and light make oils oxidize and lose their nutrients, make sure to buy oils in opaque green or brown glass bottles whenever possible, and keep them in a cool, dark place.

For more about the dangers of soy, see this page.

For more about the dangers of canola, see this page.

For more about the importance of saturated fats in our diet, see this page, as well as this post.

For more about the benefits of coconut oil, see this page.

Today is Jude's new birthday

Tonight, while we were doing devotions, Jude asked Jesus to come into his heart.

I know there's a party in heaven, as well as at our house.

From the moment of conception, the most fervently-prayed prayer in my motherly heart for each of my children has been that they would come to know Christ at an early age, and grow up to be godly men.

Thank you, Lord. There is a certain relief, knowing that Jude will no longer be held accountable only by me and Jason--your Spirit will be there to guide, even when we are not. There is no better security than that.

Move over, Johnny D!

There's a new pirate in town.

Jude's favourite movie recently is "Hook", so yesterday I bought him pirate gear at the dollar store, stuck a bandana on his head, and he's in little-boy heaven. We also rented "Return to Neverland" yesterday. This morning, he was wanting to watch any movie that is even slightly pirate-related--VeggieTales Jonah, Ultimate Silly Songs (both with The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything), even Lyle the Kindly Viking!

As I type, I can hear Jason giving Jude lessons in how to say "AAARRRGH!!" And sword fighting.

Being a kid is so much fun.

Heather Anne, I thought you'd want to know that I was training my kids up right. ;-)

The Coca-Cola Myth--and the Truth. (Why is it so bad for you, really?)

My husband is so wonderful. He knows of my insatiable thirst for knowledge about healthy living and eating, so he routinely e-mails me interesting tidbits he comes across. Today, he e-mailed me this link:

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/acid.asp

I'm sure we've all had the e-mail land in our inbox that claims Coke is bad for you because the acid in it is used to clean vehicle motors. I found this article about it to be interesting, but wrong on one point:

"...so the Coca-Cola is harmless."

The reason Coke is so bad for you is triple: the caffeine, the sugar, and the phosphoric acid.

Please consider the following:

Myths and Truths About Osteoporosis (Do high protein diets cause bone loss?): "The late distinguished physician, Dr. Melvin Page, demonstrated that sugar consumption upsets the natural homeostasis of calcium and phosphorus in the blood. Normally, these minerals exist in a precise ratio of ten to four. Sugar consumption causes serum phosphorus to decrease and calcium to rise. The excess serum calcium, which comes from the bones and teeth, cannot be fully utilized because phosphorus levels are too low. It is excreted in the urine or stored in abnormal deposits such as kidney stones and gallstones. Caffeine also upsets the natural balance of calcium and phosphorus, and causes increased calcium to be excreted in the urine. Phosphoric acid in soft drinks is a major cause of calcium deficiency in children and osteoporosis in adults. Aluminum from antacids, cans and pollution also contributes to bone loss."

This is true of any sugar-laden, caffeinated drink, but especially noticeable with soft drinks because of their wide-spread addictive use, and especially high sugar content.

In my opinion, they should be banned from schools, doctor's offices, and any public place, and not sold to anyone under the age of 18, just like other toxic drugs. (Hmm, I suppose the same could be said for coffee, although the sugar content is much lower. And supposedly, it actually has some redeeming qualities.)

Here is a site comparing the caffeine content of various sodas and drinks.

Am I giving up tea? No. But I have cut down. (Just in case anyone was wondering.)

Edit: Just in case you think you're doing your body a favour by opting for the sugar-free "diet" colas, or the new Coke C2, which all replace sugar with aspartame, please check out this page: Aspartame Toxicity Information Centre. If I have a choice between an artificial sweetener and sugar, with no natural sweeteners in sight, I'll take the sugar every time.

I'm It!

Wow. My first tag ever. Thanks, Rohini...now I don't have to bore you guys with another account of how dusty my house is, or some other such thing. I'll just "fill in the blanks" here and bore you with this stuff instead! Then, I'm going back to--PAINTING! Yes, you heard me. I'm actually on to the painting stage.

Ahem, guess I better put the rest of it under the following headings:

I am thinking about…
whether or not I am going to be able to accomplish painting both coats of both colours on my kitchen pass-through today, plus finish off the white trim, plus take my kids out for a walk so as to not be a totally negligent parent, plus take them to the circus that's in town tonight. I'm also wondering where the missing VeggieTales DVD's--that I discovered have gone AWOL only moments ago--went to.

I said...
"Say it properly, Jude." We have been working with him rather intensely to get him to stop being so lazy with his speech. Many sounds he can say, he's just so in the habit of saying things the way he did when he first started talking. Also, he still has trouble with "s" and "l" sounds. Words he is finally starting to say right: done, Jude, I (he always says "my" instead), any; I know there are more, but I can't think of them right now.

I want to…
"...stand with you on a mountain, bathe with you in the sea..." Ahem. Sorry. I have the Savage Garden song "Truly, Madly, Deeply" stuck in my head. Not sure why, as I haven't heard this in ages, but when Jason and I were "dating" (okay, we never really dated, except for one ill-fated month that was really hard on our friendship, so we "broke up." Long story. One for a different post) it was one of my favourite "our songs".

I wish…
that organic and whole food was not so expensive. That's the problem with eating healthfully--you pay more because you are using less prepackaged garbage and more fresh produce and real meat. And milk. I bet I spend at least $120 a month on milk (from which I make all my own dairy products except butter and cheddar cheese--and I could probably make the butter, too, if I felt so inclined.) Granted, that should be going down in a few months when Jabin starts drinking less formula. Thank goodness. But anyway, I suppose you pay for it in the grocery bill, or pay later in other ways--poor health, prescriptions and lost work time from said poor health, and possibly even an earlier death from cancer or heart disease.

On a related note, I read an article not long ago that said that organic produce availability in the US has officially fallen behind demand, and more and more farmers are switching to farming organically. I'm hoping the good news behind all this is that eventually, when the supply catches up again, the prices will start to drop.

I hear…
Um, one word: Napster. Last Sunday, it occurred to me that I had signed up to get an e-mail when Napster finally had their Canadian site up and running. They never sent me one. (The boogers.) So, I went and checked, and YES they had Napster.ca going. I signed up for the one week free trial. Sadly, due to the fact that DH doesn't think $10 a month so I can glut myself on new music is worth it, I only get to binge until this Sunday. But, oh boy, am I binge-ing. ("Binging" doesn't look right, does it?) Good thing it's not like a food overdose--I'm not going to go into a coma from too many show tunes, am I?

I wonder…
if Noah will ever overcome his penchant for eating books. Yes, you heard me right. He likes to chew on the corners of board books, and chew the spines off other books. It is totally frustrating, because we have so many used-to-be-nice books, that are now dog-eared and ratty, thanks to the two-and-a-half-year-old in our house. I thought he would outgrow it at the end of teething, but apparently he likes the taste of cardboard?

I regret…
that Jason got a vasectomy so soon after Jabin was born. Admittedly, getting him to not do it right after Noah was born was a bit of a chore, so it would have been a hard sell to ask him to consider whether we should have a fourth child. And pregnancies are really hard on me--my right leg is so riddled in varicose veins that it looks like a map of Alberta when I'm pregnant. Quite painful. But babies and children are so much fun, and such blessings, and there is a part of me that says "I could have loved more children--there's lots of love to go around."

I am…
a woman with too many interests. Seriously--if I could just narrow it down to a few, I might be able to get some real progress made with them. But as it is, I've managed to narrow it down to about a dozen. "A little bit of this, a little bit of that, a pot, a pan, a broom, a hat..." Okay, so this really has nothing to do with it, except that my life seems to be a mosaic of roles, hobbies, activities, and interests, each of which I wish I could devote more time to, but then I would miss the ones I was neglecting. That's why this blog is so eclectic. Just like me.

I dance…
in the shower, in my kitchen, in my living room (the broom and vacuum cleaner make great mics for my music videos), and in church. "We're not in Kansas anymore..."--or in a Pentecostal church, I can tell. I have never been one of those "let's get out in the aisles and dance" type of people, but I do love to move my feet to the music, even if it's just a little. (It has to be just a little when you are stuck between two pews.) To those more conservative among us, dancing is a form of worship that appears many times in the Bible, something that David made use of extensively, especially in the temple he set up with worshippers on 24-hour shift-work. He himself "danced before the Lord" many times, the most memorable being when the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem. However, although the Baptist church we are currently attending has loosened up enough to allow drums on the stage, apparently the congregation hasn't figured out how to respond to them. As I stand there shuffling my feet and bouncing whatever child happens to be on my hip at the moment, I look around and am amazed at the complete lack of emotion and interaction on the faces of the other people. Here we are, worshipping the Creator, the one who made everything, to whom we owe the very breath we breathe--and these people look like they would rather have stayed in bed that morning. I think there are only me and about three other people there that even clap to the music!

There is so much more of God that I have yet to discover, but what I've seen so far is pretty amazing--and He is all about love and joy. If I interacted with my husband and friends the way most people interact with their Creator in church, I would probably be single and friendless. Who wants to hang out with a closed-off bump on a log? Not that everyone should act the same--that's what diversity is all about. But try a little!

I sing…
at any and all opportunities. I think I could sing before I could talk. Many's the time I've been chuckled at for singing while in the bathroom.

I cry…
at the stupidest things. Seriously. Last week, during "rainy season," I watched two movies with my kids that I hadn't seen in a coon's age: "Hook" and "A Little Princess," (the 1995 version, not Shirley Temple's rendition.) I cried in both movies. Like I hadn't seen them both a minimum of 20 times each when I was younger. If I hadn't known better, I'd have thought I was pregnant.

I also cry when I hear stories of neglect, especially of children. I always wish there was more I could do. I wish I could take them into my own home and love them the way they need to be loved. I get angry at people who take advantage of those weaker than them, when they are the ones most in need of protection.

I am not always…
patient. Okay, this is my biggest character flaw. Often, at the end of the day, I'm saying, "I screwed up again today, Lord." I yelled at my kids, or snapped at my husband, or was terse with my friend. I even get impatient with myself! So, I'm glad that I am a "work in progress."

I make with my hands…
Rohini, could we be more opposite, here? ;-)

My friend Christa told me that she heard once that we are all creative beings, because we were made in the image of the Creator. So, sometimes it just takes a little more inspiration for some to tap into that inner creativity than others. And, some people are creative with their hands, and others with their brains.

I'm one of those "with my hands" type creators. Here's the list:

• scrapbooking
• knitting
• cross-stitching
• cooking
• painting (occasionally)
• sewing
• kids crafts
  

I write…
music. A lot. I have been coming up with songs since I was a young girl. When I went to college, it was to learn more about music, and how it works, and how to write better. If I ever go back to college, it would also be along these lines. (All I have right now is a two-year diploma.) I have been co-writing a musical with my friend Candace since college on the book of Esther. While in some ways it is almost done, in others it has a long way to go before it sees a stage. Sigh. It is my "Mr. Holland's Opus", but I am hoping that it will not take until retirement to see my dream fulfilled. Once all my kids are in school, then maybe I can devote my days to writing, and get it finished at last. Right now, at the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is sit and imagine string and oboe lines in my head and write them down. Too much work.

I also write other songs. Maybe someday I'll get those sold and recorded, too. Don't know if they're good enough for that, though. But I do enjoy writing them.

I confuse…
when to use "who" and "whom" in a sentence. I looked it up the other day, and I'm still confused. The whole thing is confusing.

I need…
to start getting more exercise. Perhaps, now that my kitchen project is going to be done in a few days (knock on wood veneer), I will start going for brisk walks in the evening after the kids are in bed. Too hard to get the heart rate up on my walks with the kids--2 miles per hour isn't really a "stretch", if you know what I mean.

And finally…
This took longer than I thought. But not too bad. And I covered some topics that probably wouldn't have come up otherwise. Very fun. It was like a whole bunch of little mini-posts. Also, since I'm such a talker, not so "mini" as they could have been. For the five people I tag, don't feel obligated to ramble on like I did.

I tag:

Colleen - If you have time and energy after working in your store all day.

Beth - If you have time after all the crazy things that fill up your life! 6 kids, baseball, scrapbooking, summer vacation stuff, work... What do you do with your day, anyway? You have so few things to occupy you! ;-)

Jenn - Curious to see what will come out of this one...

Fence - For an Irish perspective on things. And

Aakanksha - Because I've been missing your posts. Are you on holidays?

Too often have I felt the sting of being "left out." Honestly, I read so many blogs it was hard to narrow down whom (did I use that right?) to tag. So, if you think it would be fun to do this on your own blog, GO AHEAD! I would love to see your version. And remember to tag your own five people afterward, too.

Must go break up a fight now...

My House Is Talking To Me

This Weekend's Top Ten

10. My dad coming up to visit.
9. Him and Jason getting to go golfing on Saturday--for free! I'm glad Jay got a little golf time in, since he hasn't done nearly as much as he would like this summer, due to finances being a little tight.
8. Me and the kids hanging out downtown all day at Peacefest. The kids loved "The Flying Bob" show, a guy named Bob from Red Deer who did juggling tricks, shot food items out of a water balloon slingshot, and did tricks on a mini-tightrope he set up in the street. Also, they TOTALLY loved the jumping castles and slides. And the sprinkler and bubble bin set up by the fire department.
7. Meeting up with Wes and his kids and Amanda and her kids by chance at Peacefest.
6. Getting an almost-new-pair of calf-high boots for $5 at a garage sale. Oh, and a really cool gigantic wooden picture frame for $5, too.
5. Staying up until 3 a.m. on Saturday night/Sunday morning talking with Dad and Jason.
4. Dad fixing/installing sinks, drains, and helping with various and sundry other plumbing projects while here. Our house is getting more improved all the time! Also, we have the use of all our toilets again, but we got that fixed--mostly--before Dad got here. We replaced one with a $7.50 toilet we got at a garage sale, and had a plumber come and fix our other one--which meant he stuck the garden hose up it and forced out the bubble juice bottle that Son #1 had flushed into it. Doh!
3. Dad's stories. They're the best. He's so cotton-pickin' funny, and the best part is, he's got stories worth telling--and repeating. The benefits of having lived through many near-death experiences, I guess. How many lives do you have, anyway, mon père? *wink at Dad*
2. Getting that much closer to a finished kitchen. (No, I didn't quite hit my goal of having it done by this weekend, but I'm only days away. Just have to sand the final coat of drywall mud, then I can paint!)
1. None of your business!

Also, I posted three new layouts to my 2 Peas gallery tonight. Here they are:

One, Two buckle my shoe... Oh, and Three, too!

Two and Three I made tonight. I read an article on Heidi Swapp today (famous scrapbooker and scrapbook product designer), and she said she tries to keep her layouts to a half-hour or less. I thought, That makes a lot of sense. I could do that. So, I am trying to keep my layouts simpler, so I can get more done--unless I've decided ahead of time that what I want to do is create a masterpiece. Then I take as much time as I want. But, my goal is to keep my layouts to 45 minutes or less. I think I succeeded on both of tonight's layouts. (Number one? That was one of those "masterpiece" types.)

Gotta go sleep.

Curried Carrot Soup

I do not enjoy curry powders. I find the combination of spices that some non-partisan or inexperienced factory owner chose to be quite acrid and unpleasant. So, when I make something "curry," I combine spices to my own taste.

You may feel free to adjust percentages to your own taste as well. Also, raw cow's milk may be substituted for coconut milk if it is not available, but you must then be very careful to not let the soup boil while the carrots are cooking. This recipe is not spicy at all--very mild. For a spicier version, double or triple the chile powder, or add a 1/4 tsp. dried chile flakes to the onion mixture. (Warning: substituting cow's milk for coconut milk will make the spiciness much more noticable, so take that into account.)

Curried Carrot Soup
Makes about 6 cups.

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, pressed
½ tsp ginger powder (or 2” piece, pressed)
½ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp anise seed

Sauté in large saucepan until onions are soft and clear. Then add:

4 c. carrots, finely chopped (a coarser chop will just result in a longer cook time.)
2 c. coconut milk
2 c. homemade chicken stock

Heat over medium-low until carrots are soft—about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Run through the blender in batches & return to saucepan, or blend in pot with a hand-held blender. Add:

½ c. whipping cream
1 tsp. unrefined sea salt
¼ tsp fresh-ground black pepper

Heat through. Serve immediately. Garnish with fresh cilantro sprigs, if desired.

---------------

We had this for supper tonight, and it is always a hit in my house. Also, I usually double this recipe and freeze the leftovers.

You will want to make sure your carrots are peeled and chopped before starting the recipe, otherwise your onions will be charred little crisps in the bottom of your pan--and the idea is to contribute as few carcinogens as possible, not create them!

Tip for moms: If your little guy/gal has a hard time eating soup, blend it up and let them drink it through a straw. I was shocked the amount of soup my kids could consume this way!

So many topics, so little time

WHOO HOO! Justification of my tea habit! If only I could convince my complexion that tea is good for me, too! (Oh, well, bad skin and no gall bladder cancer sounds better than good skin and dying at an early age.) Okay, I know that there are also the other negative effects of caffeine* to contend with, so what's a girl to do?

For now, I'm just going to keep right on with my tea, in moderation--it's my comfort habit, and much less problematic than the sugar addiction I once sported, so I guess it could be worse.

----------------

Yesterday, Jude surprised me (as he frequently does.) We were in the back yard, observing a fluffy black-and-yellow-striped caterpillar, a variety that has been quite popular this year. Suddenly, Jude came out with "Catahpiy-ar like Hermie, right?"

I was taken aback, and said, "You remember Hermie?"

Jude said, "We don't have that one."

"Right," I answered.

Hermie is a caterpillar with an inferiority complex in the children's animated movie "Hermie, A Common Caterpillar." We borrowed the movie from Gospel Chapel about a year ago for three weeks, but Jude had gotten bored with it quickly and had only watched it a few times. (There isn't much action or anything in it, and it consists of a lot of dialogue--I'm not really sure he understood it at that point.) Anyway, the fact that his three-and-a-half-year-old brain remembered a movie he watched at two-and-a-half amazed me. Makes me want to be even more careful what I say and do around the kids--I no longer buy into that "he won't remember because he's too little" theory. I've been proven wrong too many times.

--------------

Rainy weather is nice for a while, but when you have two little active boys going stir-crazy, it's nice to see the sun again. We took advantage of it's rays this morning for an impromptu trip to the playground, which turned into a walk, which was cut short by the fact that Jabin needed to come home and eat and nap. However, some rainy-day activities we have partaken of over the last week (not including movies:)

• playing with playdough
• colouring
• painting
• playing with balloons. It's amazing how time-consuming this can be (for the kid, not the mom!)
• Cutting up papers.
  
• Driving cars and trucks ALL OVER THE HOUSE! ("Noah, quit driving on the walls!")
• Beating each other on the head with various and sundry toys (Okay, this is the one we try to avoid by coming up with all the other activities.)
• Helping Daddy fix computers (his computer has been having some issues, so he's been playing "Musical Powerboxes" with it and two other towers we have kicking around.)
• Helping Mommy clean up drywall dust. And clean. And clean.
  

Unfortunately, all the swords broke several days ago, so that activity got put by the wayside a little.

-------------

Jabin sat up on his own last night! Okay, he had the help of his little duck pillow. But it was so cute to see him sitting there, proud as punch and so thrilled with himself.

Also, he has started rolling over at last. I was kinda surprised that didn't happen earlier, but that's okay. They all get there eventually, and it helps me keep track of him for longer.

Well, I guess that's it. Not much to report today. No wars, famines, or floods in our house. Stay tuned, though--if it keeps raining like it has been, the flood won't be far off. I think I better go look for some gopher wood, just in case...

* "Caffeine addiction is a serious problem for many people, even those who are health-conscious. But no matter how good your diet may be, that innocent little cup of coffee in the morning can wreak havoc on your health for the rest of the day. Caffeine stimulates the adrenal glands, leading eventually to adrenal exhaustion and symptoms like fatigue, lack of physical endurance and stamina, impaired ability to deal with stress, depressed immune system, allergic reactions, weight gain, low blood pressure, dizziness and lightheadedness or blacking out when standing up. Caffeine also stimulates the liver to release more sugar in the blood stream and further stresses the body's delicate sugar-regulating mechanism. Besides creating major hormonal imbalances in the body, caffeine also impairs calcium absorption. This is a major concern for children who consume a lot of soft drinks while their bones are still developing." The Kitchen Transition

"Write the bad things that are done to you in the sand, but the good things: Scrap them!" (My rendition of an Arabic proverb)

All the reports about what a nasty job sanding drywall mud is were definitely NOT exaggerated.

Fortunately, I had enough of an inkling of what was to follow that I made sure to do it while my kids were napping. I closed all the doors possible to close. (Okay, I didn't close the guest room door downstairs--sorry, Dad. But that's pretty far away. I hope it is mostly unaffected.)

The actual sanding part was easy:

1. Wrap the little sanding screen around the piece of styrofoam I've recycled as a sanding block.
2. Rub back and forth vigorously.
3. Watch a white cloud begin to billow from my work area, settling on every available surface in my house, and in every pore and orifice of my body. (And the house was oh-so-spotless before, too! Dang!)
   

I am sure I will be cleaning drywall dust out of crevices for weeks years. Thank goodness I am only doing an itty-bitty pass-through window, and not an entire house! Yikes! The very thought makes me twitch! (Twitch is a fun word, don't you think? Go ahead, say it out loud: "Twitch!" If you are in public, you should now look up and smile and wave at those people who are looking at you as if you have a helium balloon for a brain.)

However, at supper my hubby brought me home a package that came in the mail, containing these:

These are my two new albums from KI Memories. (Actually, I bought these for a wonderful discount on eBay. I love eBay.) These are the third and fourth albums I've gotten from them--the first was Jabin's baby album, in the "Water" barcode design. Then I got our 2003 family album in "Earth", which is nearly full and complete. So here are "My Guy" and "Beautiful", destined to be our 2004 and 2005 family albums.

I love the colours. And the stripes. The stripes make me happy.

So all the dust was forgotten. These, in addition to the stamps I got delivered to me yesterday by Amanda, I promised Jason would be my last scrapbooking purchases for the summer. So I have to hang onto this joy, and hope it sustains me until September. Actually, I'm kind of excited--I have a bunch of new stuff I haven't had much chance to play with, since I've been trying to focus on getting my kitchen done. Hopefully, as of sometime this weekend, that goal will finally be accomplished. (The completed kitchen, I mean.) And then Yay! Scrapbooking!

I am hosting a scrapbooking day here on the 22nd, so I have to be done by then--only a week and a half away! Yay! Scrapbooking all day!

I can hardly wait!

For your kids--or the kid in you

Here is the playdough recipe I use, given to me long ago by Vicki. It's easy, it's fun, and if little tummies happen to ingest a bit, it's not the end of the world. (Although still better for them not to.)

1 c. flour (I've been using up my old bleached white all-purpose flour for this)
1 c. water
1/4 c. salt (I've also been using up my old refined table salt for this)
2 tbsp. oil (good way to get rid of junky vegetable oils--that and using them to clean adhesive off off things)
2 tbsp. cream of tartar
1 pkg. Kool-Aid (the ONLY use I recommend for Kool-Aid!) in colour of choice

Mix in pot. Stir over a medium heat to make a ball. Store in the refrigerator.

I've had a couple of batches in the fridge for three years now that are still good.

Have lots of squishy fun!

What a Weekend!

As you can tell, blogging was not high on the priority list this weekend. There was just WAY too much other stuff going on!

Friday night:

Jason's new employer, the DMI Pulp Processing Mill, held a banquet for all employees to celebrate 2 years with no lost time accidents. This was Jason's and my first "date" since Jabin was born. We dressed up, dropped the kids at the Burdicks, and we were off. It was held at the local ski chalet called "Misery Mountain" (I have no idea why it's called that, but I bet there is an interesting story about it somewhere.) The place settings were ultra-formal, the centrepieces were gorgeous and jungle-like, but too tall to talk through, and the food was fantastic! Even on my "traditional" diet, I was able to gorge myself and not do it on foods that were bad for me! (Although, I will admit to being guilty of consuming about half a piece of cheesecake. Hey, at least it had cream cheese in it, right?) Top notch party.

The cast:

The table we sat at had an interesting mix of characters. We were invited to sit there by Clint and Robin, a young couple we didn't really know, but I had met Robin a few times in the nursing mom's room at church. They are quite the talkers, and we found out we had a lot in common: Clint is a total computer nut, and Robin really enjoys scrapbooking. They also have two little girls that are close in age to our own kids.

Unfortunately, they were on the exact opposite side of the table from us. Across the jungle of a centrepiece. Eventually, I switched our centrepiece with the empty table next to ours, because theirs was marginally shorter. Then, we wondered if we would "get in trouble" because we messed up the colour scheme--the old centrepiece was based on burgundy to match our napkins and chair scarves, and the new one was based on black to match the other table's. However, the Party Police must have been negligent, because no one noticed.

Between us and the Neufelds sat Scott and Nicole on the right-hand side, both of whom are employees of DMI, and they have been dating for four months. They should have had their own room. Jason said he almost made a comment--they were practically making out at the table.

On the left-hand side was Herman, an older gentleman without a date, and Lana, an older lady, also without a date. While we tried to include all other people in the conversation, Herman and Lana were both pretty quiet and introverted, and Scott and Nicole were too busy making out to want to make polite conversation, so the Neufelds and the Winters proceeded to shout our conversation over the (very cool) giant centrepiece. Parts of the evening were awkward, but the best part was that we made new friends, with whom we have already agreed that we will be having Sunday dinners and other get-togethers before much time has passed.

Saturday:

When we got up, this Saturday was promising to be nothing out of the ordinary. Jason had plans to mow the lawn (which hadn't been done in about 3-4 weeks, due to the fact that Jason hurt his back, so it looked a little jungle-like, too. Maybe I should call this "The Jungle Weekend.") I intended to do a whole heckuvalotta work on my stalled kitchen reno project. So, we proceeded about our separate tasks.

Around 12:30 I got a surprise call from my lifelong friend Tegan. This is how it went:

Tegan: Hi, Talena!

Talena (gushing): Hi, Tegan! What are you up to?

Tegan: Well, we just bought a truck in Fairview. [Fairview is about 45 minutes away from here.]

Talena (excitedly): You're in Fairview?!!

Tegan: No, we're actually in Peace River right now.

Talena (starting to jump up and down with excitement, having a hard time speaking): WHAT?!!! Where are you at?

From there, we managed to get them here for lunch. Chris and Tegan have been friends of ours since, well, forever. Tegan and I have been friends since grade one, and that means people have been getting our names mixed up for over two decades. As soon as Chris entered the picture, I knew he was a keeper, and I was honoured (no pun intended) to be the Maid of Honour at their wedding. When Jason showed up on my side of things, we all just blended--it's so nice when you can be friends as couples with someone you've been friends as singles with, too.

Sadly, Chris and Tegan have always lived far away from us. It seems we are always just missing living in the same place--they moved to Calgary not long after we moved away. They have just recently moved to Sylvan Lake, now that we no longer live there. Hey, Chris
& Tegan, it just occurred to me--you're not avoiding us, are you? *wink* So, a surprise visit from them was AWESOME! Unfortunately, they could only stay for lunch, then had to head home so they could feed their parents' starving pets.

After they left, I prepared to go back to Plan A for the day. I ran out to the paint store to find a new chip, as we had decided we didn't like the colour we had been thinking about for the main area of the house. When I got back, Jason told me that my Aunty Joy had called while I was out--she was in town helping her cousin move, and was wondering if she could stop by for a visit. (I was suddenly really glad I had managed to get the carpets vacuumed this week!)

Hers was also a short visit--about half an hour. So by five o'clock, we had had surprise visitors twice, Jason had mown the lawn, I had done very little work on the kitchen, and there was still the whole evening! What a crazy day! Other than my mother and her husband, these were the first people not from here that had visited us since we moved up here, so it was a really nice treat.

So, I actually did quite a lot of the work on my kitchen yesterday afternoon and evening. I am happy to report that the beadboard part of the project is nearly completed--stalled temporarily since I ran out of paint last night, and of course the paint store was not open on a Sunday. Also, we'll have to wait until we get paid on Friday to buy more. However, there is not much left to paint, and nearly everything is nailed where it should be nailed.

Today, my goal is to finish sanding and mudding the pass-through window, and I'm hoping to be completely finished by the end of the week. So, this might be a slow blogging week for me--we'll see.

For reference on this kitchen project, see the post "If You Give A Pig A Pancake...". Yes, I've been working on this since April--it is high time to be finished, already!

Have a great day, mes amies!

Proof That The Second May Be More Stubborn Than the First

Lunch today: Leftover Creamy Herb & Garlic Brown Rice Pasta with Broccoli

The other night, my kids loved it. Okay, the broccoli part, not so much, but at least they both ate their required number of broccoli bites without a fuss.

Today at lunch, Jude put up a substantial fuss about eating his broccoli. However, after much coaxing and encouragement, did manage to choke down the 5 required pieces.

Since Noah is younger, I only made him eat three. Although he balked at the first one, he seemingly ingested the second two pieces with no trouble at all. He got down from the lunch table around 1:30. (We started at 1.)

At 2:00, when I was taking him for a potty break, I noticed he still had a piece of broccoli in his mouth! He had been keeping it in his cheek like a little chipmunk that is hoarding for the winter. I told him to eat it, then left him to let him pull up his pants and finish the potty routine, since he is getting pretty self-sufficient at it.

Fifteen minutes later, while he and Jude were playing, I noticed that he still had not one but TWO pieces of broccoli in his mouth. This is the point when I made him sit on the kitchen floor where I could watch him until he finally chewed them up and ate them.

The tears. The drama. The wails. The unrelenting mother.

There were sternly given commands. Still he wouldn't eat them. There were spanks. Still he would not eat them. There were gently given explanations (like you can explain anything to a 2-year-old.) Still, those pieces remained firmly planted in his mouth. Jude was allowed to go put a movie on. Still, he stubbornly sat there with the soggy vegetables rolling around on his tongue--and I believe that they were probably truly disgusting by this point.

Finally, no less than ONE HOUR after being told to sit there until he ate them (so, nearly two hours since they went into his mouth in the first place!), they managed to move from his mouth to his stomach. (I think. I didn't see him chew and swallow, but so far I haven't found them hiding under any furniture or in the garbage can.)

And I thought Jude was stubborn. HAH!

You gotta watch out for those quiet ones.

Why Butter is Better

I have been following the progress of Sean Perkey in his blog Watch My Loss. His goal is to lose half his body weight (250 lbs.), and to raise $50,000 for diabetes research in the process. Not only is this amazing in and of itself, he has a very entertaining writing style, and it has been wonderful getting to "know" him a bit through his blog. If you would like to help encourage him, feel free to drop him a comment over there. (Talk about accountability partner--he went for a team!)

In the process of being a "Watcher", as he calls his readers, I have done some additional research on certain types of food that I would like to share with you, my own readers. I will be doing a series over the next few weeks on some of the information I've come across. (Not every day--about once a week, or something. So for those of you who find this insufferably dry, and say "bring on more pictures of your cute kids!" just skip that day, 'kay?)

Butter:

Okay, first of all, I would like to point out two of the posts I've already put up about fat processing: Extraction and Hydrogenation. If this doesn't gross you out so much that you never want to have margarine again, I don't know what will.

Now, on to why you should have butter:

First off, we have been lied to. Our government and elected officials--shockingly--do not have our best interests in mind the majority of the time with the things they allow "experts" to let us believe. Why do I say this?

Since the beginning of time, butter and butter-like products have sustained peoples all over the world. In the Bible, "curds" (which Dr. Jordan Rubin believes is a mis-translation of a word that means something very similar to "butter") is mentioned several times--Abraham offers "curds and milk" to the angels that visited him, as one example. (Genesis 18:8). Dr. Weston Price found that the healthiest groups of people he studied treasured butter for the valuable nutritional properties it carried. From an article called "Why Butter Is Better" on the Weston A. Price Foundation site:

When Dr. Weston Price studied native diets in the 1930's he found that butter was a staple in the diets of many supremely healthy peoples. Isolated Swiss villagers placed a bowl of butter on their church altars, set a wick in it, and let it burn throughout the year as a sign of divinity in the butter. Arab groups also put a high value on butter, especially deep yellow-orange butter from livestock feeding on green grass in the spring and fall. American folk wisdom recognized that children raised on butter were robust and sturdy; but that children given skim milk during their growing years were pale and thin, with "pinched" faces.

Does butter cause disease? On the contrary, butter protects us against many diseases.

So when did we start believing that butter, and saturated fats, were the root of all our bodies' evils?

Margarine was invented in 1869 by a French scientist, Hippolyte Mege-Mouries, originally using beef fat and pig gastric juices. Much cheaper than butter to make, with a much larger profit margin, it was touted by food processing companies as "better than butter." However, it did not take hold in America until around the 1950's, when they figured out how to make it from domestic vegetable oils. Thanks to Ancel Keys and his faulty Lipid Hypothesis, health-conscious Americans (and Canadians too, I'm betting) started buying it in droves, thinking they were doing their bodies a favour.

Butter was made out to be the enemy, due to it's high saturated fat content. Margarine was the champion spread of those trying to prevent heart disease. Meanwhile, the food processing industry was laughing all the way to the bank.

Consider this:

Heart disease was rare in America at the turn of the century. Between 1920 and 1960, the incidence of heart disease rose precipitously to become America's number one killer. During the same period butter consumption plummeted from eighteen pounds per person per year to four. It doesn't take a Ph.D. in statistics to conclude that butter is not a cause. Actually butter contains many nutrients that protect us from heart disease. First among these is vitamin A which is needed for the health of the thyroid and adrenal glands, both of which play a role in maintaining the proper functioning of the heart and cardiovascular system. Abnormalities of the heart and larger blood vessels occur in babies born to vitamin A deficient mothers. Butter is America's best and most easily absorbed source of vitamin A.

Butter contains lecithin, a substance that assists in the proper assimilation and metabolism of cholesterol and other fat constituents.

Butter also contains a number of anti-oxidants that protect against the kind of free radical damage that weakens the arteries. Vitamin A and vitamin E found in butter both play a strong anti-oxidant role. Butter is a very rich source of selenium, a vital anti-oxidant—containing more per gram than herring or wheat germ.*

Also--NEWS FLASH!!--our bodies need saturated fat! Please see this post.

Here's some more facts and figures for you:

• Margarine eaters have twice the rate of heart disease as butter eaters (Nutrition Week 3/22/91 21:12).
• The fatty acids found in artery clogs are mostly unsaturated, not saturated. (The Lancet 1994 344:1195)
• Butter is a natural fat, made from cream. Margarine is an artificial concoction of chemicals. Not only does butter taste better, but it's good for you. Butter is a source of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, and important trace minerals magnesium, zinc, chromium, selenium and iodine. (Taking The Fear Out of Eating Fat)
• Butter is also a good dietary source cholesterol. What?? Cholesterol an anti-oxidant?? Yes indeed, cholesterol is a potent anti-oxidant that is flooded into the blood when we take in too many harmful free-radicals—usually from damaged and rancid fats in margarine and highly processed vegetable oils. A Medical Research Council survey showed that men eating butter ran half the risk of developing heart disease as those using margarine. (Why Butter Is Better)
• When research was done in the 1940's about saturated fats causing cancer, researchers lumped in the naturally saturated fats of butter with the artificially hardened fats of margarine and shortening. However, "when researchers from the University of Maryland analyzed the data used to make such claims, they found that vegetable fat consumption was correlated with high rates of cancer and animal fat was not." (Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, Ph.D.)
• Eating fats not only make your foods taste better, but they help you lose weight. "Fat actually sends a signal to your brain to tell you when to stop eating. So, if you don't get enough fat in a meal, you will never feel completely satisfied and will usually end up overeating." Low-fat diets also usually end up being high-carb and low-protein, both of which make you gain weight, instead of losing it. (Taking The Fear Out of Eating Fat)
  

If you have the time, please read the following articles for more information:

The Truth About Saturated Fat
Why Butter Is Better
Making the Transition: Taking the Fear out of Eating Fat

For my own part, I switched to a "natural fat" diet over a year ago. I was three months pregnant with my third child. I started using only whole milk and whipping cream (of which I used plenty, due to my tea habit and how much I love cream soups). Butter was already a staple in my house, but I switched to organic, and--more recently--to raw organic butter, which I use in nearly all of my cooking, plus try to eat plenty every day, even if it's just on some sprouted-grain toast. We eat plenty of (home-made) yogurt that is made from whole milk. I have a whole-milk kefir shake nearly every day. I abolished canola, peanut, corn, safflower, and all other rancid and oxidized vegetable oils from my house, substituting them with Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (another saturated fat with wonderful health-promoting qualities, which I have a tablespoon of every day in my shake), cold-pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil, organic Flax Oil, and occasionally some expeller-expressed sunflower oil (which I mix with Olive Oil to make mayo to temper the strong flavour.) And have I gained weight? Have I ballooned up like a puffer fish that just found out his teenage daughter is pregnant?

No! In fact, my body slimmed down while I was pregnant, yet I delivered a full-term, 8 lb. baby, who is healthy as a baby should be. After the pregnancy was over, I did not reduce my fat intake, but kept it right up as I was breast-feeding, yet I slimmed down to a size and weight I thought I would never see again--one I passed sometime in high school.

Eat fat to lose fat? Try it. You'll like it.

Happy Birthday, Canada, & All Hail the King!

Saturday was Canada Day, as I said. To celebrate our country's birthday, we went downtown to the Peace River festivities, along with our friends the Magnussons, and found Wes and Serena Burdick et al. there, too. Amanda and I were both a little disappointed that there wasn't more going on--they didn't even have face-painting! Their "Family Craft" was blowing bubbles with big long wands. The kids had fun doing it, but, c'mon...Bubbles? That would have been nice, in addition to something else. That, sidewalk chalk, getting stick on "tatoos", and the Slip'n'Slide set up on the hill (with a line-up 15 minutes long) were about the only activities age-appropriate for my kids--and two out of the four they get to do at home all the time. Oh, well. Thank goodness for the playground--our children, as well as most everyone else's--enjoyed whiling the afternoon away climbing up, sliding down, and fooling around.

To the town's credit, there were several dance performances put on by different dance studios here in town. I especially loved this one (click on photo to see full-size):

Oh, I forgot--there was one other really cool thing--they set up a huge water sprinkler, powered from a local firetruck, and sent off random bursts of spray from one of the fire-hoses as well. Noah, our water-baby, had a total blast, and Jude eventually got in on the action, too!

The day was finished off nicely with Panago pizza and fun and games at the Burdicks. We played Cranium--very fun. Unfortunately, I had to "charade" the words "swimsuit calendar" to Jason, my team-mate. Not only was this difficult, it was slightly embarrassing--considering there were two other couples there! How do you act this one out and NOT have it be embarrassing?!

Cute Kid Corner:

Jude and Noah have been loving playing "swords" lately. They have been using a broken walking cane they found in one of the sheds out back, and a thin piece of broken wood, also from a shed. So, on Friday, I went to the Dollar Store and bought them two sets of two play swords, complete with sheaths, thinking they would have enough to play with their friends when they came visitng. Well, in true product-of-the-dollar-store fashion, all the sheaths and two of the swords have already been busted by them and their friends. However, before they all broke completely, I managed to get some good mediocre shots of the kids this morning. Whaddaya think?


When they re-make the movie in thirty years, Jude's going to be giving Viggo a run for his money!

Edit: I forgot to mention that Jude's even been wanting to sleep with this thing--it's been practically glued to his body since we bought it! However, we've drawn the line at swords in bed. I know. Spoilsports.

I Am Canadian!

I just had a lovely Canada Day, but I'm a little too tired from a long day of sun to write about it right now. While I may or may not relate more about it later, I would like to share the following video with you:

I Am Canadian!

Thank you, and goodnight.