Two Weeks and Counting

That is the amount of time until we can move into our home.  The last few weeks have been long, hard and then long and hard again. Laverne, my wonderful dog LIVED.  I had a cyst on my right ovary and I thought I would croak.  In all seriousness, I was sure I was dying for about two or three days.  I have never had one of these before and let me just say they suck. I had no idea and I wouldn't wish one on anyone; or at least not many people. We have had lots of exciting things going on around the family.  My husband was named as the SBA Business Man of the year for our state.  He is going to DC to accept the award and speak on a panel to a bunch of pencil pushers about whatever it is they do.  I was invited to the State Capitol to participate in an environmental education program for our State. I have no idea where, who, when, or how my name ended up on the list. But I am going, I am ashamed to say I have never been to our dreaded capitol. I may make the paint on the wall peel off as I am just way too liberal for the political climate in our state.

I have finally started re-establishing my exercise program.  I think I have finally gotten tired of seeing my ass spread in the mirror.  My fav is yoga and I have been practicing 3 times a week and want to be practicing 6 times a week.  I will. My long term goal is to do the teacher training through a Yoga Alliance approved school for the first level CYT-200. I would love to teach out at the mountain at some point in time, but really want to add more value to my personal practice. I have no freaking clue when I am going to find 500 hours to do the required training!

I have been on a recent war against HFC. What is an HFC?? High Fructose Corn Syrup, big nasty curse word in my house.  It.is.in.everything. For reals. In my house we found it in the following things: bread (WTF???), ketchup, maple syrup, salsa, ALL sodas, yogurt(unBElievABLE), most cereals, granola bars; I could continue forever with this list but I think you get the idea. Why? What purpose? Yes I do know sugar is sweet too, but the HFC are handled differently by the body. Do me a favor, read all that you can by HFC and the clean out your cabinets. By or grow real food. If you don't have time to make real food, then read labels and purchase the stuff that is healthy for your family.

Why is it that the headline new on CNN tonight is about Cameron Douglas was sentenced to five years in prison for being a drug dealer? And? Aren't there more pressing issues to cover; things that actually have a affect on society? I could give a rats you know what about Cameron Douglas and his sorry excuse for a human being self. Todd bad daddy couldn't buy him out of this one. What about all the hungry people that will go to bed without a meal tonight? Or the trees that will be plowed over in just one day to feed our hunger for not easily replaceable fossil fuels. No, it's not important to discuss the not rate making issues of teaching our citizens to grow food so we can began to heal the earth we have destroyed over multiple generations. No, that is not important and doesn't affect the tomorrows of anyone, certainly not as life-altering as Cameron Douglas' being forced to finally act like a man.

Yummy recipes coming tomorrow; empanadas with a dipping sauce and sweet treat too.

Ciao Bellas.

I Will Be Back Online Tonight!

I will be back online tonight.  I have much useless information to report.  Sorry for the MIA stunt, had a little medical problem.

Laverne and Shirley, the Greatest Dogs and Squirrel Chasing Professionals

My dog is dying. I have wanted to type this for three days now and have just now had the stomach to type it. I am not sure how imminent this is, but I do know my dog and I know that the vet is totally clueless. This pisses me off. However, ultimately he cannot turn back the hands of time and make her younger. From our best guesstimates, Laverne is 13 years old. She thinks she is 3. She is a fine dog. She is our baby. She is my husbands best friend. Laverne had chased a caught more squirrels than any dog I have ever known. She is very sick. It is supposedly pancreaitis. I think it is more. She has labored breathing, oh I can't type all the details. I just want you all to know what an important part of our family she is. Laverne is the worrier. She is the family protector. She is the family groomer. She is the family snuggler. She LOVES the kids. She is the hunter and the gatherer. She is the one with the sixth sense. She saved my son's life. She has on many ocassion, thought she is a boy dog. She is both tender and tough. She is gentle, yet not delicate. She loves love. She is a superior communicater. She is expressionate. She thinks she is human; yet to us she is, just a thumb short. She is smart. She is gracious. She is a constant companion. She thinks she is going to one day catch a deer. I let her chase them. I have not the heart to discourage her. She has infact caught the following animals and accidentally killed many of them, her goal is always only to play and not realizing the power in those jaws, that never happens; squirrels, mice, cats, birds, snakes, lizards (super funny story on that), opossum, mole, fish (don't ask), turtle, and countless humans (though we all have survived). She most importantly has captured our heart. My heart wishes she will miracously get better. My heart realizes this is the beginning of the end and I can't help but to feel selfish beacause I am not ready to let her go. I keep telling myself that I want to protect the kids from experiencing a loss when really it is me. Larverne knows more secrets and knows just how to cure my bad days. She gives that best love; it is unconditional. I don't want her to suffer, it makes me sick to think she could be in pain. I hope she is not. I am told she is not, again I think the vet is clueless. I know I am not the only person in the world to to face with the prospect of losing a dog, but I am the only one faced with the prospect of losing my dog and I am heart-broken. My husband has yet to accept this reality and that makes this tougher. Oh. Laverne how I love you and I promise I will sleep with you on the sofa as long as you need me too. In honor of my big mama....

Black-Eyed Peas and Cornbread Please

As I was putting the kids to bed last night Alex asked for black-eyed peas for dinner on the next day. Madalyn chimed in that if we were having black-eyed peas could we have cornbread please. I love this. I spend so much time making sophisticated foods and I truly love that we can get back to simple foods prepared well. So, for dinner tonight we had black-eyed peas, lima beans, sauteed carrots and cornbread. Everybody cleared their plates and Alex and Madalyn had seconds. It is hard to find 'good' vegetarian black-eyed peas, imagine that. A vegetable not being vegetarian; it is always prepared with ham or ham hocks or bacon here in the south. Below you will find my simple recipe that always leaves clean plates behind. I prefer fresh peas when they are available, otherwise dried peas soaked overnight in water will work great. Do NOT use those horrid imposter's out of a can. Not only are they loaded in sodium but they are mushy and have lots of extra preservatives that you do not need.

One cup of dried black-eyed peas, picke over and soaked overnight
1 small onion chopped
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
chicken broth (i use un-chicken broth to keep it vegetarian)
olive oil

In a saucepan add the peas and the water they were soaked in with the onion and 3 sprigs of thyme. A lot of people will not agree with this, but I rinse my peas really well before soaking them so my water is not all that icky. Is that a word, icky? Anyhow, add a glug of olive oil and then enough of the broth to cover the peas. Bring to a rapid boil on medium high heat and then reduce to a low and simmer until tender. You will need to add water several times, I usually alternate between adding the broth and the water. In the last 10 minutes I add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. These are delicious, simple and crowd pleasers in my house.

Have a good night!

Cupcakes and the hubby is 40

I love cupcakes.  I really love cupcakes.  My husband will be 40 tomorrow and he has requested a pineapple-upside down cake. I would love to make this in cupcakes. I bet the taste would be even better.  I have to go bake....a cake.  Good night.

What is a Friend, like for real??

That is the question my sweet 6 year old daughter asked me on the way to gymnastics today. My little girl has been having a tough time a school lately. She has been purposely excluded from group activities by a group of 'mean girls' because she is Jewish. No this is not second hand information. No I am not making it up. No I did not rely on my 6 year old to tell me about it. The teacher overheard this during class and the school immediately called me and have been aggressively trying to coach these other little rats to more acceptable behavior.  The thing is that these kids were taught this type of hate. I do not believe that a 6 year old is capable of hating because of difference. I believe this is learned. The families of these girls are well to-do educated people. They really don't care. One family contacted me directly and all they were worried about is what we thought. They never inquired about how hurt Madalyn might feel or what we could do as parent's to partner together to give our kids the tools to work through a difficult conflict. They simply wanted to save face. Well, they didn't. I would like to smash their face. That is what I would like to do. My sweet girl wrote letters, on her own, to the girls that wronged her and told them that she loves them even if they are different than her and that she hopes they will learn to just love everybody.  Can you believe that? She is so wise in her young years. I am so proud of her. So to answer the question today I told Madalyn that a friend is someone that loves you always, even when they are mad at you.  A friend will hold your hand in your darkest hour. A friend will make you laugh until you nearly pee in your pants. A friend will never judge you for not agreeing with them. A friend will love all your hairstyles, no matter how crazy they look. A friend will always take your phone call. A friend will finish your sentences for you. A friend can feel your pains without you ever having to say a word. A friend will walk through a fire storm to give you her last drink of water. A friend will always accept your apology. A friend will always welcome you into her home. A friend understands why you must have another pair of red shoes. A friend understands your heart and soul.

Going through all this with Madalyn lately has made me really look at myself and my friends. I have always believed I am a good friend. I love my friends deeply. I call them to see how they are, not because I am obligated but because I really do care. I am a champion for my friends. I want them to have happiness and to be successful in all endeavors. I love hearing about all the joy in their lives. I have an available shoulder for the times there is no joy.  I however, am dismayed and saddened because I do believe I have a dear friend that just does not feel the same anymore, but can't or won't tell me. This person doesn't take or return my phone calls. This person has really hurt my feelings by abandoning me. That sounds drastic, but I really do feel that way. So with that, I told Madalyn that sometimes for some reason you have to love your friends enough to let them move on. It's okay to still want the best for them from a distance. It's okay to still care. It's okay to have a hurt heart, but that will heal soon. And from that experience you will grow and you will one day cherish the time you spent with those friends; yes, even as a 6 year old.

Homemade Toothpaste

I can't believe I am even pondering this...homemade toothpaste.  But, I am.  I will purchase the ingredients today and try to whip up a batch.  I am also making homemade deodorant.  In more exciting news and less about bodily hygiene, the hubby will be 40 on Wednesday.  I think he seems to still be 20 something.  Life seems to feel normal this morning.  I have no fever, no aches, no chills, no sweats, no nausea, not dizziness.  This all means I have to make the bread dough for the week and buy groceries for lunches.  Here's to real food and nothing out of the can.  Have a great day.