New Chapter

So, my latest freelance editing job is finished, and the kids start a two-week daycamp tomorrow morning. You'd think I'd be chomping at the bit to get back to my fiction. You'd be wrong.

I have been thinking about my writing. It's on my mind almost every day. But at the end of every day, the things I want to say seem less relevant. This is a sign that either 1) I'm changing or 2) the book sucked. Likely, it's both.

So how will I spend those childless three hours a day for the next two weeks? Half of the time (the second week), I will be consumed with entertaining the in-laws. Good timing, eh? The other half, well, we shall see tomorrow morning when I plan to let my muse do with me what she will. I'll keep you posted.

International House of Breakfast

Since my last post I've been investigating where our breakfast comes from. The answer? Everywhere. Lately, we've been eating oatmeal, home-made bread, fruit, and yogurt.*

Quaker oatmeal is grown in the U.S. and Canada, same for the store-brand oats (ultimately from a Ralston plant, I think). Our Nature's Promise organic apple juice uses concentrate from Turkey, and our Trader Joe's raisins are from California. The coveted Brown Cow cream-top maple yogurt [drool] is made in California; I have to assume the milk is from not too far away. Only our blackberries and cherries are local, both from the CSA. The bananas are Honduran.

So if oats aren't a big industry 'round these parts, what would be an appropriate local breakfast grain? Can you consider my home-made bread "local" (the honey is the only ingredient whose provenance I know) since the love and labor is mine? I could always fry up an egg from the orchard's hens, I suppose. Rice was once big on the mid-Atlantic coast. Maybe I'll look into that. I have some Erewhon organic "brown rice cream" cereal (like cream of rice) that is "distributed by" a company in Massachusetts, same one that makes Farina. I'll probably call them Monday to see where their rice comes from.

I can't see that finding fruits would be a problem for one concerned with eating locally here in Delaware. Obviously, bananas and other tropical fruits (we love mangoes) come from far away. Later this summer I'll start inquiring about any raisin-making in the area, which has abundant and tasty grapes. Juice should be easy to concoct from local sources, too. Highland Orchards is known for their wonderful apples as summer turns to fall. I'll certainly ask them about how well their cider freezes. I could be juicing some of the berries we've been gorging ourselves on this spring and summer, but it just never occurred to me. It just never occurred to me. Well, there's the problem, eh? Mindfulness yields an infinite bounty.

*In the past few weeks, I've worked on steering the kids away from Nutri-Grain bars while I come up with a healthier home-made substitute that they will accept. I hear you laughing.

Home Cookin'

I've been working hard over the past few years to eat "closer to home." The farther food has to travel to get to your plate, the more resources that could've been saved by you eating food grown or produced in your vicinity. If you read this blog regularly, then 1) you know I rarely write this blog regularly, but 2) you also know I shop for most of my produce and dairy at Highland Orchards in Wilmington, Delaware. The vegetables and fruits from their land are grown with no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. In their orchard market, they also sell produce, dairy, and meats--some certified organic--from other sources both near and far, as well as prepared foods and mixes of well-known companies like Eden Foods, Paul Newman, Bob's Red Mill, Thai Kitchen, etc. I also pick up a weekly box of organic produce grown on a group of small farms just over the border in Maryland. Calvert Farm runs this CSA, and we've scored some lovely things so far this season, including the best asparagus I've had in years.

Back to my original point. If you support local agriculture, you are putting your money where your mouth is--therefore enriching not only the local economy and ecology, but your health and quality of life.

Here's a website to get you started: The 100 Mile Diet. A couple endeavored to spend a year living on foods found within 100 miles of their Vancouver, BC, home; now they're spreading the word.
In honor of their noble experiment, I decided to take a look at my family's consumption just for today and estimate what percentage is "local." Here is what turned out to be a very short list of what we consumed that was grown/made locally:

Sunflower seeds: sold at Highland Orchard in DE, grown ??
Zucchini
Scallions
Red potatoes

In my tallying, I realized that I rarely read labels to see where things are from. Yes, I know (and hate) that the organic grapes we ate today were shipped from Mexico. No, I don't have to buy them. But my two and three year olds eat a lot of fruit. And I see plainly on the package that our Trader Joe's raisins are grown in California. But what of Post Honey Bunches of O's? Or Silk soymilk? I couldn't find the state(s) of origin on the King Arthur whole wheat flour package--all they will say is that the ingredient is 100% w.w. flour, "milled for" K.A.F. in Vermont. What about all the local buying I do? Is it okay if I buy a Washington apple from Highland Orchards right now, knowing full well that they will have so many varieties of site-grown apples available later in the summer that my head will swim? Yes, I think it is a step in the right direction to purchase even long-distance food from a local independent market if you believe in their mission.

I've made several decisions today. One is to be more attentive to sources as noted on packaging. Another is to substitute local food for "SUV food." Summer is the easiest time for us all to do that, when backyard salad gardens are as easy as dropping a few seeds in some slit bags of dirt. Yes, I actually did that one year and enjoyed some lovely tomatoes, thank you.

What will YOU do?

Another Meme to Get Me Off the Hook

Thanks to PT-LawMom, here's another meme about..... MEEEEEEEEE! Please go read her blog; she's a working, law-school-attending mother who cares a great deal about justice.

This time, it's the A-B-C's!

A - Attached or Single?
Attached.

B - Best Friend?
I have several bestests.

C - Cake or Pie?
Cake.

D - Drink of Choice?
Champagne or lemonade.

E - Essential Items?
Burts Bees lip balm.

F - Favorite Color?
Changes daily.

G - Gummie Bears or Worms?
Bears.

H - Hometown?
Born in Sylacauga. Ho-a-whoo-ah?

I - Indulgence?
Sudoku. And microwave popcorn. And lemonade.

J - January or February?
January, I guess. Fresh starts are always appealing.

K - Kids?
No thanks, I have enough already.

L - Life is incomplete without?
Never had an issue with this one. Never felt not complete, really. Things are what they are.

M - Marriage Date?
August 1 and May 16. Same guy, different years.

N - Number of Siblings?
One older sister.

O - Oranges or Apples?
Oranges.

P - Phobias/Fears?
Can't think of any right now. I used to have a major fear of flying, but it has been reduced to a low-level of discomfort.

Q - Favorite Quote?
"Drop the story line." Pema Chodron.

R - Reason to smile?
Things my kids do and say. Oh, and watching Strangers with Candy reruns on DVD.

S - Seasons?
They can be very pleasant.

T - Tags?
Mine peeps have already been tagged.

U - Unknown Fact About Me?
---

V - Vegetarian or oppressor of animals?
I only oppress fish and dairy cows.

W - Worst Habit?
Procrastination. THANKS for the ENABLING, PT-LawMOM.

X - X-rays or ultrasounds?
Having an x-ray today, as a matter of fact, to guide an ultra-long [ya know, when people told me the needle was REALLY BIG, I assumed they meant long--enough to get into my joint space. But what they meant was...] ultra-FAT needle into the space in my right hip socket. Soooooo excited that I both want to vomit and faint at the same time. [I did neither, but came pretty close to the latter when it was time to sit up again.]

Y - Your favorite food?
Still feeling a little queasy from X, so I'll sit this one out.

Z - Zodiac?
Pisces.

The Bread

Twice now, I've baked a batch (two loaves) of 100% whole wheat bread that, imho, looks and feels just like bakery sandwich bread. But of course, my bread TASTES BETTER. Yes, I am both biased and proud of myself. Here's the recipe. I do not have a stand mixer (it's on the wish list for when we are in a house with a larger kitchen), so I hand knead for about twenty minutes while the kids eat a meal. Totally worth it, yessirree.

Here's the problem, though. My kids won't eat bread crusts. With this bread, that's like shaving the hair off Boticelli's Venus. So I religiously save their sandwich husks and snack on them throughout the day.

Moms: the human garbage disposals.

Here's a nice yeast roll recipe I made last week. I added two tablespoons of wheat bran to boost the nutritional content, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. Oh--except that I substituted milk soured with cider vinegar for the buttermilk, which I don't keep on hand.

Get baking, people!!

p.s. edited to add that I do not put an egg wash on either of these recipes. I like softer crusts.

A Bloody Good Read*

Several weeks ago, I read--correction: I tore through--Duane Swierczynski's novel, The Wheelman. Holy crap it was a strict adrenaline mainline. Crosses, double-crosses, cross-outs, and cross-your-hearts-and-hope-NOT-to-die's on every page. Not only do you get a story at break-neck speed, you get an education about Philly, about crime, and about anatomy and physiology, albeit not too sterile. Way to go, Duane. Please tell us it'll be a movie soon. I'll be adding his newest read, The Blonde, to my stack.

*Gaw, how many times has a reviewer written that headline for a high-body-count crime novel? Sorry, Duane.

Did you get the Meme-O? Re: Eight Random Things

Jess at jessyferguson.blogspot.com has tagged me for a meme where I give eight random facts about myself then tag eight more people. I am so ass-tired right now I am going to invite any and all to join in the fun! If you do it, then comment on this post with your link.

I haven't participated in a meme in a long time, so this should be fun. For me, I mean.

1. I love to wear high heels. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do that in years due to joint problems and pregnancies.

2. I am compulsive about counting things when the number does not matter in the slightest. I count the number of scoops it takes to fill up the dog food container; I count the number of breaths my son takes before I leave his room in the middle of the night. Harmless, right?

3. I love Dolly Parton. I love everything about her.

4. I wish I had learned to play basketball. And, yes, it IS too late.

5. I have received only one traffic ticket in my entire life--I parked in a handicapped spot when I arrived late to take my GRE.

6. My three-year-old son puts off going to the potty as long as humanly possible. Hmmmm. Wonder where he gets that. La-la-la-la-la-la...

7. I have an extremely acute sense of smell.

8. I had an addiction to Oreos until I was about thirty-five. Don't know where that obsession went, but good riddance.

Now don't you want to adopt me???

BJ's Report

Minds out of the gutter, people. Notice the apostrophe s on the acronym.

My neighbor gave me a free pass to BJ's warehouse store that turns out to last three months. If I join ($45/yr for the lowest tier), they will take those three months off the total so I'll get nine more months.

I've gone three times now, and I'm still trying to work out whether the benefit is worth $45 to us.

Pros:

• More items per box means, typically, less wasteful/harmful packaging. Ex: 5 lbs of sliced American cheese with NO STUPID INDIVIDUAL WRAPPERS for $11.00.
  
• There are bargains, but you have to do the math. The following foods there are even cheaper than at Target: Morningstar Farms' veggie burgers (in a 16-pack, and not only are they cheaper, they're also LARGER than the kind in the box!) and Kellogg's Nutrigrain bars (my kids' breakfast of choice).
  
• Gas really is cheaper there.
  

Cons:

• It is far away (twenty minutes) and the traffic is stressful, not to mention the gas consumption and emissions.
  
• Each time, I end up buying something there that I know is not at its cheapest price, and yet I get it just because it's convenient.
  
• We don't have lots of storage space for food.
  
• They don't carry too much in the way of natural/organic foods. The only Silk I can find there are the vanilla and chocolate flavors--no plain!
  
• I do a pretty good job of shopping the sales in my neighborhood and using coupons on top of the loss leader prices.
  

I'm still thinking it over; I'll let you know. Meanwhile, YOU let me know how you use warehouse stores, or if you use them at all.

La-La-Linkies

I'm struggling to find something to write on this blog that won't take two hours to compose, edit, and post. So, here are some links I have found useful and entertaining in recent months; perhaps you will also enjoy them.

www.Peak62.com: Peak 62 is an outdoor gear shop that was incredibly speedy in sending me our stainless steel mugs for the kids. Seems like a great outfit; they are based in Seattle.

www.Vermontcountrystore.com: As a kid, I used to spend hours looking through the Vermont Country Store's little black and white catalogs, studying the old-fashioned (read: freaky) items they sold to, I assumed, elderly farm wives. And now, look at me, wanting to order things for my middle-aged suburban (read: freaky) lifestyle!

www.slashfood.com: Slashfood is an addictive group blog about the latest and yummiest in comestible news. Just one day's postings can take you around the world in food and drink.

veganlunchbox.blogspot.com: Jennifer [McCann] Shmoo takes great care to feed her other two Shmoos healthy vegan fare, mindfully packaged. On her blog she generously shares her discoveries with the rest of us.

The Landlord: Watch in disbelief as a hateful landlord takes Will Ferrell down a peg. Make sure you are wearing leak-protection first.

I Am Indeed Still Alive, Just Buried in Plastic

Just a short post as I'm entertaining a houseguest and supervising some coloring:

Have you ever tasted the beverage that sits in your kid's little plastic tumbler? Even after a few minutes, it reeks of chemical taint. If a sip makes me nauseated, it can't be good for their little systems. Plastics scare me, especially as they constitute so much of my children's lives. My squirts are too young to use glass, so steel it shall be. I'm on a search now for GSI Outdoors "Glacier" Stainless Steel cups (10oz). I can find them online for $5.95, but I'm going to see if a local outdoor outfitter might have them on the shelf. By the way, www.kleankanteen.com sells lovely 12oz stainless steel bottles with sippy lids (the only plastic part in the whole set-up) for those who have kids still in the sippy stage.

The Important Things

The men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments now seem unimportant next to the tragedy of a lost life. Jason Ray, the 21-year-old student who played Rameses, the Carolina ram mascot, was struck by a car the afternoon of the men's eastern regional game. He died three days later from his injuries. My deep sympathies go to his family, his friends, and the UNC and Chapel Hill communities he served.

Leftover Ragout

Just some odds and ends here, catching up on what's been going on.

***

My daughter AC turned two yesterday. She's my special little girl who looks nothing like me. She loves "reading" books to me, drawing, saying nursery rhymes, building with blocks, pretending there's a tiger in the living room, tumbling, and stomping in mud puddles.

She is almost potty trained. I'm shocked, frankly, because I had absolutely nothing to do with it. She just decided to make the leap herself.

***

I've signed us up for another CSA subscription this year, from Calvert Farm in Maryland. We tried them two or three summers ago, but that season saw a terrible drought. Consequently, the boxes weren't near as full as usual, they told us. I'm hoping for more from them this time. Apparently, they are joining forces with a number of area small farms to offer more variety and fill in any gaps. They'll deliver a weekly box of organic fruits and vegetables from May through September to a local pickup point.

I invested in this partly because I decided not to do my raised bed vegetable gardening this summer, and partly because I love the "pot luck" aspect of cooking from what they give you. And of course, there's the satisfaction of helping local growers and eating fresh, organic produce. It's all good.

***

The Tarheels (both women and men) forge ahead into next weekend's tournament games. We are optimistic. Dook is out. We are joyful.

It's a Co-Ed Dance!!!

So, the Lady Tarheels are a number one seed in the NCAA Tourney, too. Can they, CAN THEY, finally win another championship? I was in grad school at Carolina when the men won, and then the women won, and, well, we were just floating around for a few years in glory-land. I WANT TO FLOAT AGAIN. Help me float, ladies.

It's Good Being First

My title is currently being used as a (trademarked) marketing slogan for the state of Delaware, whose motto is "the first state" because it was the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Who knew? Who cares? The motto was forgotten as soon as the billboards were taken down. I'm not infringing, though, because I'm talking bout the 'Heels. Yes, the men's Tarheel basketball team are ACC champions for the umpteenth time and are now the number one seed in the East region for the NCAA championships.

GO HEELS!!!

Sharing the Waste, Sharing the Wealth

So, if you've read my blog for a while you've probably gleaned, or been hit over the head with, the idea that I like to save money on some things so that I can enjoy certain other things. For instance, I can't stand to pay full price for groceries or clothes when I know that, with a little research, I can save enough on those two things to pay for a fine dinner out with my husband. We also economize in order to pump up our retirement savings, our kids' college funds, and our "rainy day fund" (recently re-titled, "our rain-coming-through-the-old-roof fund"). So we drive our cars into the ground, never buy anything on time (i.e., with interest), hang-dry clothes, shop second-hand, etc. Yeah, I guess you could call me cheap. Fine.

Last night, I was reading through The Complete Tightwad Gazette, by Amy Dacyczyn, and came upon a money-saving idea I had never thought of: split the cost of garbage pick-up with a neighbor. So, for example, my neighbor and I would decide that she would get the contract with the collector, and then I would walk our garbage over to her bin (ten steps from ours) on pick-up day. When she got her quarterly bill, we'd pay half of it. Brilliant. Those ten steps alone would save us $135 a year. The problem: I don't think neighbors particularly want to talk garbage with each other, much less finances. Is a short-term discomfort worth $135/year to you? I'm giving that one some serious thought.

I'm Still Full

My dear and darling and thoughtful and still-forty-one-year-old-for-eight-more-months husband took me out for a surprise birthday dinner last night to Krazy Kats, at the Inn at Montchanin. And I still haven't quite recovered from the feast--in a good way, of course. Everything about the night was magical, from the drive in through the winding chateau country, through the hostess's warm greeting of, "Happy birthday!", to the lit candle on my espresso cheesecake. I'll be 42 on Tuesday, and this evening out was a gentle entree to the milestone, which has been troubling me lately.

I heartily recommend the restaurant for a special occasion dinner.

Wounded Iraq War Veterans

I just finished reading the current Newsweek (March 5, 2007) cover story, "Failing Our Wounded." See the web version here. It shocked and deeply saddened me. I have family and dear friends serving in the military, and one young nephew has done duty in Iraq twice. Now he is back in the middle east--not in Iraq, but we all know he is not out of harm's way.

I wrung my hands throughout the piece, but the authors predicted my and countless others' feelings of helplessness. They wisely included a sidebar on the last page, aptly entitled, "HOW YOU CAN HELP." (The following info is also in a box on the web version of the article linked in the previous paragraph.) Here's the skinny:

HOW YOU CAN HELP

These charities were highly rated by multiple philanthropy watchdog groups:

• Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (fallenheroesfund.org): Built a topnotch rehab facility at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas that opened this year. Similar projects on the horizon.
• Fisher House Foundation (fisherhouse.org): Constructs housing spaces at medical facilities so injured vets can be with their families while they heal.
• Armed Services YMCA (asymca.org): Gives vets YMCA access, where they can do physical rehab. Offers paying YMCA jobs to help vets get reacclimated.

No matter your politics, surely you can find somehow to help those who are suffering pointlessly.

A Trip to NY Without Leaving Delaware

This afternoon, D and I experienced for the first time a sold-out, live performance of the Metropolitan Opera. It was Tchaikovsky's superb Eugene Onegin (say it, yev-gen-ee on-yay-gen), which I had never seen--nor have I read Pushkin's novel in verse from which it was adapted. Fantastic thing is, we wore jeans and shared a tub of popcorn and a large soda. IT WAS BROADCAST IN HD AT OUR MOVIE THEATRE. Do my capital letters sufficiently convey my thrilldom?

Thank you, NCM Fathom, for creating HD broadcasts of the Met's productions at movie theatres across the country, including one near me. And thank you, WHYY, for providing a limited number of FREE tickets ($18 regular price) for station members. We love you.

any excuse

so...c-c-c-cold...
blanket...hot chocolate...sudoku...two dogs...
to hell with the housework

Belated Thank You to Pet PTs

I have been meaning to post this for many months, and had some time today.

Almost a year ago, my dog W's left knee was rebuilt by a kind and capable surgeon named Dr. Franczuszki. See this blog post. He suffered from a condition called "luxating patella," widespread among Italian Greyhounds (although our other fellow, who came from careful breeding, does not have it). W had endured it all his life, but the constant slipping of the kneecap eventually caused him so much wear and pain that he had stopped using that leg altogether, several months before we decided on surgery.

The operation was a success and his new joint was A-OK. However, W persisted in not using his new knee, despite my applying all the recommended therapies at home. W was not only stubborn, he was comfortable with things how they were. Enter the two experts at West Chester Veterinary Rehabilitation Specialty Center.

Dr. Ann Caulfield and Michelle Lazarski treated my sweet but timid rescue hound like their own child. They walked him in the underwater treadmill, they massaged him, they talked cuddly to him and they, in short, made a friend of my quivery paranoid pet. And over the three or so months we made our visits to their facility, W improved. Of course, he put on his brave face and used his leg in front of the two therapists, but when we would get home and he was free in the backyard, he'd revert to his three-legged lope. It was frustrating, but I continued our homework. And by the end of the summer, he was walking on all fours again, where he remains to this day.

We know that his right knee is deteriorating from the same condition, but he doesn't seem to be in any pain. Yet. When he first shows those signs, I will be consulting with the surgeon again, and will then be sure to use Caulfield and Lazarski for our follow up PT. They are miracle-workers.

If you are in the vicinity of West Chester, Pennsylvania, and have a pet that would benefit from therapy, I would highly recommend the rehabilitation center and the two women that head it. Thanks, ladies, from W and me!