Deciding what to eat is a major chore

Why is it that deciding what to eat is a major chore?  I sit and stare and am overwhelmed by the amount of healthy eating plans that are out there.  Which one is best?  I have no clue.  In a nation that is overweight I wonder if any of us does know what healthy is.  Grocery stores are filled with tons of easy processed foods full of colorings and god knows what else.

Shop the perimeter of the grocery store is what I have heard.  Ok.  Read labels.  Ok.  Buy whole foods.  Ok.

In Aunt Nancy's time there weren't all these things to bog you down.  You went to the local very small grocer, grew most of your own, and fixed things from scratch.  I think perhaps it is time for people to slow down.

I know for my family it certainly is.  I have to make a trip to the grocery store today and my goal is to find one thing to fix from scratch that I can make easily.  Something that is healthy.  Something that we will all like.  One dish at a time that is how I hope to change our family eating habits.

Goal - to reduce stress

Living in these modern times can make anyone feel stressed out.  We are plugged in 24/7.  We have constant access to the whatever number of friends we have through social media like facebook, twitter, etc. Which always leads me to worry why didn't they respond?  Our children are involved in extra curricular activities and we are the taxis that must get them to those destinations.  We grab meals through the drive through all the while watching the clock.  Hurry, hurry, hurry!  Then at home the t.v. blares, the computers, iPads, and X box are sucking electricity until bleary eyed we stumble into bed.  ENOUGH!

Again, I say ENOUGH.

But just how will I manage to reduce stress in my life?  Over the next 21 days I have some ideas I wish to try.  I want to know which things work for me and which don't.  "To thine own self be true" a famous quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet.  If only I knew myself  then I could be true to myself.  So here goes

1.  Walk early every morning.
2.  Drink a cup of tea in the afternoon.
3.  Eat one sit down meal slowly every day.
4.  Read a real book with the smell of paper pages.
5.  Set a limit to aimless computer time.
6.  Turn off all media an hour before bed.
7.  Set a nightly routine.
8.  Meditate or do yoga daily.
9.  Be at home at least three nights and one weekend day.
10. Crochet, paint, or quilt each day.
11. Wash the dishes.  (Seeing dishes in the sink really stresses me out!)

Happy New Year

Well, another year came and went.  We let it go very quietly.  We sat at home and watched a movie with the kids and ate a slice of cheese cake as has become our family tradition.  There were no horns to toot or confetti to shoot.  I can honestly say I wouldn't have it any other way.  Being in the comfort of our own home surrounded by the people we love the most is truly the way to end and begin a new year.

I stopped blogging part way through the year last year, and yet here I am again.  I enjoy blogging, but sometimes I feel as if I get carried away and lose sight of why I blog in the first place.  I enjoy writing.  Last year I was thrilled to see all of the views on the different blogs I posted, but then I realized that most of them were some kind of computer phishing.  So, I just stopped.

So if anyone is reading, I hope you have a comfortable year. That is my wish for my family as well.  A year where we enjoy the little things.  A year where we explore art and hobbies.  A year where we take time for each other.

Carrots from the Garden

Today I pulled the carrots!  Yeah.  It looks like we will be having carrots for dinner.  I couldn't help but think of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears as I tugged the carrots from the ground.  Some of them were too big and they had split open, some of them were too small, and some of them were just right.    All in all, I am pleased.  These are my carrots.  They were planted by me.  Tended to by me. And pulled by me.  What satisfaction!

Google Chrome

Everyone has a favorite browser and for the most part people tend to prefer the one they used first.  Years ago my husband convinced me that Firefox was better than Internet Explorer.  So that is what I have been using. I am such a creature of habit.  Of course, he has been through multiple browsers since that time. 

This morning when I wanted to look for a typing instruction program for my daughter he nonchalantly said, "Just go to the Chrome store and get an APP."

I responded, "Huh? What? Do I have to pay for the APP?"

Long story short - No, I didn't have to pay and now when I open the extra tab on the Google Chrome home screen, voila there is the APP, Typing Club! 

Looks like I'm switching browsers.

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My Redneck Clothesline

Did you know that it costs about $100 to dry your clothes in a clothes dryer per year, assuming you do 3 loads per week?

Did you know that is costs $0 to dry your clothes on a clothesline outside?

I am sure you did!  But life is complicated and busy, busy, busy!  Who has time to wait for the clothes to dry?  What if it rains?  These are all powerful arguments for using the clothes dryer; however, I really enjoy the smell of clothes fresh off the line.  I have never found a dryer sheet that could replicate that smell.  One whiff and I smile.

I don't have a real clothesline.  My husband tied a rope from one tree to another.  It does the trick - helps me save a few bucks, conserves some energy, and makes me smile.

Here is my redneck clothesline -

Going Blueberry Picking

We are off bright and early this morning to go blueberry picking at Mason Beach Farm.  It is about a 45 minute drive to get there and the farm opens at 8:00a.m.

I just hope it is worth our trip.  I want to be able to go and fill up our buckets quickly.  Our days are sweltering right now.  High humidity and mid 90 temperatures are keeping us close to the AC.

If the berries are plentiful this year I can see lots of blueberries in our future - pie, muffins, jam, bread, crisp, and so much more.