It's been such a long time. I'm never sure how to start again when it's been this long. Randomly? A list? A random list? Sure.
-My older daughter decided to eat a vegan diet, all on her own, which spurred a huge revolution in the way our whole household eats. All changes for the very best. No meat or dairy, lots and lots and lots of fruits and vegetables, very little processed grain, basically no refined sugar or junk food, lots of nuts and beans. We've pretty much cut out refined oils, too, which is still kind of at the outer edge of nutrition science at the moment but I think it's where the advice is headed. I still need to be better about getting a lot of leafy greens.
-We took vegan pizza out for a spin for the first time today, at a pizzeria, and my girl chose the fixins': basil pesto, a vegan white sauce (mostly soy products and garlic, I think), spiced tofu, and roasted garlic. The crust made me sick (not the crust's fault, but it has been weeks since I've had that much starch) but her toppings made me smile and smile. She was totally satisfied...I guess veganism agrees with her, for now. And the rest of us. Whew.
-I'm dedicated to perfecting homemade vegan pho. I still haven't dragged my lazy arse to the asian market to procure the proper spices, so my attempts have been pretty far off base, but ultimately, I believe in the soup. The soup wants to come out right.
-I'm stupid excited about a bunch of things right now. I started to feel sorry for myself last night, but I snapped out of it post haste. I don't have time for that! Things are happening! I just get dumb, dumb, dumb happy anymore, all the time, over the silliest little nothing/everything, everything things. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes audiobook I got from the library. The campsite I booked for three nights this summer, in an old growth forest right next to an aquamarine glacial river. The perfect, brilliant hikes we'll take there, and the Junior Ranger programs she'll do. Web Rangers. Family Zen. Girl Scouts. Volkssport. Strawberries.
-Strawberries are obscenely delicious and it seems like they should be terrible for you, but they're not. Win. Win! Forever a win.
-The girls and I are headed to Arizona to visit family in a couple of months, to the Phoenix area, and I am kicking myself that I didn't think to make the trip just a touch longer and try to see some of the national and state park action down there. I'm not sure if I'm up for the Grand Canyon with my littlest buddy, but soon. Soon!
-This is funny to me. One of the big kid's friends has a chart-sticker-reward scheme going on at home with her mum and dad to work on some behaviors, and the proverbial carrot on the stick is a pizza at the end of a good week. My kid decided this was unfair, never mind that she can basically have pizza whenever she wants, so long as we have the ingredients and time or the money to go out. Still, she told me she wanted me to do some kind of chart and sticker scheme. I told her I wouldn't do it**, but we compromised and she has decided to read 56 books (I think this was just the number of boxes that happened to be in the chart she made) and keep track with a chart and stickers, then at the end I will give her a hand-knit bunny as her self-selected reward for achieving the self-selected goal that she will be self-monitoring. But, you know, it's a chart. With stickers. I guess I need to get knitting.
-That says "Bun Bun Day" not "Bon Bon Day". Geez. I wish.
*Ha! That picture above isn't even chard. It's beet greens. Derp.
**We've purposely eschewed the punishments/rewards paradigm as a family, which is why I refuse to indulge my daughter's desire to play that out, but I want to make it clear to my dear friends and readers that I realize I have no right to any notion of what families walking their walks in different pairs of shoes "ought" to do. My friend's situation sounds very, very frustrating, and I sincerely hope this route is fruitful for them.
