Wish List

On one of the rainy afternoons this week, my son was perusing his Lego catalogues and started circling things he wants to get. He has his own business building and selling birdhouses - he markets them through the local corner store at the moment - so he does actually have plans for acquiring the money. I helped him type up a wishlist on the computer, and then that evening, got to thinking, what if I posted a wishlist on the blog - things I'd like to bring into my life in the next year? It's all about putting your intentions out there into the world, so here is my list of things I'd like to - no, no, not like to - here is my list of things that I will have come my way in the next year (even if I am struggling with putting my intentions out there, as it seems all consumerist):

• an Excalibur 9-tray dehydrator
• a Champion (or Green Star) juicer
• a Saladacco/Spirooli slicer
• a Reverse Osmosis water filter and/or a whole house water filter system - AquaSmart has one RO with a ceramic Alkaline filter ($735 in case you're wondering; http://www.aquasmart.com/). (I put a chlorine filter on the shower not long ago and wow, it makes a big difference in the quality of the water you're bathing in.)
• Raw Vegan 'cook' books - Jennifer Cornbleet's Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 people; Fresh by Valya & Sergei Boutenko; Angela Stokes' Juice Feaster's Handbook, and Raw Emotions e-book; Bryan Au's Raw in 10 Minutes; Raw Revolution Diet (Cherie Soria, Brenda Davis & Vesanto Melina), just to name a few.
• a trailer hitch for the Subaru ($399 installed), and a bike rack that will fit the hitch so we can take the bikes out (we don't live near many bike trails & the "Hwy" is not child-biking-friendly). And at some future point, how about the top rack for the kayak.
• TIME. Is there ever enough?! Just a few hours to myself, I think, just a few more. But really, life is grand just the way it is.
• Let's just, overall, wish for health & abundance to frow freely into my life in the next year. Abundance of time, abundance of money, abundance of unconditional love and positive regard and goodwill...

For what it's worth, in the next month, I've committed to donating blood and going to a naturopath, not because my health is poor, by any means, but just to see if we can't tweak me into the supremely vibrant health that is our birthright. I am also committing to more exercise - rowing more often (5 kms, 4x a week) and doing tai chi more regularly (more than the once a week class I'm doing right now, anyways), and I'm committing to maintaining the raw vegan lifestyle. I am also going to look into a continuing education night-class at the local uni in November I'm interested in taking, and in the next month, I'll begin assisting teaching a Tai Chi beginner's class as well. I'd like to make the time to go for a massage, check out that new raw restaurant, and also perhaps go for accupuncture. So there you have it - I've put my intentions out there, so now let's...

BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Book List

One thing I *LOVE* is reading. Not just anything, but nonfiction. I kinda figure reading fiction is another form of escapism, like alcohol, or binge eating, or playing computer games or watching television. I guess I once read that just like you are what you eat, your brain is as intelligent and sharp as what you put into it. Feed it crap and that's what it's going to subsist on. So why not treat it well - after all, you only have one brain, and they haven't started doing brain transplants yet. Try your hand at a new challenge - whether it's sudoku, crossword, knitting, or even just considering new ideas... like the whole lifelong learning that's available through nonfiction books. Go ahead... strike up a new interest... your brain will thank you!

Here's some of my favourite recent reads over the past 6 months:
Ani's Raw Food Kitchen (Phyo, Ani) - LOVED it! I loved that Ani has melded together two of my passions - raw vegan food with green living. Love the recipes, love the tips she has (e.g. soak leftover lemon pieces in a bathtub full of cold water and in the morning rinse clean and voila - clean bathtub with hardly any elbow grease! I tried it - and it works amazingly well. It's all that oil in the lemon peel...)
Fresh: the ultimate live-food cookbook (Boutenko, Sergei & Valya) - LOVE the jicama fries and raw burger, and the whole book, overall.
Raw food made easy: for 1 or 2 people (Cornbleet, Jennifer) - I really liked that the recipes were for 1 or 2 people, instead of 4 like Ani's book. I'm only making raw vegan food for me, so sometimes 4 servings of the same meal can be a bit much. But Ani's book is great for entertaining. Oh, and back to Raw Food Made Easy - the tropical fruit tart was DIVINE and a HUGE hit in our house - raw vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike.
The Spirituality of Gardening (Sinclair, Donna)
The Power of Now (Tolle, Eckhart) - wow, what a reminder of how we typically go through our days unconscious of the radiant energy that we all are. A wonderful reminder to wake up! And live mindfully.
To Have or To Be (Fromm, Erich)
Slow is Beautiful: new visions of community, leisure and joie de vivre (Andrews, Cecile)
The Natural Superiority of Women (Montagu, Ashley)
Last Child in the Woods (Louv, Richard) - children today just don't seem to have the unrestricted, unsupervised access to the wild woods that even my generation had 25 yrs ago... and by the sounds of it, even that was limited. It speaks to just how much time we spend indoors, as compared to past generations (think of the pioneers, for example).
The Hand-Sculpted House - between a thorough book like this, and a week of cob building on a workshop, it's easy to feel excited about the possibilities in natural building available to anyone with little skill & money, but an abundance of time on their hands. If the technical information in this book overwhelms you, try reading The Cob-Builder's Companion (Bee, Becky) instead.
Illustrated Handbook of the Bach Flower Remedies
Easy Composting (Ortho Books, ed. Lan, Susan) - composting is easy, whether you live in an apartment (and have no access to 'earth'), or you have a piece of yard. It reduces garbage, is good for the environment, and it takes so little time and energy on our part. I love this book includes comprehensive plans for a 3-bin pallet system, for the avid composter. While you're at it, why not read The Humanure Handbook.
Silent Spring (Carsen, Rachel)
A Pattern Language: towns, buildings, construction (Alexander, Christopher et. al) - oh my goodness, if you only read one book, let it be this one. It's AMAZING. I must've read it several times over. It explains SO MUCH in our lives - about how our world around us is constructed - how the layout of our city/village/street/yard/house/any room within affects us.
Natural Capitalism: creating the next industrial revolution (Hawken, Paul et. al)
Electromagnetic Fields: a consumer's guide to the issues and how to protect ourselves (Levitt, B. Blake)
This I Believe: the personal philosophies of remarkable men and women

I'd like to add that not ALL fiction is mindless drivel. I love the stories like Wind in the Willows, and other children's classics. Enid Blyton wrote some wonderful books (The Adventures of the Wishing Chair, The Children of Willow Farm, and so many others)... so to say all fiction is puss is just not so. But if you're reading Harlequin Romance, get a grip on reality.

And one other comment - support your local library. Your tax dollars are already going towards it, and it means you're not running out purchasing books you're only going to read once or twice. Sure there's BookCrossings and you can always pass your books along to others, but why not just love the library. Seriously.

Transportation & Lessons from Childhood

Yesterday we went car-shopping. We have two 1991 vehicles (and it's 2008, right) so we're not exactly running new cars. It was discussed that we ought to upgrade one of them, especially since the van is not economical on fuel, and with fuel prices having risen by 30+% in the past year, it is certainly affecting our financial position (why haven't incomes risen by 30%?!). So we talked about getting a fairly new vehicle, a couple years old, but not more than 5. Someone else really liked the Toyota FJ, but I'm partial to the Subaru Forrester. Again, more discussion. In the end, being that I will be the one driving it the majority of the time, we agreed on the Subaru.

So we went looking and found a 2005 Forrester with only 43K kms on it and a lot of extras, including power stuff, heated seats, AC (which I don't like using b/c of the environmental impact), and a large sunroof. One older lady owner from a small local island, who had traded it in for a new one. It looks similar to this:

Now, most people who know me know I come from a family-of-origin of near-scrooges when it comes to spending money. My parents NEVER bought a brand-new car until my mother retired and spent her own money on one (we always had used cars). Granted, I never felt poor growing up, but it wasn't ever encouraged to spend a lot of money on anything - I guess I learned that material things won't make you happy. And to work hard and save your money and one day you'll have it all (when that one day is, I have no idea - I still see my father, in particular, striving to get to that mythical day). As an adult, I am in a relationship with someone who grew up the opposite - his parents spent money ordering out every payday (something unheard of in my childhood) and generally spending a little more freely than I think my family did. So for him, I think it comes a little easier to spend significant amounts of money than for me. Nevertheless, I did it. I spent a considerable sum of $ on this car yesterday. And was nearly ill the rest of the day. LOL

I have to say, it certainly helps that the two of us have different orientations towards money. I certainly, on my own, would not ever have bought that car. But with a little prodding and encouragement, it was done. I appreciated that several times yesterday I heard that I was worth it. Because I guess part of it is that I don't believe in myself enough - and show me a woman that doesn't have self-image issues and I'll show you a pig that can fly - it seems we all have SOME issue... I asked why he thought I was worth it, and he replied, without hesitation, that I am a good wife and mother and he wanted to show me how much he appreciates the effort I put into my life - caring for the children and him and looking after everything around the house, and he hoped that everytime I got in to drive the car that I would be reminded of how much he believes in me.

Yes, it's just a way to get around. It's a material thing. Despite having bought this car, I still don't believe in consumerism as the be-all, end-all, or a newer car as a sign of personal success - it's not. Reckless consumerism is not sustainable. So it was a hard struggle for me to reconcile buying a newer vehicle in that regard. And as far as what lessons the next generation is learning? At bedtime, I was told, "You know, it's just a car. Sure it's nice, but when I get old enough, I'm just going to ride my bike everywhere. Cars pollute too much and gas will be too expensive." Which put a smile on my face.