Birthday Parties...

Had dd's birthday party today. Went very well. 5 families (10 children, not incl ours) - the young women painted clay flower pots and then planted a polyanthus in them to take home. As they were painting, the room was SOOOOOO quiet as all these budding artists unleashed their creative forces on these clay pots. It was remarkable - the intense concentration!! :)

dd helped make mini-cupcakes yesterday: chocolate & lemon & also a heart-shaped (vanilla) cake. This morning we iced them all. (Lemon was very popular!) We made a veggie tray, a few sandwiches, a big bowl of popcorn and a plate of cheese and crackers (a vegetarian party, but not vegan or raw, LOL). DS put up streamers and there were lots of balloons around. I managed to clean most of the house. :) Everyone seemed to have a great time and although overcast, the rain held off and the children played outside for a while as well.

One of the children arrived from another birthday party in town where they had a "paint throwing party" at a kids' art school. Looked like it must've been a whole lotta fun - judging by the amount of paint on him!!

BIG Thank-yous to the families who helped celebrate dd's birthday today. :)

My blog according to this website Wordle (you type in a URL and it makes this out of it:)

Chia Pudding

Here's a tip: Don't soak chia seeds in your VitaMix and expect to blend them up the next morning. Because they form this gelatinous... goo... it became this concrete-like mess around the blades of the blender and yes, I overheated the motor (again... sigh). Not that I do that frequently, but once in a while I have made mistakes like this. Soak your chia seeds in a glass jar and then pour the goo into the blender in the morning. :)

Here's the recipe (courtesy of Angela @ rawreform.com):
Raspberry Chocolate Chia Pudding
2c chia seeds, soaked o/n
5 oz raspberries
1 tbsp maca powder
1 tbsp yacon syrup (I used raw agave)
1 tbsp raw cacao powder
Blend. I put a handful of blackberries in as well. yummy.

~n~

On Careers and... stuff.

(Apparently I have too much time on my hands today if I'm posting twice. LOL)

An old friend emailed recently after reading the blog and suggested I consider a future career as a writer. I chuckled to myself, as I had hesitated even setting up the blog because of the inner dialogue I was having:
"You have nothing important to say. Why say it on the internet?!"
To which my Self responded, "Maybe so, maybe not. But why judge yourself like that? Just put it out there and let other people decide if it's worth reading."
So here we are, nearly 1150 hits later (admittedly it is probably me refreshing the page over and over, LMAO)... but to get a comment like that was really... nice. (So thanks, old Friend!).

I have, in the past, considered... well, perhaps that's too strong a word... momentarily thought might be more accurate... that I'd like to one day write a book. I've done some freelance editing work for a couple people and have enjoyed that. And the thought of sharing myself through my writing is somehow a little exciting. But again, I had a repeat of the above conversation, only a little more... a little more harsh with myself. "Why write a book?! What the heck would you even write about?!" LOL (That's where I'm currently stuck. What the heck would I write about?!)

Aren't those conversations we have with ourselves absolutely hilarious?! And so downright totally self-deprecating? :( Where did I ever learn to judge myself so harshly?! (Okay, well, this isn't a therapy session - let's just not go there.)

So, fwiw, let's write the possibility of "published writer" on my list of future career possibilities, alright? While we're at it, let's add the ones I think of more frequently (and with less argument from the voice in my head - LOL): "cob builder", "compost pick-up service", "Reiki practitioner", maybe even "Counselling Psychologist" (I have half a Master's degree on hold at the moment)... right now, my life path consists of labels like "Mama", "Wife", "Lifelong learning guide" (aka homeschooling parent), "caretaker of our home", "tai chi volunteer instructor", "La Leche League volunteer leader", and others... (none of which involve paid work, but all I am passionate about)... I digress...

I also got another email from another friend who said she has made the transition from a Vegetarian to a Vegan diet.... and she said *I* was the inspiration!! (blushing) I was so honoured that she found anything I'd do inspiring. LOL (There's that voice, only it's on the outside, isn't it.) I often reflect on my role as a parent as one of role-model. I really really work hard to be a good role model for my children. No smoking, no drinking, no drug-dealing or any of that nonsense.... (anyone who knows me is ROTFL because I'm such a straight-and-narrow kinda girl). I exercise, I eat healthy, I try to be mindful of my words... in short, I try to be a good person, in the hopes that my children will learn by seeing what I do (and not from what I say when I have moments of short-fuse-ed-ness (that's not a real word)). So I guess I shouldn't be so shocked that my friend also found inspiration through me. Honoured, that's what I am in this moment (said in my best Yoda voice - LOL, sorry, can't be too serious in life - must laugh.) :)

I bow to you both in reverence and gratitude.
namaste
~n~

Thursday...

It's quiet around here. The kids are still asleep, I've finished 5 kms of rowing (and just entered it in the logbook: 6,500,000 metres to-date!! No kidding! That's 6500 kms). It's overcast outside and really, apart from the sound of the typing of the keys, the only sound I can hear is the computer humming and (faintly) our neighbour's rooster (which another neighbour HATES. LOL) The past 3 days I've managed to row early in the mornings before the kids are up and it is so nice to have that time. The plan is to row 5 kms a day on weekdays each month - so 100 kms a month. Very manageable... so long as I don't take an unexpected week off here or there. :)

Yesterday was a joyful day. (You know, I'm secretly a little surprised at how good life is... despite any minor grumblings I might share, life is, overall, really REALLY good. I have to laugh at myself that I'd expect it to be anything but. And it's so good that that becomes the standard, and then you sort of adjust to this high standard of happiness and joyfulness and then you might find yourself laughing less or enjoying it less, even though it's really fantastically good. (Does that make sense?!) I have to attribute it to the raw food & exercise - studies have shown that exercise makes us feel better, we handle stress better... (so get out there & exercise already), and a daily sweat helps our bodies release toxins (btw, I was swimming yesterday and this morning as I'm sweating while rowing my skin/sweat actually smells like... pool/chlorine-y type smell. TOXINS. why on earth am i swimming in the stuff - immersing my entire body in it? yuck.) And raw food has such a high energetic vibration... and maybe if you're not raw you won't understand that, but the foods' enzymes are all still alive and intact.

Recently after eating a raw dessert, dh said it tasted really "fresh". Well, yes. His usual response to raw food is "gritty". LOL But I do know what he means by fresh. When I first went raw I couldn't quite get over how fresh everything tasted. Like, broccoli actually tastes like... broccoli. It can be a bit of a work of art with raw food to balance the flavours. When you cook foods, the flavours get blended together (and change taste, too, imo)...

Yesterday I had:
- 3L of filtered water with lemon
- 750 mL of fruit smoothie (4 oranges & a banana - breakfast time)
- 675 mL of green smoothie (dinner-time) - lettuce, spirulina, banana, blackberry, sesame milk...
- a plate of veggies: sweet pepper slices, cucumber slices, alfalfa sprouts, cabbage leaves, marinated beets, sunflower seed pate, celery and carrot sticks, and a piece of olive jerky :)
- an apple, a grapefruit... and maybe something else... but one of the children are up. I knew I didn't have much time. LOL
Have a good one. :)
~n~

Wickedly Wonderful Wednesday...

Another early morning. I managed to get a batch of spelt bread started (4 loaves) and then rowed my 5 kms. I blended up 4 oranges and a banana with some water for a 750 mL smoothie for breakfast and have had 1.5 L of water so far.

Yesterday continued to be an excellent day... I went to the healthfood/grocery store in town where there are abundant organic greens - our local grocery stores out here are seriously lacking in greens period. So when I *am* in the big city, I stock up: kale, chard, spinach, lettuces, parsley... I wanted collards, too, but they didn't have any. Still, it's amazing how much more food it seems like you get for $25 when it's dark leafy greens, as opposed to other types of veggies, even.... or processed food. or junk food. LOL, don't get me started.

I have sprouts growing right now - 2 baskets of alfalfa (various stages) and a basket of sunflower sprouts as well as a basket of wheatgrass. I grow them in wicker baskets that I sterilize before using. I think it was a Steve Meyerowitz book on sprouting that got me onto that idea. The baskets work really well. It's just a matter of rinsing (with an aerator faucet - cheap and easy to install)... rinse each basket for 1 minute morning and night (they will drain themselves)... and finding enough room on the windowsill for the baskets (that's why I'd like to have a planter-window above the kitchen sink in my next home, LOL)...

I am retraining myself to make smaller smoothies. Because the VitaMix has a 2L capacity, I tend to fill it right up, making 2L of smoothie at a time... and I'm trying to reason with myself that it's simply too much for one person. :) Sometimes I'll have 1L myself and split the other L between the kids, but even 500mL for a child is too much. So I'm learning to hold back on how much I make at once - I've got it down to 750 mL the last few times. :)

Yesterday I had:
- 4L of pure water with lemon
- a bowl of muesli with a banana sliced and 1c of sesame milk (breakfast)
- an apple (lunch)
- a large grapefruit (lunch)
- 1/2c raw nut & dried fruit mix (lunch)
- 1 oz clarity chocolate with blue-green algae and goji berries (afternoon snack)
- 1/4 of a jicama spiralized into noodles and 1 tbsp of raw pesto (yummers) with 1/4 of a red pepper diced up on top. (dinner)
- a few cherry tomatoes (dinner)
- 750 mL of smoothie: 1 banana, 1/2 c each frozen blueberries & raspberries, 4 large leaves of green leaf lettuce, 1/2 tbsp of spirulina powder, 1/4 tsp camu camu powder, 1 tsp goji powder, 1 tbsp maca powder and enough water to blend. (just after dinner)
- a mug of lavender-lemon herbal tea (locally grown) with stevia - (evening)

Have a fantastic day! The sun is shining so fantastically and the forest looks amazing, as the tall fir and pine and cedar and alder trees all bask in the brilliance of the sun. They're calling me outdoors. Must go...

Yet another terrific Tuesday...

... and it's barely begun! I managed to awaken myself early this morning and get onto the rower, tout de suite. I've been up for exactly an hour and have already rowed my 5 kms. I've had a glass of beautiful, pure water with a squeeze of lemon in it - I'll probably have one or two more before eating anything. There was an absolutely beautiful sunrise while I was rowing - the sky was painted pink and positively glowed. The children are still fast asleep, which gives me a few quiet moments to myself - such a gift (both the children, and the moments alone. LOL). And now I'm off to spend a few minutes sitting in silence and then to rinse the delicious sprouts...

Check out this blog post about "What is the Raw Glow?" I totally agree - I'm not bragging here, but I get a fair share of compliments as I go about my life, and I, too, am almost always in a hoodie and sweats (LMAO) -well, okay, I 'dress up' in jeans to go to town - but seriously, I don't think I *look* much different than I did before I went raw 10 months ago... I'm still battling the roseacea on my face. It's about the positive energy you project; people compliment you because that energy is so strong they sense it as a change in your looks. hmmmm.....

Looking forward to the day ahead!
~n~

Happy Groundhog Day

What d'ya figure - 6 more weeks of winter? or an early spring? Ol' Wiarton Willie, in Wiarton, ON, saw his shadow this morning, and you know what that means - 6 more weeks of winter... according to a groundhog, that is (I wonder, is the groundhog more accurate than the meteorologists at Environment Canada at predicting this?!).

Well, it's a new month... and a rather special month around our home. Out of 4 in our family, 3 of us have birthdays this month, as well as Valentine's Day, so it's celebrations galore! :) To celebrate the first birthday this month, we went to the city yesterday to see the Chinese New Year Parade. There were lion dancers, the dragon dance, firecrackers (to scare away evil spirits), red envelopes, oranges, lanterns, drumming and more. Lots of fun. I forgot to look for young coconuts at the markets down there. And maybe durian if I can find one. I've never tried it.

We went to the raw food cafe for a bite; I had a piece of pesto pizza (yummy!), dh had a plate of flax crackers, cashew sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. The kids shared a kids' plate with carrot and apple slices, almonds and raisins and some sweet flax crackers with cranberries & cinnamon. The kids shared a smoothie and we took a chocolate heart each to-go (not that they made it far!) All in all, a delicious meal. I was quite stuffed after snacking off dh's plate as well.

I've started filtering our drinking water through a portable water filter unit that we had in our camping gear. One day I suddenly thought, 'Why am I not using that to filter our tap water?!' We're on a community water system and our tap water is presently chlorinated, although we are upgrading to a UV system in the near future. I have a chlorine filter on the shower, but no other water filters in the house. So now I'm using a 3.78L glass jug and filtering water into it daily. It tastes remarkably better than the tap water itself (I'm trying not to think about it, actually). On the water jug, I've written "Healthy, Healing Water" in permanent ink - read about Dr. Masaru Emoto's research on water here.

That's all for today. I've rowed my 5 kms and drank 3L of (pure, filtered) water, so far. I'd better begin making something nibbly for the kids for dinner.

Namaste,
~n~

Update: My raw dinner was a surprise. I made nori/california rolls with a little miso and a bunch of veggies wrapped up in them, only I didn't notice that the package of dessicant in with the nori sheets had apparently opened and sprinkled onto the sheet (only the tiniest amount... nonetheless), leaving a VERY disgusting taste on the nori (I'm using up the last of the toasted nori in the house before buying raw nori; I don't know if raw nori even comes with dessicant packs). Anyways, I was quite disappointed about it; ended up composting my nori rolls shortly thereafter. In the evening I continued to drink water but then the water began to take on a very disgusting, metallic taste as well. I'm not sure what was going on there (was I simply rinsing any residual dessicant from my mouth?), but I ended up stopping that, too. I was slightly concerned I'd end up ill from the whole thing, but I seem fine (the next morning).