Man I have just found the best stuff!!
Dr. Mercola recommended it on his website, Tulsi Tea. I knew though that I could find it at the Sunflower Farmers market near my house so I went up and bought some. I am loving the raspberry peach version, yummy!! I also love Roobios tea or it's also called African Red Tea. I love both of these because they are caffine free totally better for you then Green, white or black tea (teas from the Camilla Sinisitus (SIC) leaf).
I finally got a run in today. My right calf has been grumpy with me and hurting so I have been stuck with walking. Today I took a really long walk up the really big incline path by my house then when I got to the top I turned around and did 2 minute sprints down the other way. It was great and I feel really good.
I've been thinking about the things that I thought that were cool when I was a kid. Like babysitting, having my own phone line in my room (I strung one from my moms room to mine), having a backyard swimming pool (me and my brother started to dig one once, my dad didn't appreciate it), driving (way not cool anymore), candy and ice cream (you know how I feel about these, except I do appreciate coconut icecream with raw chocolate and agave and Xocai chocolate).
I was big into study when I was a kid. In fact I hated school with a passion. I would walk home after being dropped off, not to watch TV, but to get all of my dad's books out (for some reason I wanted to read all of them). I would set up my study schedule, make my lunch and be in perfect bliss reading through all of those old books. I didn't understand half of what I was reading, but I wanted to. I remember listening to a tape that he had about morris code, I can't remember a thing about it now but it was interesting at the time.
What is also interesting is to compare what I was facinated by when I was little to what I feel about things now. Take rainbows for instance they always evoked a sense of wonder in me. I loved to make them by spraying water from the hose up into the sunlight. I also remember one day when there was to be a meteor shower. I went with my cousin to the store and bought these rainbow glasses. We sat back in our lawn chairs, actually in the middle of the street, and watched the meteors as they seemingly came straight towards us. It was fantastic watching the light burst into rainbows. I was also very earthy, I loved to walk out and smell the fall leaves decaying and drying. I loved to jump into them and crunch them up. I loved to sit in the bushes and smell the fresh earth around me. I would watch the bugs and imagine how things were long ago when there were no humans destroying what was natural around them. I was a very animistic kid and sympathized with the trees that had deep cuts on them and were weeping sap out. The Chinease elm tree does that, it weeps out a brown sap sometimes when it has lost a limb. I also felt differently towards cats and dogs and animals in general. Cats were and are fun creatures to think about. They are so hauty, but some are really friendly. Our new little kitten is a friendly creature and dosen't like to be alone. In fact I was happy to hear her marrow for us when we went upstairs.
I have decided that I definantly get PMS because I feel so differently during the course of the month. I only feel like writing at certain times in the month, like right now. For most of the month though I am intensly interested in learning. If I had a day to myself I would sit down and read as much as I could, I would not be done in a day I would want weeks, years. I am never satisfied with not learning. People who don't like to learn bug the heck out of me. In fact although I love my husband he dosen't like to learn the same way that I do and it really bugs me. He does talk to people though, usually the guys at work, so I can talk to him about things a bit. But he doesn't get the deeper meaning of things or the nuances and dual meanings of things, thus very shallow conversation ensues. That's just how things are though, and I love him so I deal with it.
Advice for anyone looking for someone to marry... take a long time, be engaged a long time and talk a lot. If you are an intellectual, don't marry a jock (unless he likes to read and think also).
Well gotta finish this tome!! Because I have other things to do (like visiting Busuu.com and learning French).
~Strawberry Girl
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The American Tax System
The way our tax system works....This explanation of how our tax system is "supposed" to work, comes from an Economics professor at the University of Georgia . I encourage you to take the two minutes to read this brilliant explanation, it is well worth the read.
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all tencomes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar everyday and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said, I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that every one would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings) .
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings) .
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. 'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!' 'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!' 'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!' 'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!' The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill! And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.Professor of Economics, University of Georgia
OK So that is how I got this e-mail.
This is what I think about it.
This is exactly the Rupublican viewpoint (that I have heard espoused) on this subject. They think unilaterally about it, that everyone is happy "drinking their beer" or living their lives until someone or something comes along that shows in stark contrast what the system looks like.
I think that this explanation, although theoretically true, is shortsighted. Being one of the first four who would be "drinking their beer" for free I want to put in a comment. I would rather be able to earn enough money to be able to support myself, then to have to rely on other people to pay for me. Having a system set up that "supports" me rather than allows me to support myself encourages me to either be lazy or to be stupid. Stupid in that I no longer take the initiative to find ways to support myself as well as I should. Or what if I could find a cheaper "beer" or make my own "beer?" OK I HATE BEER I AM GOING TO HAVE TO CHANGE THIS TO BE Kombucha Tea made with Roobios (an herbal red tea instead of Green tea which is caffinated). So I decied that it is better to drink Kombucha tea but I am stuck drinking beer because I sold my right to make my own decisions when I signed on to this "redistribution of wealth" idea. I say forget that idea, let us all make better decisions and if your stupid enough to believe everything you are told and to not fight for truth and your own individual freedoms then you should not deserve to be wealthy either. But if you are wealthy you also have the responsibility to encourage and teach others what you know. The whole "teach a man to fish instead of give a man a fish idea."
That said, I know there is more to my own personal development that needs to be done on this subject and it is an ongoing process. I know though fundamentally that I would rather be out there being productive and trying to take care of myself rather then sitting around blowing bubbles in my "beer" and letting someone else pick up the tab. Taking care of myself feels better.
~Strawberry Girl
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all tencomes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar everyday and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said, I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that every one would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings) .
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings) .
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. 'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!' 'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!' 'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!' 'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!' The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill! And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.Professor of Economics, University of Georgia
OK So that is how I got this e-mail.
This is what I think about it.
This is exactly the Rupublican viewpoint (that I have heard espoused) on this subject. They think unilaterally about it, that everyone is happy "drinking their beer" or living their lives until someone or something comes along that shows in stark contrast what the system looks like.
I think that this explanation, although theoretically true, is shortsighted. Being one of the first four who would be "drinking their beer" for free I want to put in a comment. I would rather be able to earn enough money to be able to support myself, then to have to rely on other people to pay for me. Having a system set up that "supports" me rather than allows me to support myself encourages me to either be lazy or to be stupid. Stupid in that I no longer take the initiative to find ways to support myself as well as I should. Or what if I could find a cheaper "beer" or make my own "beer?" OK I HATE BEER I AM GOING TO HAVE TO CHANGE THIS TO BE Kombucha Tea made with Roobios (an herbal red tea instead of Green tea which is caffinated). So I decied that it is better to drink Kombucha tea but I am stuck drinking beer because I sold my right to make my own decisions when I signed on to this "redistribution of wealth" idea. I say forget that idea, let us all make better decisions and if your stupid enough to believe everything you are told and to not fight for truth and your own individual freedoms then you should not deserve to be wealthy either. But if you are wealthy you also have the responsibility to encourage and teach others what you know. The whole "teach a man to fish instead of give a man a fish idea."
That said, I know there is more to my own personal development that needs to be done on this subject and it is an ongoing process. I know though fundamentally that I would rather be out there being productive and trying to take care of myself rather then sitting around blowing bubbles in my "beer" and letting someone else pick up the tab. Taking care of myself feels better.
~Strawberry Girl
New Kitty!!
Yep, I finally gave in and got a new kitty. We tried to get one about 6 years ago, but he ran away and joined the heirom of girl kitties that lives next door. So after that disappointment I have been resisting the urge to get a kitty. Plus I had a really great Cat when I was growing up. His name was Spooky, he marrowed at you and had a virtual meowing conversation with you when he came in. He was also very loving and a good purrer. He died from an infection that he got after a cat fight. This new kitty is a female, about 8 weeks old and she is a people kitty. She is a purrer and very friendly. She is a dark grey and black calico with a bit of orange. I am so happy to have her and so are my kids. In fact my two year old was so excited that she stayed up late rolling around on me saying "Kitty, kitty" and then she rolled off the bed in the middle of the night and she murrmered "Kitty" when I picked her up.
I haven't wrote in the past little while, I guess I get in a funky mood and don't feel like writing or don't know what to write.
I am in a kind of funk right now. I am trying to figure out what canidate to vote for, because I like neither McCain or Obama and Ron Paul is already out of the running. Some of my friends are voting for Chuck Baldwin but I don't know much about him. I already realise that my vote will only be a "statement" vote because McCain will win my state no matter who I vote for.
I have also been thinking about the fundamental attitudes that I should have. There is an air of "relativism" around and I got the idea when I was growing up that as long as you were not hurting anybody, whatever you did was alright. But is this idea true? On the surface it sounds good, everyone gets to do what they want to do right? So if I have sex without being married that was my right, and no one should tell me it's wrong. But what about if I get pregnant? That is where the behavior leads, to pregnancy. So if there is no chance for pregnancy is it alright to engage in sex without being married? Theoretically it's alright, but unfortunantly there are other things to consider. Like disease and like mental health. What about other ideas, like the idea that it doesn't matter what I spend my money on. Ok so I earn some money, I can go out and buy all the games, toys, magazines, clothes and junk I want. But what then happens when my decision to buy clothing that is made by underpaid children in China fuels the demand for that product and more of them are exploited. My decision to buy a game or new cell phone leads the manufactures of these products (usually the smaller ones) to demand the rare metal that is used for the manufacture of these products and a small boy in Africa has to go down dangerous mine shafts in order to retrieve it. My decision to eat junk food leads to health problems and an increased demand upon the "health care" system to "cure" my ailments. Which fuels the demand for more government healthcare because I can't afford to pay for my healthcare because I have spent all of my money on disposable products on "ME" and have no money left. If my decisions are all about "ME" then I have essentially become a burden to society.
I want to figure out how to become an "Unburden" to society. I have not been raised with the firm moral doctorine of standing up for what is right by making wise choices, but I figure that it is time I look at how I can make myself and my life as responsible as possible.
For the record, I think that the Gay movement to redefine marriage as a "union" between two consenting adults, two individual people is morally and fundamentally flawed. I can understand the idea that we should not discriminate against people who are different. But this surface reason behind the movement for "Gay Marriage" is not the whole story. The whole story is that when we change the definition of marriage and make it a matter of anti-discrimination in the courts this then becomes the tool with which the Gay and Lesbian movement will use to force religious and non religious institutions alike to do what Gay and Lesbian people deem to be moral. In fact shoving their morality in everyone elses face and normalizing abnormal behavior. I am not going to make an argument about the morality of being Gay or staight, but I do want to point out that normalizing abnormal behavior includes not only Gay and Lesbian marriage, but other abnormal behaviors as well. Cross dressing, kinky sex, public displays of lewed behavior, public neudity etc.
This kind of result has come about and will continue to come about if we allow "Gay Marriage." Do I want to see people slobbering all over each other in public, Gay or staight? I say NO!! All of this behavior should be done out of the public eye. Another more obvious and already happening result of "Gay Marriage" is the normalizing of it to our kids. They will be taught by action and by word that it is normal in their schools and elsewhere. It's not about being kind to others its about the view of life that I want my kids to grow up with.
Heck it's sad that there are people out there who struggle (or openly embrace) attraction to the same sex, why? Because I think it is a sign of the degeneration of our food supply. This may seem odd coming after such a long discussion of Gay marriage, but I think that most people even Gay people (may) believe that men and women are supposed to be attracted to each other so that they come together to form babies. That there are so many people out there who do not feel attracted to the opposite sex leads me to wonder why? In fact I have to admit that when I ate a diet that was completely denatured I felt oddly blank and wasn't normally attracted to my own husband and even I wondered what that meant. Now that I am eating a diet full of grass fed butter and free range eggs and other healthy fats I feel more and more normal and attracted to my husband. Another part of the story is the amount of hormonal disrupters out there. If there wasn't grass fed beef I wouldn't want to eat any beef at all because of the amount of hormones pumped into the beef. I have also learned about the destructive effects of soy on the body, that the Chinease (oriental people) didn't even eat soy for thousands of years until they found a way to ferment it. Even still they only eat a small amount of Soy in the form of Miso, Natto and Tempeh and soy sauce. Not the large quantities purported to be eatten by the American soy industry. It was considered a sacred crop, but only as a nitrogen fix for the soil. For more information on this visit the Weston A Price foundation online.
Lastly I believe that we should question long held beliefs and that in the rush to be "fair" we consider the consequences. I am going to post next about how the American tax system is set up. We need as a whole to start thinking through how things are set up and how they should be set up.
~Strawberry Girl
I haven't wrote in the past little while, I guess I get in a funky mood and don't feel like writing or don't know what to write.
I am in a kind of funk right now. I am trying to figure out what canidate to vote for, because I like neither McCain or Obama and Ron Paul is already out of the running. Some of my friends are voting for Chuck Baldwin but I don't know much about him. I already realise that my vote will only be a "statement" vote because McCain will win my state no matter who I vote for.
I have also been thinking about the fundamental attitudes that I should have. There is an air of "relativism" around and I got the idea when I was growing up that as long as you were not hurting anybody, whatever you did was alright. But is this idea true? On the surface it sounds good, everyone gets to do what they want to do right? So if I have sex without being married that was my right, and no one should tell me it's wrong. But what about if I get pregnant? That is where the behavior leads, to pregnancy. So if there is no chance for pregnancy is it alright to engage in sex without being married? Theoretically it's alright, but unfortunantly there are other things to consider. Like disease and like mental health. What about other ideas, like the idea that it doesn't matter what I spend my money on. Ok so I earn some money, I can go out and buy all the games, toys, magazines, clothes and junk I want. But what then happens when my decision to buy clothing that is made by underpaid children in China fuels the demand for that product and more of them are exploited. My decision to buy a game or new cell phone leads the manufactures of these products (usually the smaller ones) to demand the rare metal that is used for the manufacture of these products and a small boy in Africa has to go down dangerous mine shafts in order to retrieve it. My decision to eat junk food leads to health problems and an increased demand upon the "health care" system to "cure" my ailments. Which fuels the demand for more government healthcare because I can't afford to pay for my healthcare because I have spent all of my money on disposable products on "ME" and have no money left. If my decisions are all about "ME" then I have essentially become a burden to society.
I want to figure out how to become an "Unburden" to society. I have not been raised with the firm moral doctorine of standing up for what is right by making wise choices, but I figure that it is time I look at how I can make myself and my life as responsible as possible.
For the record, I think that the Gay movement to redefine marriage as a "union" between two consenting adults, two individual people is morally and fundamentally flawed. I can understand the idea that we should not discriminate against people who are different. But this surface reason behind the movement for "Gay Marriage" is not the whole story. The whole story is that when we change the definition of marriage and make it a matter of anti-discrimination in the courts this then becomes the tool with which the Gay and Lesbian movement will use to force religious and non religious institutions alike to do what Gay and Lesbian people deem to be moral. In fact shoving their morality in everyone elses face and normalizing abnormal behavior. I am not going to make an argument about the morality of being Gay or staight, but I do want to point out that normalizing abnormal behavior includes not only Gay and Lesbian marriage, but other abnormal behaviors as well. Cross dressing, kinky sex, public displays of lewed behavior, public neudity etc.
This kind of result has come about and will continue to come about if we allow "Gay Marriage." Do I want to see people slobbering all over each other in public, Gay or staight? I say NO!! All of this behavior should be done out of the public eye. Another more obvious and already happening result of "Gay Marriage" is the normalizing of it to our kids. They will be taught by action and by word that it is normal in their schools and elsewhere. It's not about being kind to others its about the view of life that I want my kids to grow up with.
Heck it's sad that there are people out there who struggle (or openly embrace) attraction to the same sex, why? Because I think it is a sign of the degeneration of our food supply. This may seem odd coming after such a long discussion of Gay marriage, but I think that most people even Gay people (may) believe that men and women are supposed to be attracted to each other so that they come together to form babies. That there are so many people out there who do not feel attracted to the opposite sex leads me to wonder why? In fact I have to admit that when I ate a diet that was completely denatured I felt oddly blank and wasn't normally attracted to my own husband and even I wondered what that meant. Now that I am eating a diet full of grass fed butter and free range eggs and other healthy fats I feel more and more normal and attracted to my husband. Another part of the story is the amount of hormonal disrupters out there. If there wasn't grass fed beef I wouldn't want to eat any beef at all because of the amount of hormones pumped into the beef. I have also learned about the destructive effects of soy on the body, that the Chinease (oriental people) didn't even eat soy for thousands of years until they found a way to ferment it. Even still they only eat a small amount of Soy in the form of Miso, Natto and Tempeh and soy sauce. Not the large quantities purported to be eatten by the American soy industry. It was considered a sacred crop, but only as a nitrogen fix for the soil. For more information on this visit the Weston A Price foundation online.
Lastly I believe that we should question long held beliefs and that in the rush to be "fair" we consider the consequences. I am going to post next about how the American tax system is set up. We need as a whole to start thinking through how things are set up and how they should be set up.
~Strawberry Girl
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Cycles
I am finally feeling extraordinarily well again today. I am really starting to wonder if there is something to the Chinease belief in meridians and Chi and blockages because it seems like there is something blocking up my head a lot of times but it is not like a cold (you know mucus and stuff). I want to know what's going on so I think I will research Chi a bit and see what I can get from it.
~Strawberry Girl
~Strawberry Girl
Monday, October 20, 2008
SAD
I think the scariest day of your life is when you wake up and see things differently then you previously have.
That happened to me last year when I became disillusioned about the SAD diet or Standard American Diet.
What is funny is that I read Kevin Trudeau's Book called "Natural Cures "They" don't want you to know about."
Ok - That book is hard to read because he rants a lot and he repeats himself a lot. But he outlines some things that make sense also, however I think he is absolutly over the top about some things. For instance he suggests that you wear white indoors (not particulary bad, but could be weird if you made a religion out of it), and that you stand on a giant magnent in your back yard. Plus he is really into internal cleansing, although I do think that it is good to do cleanses, but I don't agree with harsh methods.
Here is my cleanse: Start the morning off by eating a young coconut (or Thai coconut) they are white cylinder shapped coconuts wrapped up in plastic, usually kept in the produce section. You cut off the outer husk, then pierce the bottom "mouth" and let the juice (about 2 cups) drain into a cup. Afterwards you can take a hammer or heavy knife and hit it in the middle (not on the end where the "eyes" are or the other side, but the middle like where you would open a grapefruit in half). When it opens up spoon out the meat and eat it.
Then eat as much celery as you can stand throughout the day. Then eat an avocado and a green apple (Granny Smith). Then about an hour later eat another avocado and another apple. You can also eat carrots and other fresh veggies.
Preety soon you will see how "clean" you can get, without harsh herbs or chemicals.
Check out the Weston A Price foundation online http://www.westonaprice.org/
Weston Price was a dentist that had a phenomenon start appearing in his office. A lot of cavities and jaw deformation. He decided to locate people still eating their indigiouness diets and make a comparason between them and those that ate refined sugars, flours and canned goods. Keep in mind that this was at the beginning of the industrial "revolution," and that there were still some people that ate their indigeouness diets.
I bought his book called "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration" and it was an eye opener. The differences between those who ate a traditional diet and their children or siblings who did not was striking. The facial structure of those who started to eat refined foods became narrower and the teeth started to crowd and become full of cavities. He visited people from all over the world and the same thing was happening everywhere. In one instance that I remember, he visited the Ekimos in Alaska. They were coming down with all sorts of ailments, bad teeth, liver failure, overweight, heart disease. When they went back to eatting their traditional diets all of these diseases started to clear up and go away. I recommend this book to anyone who is seeking the truth about food. I also recomend that you should eat as much whole, real and raw food as possible. I don't recommend a Vegan diet however, because as much as I would like to never have to eat animal flesh or products I just cannot sustain that type of a diet, I personally have tried it and felt sick, sick, sick. Vegan diets have to be carefully, very carefully planned. Substitute meats are not healthy for you. I found this out the hard way. Plus after reading Dr. Prices book he mentions that he wasn't able to find any indigiouness group that did not eat meat.
I came to the idea of careful consumption of meat and eggs (I just cant do milk). I try to only eat eggs that are from a farm (I have found a couple of sources). I also try to eat only free range chicken and pastured grass fed beef. This I do very sparingly and try to be frugal in how I use these animals. I think that you should respect the food that you get and not waste it.
Well that is it for now.
~Strawberry Girl
P.S. Here is an article that I found just today that points this out (partially)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20081020/ts_usnews/10thingsthefoodindustrydoesntwantyoutoknow
That happened to me last year when I became disillusioned about the SAD diet or Standard American Diet.
What is funny is that I read Kevin Trudeau's Book called "Natural Cures "They" don't want you to know about."
Ok - That book is hard to read because he rants a lot and he repeats himself a lot. But he outlines some things that make sense also, however I think he is absolutly over the top about some things. For instance he suggests that you wear white indoors (not particulary bad, but could be weird if you made a religion out of it), and that you stand on a giant magnent in your back yard. Plus he is really into internal cleansing, although I do think that it is good to do cleanses, but I don't agree with harsh methods.
Here is my cleanse: Start the morning off by eating a young coconut (or Thai coconut) they are white cylinder shapped coconuts wrapped up in plastic, usually kept in the produce section. You cut off the outer husk, then pierce the bottom "mouth" and let the juice (about 2 cups) drain into a cup. Afterwards you can take a hammer or heavy knife and hit it in the middle (not on the end where the "eyes" are or the other side, but the middle like where you would open a grapefruit in half). When it opens up spoon out the meat and eat it.
Then eat as much celery as you can stand throughout the day. Then eat an avocado and a green apple (Granny Smith). Then about an hour later eat another avocado and another apple. You can also eat carrots and other fresh veggies.
Preety soon you will see how "clean" you can get, without harsh herbs or chemicals.
Aside from cleanses, it is good to take a close look at your diet in order to avoid the junk that manufacturers put into their (your) food.
If you eat anything out of a box, wrapper or can you should really scrutinize it. There are a lot of fillers and tricks in these products. Look for HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) I think I already posted a link to an article about it, don't believe that it is safe to eat. Also look for Modified anything (not gonna be good for you), hydraganated oils (trans fats), MSG, sugar, Artificial colors (they will affect you for the worse, believe me), plus anything that say's "Natural" (Natural on a lable may mean that it origionally came from a natural source, but doesn't neccessarily mean that it is natural now, it can also mean how it "naturally" is suppossed to taste and could be derived from a petrochemical). Also look for the word "Spices" which could mean anything from chemical flavorings to MSG. Look for Propolyne Glycol and other types of this word. This is a substance that is used in your deoderant, shampoo, my dad uses it to lubricate heater parts (In fact he has a large bucket of it), you can also find it in your antifreeze and believe it or not in your sour cream, YUMMY!!Check out the Weston A Price foundation online http://www.westonaprice.org/
Weston Price was a dentist that had a phenomenon start appearing in his office. A lot of cavities and jaw deformation. He decided to locate people still eating their indigiouness diets and make a comparason between them and those that ate refined sugars, flours and canned goods. Keep in mind that this was at the beginning of the industrial "revolution," and that there were still some people that ate their indigeouness diets.
I bought his book called "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration" and it was an eye opener. The differences between those who ate a traditional diet and their children or siblings who did not was striking. The facial structure of those who started to eat refined foods became narrower and the teeth started to crowd and become full of cavities. He visited people from all over the world and the same thing was happening everywhere. In one instance that I remember, he visited the Ekimos in Alaska. They were coming down with all sorts of ailments, bad teeth, liver failure, overweight, heart disease. When they went back to eatting their traditional diets all of these diseases started to clear up and go away. I recommend this book to anyone who is seeking the truth about food. I also recomend that you should eat as much whole, real and raw food as possible. I don't recommend a Vegan diet however, because as much as I would like to never have to eat animal flesh or products I just cannot sustain that type of a diet, I personally have tried it and felt sick, sick, sick. Vegan diets have to be carefully, very carefully planned. Substitute meats are not healthy for you. I found this out the hard way. Plus after reading Dr. Prices book he mentions that he wasn't able to find any indigiouness group that did not eat meat.
I came to the idea of careful consumption of meat and eggs (I just cant do milk). I try to only eat eggs that are from a farm (I have found a couple of sources). I also try to eat only free range chicken and pastured grass fed beef. This I do very sparingly and try to be frugal in how I use these animals. I think that you should respect the food that you get and not waste it.
Well that is it for now.
~Strawberry Girl
P.S. Here is an article that I found just today that points this out (partially)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20081020/ts_usnews/10thingsthefoodindustrydoesntwantyoutoknow
Monday, October 13, 2008
Family Work
I was sent an article about family work, it makes a whole lot of sense to me. I feel saddened that this way of life is not possible for many people and a lot of people don't even know what they are missing.
Here is the jist of it.
Parents and children used to work along side each other. Fathers ploughing the field would have their children following them planting seeds. Mothers used to have their children around them during the day cleaning with them, cooking with them, laughing and joking with them. As well as educating them. All of the industrial advances of the last century have made it so that fathers go to work and are isolated from their families. Mothers go to work and are isolated from their families. Children go to school and are isolated from their families. Even if mothers stay home, like I do, the older children are sent to school and their kind company is definantly missed. We are supposed to establish relationships through play, but really how natural is that?
It is natural to weed along side your child and bring up the important things that come to your mind to talk with them about. They are able to bring up things to talk to you about. It is natural to laugh while cleaning your home and cooking dinner. It is natural to rake leaves while your children take turns jumping into them. It is not natural to be separated almost all the hours of the day then thrown together to eat a hurried meal before everyone slinks off to their computer, to their book, to their music or television show. It is not natural for children to have to be shifted about in the school system. Constantly lining up as criminals to their ordered places. How friendly is it to sit eating your pathetic food (which I consider all school food to be) with people around you who may or may not be your friends, but either way don't have your best interests at heart, they have their own concerns.
This article struck a chord with me, I am increasingly feeling saddened and isolated by my childrens absence during the day. I want to be more connected with my children, I want to raise them. Yet they are going to school, it is a product of my own upbringing, a force which is hard to fight against. After all I don't really know what to do with them when they are here, that's how far I have gotten from them. Yet there is something more, there is learning and edification and care from both mother and children. The day is fuller when you are able to teach and help shape the future of your children.
How stupid these feminists!! I read a paper written by my mother when she was in college. I wonder if her teacher had a sense of humor, or reality. It was about how women had been repressed, how they should be allowed to persue their intellectual interests. How children could be raised without imposing upon the mothers freedom to do this, I agree!! Yet the way that I agree is different from what she meant. As you stay home with your children your intellectual capacity is expanded, you learn by teaching!! As the feminists would have it, you should be free to work, HA!! You are free when you are able to bring up your children. Feminists live a harried life. If they choose to have children, they rush about to bring them to day "care," to get to the office on time, then they are "enslaved" all day to their work. They finish the day exhausted then have to pick up their children bring them home to an alway's messy house with no dinner to serve and the only option is the fast, the cheap, the blah that the modern industrial revolution has made ready for them to offer their family. This "Junk" is then the cause of the suffering of their own and their family's health and doctors and illness is their only choice.
Contrast that to a mother who stay's home. She is more able to wake up when rested and her children too. She can cook them breakfast, they can do some work, then go out for a walk. They can talk and chat and laugh together. The meals they eat are nutritional and they all feel good about their day. Sure sometimes things get busy, but I noticed that when I was trying to homeschool my kids during the summer that things went smoothly and I felt so happy at the end of the day.
Now their in school, curse my inability to communicate with my husband, our inunderstanding of each other. I want to cry everyday because I feel like I am missing something, that my time is being wasted on the meaningless and mundane. Somethings gotta give here, I hope I can figure out what to do.
~Strawberry Girl
Here is the jist of it.
Parents and children used to work along side each other. Fathers ploughing the field would have their children following them planting seeds. Mothers used to have their children around them during the day cleaning with them, cooking with them, laughing and joking with them. As well as educating them. All of the industrial advances of the last century have made it so that fathers go to work and are isolated from their families. Mothers go to work and are isolated from their families. Children go to school and are isolated from their families. Even if mothers stay home, like I do, the older children are sent to school and their kind company is definantly missed. We are supposed to establish relationships through play, but really how natural is that?
It is natural to weed along side your child and bring up the important things that come to your mind to talk with them about. They are able to bring up things to talk to you about. It is natural to laugh while cleaning your home and cooking dinner. It is natural to rake leaves while your children take turns jumping into them. It is not natural to be separated almost all the hours of the day then thrown together to eat a hurried meal before everyone slinks off to their computer, to their book, to their music or television show. It is not natural for children to have to be shifted about in the school system. Constantly lining up as criminals to their ordered places. How friendly is it to sit eating your pathetic food (which I consider all school food to be) with people around you who may or may not be your friends, but either way don't have your best interests at heart, they have their own concerns.
This article struck a chord with me, I am increasingly feeling saddened and isolated by my childrens absence during the day. I want to be more connected with my children, I want to raise them. Yet they are going to school, it is a product of my own upbringing, a force which is hard to fight against. After all I don't really know what to do with them when they are here, that's how far I have gotten from them. Yet there is something more, there is learning and edification and care from both mother and children. The day is fuller when you are able to teach and help shape the future of your children.
How stupid these feminists!! I read a paper written by my mother when she was in college. I wonder if her teacher had a sense of humor, or reality. It was about how women had been repressed, how they should be allowed to persue their intellectual interests. How children could be raised without imposing upon the mothers freedom to do this, I agree!! Yet the way that I agree is different from what she meant. As you stay home with your children your intellectual capacity is expanded, you learn by teaching!! As the feminists would have it, you should be free to work, HA!! You are free when you are able to bring up your children. Feminists live a harried life. If they choose to have children, they rush about to bring them to day "care," to get to the office on time, then they are "enslaved" all day to their work. They finish the day exhausted then have to pick up their children bring them home to an alway's messy house with no dinner to serve and the only option is the fast, the cheap, the blah that the modern industrial revolution has made ready for them to offer their family. This "Junk" is then the cause of the suffering of their own and their family's health and doctors and illness is their only choice.
Contrast that to a mother who stay's home. She is more able to wake up when rested and her children too. She can cook them breakfast, they can do some work, then go out for a walk. They can talk and chat and laugh together. The meals they eat are nutritional and they all feel good about their day. Sure sometimes things get busy, but I noticed that when I was trying to homeschool my kids during the summer that things went smoothly and I felt so happy at the end of the day.
Now their in school, curse my inability to communicate with my husband, our inunderstanding of each other. I want to cry everyday because I feel like I am missing something, that my time is being wasted on the meaningless and mundane. Somethings gotta give here, I hope I can figure out what to do.
~Strawberry Girl
Friday, October 10, 2008
Wow, New Post!!
I know, I know, I haven't posted for a while. I haven't forgotten, I just haven't felt particularly inspired lately.
So I went on a walk the other day and it was a very nice day. I was thinking about how amazing just one little leaf is. The leaves range right now from beautiful bright red to yellow to green and inbetween. So I picked a few different types and decided to copy them on the scanner, here is the result.
Today I took a really long reflective walk up to my mom's house. It was chilly out today so I didn't feel like walking along the river (which makes the air even colder). It's been a nice day, I needed that. I hope to post more later (I even have a new Gluten Free Gourmet recipe to share).
~Strawberry Girl
So I went on a walk the other day and it was a very nice day. I was thinking about how amazing just one little leaf is. The leaves range right now from beautiful bright red to yellow to green and inbetween. So I picked a few different types and decided to copy them on the scanner, here is the result.
Today I took a really long reflective walk up to my mom's house. It was chilly out today so I didn't feel like walking along the river (which makes the air even colder). It's been a nice day, I needed that. I hope to post more later (I even have a new Gluten Free Gourmet recipe to share).
~Strawberry Girl
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Fate
I have been pondering the role of fate in our lives today. Really how much does fate play a role in our lives? Why is it that you were born to the parents that you were born to? Live in the land that you live in? Are rich or poor?
I am not the first person to think thus, nor will I be the last. Plus what are we supposed to get from the encounters with others that we have? I have had situations like a job that I got once, were it was the last minute, and I was running around trying to call on it, then I got it. Then I met someone on that job who changed my life, but they are no longer in my life. What should I take from that, what was the purpose?
Like when I was 15, I was running with my "best friend" (in quotation marks because she was a backstabber), and she mentioned one of her cousins in Tonga and I thought to myself "I wonder what would happen if I went there and met him, would he like me?" Then he came to America and it turned out that he did like me and we ended up married. Then I have had a lot of dramatic experiences with fate.
My husband and I had a rocky start to our marriage, there were things that happened and I was very upset over them. His family whisked him off to California before I even knew what to think and before things could get worked out. I had one chance, he was going to Tonga in two days (he had trouble with his visa anyways) I had to find someone to cover me at work and no one was answering the phone, so I left messages (which I hate to do). I got a last minute ticket and packed my bags. My mom and I got lost, we barely got to the airport and I missed the plane. But there was one more going out that night and I just barely made it (running all the way, carrying a baby and pregnant to boot). I went to a different airport than the one that my husbands family were told I was coming to and on the off chance that I might be there they had driven an hour from the other one to find me. Just in time since my baby had got his clothes wet and I was very pregnant and very tired. He flew out to Tonga the next day and my mom and I worked very hard, just barely meeting deadlines for immigration (the rules were literally changed the next day after we filed). It took 9 months and I had my daughter alone before he came back. The whole time I didn't really know what I was doing or why, I just acted.
That is also how I found the duplex apartment that we live in. We were kicked out of our other apartment (because my husband lost his job and we couldn't pay). After one night at my mom's I searched the internet and there was very little for rent, except this place fit the description. I was almost out of gas and but I went to the appointment with the manager anyway. Then I couldn't find the address and was running around then I called him and found the place and he gave it to me on the spot (This was also while pregnant, baby number 3).
Last year, my cousins were travelling home from a family reunion on labor day when a drunk man swerved across the meridian and hit into their truck and killed them. That was also fate, very unfortunante fate.
I think about how things happened to me, when I was 15 I didn't know that I had food allergies that affected my reasoning skills. Lot's of people won't believe me, but it used to be very hard to make positive assertions. Even when confronted by little decisions like what time to make an appointment or whether or not I should make an appointment, I would sometimes say yes knowing that I couldn't make it and then regret it later. Or I would say yes to do something that I knew I couldn't do or to do something I shouldn't do.
Thus in this state, I think that it was not fully my decision which made it so that I married my husband, or even that I brought him back from Tonga. I was just doing what circumstances dictate that I should do, it was not a pleasant way to live.
So now I wake up and feel differently from what I did then and wonder "is this where fate wanted me to be?" "Should I look at other possibilities for my life or should I be grateful for what I have and where I am at?" After all, my cousin who is every bit as good as I am is still not married, that could have been me.
I have chosen to live with what I have, there is definantly a lot of joy to be found in my situation. But I wonder, what the capricious hand of fate has in store for me. There was so much drama, so much going on to get me here, that it is hard to feel comfortable with living life as though things are going to work out and that fate is through playing with me. It's like I am living with the anticipation of "what's next, what now." That is probably the most unsetteling thing in my life right now, that and the inactivity of being through with school, it's hard to get my goals defined again. School had deadlines, real life does not, or at least you don't know when they are. How do you know that you have one more chance to hug your kids, before they are somehow killed?
If you got this far reading about my thoughts on fate, thank you for listening. Now I am going to do the only thing I can do, keep on living. I hope your day is good.
~Strawberry Girl
I am not the first person to think thus, nor will I be the last. Plus what are we supposed to get from the encounters with others that we have? I have had situations like a job that I got once, were it was the last minute, and I was running around trying to call on it, then I got it. Then I met someone on that job who changed my life, but they are no longer in my life. What should I take from that, what was the purpose?
Like when I was 15, I was running with my "best friend" (in quotation marks because she was a backstabber), and she mentioned one of her cousins in Tonga and I thought to myself "I wonder what would happen if I went there and met him, would he like me?" Then he came to America and it turned out that he did like me and we ended up married. Then I have had a lot of dramatic experiences with fate.
My husband and I had a rocky start to our marriage, there were things that happened and I was very upset over them. His family whisked him off to California before I even knew what to think and before things could get worked out. I had one chance, he was going to Tonga in two days (he had trouble with his visa anyways) I had to find someone to cover me at work and no one was answering the phone, so I left messages (which I hate to do). I got a last minute ticket and packed my bags. My mom and I got lost, we barely got to the airport and I missed the plane. But there was one more going out that night and I just barely made it (running all the way, carrying a baby and pregnant to boot). I went to a different airport than the one that my husbands family were told I was coming to and on the off chance that I might be there they had driven an hour from the other one to find me. Just in time since my baby had got his clothes wet and I was very pregnant and very tired. He flew out to Tonga the next day and my mom and I worked very hard, just barely meeting deadlines for immigration (the rules were literally changed the next day after we filed). It took 9 months and I had my daughter alone before he came back. The whole time I didn't really know what I was doing or why, I just acted.
That is also how I found the duplex apartment that we live in. We were kicked out of our other apartment (because my husband lost his job and we couldn't pay). After one night at my mom's I searched the internet and there was very little for rent, except this place fit the description. I was almost out of gas and but I went to the appointment with the manager anyway. Then I couldn't find the address and was running around then I called him and found the place and he gave it to me on the spot (This was also while pregnant, baby number 3).
Last year, my cousins were travelling home from a family reunion on labor day when a drunk man swerved across the meridian and hit into their truck and killed them. That was also fate, very unfortunante fate.
I think about how things happened to me, when I was 15 I didn't know that I had food allergies that affected my reasoning skills. Lot's of people won't believe me, but it used to be very hard to make positive assertions. Even when confronted by little decisions like what time to make an appointment or whether or not I should make an appointment, I would sometimes say yes knowing that I couldn't make it and then regret it later. Or I would say yes to do something that I knew I couldn't do or to do something I shouldn't do.
Thus in this state, I think that it was not fully my decision which made it so that I married my husband, or even that I brought him back from Tonga. I was just doing what circumstances dictate that I should do, it was not a pleasant way to live.
So now I wake up and feel differently from what I did then and wonder "is this where fate wanted me to be?" "Should I look at other possibilities for my life or should I be grateful for what I have and where I am at?" After all, my cousin who is every bit as good as I am is still not married, that could have been me.
I have chosen to live with what I have, there is definantly a lot of joy to be found in my situation. But I wonder, what the capricious hand of fate has in store for me. There was so much drama, so much going on to get me here, that it is hard to feel comfortable with living life as though things are going to work out and that fate is through playing with me. It's like I am living with the anticipation of "what's next, what now." That is probably the most unsetteling thing in my life right now, that and the inactivity of being through with school, it's hard to get my goals defined again. School had deadlines, real life does not, or at least you don't know when they are. How do you know that you have one more chance to hug your kids, before they are somehow killed?
If you got this far reading about my thoughts on fate, thank you for listening. Now I am going to do the only thing I can do, keep on living. I hope your day is good.
~Strawberry Girl
Monday, October 6, 2008
No More Doom and Gloom
OK
I am getting stressed out following what is happening with the stock market. But I can't let it keep affecting me like this, I havn't gone on a walk today, I have been running around trying to do things to keep my mind off of what is going on. So I am going to take a nap and then go on a walk (or vice versa). I am going to evoke my monthly period coming up as an excuse for the extreme emotion, because I am usually quite mellow and focused. Today however I am going nuts. Plus my husband has decided to join the SWAT team for the police (he has always been randomly interested in the police) and wants me to look up the price of a sniper rifle. (Yikes, I don't like this). I think I will write later if I get anything interesting to say.
~Annie
I am getting stressed out following what is happening with the stock market. But I can't let it keep affecting me like this, I havn't gone on a walk today, I have been running around trying to do things to keep my mind off of what is going on. So I am going to take a nap and then go on a walk (or vice versa). I am going to evoke my monthly period coming up as an excuse for the extreme emotion, because I am usually quite mellow and focused. Today however I am going nuts. Plus my husband has decided to join the SWAT team for the police (he has always been randomly interested in the police) and wants me to look up the price of a sniper rifle. (Yikes, I don't like this). I think I will write later if I get anything interesting to say.
~Annie
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Finding out What is "worth it"
I'm feeling better today, I was blowing off steam yesterday, because I was frustrated by what is happening in this country.
It is raining outside today, I am glad. For some reason the rain always seems soothing to me. I have been listening to General Confrence today, it is a LDS meeting that they broadcast twice a year, I always feel so refreshed and renewed in spirit after listening.
You know I have found that this life takes courage. Courage to be different, to stand up for what you believe in and to seek out the truth. It is very difficult to be trying to hold the line on healthy living and eating when most of my family looks askance at me. Let me tell you, to be trying to do something because you believe in the principle even though you may not know all of the details or all of the truth is hard.
Here is an example. I began my journey by throwing out my microwave, I heard that deoderant contained aluminum and that it had been linked to tumor growth, and I also heard that cell phones could cause cancer. So one morning I was downstairs trying to cook breakfast (oatmeal)on the stove when somebody called. I had to run upstairs to take a message (while holding the phone at arms length) and left the stove. After I took the message I could smell the oatmeal burning so I ran downstairs and turned off the stove. Then felt utterly pittiful because I had no oatmeal to eat, the house was filled with smoke which made my hair stink and I stunk because I hadn't yet found a deoderant without aluminum that worked (I've found one now called Herbal magic Jasmine scent, which I like). So the thought came to me, "is this worth it, do I really believe that this is an improvement in my life?" That was kind of an ironic moment. So I went upstairs and took a shower with my organic shampoo (which kind of smells like roses, an old favorite scent). Then I went downstairs and cooked some more oatmeal and put nuts and dried cranberries in it, and I felt so good and my mind was so clear, that I felt that my efforts were worth it. (BTW I tried to put on my old deoderant several months later and it hurt my pits).
Thankfully I no longer have to stink, I am better at keeping track of things on the stove (you don't know how many eggs that I caused to explode because I forgot about them), and I know what to eat to make me feel good.
So it is worth it, no matter what it takes, no matter how long or how stupid you feel during the effort of trying to find out the truth. In the end if you find out the things that are worth it, you will be happy.
~Strawberry Girl
It is raining outside today, I am glad. For some reason the rain always seems soothing to me. I have been listening to General Confrence today, it is a LDS meeting that they broadcast twice a year, I always feel so refreshed and renewed in spirit after listening.
You know I have found that this life takes courage. Courage to be different, to stand up for what you believe in and to seek out the truth. It is very difficult to be trying to hold the line on healthy living and eating when most of my family looks askance at me. Let me tell you, to be trying to do something because you believe in the principle even though you may not know all of the details or all of the truth is hard.
Here is an example. I began my journey by throwing out my microwave, I heard that deoderant contained aluminum and that it had been linked to tumor growth, and I also heard that cell phones could cause cancer. So one morning I was downstairs trying to cook breakfast (oatmeal)on the stove when somebody called. I had to run upstairs to take a message (while holding the phone at arms length) and left the stove. After I took the message I could smell the oatmeal burning so I ran downstairs and turned off the stove. Then felt utterly pittiful because I had no oatmeal to eat, the house was filled with smoke which made my hair stink and I stunk because I hadn't yet found a deoderant without aluminum that worked (I've found one now called Herbal magic Jasmine scent, which I like). So the thought came to me, "is this worth it, do I really believe that this is an improvement in my life?" That was kind of an ironic moment. So I went upstairs and took a shower with my organic shampoo (which kind of smells like roses, an old favorite scent). Then I went downstairs and cooked some more oatmeal and put nuts and dried cranberries in it, and I felt so good and my mind was so clear, that I felt that my efforts were worth it. (BTW I tried to put on my old deoderant several months later and it hurt my pits).
Thankfully I no longer have to stink, I am better at keeping track of things on the stove (you don't know how many eggs that I caused to explode because I forgot about them), and I know what to eat to make me feel good.
So it is worth it, no matter what it takes, no matter how long or how stupid you feel during the effort of trying to find out the truth. In the end if you find out the things that are worth it, you will be happy.
~Strawberry Girl
Friday, October 3, 2008
The Complexities of Life
Man, I feel like I have missed something and I am running to try to catch up. The problem is that I am not sure "what" exactly I missed and how I can "catch" up.
Here is the problem. I graduated from college with a degree in accounting. I took economic, accounting (of course), taxes, history, philosophy courses. But I feel like I know way too little about these subjects, as well as geography which I remember only briefly studying in the fourth grade. I don't understand what is happening in other countries and what little I do understand about what is happening in this country has left me baffled about what to do. As well as the general public which probably dosen't understand as well.
There is one thing I know. I hate being beholden to others and I hate being scammed. I wish that this life was as straightforward as what it used to be. You used to be able to work and have what you did pay off for you. Here is the scenario that we face now, you work and save and put your money in the bank. Some policy makers in Washington pass legislation that either taxes you or they increase the currency (by asking for money we don't have and then printing it off without something to back it up), so by increasing the currency that decreases the value of the money you earned. Or you work and don't save, you spend your money on whatever pleases your fancy, you get into debt and effectively put yourself into bondage. Here is also what is happening, you have very little choice as to what job you want to do. Here are the jobs that I know of right off the bat, store clerk, store manager, fast food worker, fast food manager, office employee, office manager, nurse, doctor, electritian, plumber, carpet cleaner (and other services), massage therapist, medical transcriptionist, small business owner. There are a few creative jobs like journalism (where in my opinion you end up as a front for the big corporations and express no real opinion other than what the popular news media wants you to say), photographer (which is highly competitive), florist, painter, writer. These jobs are highly competitive and somewhat based upon the whims of popular thought. Then there are sales jobs, and psudo jobs. Sales jobs require a certain type of personality and a tough skin. Psudo jobs are in my opinion somewhat dishonest, you put out ads for a real estate apprentice, or put ads in newspapers, flyers for people who "want to lose weight," these people make money off of other peoples dissatisfaction with there situation.
What happened to doing something because you enjoy doing it? I know that there are people out there who do this. But you have to live with the reality that you are going to be beholden in some way to someone to meet your necessary living expenses. Do you have to sell yourself out, do what everyone else is doing?
I think that it is important to take a look at what you really need in life and to make goals consistent with that. Two of the greatest problems in society (or what I think to be the greatest problems) are greed and apathy. When people get greedy they take on more than they can handle. Everything you own demands some part of your attention, if you own too much you will constantly be trying to protect your things. I had a teacher bring up the problem of "affluenza" of wanting more than we needed. This is certainly a contributing factor in what is happening right now with this "bailout," people took on more than they needed. Plus if you think you need a lot you will work a lot, that is just part of the beast. So what do you need? Figure that out and don't put more pressure on yourself to get "more." Apathy is part of the problem in that when we are too focused trying to accumulate we ignore things that are important because we have no more time to focus on them, we are too busy. Here I am, I know that I don't have "a lot." It would be nice if we owned a house. But we don't and I don't see anyway in the near future that, that goal can happen. Does that mean I give up? No, that means that I take a look at my reality and decide to focus on those things that are worthwhile and will bring me happiness. I love my family, I love to have good health, I love to have a clean home and I love not feeling stressed out over a mortgage payment. So I accept where I am at and hopefully in the future I will get where I want to be, it can happen. When you show that you are responsible for what you have and you enjoy what you have, then you will be able to get what you need.
Here is my plan for now:
Learn about politics, geography, history, food, healthy and cooking, among other things. Do what I can to be a good citizen and teach my kids what they can do. Try to educate them, apathy is dangerous. They need to know what is going on, why and what they can do about it.
I hope I haven't bored you all with my frustrations and I hope your day goes well.
~Strawberry Girl
Here is the problem. I graduated from college with a degree in accounting. I took economic, accounting (of course), taxes, history, philosophy courses. But I feel like I know way too little about these subjects, as well as geography which I remember only briefly studying in the fourth grade. I don't understand what is happening in other countries and what little I do understand about what is happening in this country has left me baffled about what to do. As well as the general public which probably dosen't understand as well.
There is one thing I know. I hate being beholden to others and I hate being scammed. I wish that this life was as straightforward as what it used to be. You used to be able to work and have what you did pay off for you. Here is the scenario that we face now, you work and save and put your money in the bank. Some policy makers in Washington pass legislation that either taxes you or they increase the currency (by asking for money we don't have and then printing it off without something to back it up), so by increasing the currency that decreases the value of the money you earned. Or you work and don't save, you spend your money on whatever pleases your fancy, you get into debt and effectively put yourself into bondage. Here is also what is happening, you have very little choice as to what job you want to do. Here are the jobs that I know of right off the bat, store clerk, store manager, fast food worker, fast food manager, office employee, office manager, nurse, doctor, electritian, plumber, carpet cleaner (and other services), massage therapist, medical transcriptionist, small business owner. There are a few creative jobs like journalism (where in my opinion you end up as a front for the big corporations and express no real opinion other than what the popular news media wants you to say), photographer (which is highly competitive), florist, painter, writer. These jobs are highly competitive and somewhat based upon the whims of popular thought. Then there are sales jobs, and psudo jobs. Sales jobs require a certain type of personality and a tough skin. Psudo jobs are in my opinion somewhat dishonest, you put out ads for a real estate apprentice, or put ads in newspapers, flyers for people who "want to lose weight," these people make money off of other peoples dissatisfaction with there situation.
What happened to doing something because you enjoy doing it? I know that there are people out there who do this. But you have to live with the reality that you are going to be beholden in some way to someone to meet your necessary living expenses. Do you have to sell yourself out, do what everyone else is doing?
I think that it is important to take a look at what you really need in life and to make goals consistent with that. Two of the greatest problems in society (or what I think to be the greatest problems) are greed and apathy. When people get greedy they take on more than they can handle. Everything you own demands some part of your attention, if you own too much you will constantly be trying to protect your things. I had a teacher bring up the problem of "affluenza" of wanting more than we needed. This is certainly a contributing factor in what is happening right now with this "bailout," people took on more than they needed. Plus if you think you need a lot you will work a lot, that is just part of the beast. So what do you need? Figure that out and don't put more pressure on yourself to get "more." Apathy is part of the problem in that when we are too focused trying to accumulate we ignore things that are important because we have no more time to focus on them, we are too busy. Here I am, I know that I don't have "a lot." It would be nice if we owned a house. But we don't and I don't see anyway in the near future that, that goal can happen. Does that mean I give up? No, that means that I take a look at my reality and decide to focus on those things that are worthwhile and will bring me happiness. I love my family, I love to have good health, I love to have a clean home and I love not feeling stressed out over a mortgage payment. So I accept where I am at and hopefully in the future I will get where I want to be, it can happen. When you show that you are responsible for what you have and you enjoy what you have, then you will be able to get what you need.
Here is my plan for now:
Learn about politics, geography, history, food, healthy and cooking, among other things. Do what I can to be a good citizen and teach my kids what they can do. Try to educate them, apathy is dangerous. They need to know what is going on, why and what they can do about it.
I hope I haven't bored you all with my frustrations and I hope your day goes well.
~Strawberry Girl
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Healthy "Carmel" Popcorn Recipe and a Request
Today I made up a recipe for healthy "carmel" popcorn, the link is on this site to "The Frugal Gluten Free Gourmet," delicious.
The request is for creative parents out there to help me think of way's to avoid a sugar overload this year on Halloween (I know tall order, but I had to ask). If you have any idea's please post them, all comments are appreciated.
~Strawberry Girl
The request is for creative parents out there to help me think of way's to avoid a sugar overload this year on Halloween (I know tall order, but I had to ask). If you have any idea's please post them, all comments are appreciated.
~Strawberry Girl
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