Wait- What Am I?

Below are some thoughts I had after my husband referred to me as 'prudish'. I realized that as a progressive, he sees me as prudish, while a conservative would see me (on the surface) as....well, just a conservative. I've decided that I'd vastly prefer a different label. How about Traditional Progressive? Hmm, no that doesn't work. Stuffy Progressive? Amish Progressive? Appropriate Progressive? I'm getting nowhere. You decide. What am I?

I like 'family values'. I like unconditional love, healthy relationships, and time spent together in meaningful and fun ways. I believe it takes two parents to raise children, and that, generally speaking, the family unit functions better when one parent is a homemaker. But I don't at all care what a family is made of. Two dads are just fine. I also think the decision about which spouse is the homemaking parent ought to be based on strengths and available resources, not gender.

I think homeschooling is a wonderful way to preserve the family unit and childhood. I believe it affords a unique opportunity to nurture our children's souls, minds, and future. But I do not hate public school, and I think the teachers are doing the best they can in a very challenging system.

With the exception of abuse, which can take many forms, I am opposed to divorce. I think marriage is sacred and a whole lot of hard work. I believe this applies to life partner situations as well. I think it matters much more that there is commitment, monogamy, and love than marriage as defined by 'one man and one woman', or marriage defined by the law.

I dislike what I believe birth control has done to our society's view of sex and life. But I support the existence of Planned Parenthood, and recognize that doing away with birth control is unrealistic and often detrimental.

I am embarrassed by most Victoria's Secret ads, and feel uncomfortable when I hear the lyrics of many secular songs. I value modesty of body and spirit. There is no 'but' here.

I want social programs such as food stamps, WIC, and a national health care plan to exist. But I want them to have a cost for recipients. I don't mean a financial cost necessarily, and I have no idea how to make that applicable on a large scale.( There probably isn't a way as it would have to be evaluated on a case by case basis). I just mean that if I am receiving $400 a month in food stamps, I am also doing something to warrant that expenditure.

I love wearing skirts and appreciate the chapel veil, but the only meaning they have is the one I give them. With skirts I feel pretty, with veiling, an increased focus on prayer.

I love my faith. I am a content Catholic. But I can't say I am 100% faithful to the Magisterium. 99.8% perhaps. I believe that 100% equals blind obedience. For a faith still reeling from a decades- long sex scandal, I would hope that more of the faithful would reserve that .2%.

Thanks for reading. I'm looking forward to your suggestions. Mama needs a new label. Prudish need not apply.

Week's End

What do I say about school this week? That it was sub- par? That at least we read ALOT of books to our children (because we accomplished approximately nothing else)? That playtime predominated and they were introduced to vintage television, aka Green Acres? All of that would be true. Yes, we did the very basic work. We managed five days' worth of math, phonics practice, and handwriting. To make myself feel better, I like to remember that the public schooled children had a day off for President's Day and then a snow day today. And we didn't. What all of this really comes down to is that we are in the Yearly Seasonal Homeschooler's Funk. That title sounds like a fun, quirky game day or dance. It isn't. It is the time of year when homeschoolers feel blah, run down, unenthused, drifting, spent....none of which are good things.

This is where we are. But so are most other homeschoolers. It can be an appropriate time for a conference or to abandon the curriculum for awhile and explore an interest in depth. It can be an even better time to sit in a friend's living room with a bowl of popcorn while the children, dressed as butterflies and batmen, run free. Regardless of how one approaches the Yearly Seasonal Homeschooler's Funk, it is most important to keep in mind that it is normal and it will pass. The sun will soon peak out a bit more, the trees will bud, the days will warm. Homeschoolers will venture out to enjoy the spring, and in so doing will find the life returned to their learning.

Truly, this is not far off. By the end of next month we will see the hints of Spring. It is in this knowldge that I think we'll enjoy the remainder of our hibernation. There are so many great library books begging to be read, several interests we'd like to explore further. If all that should fail, we have a love of vintage television festering. Besides, as Alli said prior to bed, "Green Acres could be the place to be".

Welcome, 2012

Since our Christmas celebrations were re- scheduled this year, I didn't have the usual mental break between Christams and New Year's. While I've never been one to make specific resolutions, I often have general objectives for the new year. This morning, sitting in the dark in our living room, gazing at the un- lit Christmas tree, I have found myself whispering hello to the new year. I am ready to take the Christmas decorations down, to return the tree to the outdoors, and to move forward.

But into what? In years past, I have conciously decided what I would like to bring in the new year. There was no concious decision this year, rather the year whispered to me, 'It is time'.

It is time to do some thigns that seem a bit trite in the grand scheme of things, but I now see as critical. It is time to return to running like I used to. Also, I admit, to lifting weights. (I care very little for this!) It is time to embrace austerity and a marathon of savings. We need an emergency fund, a down payment, and to whittle away at our student debt. It is time for me to nurture my creativity. I need to write, draw, learn photography and learn how to sew. I also need to find some small way to be in service to others outside of my family. For me, this is a spiritual neccessity. These are critical because my body, family, and soul cannot go on without them. I'll probably blog here about everything except our financial journey. That will be chronicled at http://www.lilalittlecents.blogspot.com/.

So today I am going to put last year away, go for a walk, and ponder how to work those objectives into everyday life. Blessings to you and yours in 2012.

E

The Vegan Diabetic- An Intro and Menu

Ok, I'm not officially diabetic. I had gestational diabetes with all pregnancies, and I have Hyperinsulinemia, which is a pre-cursor to diabetes. I treat myself as though I am diabetic in the hopes that acting preemptively will be preventative. I am also not a vegan, although I'd really like to be. The one thing that has prevented me (aside from my coffee with half and half) is my need to control my blood sugar. I do this by balancing carbohydrates and protien within meals, and, as a vegan, it is tough to find pure protien sources and not be eating soy all day.

But I have great news! I think I am slowly compiling some menus that allow me to eat a vegan diet and control my blood sugar. I decided to start posting some of them since my own internet search for 'menus for vegan diabetics' gave me.....nothing.

I plan my meals based on grams of carbohydrate per meal/snack. 15 grams of carbohydrate is roughly one serving. Examples of one serving would be one piece of bread, 1/2 c. rice, pasta, potatoes, one small piece of most fruits. This then needs to be balanced by protien and/or fat to decrease the rate at which insulin is secreted. This is what it looks like:
Breakfast 2-3 servings
Snack 1 serving
Lunch 3 servings
Snack 2 servings
Dinner 4 servings

If I have done a longer run, I bump the first snack and the lunch up by one serving. I occasionally break the two snacks into three.
Below I have posted today's menu.

Breakfast- 1c. taco salsa black beans
Snack- homemade coconut yogurt mixed with NOW brand Vegan Support (like a protien powder and multi-vitamin in one. plus it tastes like berries!)
Snack- wheat thins
Lunch- alphabet cabbage soup w/ vegan bacon bits
Snack- orange, peanut butter
Dinner- potato pancakes (these were sooooo good!), brussels sprouts, salad

Blessings,
E

Ode to My Closet

Once, you were stuffed with clothes
some delightful, some spiteful I suppose.
And the laundry would double
Increasing my trouble
at finding peace and repose.

Well, what is one to do?
When quite clearly and so nearly
each shirt
must match
each shoe?

"Purge!" said I with determination.
So then commanded my station
and sorted sweaters, shirts, and pants.
"Be gone with you!" I cried.
"In this bag you will hide!"
Then in my closet, I did a dance.

Yup, I finally realized that finding the magic laundry system was not the problem. The problem was having too many clothes to manage. And this applies to 4/5 of my household! No wonder I couldn't keep up! Inspired by another blogger, whose name and blog I of course can't now remember, I realized I needed to drastically downsize our wardrobes. I've completed my closet and Alli's so far. I will finish the boys' sometime this week. I'm not sure how many of each item I kept. I think it was something like this:
7 pairs of bottoms (skirts, jeans, etc.)
9 tops
4 shirts for layering (we have cold winters and live in a very drafty house)
3 sweatshirts
5 sweaters
a couple dresses for church
3 pair jammies
1 pair grubby clothes
4 pair running clothes (me), dance stuff for Alli

That looks like a lot, but was still a significant reduction in our clothing. I filled three large garbage bags between my clothes and Alli's. While I'm not getting rid of them now, if I find we really don't need anything I took out, I will pass them along.

Here were my reasons for doing this:
1. I couldn't keep up with laundry.
2. I re-evaluated my reasons for having all of it to begin with and found those reasons were not valid at this time.
3. I was constantly fighting the clothes battle- keeping it washed, picked up, folded, organized, and put away.
4. I want to wash less clothing so I save on all the costs associated with laundry- environmental and otherwise.
5. I'd like to start line- drying again. Fewer clothes might make it more doable.

This seemed a bit overwhelming to me at first, but this was how I did it. I'll use the same strategy in the future.
1. Identified 3 pair jammies
2. Decided which bottoms to keep.
3. Decided which tops, sweatshirts, sweaters to keep to coordinate. I pretty much made sure the tops could be worn with at least 3 different bottoms.
4. Found layering shirts to go with tops and bottoms.

It wasn't too painful, but that may have been because I was still numb from doing (pre- purge)laundry for three days straight. : )

Anyway, that is my VERY exciting closet news. I'm thrilled.....I think I'll go pick out clothes for tommorrow. Or maybe just dance in my closet.

Blessings,
E

The Math Manipulatives Are On The Floor...

All over the floor, actually. My sweet Kai emptied out the (very cute) storage basket that held said math supplies, interspersing them with our still- unopened Christmas gifts. He topped that with our basket of completed school work. Of course, this was the year I used the most sustainable wrapping I could think of. I used brown paper bags with handles and wrote people's names on the tissue paper so the bags could be re- used. These brown paper bags are open on the top, so my family will now be gifted with their intended present plus dominoes...or Math-U-See blocks....or clock faces. I can see it now, "Yes, Uncle Howie, we do love you, but that is not really one hundred dollars....No, see, right here, it says, 'school money' ". At least I know where the 1000 cubes are. They were too big to fall in the bags.





Now, it has occured to me that I could go through each gift bag and take the math materials out. But you know what? I think I won't. I'm a bit sleep -deprived, I'm still in a funk over this year's Christmas (see previous post), and this may provide a laugh once it is gift exchanging time. Plus, I just purged our closets, and I wouldn't want my chaos v. organized balance to tip too far.
More on the closets later. It is really VERY exciting and requires its own post. I'm so excited that 'later' may be in about 15 minutes. Cheers!

Don't Know Where To Start

It's been awhile since I've posted and I don't know where to start. Maybe a general update is the way to go and then I can dig into some things I've been stewing about.

We've just celebrated Christmas. We were able to give our kids some good quality toys this year- a first for our family. It was really exciting, and it is a good thing the toys are truly sturdy. The kids have been playing pretty much non- stop since Christmas morning.

We didn't go to Mass as B was on call and I ended up getting sick. In fact, because I was sick, my family didn't come over. We were expecting 21 people total, including my brother who lives out- of- state. They all went to my sister's instead. While I am truly glad they were able to get together despite the change of plans, and while I certainly wouldn't want to pass my 'bug' on to them, there was a bit of a hole left. That was the first time I had missed our family gathering in my whole life. Fortunately, several of them are coming over this weekend. I am really excited about that, and appreciate their willingness to make the trip! Normally, I take all of our Christmas decorations down on the 26th. I feel a bit confused as I am leaving them up until Jan 1, 2012.

We finally got snow today. The kids are so excited. In fact, they are out with B right now building forts, snowmen, and igloos. I have this fantastic book about traditional homes that shows a floor plan of igloo and hte process utilized to build one. I am really excited to read that with them! In other schooly news, we are taking this week completely off. While laying ill in bed, I went through all of our books and calculated how many days we needed to finish. It looks like we are right on target for June 29. This is fortunate as we anticipate spending the first week of July looking at houses and, assuming we find something, putting an offer in shortly thereafter. I think I've finally rested with the fact that we are, truly, Sonlight people. It just fits. We don't use it exactly as laid out, but I know very few Sonlighters who do. I think I finally figured out that it is such a high- quality curriculum that even using just the read- alouds and readers provides a challenging, thorough learning experience.

The things I'd like to post about soon include reversing the real damage to the earth; sustainable living and political agendas; modesty, Christians who choose headcovering, the definition of women's lib, what Christ was really asking us to do as Christians, and how those things converge. You know, light topics. : )

Well, that was a good start. Blessings.