I hear the clock ticking on the wall… that’s it. Nothing else…
Blissful, peaceful, quiet. I don’t need my AC in the studio… no white noise filling my cluttered brain… thank god.
The past few weeks have been strange… strange news, strange happenings, and a lot of pressure. Computer woes, work headaches, school headaches for the cowboy… just a lot of crap flying around in my little world.
It was so nice to celebrate the cowboy’s birthday with his friends and family. The party was perfect… nice hot (but not too humid) weather for the party… the right number of guests.. I even bought the right amount of food. I have not one picture to share (I was way too busy to snap some) and am waiting for the emails to come in with some. The cowboy was so happy… like the perfect 4 year old happy at your birthday party. I asked him if he wanted anything else for his party and he said “nope”. He really had perma-grin the entire time.

I have him home with me this week… we had to switch school programs on the fly (for none too pleasant reasons) and are waiting for his pre-k program to start. I am really in awe of my little man. He is just so sweet… I can really see that when we spend lots of time together…I am going to try to bring him to the studio tomorrow to do some finishing work. I hope he can hang in there.

In knitting swap news…

My sockpalooza socks came last week! Theresa sent me these gorgeous monkeys, some Burt’s Bee’s foot goodness, and some great notecards. Thanks Theresa!

Funny thing is…. My buddy Michelle made her socks! Crazy coincidence… no?

More socky goodness for me too!

My buddy Sarah made me socks out of my yarn! I love her. I miss her… go tell her to move back to Maryland. OK?

More to come… more yarn news and updates soon! Remember the 20% off coupon to the warehouse is still good for a few more days!

Our baby turns 4 tomorrow… he had a HUGE pool party this weekend with a bunch of his buddies and their families. I do not have a single picture to show… I was WAY too crazy running around and having a great time.

In honor of my cowboy’s 4th…. here are 10 things about my baby.

1. He experiences life. Head first… jumps in… he really does enjoy life.
2. He loves his family. He cried when all of his uncles, cousin, and grandparents left for NJ. He just loves being with his “people”. (His actual words)
3. He is so kind. He greets all children he meets with a “hi friend”.
4. He loves to sing. He knows all the words to the Beatles ” Hello Goodbye”
5. He knew that Ted Williams played for the BoSox. He also can not believe that Babe Ruth did.
6. He genuinely thanks both his father and I (all by himself… no prompting) when we do things with him that he enjoys.
7. He tells me every night that I am his girl. He also hugs me and tells me “I’m never going to let you go”
8. He hates to see people cry. Especially me. He tells me that his heart is breaking when other people are sad.
9. He tells a great knock-knock joke (or 200 of them in a row)
10. He is the greatest gift to his father and I. I am so proud, so honored, and so profoundly grateful to be his mommy. Every day I learn from him… I grow with him… and I become a better human because of him.

Cowboy… Daddy and I love you so much.. Happy Birthday baby!

Seasonal Solids: Fall

For the Boys:

The Elements Series:

all photos credited to Jody Scofield 2007

The skeins have been added to the Warehouse here… and in honor of the cowboy’s birthday I have put a one time 20% off coupon code up!

fall frenzy

Come on down… the code applies to anything in the shop!

Thanks! more to come!

10 Things about my dearest husband on his birthday…

1. He is very funny and quick witted. He can make a joke on a dime.
2. He loves to play and can be a little mischievous.
3. He knows a little about EVERYTHING. He can relate to anybody about any topic.
4. He makes friends wherever he goes. The Grand Canyon, Nogales, the grocery store…. he can find a friend by the end of the trip.
5. He is VERY adventurous and a traveler. We generally don’t take vacations… we travel and do lots and lots. He has been to Russia, Turkey, Greece, England, the Czech Republic, Holland, France, Canada, Mexico…. He loves world travel.
6. He likes to fish. Especially with the cowboy (pictured above on their fishing expedition in Cooperstown)
7. The man loves his baseball. Spring training always puts the twinkle of the hope that spring brings back into his eyes.
8. He has the most beautiful brown eyes that are the kindest that I have ever seen… the cowboy has gotten those beautiful eyes from his daddy.
9. He is VERY patient and puts up with his flighty wife. He is the best daddy and husband a family could ask for.
10. He is my best friend. No one I would rather spend time with.

Thanks for 10 years of celebrating birthdays together, honey! I love you with all my heart.

PS… Thanks to everyone for reading! August 17 is my blogoversary! 3 years of blogging… time has flown! Thaks to you all for your friendship and support!

I am in the midst of playing catch up… I finally broke down and bought the 150.00 power cord for Phyllis. I thought I was going to pass out when I went to “not so best buy” and tried desperately to find a solution under 100.00. No dice.

Not to mention this is cord 5… no shit. Cord 5. At least 4 stopped working within the time that I could return it. Phyllis is a very expensive and complicated lady.

I got a string of very disappointing news (going from not so serious to pretty scary) over the past day. I am a tad bit blown out over it….

So… if you have not gotten a response to an email…please email me again. I need a few days to play catch up and I am thanking you all for your patience in advance.

Now…

on to the eating local challenge. I am doing well and have found that making the decisions about my food supply has really helped me to look at my nutrition on the whole. I have made an appointment with my doctor for a physical and am trying to walk with the cowboy when we can. I took him on about a 1.5 mile walk this past weekend and he loved it.

I actually had some not-so-great-for-me food and really felt it afterward. It is nice to feel the difference.

anyhoo….. that’s all for tonight. Keep a friend of mine in your thoughts… ok? Knit love out across the universe can really make a person feel better.

The lack of on the go computer access is killing me! Working is tough right now. More dyeing time for me.

On the bright side.. I have noticed a change in  my mental and physical health since I have started to eliminate processed food from my (our) diet. I actually have gained a pound… but my pants fit better. Go figure.

Lots of shopping at our local farmers market, meal planning, and recipe reading here at the house of WHOLE MAMA… cowboy is craving sugary things but he is slowly adjusting.

I got some EXCELLENT news today. Cloverhill is opening up on Mondays from 10 - 5 in September. Can you say 7 day yarn fix? Need Addis on Monday? I can go get them. How awesome is that?? I’m loving it!

More and better blog posts are on the horizon… Phyllis needs a little love.

Hey all…

a quick update to let you know my laptop. Phyllis, is on the fritz. Well… not Phyllis per se… but her power cord (again).

I bought a Universal power cord and Phyllis decided she did not like it.. so I have one on order from Toshitba. (I really dislike them.)
So.. it may take a few days for me to email you back because  of D and I sharing computers.

My work has luckily decided to purchase me a brand spanking new unit… but we’ll see when it comes in.

Thanks for understanding!

More on local eating and knitting… news to come on both areas.

Obsessed Committed? Yes!

So in my obsessive persevering ways I found a local farm.

This is Richardson’s Farm on Ebeneezer RD in White Marsh, MD. My new favorite grocery store!

I bought:

1 qt tomatoes

1 qt nectarines

4 ears of corn

2 red peppers

2 purple peppers (a la Peter Piper)
1 dozen large farm eggs

1 cantaloupe
1 seedless watermelon

1 4 lb roasting chicken

2- 3.5 oz fillet mignon (grass fed, no antibiotics, no hormones) from Roseda Beef in Monkon MD

1 - 1.5 lb Pot Roast from Roseda

2 - 1 qt each of hormone free/antibiotic free ice cream (strawberry and chocolate peanut butter) from Keyes Dairy in Havre de Grace, MD
1- 4oz block of colby cheese from Keyes

I spent :

68.00

I can not believe it. I would have paid as much at Safeway and MORE at Whole Foods.

Ummm… we are making a weekly trip. They are also at our public market and farmers markets that are much closer (more like a 3 mile trip!). I just had to get up and go today!

The food is all from less than a 100 mile radius from my home in Baltimore City!

I drove 13.12 miles. My car gets 33-35 mpg highway. The trip was 19 minutes to get there.

Less than a gallon was used to drive there and we supported our local foodshed.

ROCK ON!

So obsessive committed… yup! D is really interested in going to the farm too. Yea us!

Sidebar….

(for all of my fibery friends that look in on the Ol’Adventures blog for some decent yarn pron… I promise I will post yarny and knitting stuff too!)

Anyone interested in separate eat whole/eat local blog? One where you can post your own adventures in eating whole and eating local?

Just a thought!

I will leave you with a peek at dinner:

fresh broccoli, Maryland white corn, and White Balsamic, dijon mustard, rosemary marinated pork tenderloin. YUM!

Ice cream for dessert!

Lots of great suggestions coming my way about my recent thoughts about health and nutrition… even my bro chimed in. Thanks!

It is comforting to know that others struggle with this. I don’t feel like the only idiot who has difficulty thinking clearly about nutrition. My thoughts to this point are still forming, but I have a few ideas of which direction to head in.

I was SHOCKED to read in “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” that part of the energy crisis we are headed for is caused by food. I never thought about that before. Meaning… if your food is not local, well, it has to get to you somehow. I guess I didn’t think about the big refrigerated trucks that our grocery stores run, the planes that the food fly on, etc. I mean.. I am pretty smart if I pay attention… and the last time I checked I did not live in Chile where my sea bass comes from. The book points out that the use of fossil fuels for food transport would be dramatically decreased if we ate ONE MEAL per week from all local sources.
More than that, Barbara Kingslover talks about the generational gap between the elders that know about farming and agricultural rituals and the folks of this generation that don’t know summer breaks from school were designed for children to be able to help with the harvest. She also makes the point it is a much bigger disconnect that contributes to us not knowing about our food sources and the mass production of multiple syllable “icky ingredients” (my words, not hers) that have infiltrated the American diet.

That was chapter 1.

So, after much thought… I am trying to make this information make sense to me.

I have decided a few things….

1. I will eat “whole foods” whenever I can. Meaning, bye bye fast food. So long King, Ron, the cow that begs us to eat chicken. Adios to the 5 Amigos of Burger fame.. (just saying farewells….*sigh*)
2. I will drink water. And iced-tea (green when possible)
3. I will cook more. (PLEEEASE send good whole food recipes!) One meal every week will come from a local source

That is where I am now. I have my friend CAM… who eerily came to the same health conclusions at the same time that I did… is joining in the effort to eat better and exercise more. Who else is in?

Edited to add:

If anyone *knows* me.. I can tend to be slightly obsessive when I find something that I am interested in.

I have been sent some great resources and have found some through the powers of the internets…

The Eat Local challenge:

http://eatlocalchallenge.com/

Thanks Bev!

FoodRoutes.org

http://www.foodroutes.org/

This is a killer resource that lists CSA’s, farms, and markets in YOUR area!

So.. I got a call from a concerned friend regarding my most recent bout with the germs.

She mentioned that I have been sick a lot this year… I hadn’t even thought about that.

So… I started thinking why I could be getting constant bouts of colds and annoying bugs.

1. I have a preschooler. ‘Nuff said.
2. I sleep very little… keep weird hours. Work a ton..
3. I have not looked at what I have eaten in OVER A YEAR.

I am a little floored by number 3.

So… I need to make some changes. I am thinking that looking at eating non-processed foods is a good way to start. Anyone have any suggestions/resources/great websites to share? I need a manageable jumping off point.
I am not so concerned about weight loss at the moment (although that would be an added benefit!) I am more concerned about feeling better.

I will curb my sleep schedule to a more normal one… and try to get in some walks (in the less humid days to come)… But fast food be damned!!!

I have also decided that I need away from work time. I am going to read for 30 minutes every day. Noting work or fiber related (because that tends to become work)… Maybe a book. I can not remember the last thing I read for pleasure. Any suggestions? I may start with the Harry Potter book 1 ( I am the last human on the planet to pick up a book by JK Rowling)

I am interested to hear what you guys have to say….

Edit:

I stopped at Borders and picked this up…

30 minutes here I come!