No Average Mom

My big push to loose weight began last November. Over the course of two and a half months I managed to loose about 25-30 pounds. I looked into a ton of different things like nuphedragen and other products to aid my weight loss plan. It ultimately became clear that I needed a very specific plan suited for my eating habits. I began to realize that there are some very specific foods that I need to avoid. For example, I cannot eat white flour or refined sugar without crazy it like crazy afterward. It is like my body cannot have just a little of these things. In hindsight I realize that these foods have always been a problem for me. As a child my mother would teach me to bake in order to cope with the stresses of life. She did the best she could to help me through tough things in the only way she knew how. It would have been better for us both had we learned how to talk to each other instead of eating.

Our older son has struggled for a long time with the concept of money. I am not referring to him actually being able to distinguish money or count it but rather to see it as something of value. He tends to loose it and doesn’t really see one thing as being a better value than another. Last week we decided to try to start paying him for doing extra chores around the house. He was pretty resistant to the idea for quite awhile. It finally clicked in with him when I decided to stop buying toys and later letting him work off the cost in chores. He is now saving his money to buy things he wants. The problem is that since instituting this new plan he has already lost some of the money he has earned. I struggle with replacing the money or letting him learn from the experience and realizing that money just doesn’t replace itself and that you have to earn it.

About a week ago our youngest son decided that being completely potty trained was a very good idea. The thing I have noticed about is that once he decides that he needs to do something he does it with all his ability. The poor little guy is going to need a hemorrhoid treatment if he keeps trying to constantly go to the bathroom. For some reason he think that if he needs to urinate then he must need to make a bowel movement as well. We must make a dozen trips to the bathroom a day. I know that eventually he will understand that the two bodily functions are indeed different but for now he hasn’t quite grasped that. I will gladly take him to the bathroom twenty times a day if if means no more dirty diapers.

We are really big fans of giving away stuff we no longer use. I know that we could have a garage sale and make money off of these items but it just never seems right. As a child I was very much dependent on the charity of strangers. My clothes and toys were always used. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized what a gift these items were. No matter how little money we have had over the years we have always given away our unwanted items. For some reason I think that what goes around comes around. This week I posted on Freecycle that I was looking for canning jars. A woman was kind enough to meet me with almost 4 dozen canning jars. This was a wonderful gift and greatly appreciated. She even refused to take money for them which was really nice!

The other night I was the unfortunate victim of a computer virus. For the life of me I could not figure out how I managed to get the virus. After dealing with the virus and getting my system secure once again I began to investigate where I might have gotten it. It took me a while before I came to the conclusion that it might have been due to my youngest son. He loves to turn on the computer and then randomly begins to click here and click there. The child simply knows too much for his own good about computers. He knows exactly where to click to get to his favorite websites but sometimes his little fingers make a wrong click. I believe that this is why my poor computer was almost overtaken by this particular virus. I am very orderly about keeping my computers secure but even I can’t always account for little children.

This week my reading list included the “Omnivore’s Dilemma”. This has been a book I have wanted to read since watching “Food Inc.”. The book covers in detail all of the subjects that movie touched on. It is very troubling to understand exactly what the status of the American food system really is. I know there are people who could argue that this book only presents one point of view. From this reader’s point of view I think it presents the food system in a very clear light. The issues raised by this author are something that every person with a conscience should know. I honestly believe that is people really knew how and where the food products available to them come from they would rally for reform. Our food supply is really a mess and it is likely to only get worse. More and more people have become entirely dependent upon prepared foods and have absolutely no idea how to make food for themselves.

This year I have a very short list of gifts that I would love to receive for Mother’s Day. If you know me well you know that I am a simple person. While I love diamonds like the next girl there is something I secretly want even more. What I really want is a really large pressure canner. These are not sold in our area so it is not likely that I will be getting one unless someone really close to me reads this blog. A canner would simplify my plans for putting away most of our vegetables this year instead of buying them. I have just about amassed the minimum number of canning jars that I will need and now only this one thing is missing.

It has been just about a year since we decided to make over our way of eating. Over time it became pretty clear that our children had no clue where food actually came from. We started out pretty simply by making just a few easy things ourselves. As time progressed we tried more and more complicated foods. Recently I decided to try to add sprouts to our diet. The first thing I tried spouting was wheat berries. Sprouting was a pretty easy thing to do. It takes a mason jar and a piece of cheese cloth. You put a couple tablespoons of seeds into the jar and let them sit in some water for a while. After a bit of time you drain the water off and repeat this process twice a day until you have nice sprouts. This is a super easy way to have fresh green veggies on hand for sandwiches and salads. They make a tasty little snack to eat while blogging as well.