Humble Pie

I know that my boy Gannon will get more blog time than the others because God sent him just to teach me so many more things than my other boys! He teaches me patience and he teaches me how to outthink a three year old. He teaches me how to work with people who are hard to work with! He teaches me laughter and he teaches me joy and he occasionally serves me up a portion of humble pie! And believe me, God intends to serve me up a heaping portion because He knows I can be pridefully ugly. I mean, I have six boys. And five of the six are easy going boys who ( as young boys) cower in the face of the unknown. Take them to Sunday School or someone's home they've never been to and they will hide behind my legs and perhaps not utter ONE word the entire time they are there. Even for MONTHS or YEARS of going to the SAME class...they will barely make a peep. And at times this has been a burden as I want them to enjoy themselves and drink in life to the full! I want their teaches and classmates to know them and see how sweet they are. And it causes horrible cases of separation anxiety for them. And I hate that. But, you know what? I have always enjoyed the side of this that keeps my boys obedient and compliant when they are away from us. I have never had to worry that they are disobedient or making a bad name for themselves...or us! :)

But then came Gannon. :)

He is not like his brothers. At all. And what makes him precious and adorable and lively makes him hard to manage and a pain in the neck. He loves life. No worrying that this boy is not loving his life to the full. He LOVES people and he knows NO stranger. He speaks to store clerks and teachers and children of all sizes. I never know what he might say! A nurse asked him the other day how old he was and after he held up four fingers and said, "I am three" he then asked her how old she was! We burst out laughing but truly, that makes sense doesn't it? If people always ask you how old you are...then surely you should ask the same, right? He perks up and talks to anyone. And I kind of love it. None of my other boys would do this...even the teenagers will not speak unless someone speaks to them and even then it is hard to get them to answer clearly and with eye contact. And Gannon is stinkin cute too. At least I think so. He is a blondie with the sweetest little lips you have ever seen. I am telling you, if he weren't so rotten I'd eat him with a spoon....well, if I weren't spanking him with it first! :)

SO, what brings this up again? Cause this ain't the first time I have blogged about little Gannon. Well, it was prompted by the first EVER phone call I have received about one of my sons' behavior in a class! GASP! Our boys go to about a half a dozen FamilyLife staff meetings a year. While we are in the meeting, the boys are in classes. Well, it has been since October that Gannon was in class and for some reason the coordinator was just now getting to calling me because the first meeting of this year is tomorrow. The teacher of his class (who BTW is a young , childless woman) said he would not obey. He isn't mean. He just doesn't want to do what he doesn't want to do. And if you have never had a spirited child you are saying to yourself right now, "Well, duh, what child wants to do everything he's told? Spank him more!" Well, my friend...let me serve you a piece of my humble pie...not all kids are the same! Believe this momma of six. Five came out pretty much the same and one came out with spots! :) And believe me, he gets him some spankin'! In fact, almost every battle with Gannon comes to blows with a spanking. He just doesn't back down any other way. But, the Lord has settled in my spirit that dealing with him all the time with the rod is NOT the way to his heart. God made him different. And this momma is determined to work within Gannon's bent. "Train up a child in the way he should go..." is more accurately translated...."Train up a child according to his natural bent." See, we want to bend them our way. But twigs don't bend much before they snap. Some twigs give easily and their natural bent is towards us...but other twigs are bent in their own special direction. And while some days I'd like to give that little twig a good snap...I know this has no gain in his life or mine. SO I work with him. I try to foresee battles and issues of control and I try to head them off at the pass. I try to allow him lots of lead room to do things himself and make decisions where I can. He doesn't want to eat? Don't eat! He wants to wear long pants and a long sleeved shirt when it is 80 degrees...go for it! He wants to wipe his own bottom, put on his own shoes (on the wrong feet), open his own wrapper, buckle his own car seat....GO BOY GO! But, of course he has to mind. And he has to control his screaming temper or he is going to feel some pain. And most every day involves some pain for this kid. But apparently it is worth it to him to have a say in his life.

Here is the thing though...when I hand him off to well-meaning teachers and sitters, they don't know all this. They need him to do as he is told. If all the kids are sitting on carpet squares with their hands folded nicely...he should too. If it is snack time and all the other kids are seated nicely around the table...he should too. And if a child takes his toy he should share. And he should speak softly. And he should lie on his mat at naptime. But for Gannon....he is NO respecter of authority. Again, gasp. He no more respects them as authority than he does his daddy and me. Seriously. He does what we tell him to do because of one of two reasons: 1) He wants to do what we have asked or 2) He fears the consequences if he doesn't. But, it is hard to get this spirited child to do what he doesn't want to do with someone who holds no consequence with him. UGH! This means I have to step in and wield consequences which is difficult when I am not there. And this means I have to ask some immature, inexperienced (typically) person to understand my child in a way that is different than the other 10 in the class. If he will sit in a chair quietly but not on the floor...then PLEASE let the boy sit in a chair. He just wants a choice. Who cares if he is the only one doing it or if some of the others want to sit in a chair also? If he can have a choice...please offer him one. I get it. There is not always a choice. All I am asking is see his heart...his natural bent and give him room to be him. That's a tall order. I get it. After all, he is my boy. I love him unlike anyone else besides his daddy. And that love spurs me to be patient and work with him.

Here is the bottom line. Being Gannon's mommy has taught me to stop judging other parents about how they handle their children. I have NO idea what is happening in their home and in their hearts. What appears to be a poorly disciplined child may actually be a leader in the making. I refuse to be ashamed of him or discipline him sternly so that others can "see" what a good parent I am. I wring my hands over this child every day. He is a HAND FULL! But oh how I love him! Can't wait to see who he is going to be! ~M.

This that and the other....

• It's COLD here and gray. Oh curses on the gray cold days. And tomorrow is the boys last day of SEEK (science class at the 4H center) and rain is certain. Bummer because the last day is usually reserved for outdoor fun. Stink.
• Our entire family is sick. Well, Keith is not as sick as the rest and may escape but I doubt it. This is a NASTY cold virus. As in, I have not been THIS sick with a cold in a long time. I typically dodge the bullets but not this time. The coughing here is exhausting. You know the cough...the one that can't be touched with prescription or OTC meds. You have to combine them both and pray it helps and doesn't kill them. The sinus pressure is unbelieveable. Some have had fevers, others diarrhea. Lovely. SO we are holed up in here and miserable.
• Except for the reality that I have to teach Precept class tomorrow. Yeah. That's fun. I am so looking forward to it and yet praying so hard that God shows up big time to drown out my weakness. I feel like God has poured water on my offering just to show up even more powerfully. (see 1 kings 18:38...I love this Bible story) Keith has to stay home in the morning to keep the littles because they are too sick to take to childcare. Stink again.
• I am making homemade tomato soup and PWs rosemary rolls for dinner. Yum. Comfort food.
• I have been reading All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. It is fabulous. I hope I can get inspired to do my own square foot garden this summer. Seems so simple but you have to actually do it. Wish someone would come get it set up for me.

Well, that's all I guess. I am looking ahead to the weekend when temps in the high 60s/low 70s and sunshine return! Perhaps by then we will all be on the mend and I can return to church and life! Love you all! M.

Stream of consciousness...or a post in which I purge my mind of all the unposted FB statuses I have been harboring!

HELLO FRIENDS!

So, it's been a little over three weeks since I have posted. And to some degree I have been away from here...and Facebook. To some degree. I steered pretty clear for a week and then steadily drifted back to checking in on a few blogs. The nice thing about blogs...versus Facebook is that bloggers tend to post no more than once a day at the most (and most a lot less than that!) so once I have perused the list I am done. I still try to stay away and not go digging through old blogs and such. As for FB, I do periodically log in to accept friend requests that come to my email box or to deal with an issue I had not getting FB messages sent to my inbox. SO, if you "saw" me on there I assure you, it was a quick peek...okay and maybe a QUICK scroll down the screen...before I felt convicted and logged off! :) Honestly, I miss it. A bunch. I miss my friends...my real friends, not FB friends. I miss their status updates that say so-and-so is sick or well, or having a birthday. I miss photos of vacations and photos of cute, growing kids. But when I have done a quick scroll, I see that mainly the statuses are "status-quo" (haha) and I know, in reality I am not missing that much. In fact, I enjoyed a long phone conversation with my besty just because we couldn't connect in our usual manner. And as usual, it ended in tears. I think that is why we prefer FB...neither one of us want to blubber about how much we STILL miss each other and each others' family even after nearly 6 years. But it was good for my soul to hear her voice and chat it up for way too long!

SO, here are the things going on around here that probably would have been status updates had I been on FB these last three weeks!

• The weather is GORGEOUS. (abundant sunshine, lovely temps)
• The weather is AWFUL. (abundant clouds, nasty humidity)
• I felt my first EARTHQUAKE two nights ago. Did you know AR is on a fault line? Wacko. The bed was shaking and I was freaking out. Only Grant and Garrett were still awake and they thought each other had shaken their bed! (They sleep in a loft bed that is all one bed)
• Keith travelled for five LONG days to Hershey PA to serve with FL at a WTR event. We missed him but we did REALLY well.
• Praise God I felt great and ate well while K was gone. Except for sleep...I really hate sleeping without him.
• I love doing Precept studies. I am thoroughly enjoying Colossians.
• I am quaking in my boots (pun intended from earlier earthquake status:) about being asked to teach aformentioned Precept class next week while our leader is away. I have been trained to teach Precept and only someone trained can teach...but it has been over ten years since I have taught. Before she asked me to sub, God had reminded me that I have been so blessed to sit under wise, mature women as Precept leaders. So when she asked me to do this...I felt humbled. Not because I am wise and mature...not by a long shot...but because I tremble to think of filling those shoes...even for a day. Pray I don't get in God's way next week.
• I had to miss Precept this week because Grayson-boy is sick with fever. I just love to snuggle a sick baby....so why didn't he get sick some other day? :)
• Grayson-boy is sleeping his second nap of the day. He is so sweet. I am telling you...he is too precious for words. I could eat him up.
• Speaking of Grayson being too precious...his big brothers adore this child. I am telling you, if you wonder how it works having teenagers and toddlers...it is a sight straight from God. I love it. He loves them and hangs with them. They snatch him up and still, two years later, race to see who can get him up from his nap.
• Gannon is still my early riser and constant companion. He is too cute for words too. With nicer weather he and I hang out on the deck A LOT. He loves this. He isn't a cuddler but LOVES companionship. If I sit on the deck he entertains himself forever in the backyard.
• My hormones have been good to me this month. Thank You Lord.
• I am following a hypogycemic diet in an effort to curb my appetite, stop my heart palpitations, even out my hormones, and be a happier healthier person in general. This means no sugar, no fruit (for now), limited dairy (for now), no wheat (for now), limited grains, and no processed food. Sounds daunting doesn't it? But when I see how my health is affected...I press on. I FIRMLY believe sugar is killing us...literally. It is the cause behind obesity, heart disease, diabetes, early aging, candida, cravings, depression, anxiety..should I go on? I won't. I could. I won't. :)
• The Lord has been so good to me this past month...sheesh...this past LIFE...but you know what I mean. He has been so present and so patient. I give Him all the praise for giving me the knowledge to help myself with better nutrition. He has given His Word which has helped nourish my soul. He has blessed me with a mate who is so much more than I deserve. He has blessed me with sons that touch my heart in ways that make me ache with love for them. He knows me and He wants me to know Him even more.

Well, that is all for now. Gannon is PESTERING me to DEATH to go outside. Rough life for me! Love you all! Thank you all for the prayers and messages sent to me. You are so dear! M.

Checkin' Out

I have been really down lately. As in depressed. Hormones can take me places I don't want to go and really don't want to stay. And I don't know if it is hormones or Satan or Satan using my hormones. I just know it stinks. I hate feeling this way and more than that...I hate taking my husband through it with me. He has no choice. It is in that better or worse clause. :)

But in hashing it out with my man (something that takes more courage than you can dream for me...I do not communicate verbally well at all and I loathe shedding tears even in front of Keith. I hate that. I do. And I don't know why I am like that.) I came to some conclusions. I am not in a good place and it is going to take some drastic changes to get me out of here.

The first step is I have to fast from my technology. At first I thought just Facebook. But it isn't just Facebook. It is blogs too. And websites. I mean, I am not looking at anything I shouldn't be. I am just using my computer as an escape from my life. And there is balance there. A stay at home, homeschooling mom of 6 boys needs a little escape. But, I am escaping to it way too much. And worse than that, I am escaping from God. Instead of getting in His Word and bathing my mind in truth, I get on Facebook and sink lower into my pit. Facebook is a challenge for me. It allows me to compare myself with other women and that is NOT a good thing.

And as much as God has allowed me to learn all this new stuff about nutrition and such I am spending way too much time reading up on all of that. And it depresses me too! I can only do so much. I can only afford so much. And I have bitten off PLENTY of that for now. I love what I have learned but it is enough for now.

And I am reading about 25 blogs more or less daily. Yes, daily. Doesn't take me long. They aren't long. They don't all post everyday. But come on...25 blogs. Enough. I don't even know all these blinkin' people! Some are nutrition blogs, some recipe blogs, some friends' blogs, some blogs I have gotten involved in because a friend says, "Pray for so and so" and I get hooked wanting to know how life is going for that stranger. It isn't that I shouldn't pray for them but for pete's sake...I DON'T KNOW THEM! I don't think I need to peek into their lives daily or more than a few times daily. And believe it or not...I have a sensitive spirit and if I learn of someone hurting, I hurt too. Then I am carrying around a hurt and that can be too much quite frankly. I mean, it is a great tool that we can, with a push of a button, send a prayer request out for millions of people to pray for but then again, it is too much. At least for me. There is so much hurt right here around me. And if I start carrying every burden put out on FB or blogs...well, let's just say...this girl can't.

So, I am calling a halt. I will need to check e-mail and get online to place my Azure order and such...but I am going to have Keith help me figure out when and how long I can do that. I don't think it was a coincidence that I pulled the shrink wrap off of my new Colossians Precept study today and that it said this:

"As you begin this twelve-week course on the book of Colossians, stop and count the cost. If you don't do it now, you will not be prepared for Satan's subtle allurements, devices, distractions, deceptions, and discouragements (emphasis mine) which will slip in to keep you from completing this study. Are you prepared to say no to those activities and desires that would keep you from your homework or class attendance? Are you willing to forego some pleasures of this world for the treasures of His Word?(again, emphasis mine) To what degree do you want to obey God by studying to show yourself approved unto Him so that you won't be ashamed when you see Him face-to-face?"

Shew. Come on. God has spoken to me. Please hear me. I DO NOT think Facebook or blogs or websites are evil. I have just fallen prey to making them an idol. And I need to tell God...I am all His...He is all mine. And my boys need more of me. Ugh. More. I don't feel I have more to give... I just know they need more. So God is going to have to supply. I am thinking He has asked for 12 weeks. Yes. 12 weeks. Oh my. I don't know if I will blog here or not. Perhaps. But I cannot allow myself to read others' blogs right now. I will miss it but oh how I pray I miss Him less. Love you all! M. (your comments here will go to my email box!)

Low-carb...a lifestyle choice, not a fad diet

I act as if I am writing to a huge audience! HA! I love my 8 followers! But seriously, if even two people ask me the same question I feel a need to blog it rather than repeat myself. Just ask my husband and children...I DO NOT (I repeat...DO NOT :) like to repeat myself. (HA...did you get the funny I just made? ) So here is the statement a friend made...



"I am considering low-carb more and more when I've watched health shows that are showing how strong sugar addiction can be." Then she asked me if I had any low-carb info. BOY DO I!



My low-carb education began when I was looking for a way to lose weight after I had my fourth son, Gage. I wasn't looking to change my life, the way I ate, or my attitude towards carbs. I was looking to shed some fat people! And I had heard lots of good things about The South Beach Diet by Dr. Arthur Agatston. Namely, I could shed 10 pounds in two weeks! HELLO? Ten pounds in two weeks. SIGN ME UP! So, I ordered the book, devoured the info and dove right in. First of all, let me say it was eye-opening to say the least. This was the first time ever that I had heard a doctor say that belly fat was directly linked to consuming too many refined carbs and that by cutting out carbs, belly fat could be reduced. He also went on to say, among other things, that by cutting carbs his patients' cholesterol, blood sugar, and other numbers improved along with their weight. So if I was reading right...sugar and white flour were the culprits in elevating health risks and not FAT! I had simply never heard that. I dutifully endured my first two week phase of South Beach which says NO sugar, NO fruit, NO bread, NO pasta, NO nothin' that resembles a carb. And Dr. Agatston, being the good doctor he is, also said to stay low-fat. I ignored him (and you should too if you read South Beach). I didn't know how wise I was at that time...I just knew if I was skipping everything good I was NOT skipping the fat. I ate butter, bacon, full fat meats, higher fat milks and cheeses, eggs, and as many nuts as I wanted. And I lost the weight! But LOOK OUT...phase one ended and I could HARDLY wait to get my carbs back. I mean, I knew I was supposed to enter phase two and add in only healthy carbs like fruit and whole grains...but...um...I didn't. I headed straight back to sugar like a long lost friend. And I didn't necessarily gain back ALL the weight. It stayed lower. I must have held back somewhat. Or maybe I just got pregnant again. :) Yeah, that was probably it. I gave birth to three sons within four years. I was pregnant or nursing most of my time! Basically, I was on and off South Beach for a lot of those years in between pregnancies. It worked every time I did it as it was written...plus fats. Truth is, the more I did it the more I'd cheat here and there and/or quit early. But if I did it as written, it worked.



Here's the thing. I saw that way of eating as a diet. Nothing more. And in the back of my mind I saw it as temporary and even perhaps unhealthy. Not a way to live. I mean, who can live without sugar and flour? Not me thank you very much! But as I did the diet over and over I could easily see the difference in how I felt when I stopped eating carbs. I had more energy. I felt less "cloudy" in my thinking. I stopped craving sugar. And I stopped thinking about food all the time. I really did! That is what that two week phase one is designed to do...break habits and break addictions. And I am telling you...it works. Stop feeding the sugar monster and he will be quiet. Physically. Mentally he is still there telling you how yummy that sugary snack will be. You have to beat down the mental side but when the physical side leaves it is a much easier battle.



It wasn't until I began reading books like Nourishing Traditions, Eat Fat Lose Fat, The Makers Diet and What the Bible Says About Healthy Living that I started seeing a recurring theme. The theme that said we eat too many grains and FAR too much sugar. I knew about the sugar but grains? Aren't grains good for you? The whole kind? Turns out, yes...the whole grains are a MUCH healthier option but in general we are a people who eat too many grains. (Gee, we might have the food pyramid to thank for that!) When I was diagnosed with high cholesterol at the age of 31 or 32 I was given a big pamphlet detailing how I needed to omit fats and add in more grains. Trouble is, when I eat bread...I eat a lot of bread. I love bread. And when I am done eating bread I feel like a bloated whale. I feel awful. It evokes a craving and a desire to eat more than I should. It awakens my blood sugar BIG TIME. Pasta is the same way for me. I am NOT saying bread and pasta are evil...I am saying bread and pasta spark an eating frenzy for me. And when I overeat I gain weight around my middle. And belly fat is dangerous fat. It is visceral fat which is fat that is connected to your visceral organs and affects your health in awful ways.



Have you seen the movie Despicable Me? (LOVE that movie) Whenever the main villain, Gru gets a good idea he says, "Light bulb!" Well, LIGHT BULB! I finally am getting it. Fat does not make me fat. Sugar and grains make me fat. Sure, moderation of grains would not make me fat...but I don't even know the word moderation when it comes to grains. Perhaps as I battle my sugar monster and eventually get down to my ideal weight...I will be able to control my grains, but for now...strictly controlled grains are all I can enjoy. I realize that YES I can lose weight by cutting carbs but mainly it is my health that is improved when I do. My blood sugar is better, my cholesterol is better (though I now see my higher cholesterol differently than modern medicine says I should see it...), my moods, my stamina, my outlook are all better. And my heart palpitations which were getting to be OFF THE CHARTS...are all but gone when I omit sugar. No medicine needed thank you. Just improved diet. So I am choosing to see a low-carb lifestyle as just that...a lifestyle...not a diet. I see restricting sugar as absolutely vital to my whole family. Sugar is evil. And God made so many natural choices for us that are awesome. We have to learn new ways. We have switched to whole grain bread here but I still limit myself...to none right now as I am still fasting from it...but to less for all of us. And I love the reward of getting on the scale and seeing the numbers go down but I am pressing hard to remind myself that my goal is lifestyle change. Ask me where I am with this next month...next year. I pray I can say that I am STILL pressing hard, with the Lord's help, to staying this course.



SO there you have it friend. This is why I feel it is REALLY important to fast from carbs. When you do you will see how your body changes. It is amazing. You may have to go back and forth like I did and bang your head on that proverbial rock...but God won't let you down...He will keep showing you the way. M.

( I should make a disclaimer here and say this...I DO NOT recommend The South Beach Diet. Because Dr. Agatston recommends low fat it is NOT a good choice. Our bodies need good fats and we should not be afraid of them. The other books I listed are great options. Start with Eat Fat, Lose Fat....it is lifechanging!)

Time and Money

Couldn't every problem you ever had be solved with more time and money? Ok..not every problem. But, when you remove time and money from many equations the cloud clears and solutions seem clear! But friends, sometimes we're not gonna get more of either one and yet God has solutions. OUR solution is to avoid things that cost money and avoid like the plague the things that might mean more of our time. And healthy eating requires both doesn't it? And I hear women justifying poor health choices for the lack of time and money. And boy do I get it. Money ain't growin' on trees over here at the Hutsell homestead. And time is eaten up here sixfold by the little (and not so little) offspring running around.

I could line up excuses all day long but the Bible says, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matt. 6:21) That's it. Period. And I treasure what God is teaching me about healthy food. And believe me, I never treasured it before. Truth is, I never knew of it before. I wasn't raised with it. AT ALL. But, for years I have wanted to do better. I mean, even when I had no idea what better was...I knew it existed. And God, in His time chose this season of my life. He could have chosen the season before I had kids (oh how I wish He had). He could have chosen the season AFTER I raised my kids. But He didn't. He chose the most tiring, most financially strapped time of our lives to teach me about healthy living. So, I don't offer up excuses. I have the same 24 hours you do. Sure, I have 6 kids. Sure, I have a missionary's salary. Sure, I homeschool. But none of that is on God's condition list for why I can or cannot be obedient. (bummer :)

SO that leads me to this. A lot of this nutritional mess we are in started with our grandmothers' generation. (Sorry Grams...but it's true.) My Grams was born in 1924. She survived the depression. She was poor as most everyone was at the time. And when things like white bread, processed foods, TV dinners, and homogenized milks hit the shelves...she was THA-RILLED! She never did like being in the kitchen. She could clean a house like nobody's business (I got her genes:) but cooking? Fuh-get about it. Her idea of eating happiness was first of all eating out. Since that wasn't always possible...her next best idea was a frozen meal. Frozen lasagna was a treat. And a frozen pie? You bet! I remember powdered milk, canned fruits and veggies, and boxed everything. And here is the thing...her generation loved being saved the time and money of meal prep but they did that under the misguided belief that all of those choices were as good as, if not BETTER THAN, homemade. The food industry assured them that white bread (which was soft, and delicious and lasted a long time on the shelf) was a healthy choice with all of its "enriched" vitamins. And so they felt great serving their families all of this ready made food. And it left her generation with time to pursue "more worthy" interests. Thus feminism takes a great hold of the home. Oh don't get me started on feminism...

Well, here we are today. And slowly..oh so stinkin' slowly... we are learning that white, processed, chemically laden foods are NOT in fact good for us. And we see the price we are paying for our choices...obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc. I mean, the food industry wants you to believe that fats are to blame for all of this but ever since we began eating margarine and sugar by the pound and skimming our milk down to water we see more and more of these diseases taking hold. Think about it. And undoing bad choices is a whole lot more work than making the right ones to begin with. So here we are trying to undo the mess.

But here is the GREAT thing. We now live in a generation where we can make our own bread...but with an electric grinder and a heavy duty mixing machine. Sure, it is more time than buying a loaf at the store...but it is a lot less time than what our grandmothers had to take making their own by hand. I mean, who can blame our grandmothers for being relieved to not make bread when they were also doing everything else by hand. But ladies, we are NOT doing everything else by hand. We are doing nearly NOTHING by hand anymore. We don't wash by hand, we don't sew by hand, we don't bake by hand. Nothing. Unless we decide it is worth it. And there it is...we have to decide it is worth it. And to decide it is worth it we have to be educated. We have to understand what it is we feed our families. We have to decide if obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc are worth avoiding. Yeah, we can say there is no time but could you at least be more honest and say, "I don't care to make the time?"

Ladies, we are blessed. We see that God's original design for food is STILL the best plan. But now we have more tools, more options. We have electronic appliances, we have buying co-ops, we have local farmers, and lots of Internet support. We CAN return to doing more things by hand if we want to and we don't have to spend all day doing it. Yep...we have to change our habits. We have to change our taste buds. But, I feel it is worth it. I want you to feel it is too. But, please, if you don't feel it is worth it...at least don't tell me you don't have the time. I ain't buyin' it! I still love you....but I ain't buying it. M.

Guest blogging it over on http://realfoodlittlerock.blogspot.com ! Pretty cool!