Here We Go

You're all right. The font thing is driving me nuts too - but I don't love this one either. Someone e mail me your e mail address (petermelliebella@gmail.com) and I can add you on so that someone with more genius than I have can fix this for me.

Today I'm going shopping for meat. I have been told that Alex Campbell beef (sold in Thrifty's) is a really great brand - part of a ranchers co-op and if you get it on sale, it's the same price as the stuff that isn't good for you. Sounds good. Also, been checking out Pipers Meats, for those of you in Nanaimo, and they seem to have some pretty good stuff as well.

In another good move, I'm going to go through Bella's toys and clothes and bring them to a consignment shop. She's got so much stuff, and I have no issue buying used - just seems smarter to me, especially in baby clothing where you can't possibly wear something out before you grow out of it. Plus - if people buy my stuff, then I get discount-discount clothing, toys and stuff, and that's even better news.

I've been thinking a lot about food lately. Why we love food, why it's fun to eat and why it makes us fat when we enjoy it "too much". I don't think that that was God's intent. I think he made us to enjoy food, but something along the way has gone really wrong. This is my thought on the matter:

We are consumers. We are blessed to such and unbelievable extent that we have become entitled to things we are not meant to have. I think we are losing some really great things in the process. Everything we eat or drink we want in three minutes, to be made in our microwave, and to taste like it was made in a restaurant. And that is not realistic. Except it IS! (part of me yells). I can get frozen entrees. I can get them for Bella! They're tasty, and they're so easy to clean up. Because loading my DISHWASHER is such a chore!

When did we start thinking that we should be able to eat fresh strawberries year round? You can't - they don't taste like anything. And they're stupid expensive because you're paying for their airfare. Maybe I'd like strawberries more if I only ate them in summer, and I got them from Errington where they're grown. If I wanted to be really smart, I could buy lots and freeze some and have them in the winter. Do we even know when certain things are in season anymore?

It's just a bunch of questions I'm asking. I'll let you know how the shopping goes. I'm determined to not have my grocery bill horrifically enlarged by this process. That's the other thing. I AM going to figure out how to do this for the same amount of money that I'm spending on garbage food.. Wish me luck.

Like I Needed Another Form of Social Networking

Some part of me is addicted to shameless self-promotion, I swear.

No, that's not it at all. I've started down the most unlikely of paths, in the most unlikely of ways, and I'm finding people along the road who I never would have expected to meet there. Moms and professionals, hippies and doctors. Okay, I expected the hippies. I did. I love hippies. I'm a closet hippie at heart with a love of processed crap food. But I digress.

I'm thinking that it would be fun to have a blog, with as many authors as want to join, to have a common posting board to say things like the following:

-Hey, did you know that unbleached flour has no bleach in it? Meaning that the pretty white flour that makes my pancakes a really appetizing color, contains bleach? People! There is bleach in my pancakes!

-Just found out that the soap I have been using on my beautiful daughter from the moment I got her home from the hospital is not soap at all. It's detergent. It contains chemicals that have killed people on a fairly constant and ongoing basis, in the plants that produce it. I bought it because it smelled pretty and was more expensive so I thought it was safer. Anyone know a good, safe, baby shampoo, and maybe one that doesn't break the bank?

-I am feeling low lately. What are some natural remedies to depression or anxiety that don't involve addictive and potentially (pfft!) harmful drugs?

These are all questions that I've asked over the past month, and I'm stunned at how many people I've come across who are asking them too. I've been asked to call total strangers to talk about their medications, I've talked to doctors and specialists regarding nutrition and the epidemic proportions at which behavioral disorders are growing. I've started to read ingredient lists on my groceries and throw out things that I can't pronounce.

I have also become overwhelmed at how difficult being healthy can be in this society. It's cheaper, easier, and yummier (we think) to eat garbage. It's easier (and again, cheaper) to take mind and behavior altering drugs than to get a gym membership and pay for a babysitter. Or to really make drastic changes in diet and lifestyle (I had to quit my job) that make me happier. A doctor told me yesterday that there isn't any grace in the medical system, or even in work environments, for wanting to be a good mom and human being. Your benefits company would rather pay for all of your incredibly expensive medication than to let you stay home with your sick baby because you're worried about her.

I know that for me, these changes are hard. But I think if I start small, and if I have some like-minded people around me, that I could start to put some things right. I'd like to eat healthy, delicious food with my family. I would like to weigh a lot less than I do. I would like to rid my body of chemical stimulant (except for coffee). That's the other thing. We're going to have to be real here. I'm going to eat McDonald's once in a while. I'm going to feed it to my kid. I really love my coffee. Good coffee and Jesus are literally the foundation on which my entire marriage is built. I'm not going to plant a vegetable garden and talk to my plants as they grow. I'm going to go to the grocery store, and try not to spend money on things that can hurt me. I'm going to be deliberate about what I put into my body as well as my mind. But lets be honest here. I'm going to occasionally watch reality tv with a pizza, doritos and a diet pepsi. I just don't think I can live like that anymore, and I have a sneaking suspicion we can find some things together that are just as good.

If you're in, comment. I'll figure out how to add you to the posting list and we'll go from there. Sounds good?