3:41 PM

Please, "Hitting" Is Not the Path to Violence

I am a part of a group on Facebook called "Circle of Moms". A great group that allows a lot of moms to get together & share various ideas, beliefs, & most importantly, advice. I have rather enjoyed discussing issues with other moms, most backing up some of the ideologies & beliefs that I hold for me & my family.

Every once in a while there is an individual that tries to skew things & this is one of those below. I was going to let it slide, but have come to the belief that is exactly what the problem is. No one is speaking up. "Of nothing comes nothing," and it works both ways. If you do nothing, nothing will come of it...including change. So here is what got me fired up:

Other Poster: "It is a testament to why our crime rates are so high, because you parents who think your only resort is to hit your children are breeding violent teens and adults who become social misfits and degenerates. Please! Stop hitting your kids, Maybe someone should hit you every time you screw up! You would leave him, wouldn't you?! Well then maybe your kids should leave YOU!"

Then went on to add: "I don't respect the people who hit me-I just hate them and want to hurt them back worse then they hurt me!"

My Response: "I am sorry to hear that your past issues are coming forward & being put off onto your children. Being beaten or abused is not ok & should never be accepted.

However, that said, either we are missing the point of your topic, thus being truly beating children, or you are completely uneducated & confused as to the differences between beating a child & discipline.

That also being said, I will start with every child, from infancy to adulthood, are unique & wired differently. Some can be spanked & get the point still feeling loved & cared for, while others just come out the womb in "survival overdrive" and take a spanking as someone literally trying to "hurt" them. I have examples of both in my family...siblings in fact. Thus not every child, even in the same family, will & can respond the same way to a uniform discipline.

Children thrive best in well disciplined homes. Why? Because that is the way that they know that their parents truly care & love them. If they have parents who truly are out to make them better people they know it. It is human nature, just as in the animal kingdom, to want to "pick" at those we love to try & make them better people. It is built into our DNA. It is also our job as parents. God was clear on that!

There is also an age spectrum in which various "spanking" is
ok for discipline. You won't slap the back of your 2 years old's head to get their attention, but you might your 14 year old. Unfortunately that is not a "manual" on discipline.

And quite frankly, I am tired of seeing parents too scared to discipline their children in public because of individuals like you making threatening comments & beliefs. You can guarantee, if your child is unattended & acting out of line in a very rude & hateful way that is not just a child's normal behavior for acting out...I will be the first to say something to your child about their behavior.

As for the correlation to the crime rate, you might start looking at home & the influences that you allow to penetrate your home, your minds, & your children's development. It is not just one thing or another; there are just so many influences that intrude our lives. But our own backyards, which are supposed to be the safest, have become free for all war zones.

I am very much an advocate for those who are abused. But spanking is not abuse!"

Seriously, this "letting it slide" or "political correctness" BS starts as early as day 1 in which we enter the world. We have to stop the cycle if we truly want to get our lives, security, & freedom back!

9:44 PM

Universal Health Care In A Nutshell!

Yes, I am totally reposting another's blog, but you can't miss this: We Already Have Government Regulated Health Care


FINALLY! HEALTH CARE FOR ALL YOU DREAMERS! HOW TRICARE (A.K.A. Government Health Care) WORKS OH SO WELL!



This is exactly what I have been trying to say about Tricare & the government provided health care system that is already in effect. Yes, VA (Veterans' Affairs) is the same system as those who are Active Duty & their families.

Just because "active duty" always has the flu shot/mist...it isn't a choice. They are forced to get it no matter their personal choices of their own bodies & they are also at the expense of the "new & experimental" FDA approved drug plan. Think about that & chew on it for a minute. Is that really "good" health care or is that socialism?

9:54 PM

Japanese "Gomi" Broken Down in Plain English!


It is the number one complaint about Americans living in town in Japan: They just can't get the trash right! Heck, some of the Japanese still can't get it right either! When you have so many separation categories & are constantly having to change the regulations due to the change in new packaging concepts...it is amazing that they even get the trash sorted!

So for those of you who have heard the rage of sorting & disposing of your trash in Japan, here is the booklet that we got this year (2009) when we moved in. Other times that we have been here all we have gotten is a little page of generalized sorting & disposing regulations with our designated trash days. HA! Apparently the Japanese have learned that Americans truly do need it "drawn out" for them. It is rather cute, but be sure to read all the print. There are all kinds of little rules & regulations in fine print!

Hope you enjoy...& I hope it helps some of you. Especially those of you who might be considering living in town here in Japan. It really isn't that bad. It is just a lifestyle not a "task". That is the hardest part to switch over in the American brain. We want it to be just a "task" like in American, but things are very different here...like personal responsibility & accountability for the greater good of the complete whole!



8:48 PM

What Is Mandatory?

Amazingly...there is a new amendment to the "universal health care" bill in which they are pushing to make abortions a mandatory part of the coverage. Yes folks! That means your tax dollars are not only helping horses from procreating, but now even people who apparently can't keep themselves out of trouble.


What irks me most about this "amendment" is not only that is if for abortions, but that we can make this mandatory in the "universal health care" coverage but not genetic testing for cancers, especially breast cancers! ARE YOU CRAPPING ME FOLKS?!

As a strong Pro-Life only way to go advocate, this sounds absurd. However, even if I were not a Pro-Lifer this would still make so damn sense to anyone with a brain, a little logic still rattling around up there, & some common sense. Seriously what drugs are these senile old farts in DC on? I want some!!!

Don't sit there & tell me about the poor souls who were raped by their father, uncle, brother, etc & are under age or too young, or the lady who was held at gun point in a car jacking. If these were the only people getting abortions then there wouldn't be such a need & outcry for them.

You know as well as I do that the "need" for a mandatory abortion clause in the coverage is being driven by those who just want another option for their "birth control". These individuals of sexual crimes who are opting for abortions make up less than 5% of the abortion rates & most of them being under the age of 25!

We all know what causes babies by now...don't we? It is all the rage, made in plain site this day & age. Making the wrong decision shouldn't be solved at the cost of tax payers.

At the rate we are going...who is going to keep paying their taxes?


There are so many other wonderful causes that our tax dollars could be going to & benefiting than abortions & "universal health care" such as the public programs in place now that are so short handed & short funded...say....firemen, policemen, teachers, public schools, border control, .... should I go on?

I am still wondering how if the government is already failing at so many other "public services" how it thinks it can enlighten us all with a "universal health care" program. Anyone?

6:12 PM

Why Are Japanese Snacks Addicting?

Ha! Ever wonder why are Japanese snack foods so addicting?


Well it sure isn't their loads of high fructose corn syrup, or their huge sizes. Every thing here lacks a lot of sugar, & is usually more of a rice based bland sugar or real sugar. And nothing comes in even an American size serving...except the occasional American made candy bar, if you are lucky.

Go to a restaurant & your Pepsi is most likely going to be spiked with some sort of citrus flavoring to "enhance" your well-being. However, I am certain that it is to make up for the lack of sugar in the drink.

So as the article points out, "One of the ways that Japanese snack makers keep consumers coming back for more is by including 'rare characters' in random packages." Now there is a concept that you never would see Americans getting hooked on. Looking for characters in our snacks but having to eat multiple packages in hope to find the one odd one? Right, our attention span would have given up after the first few packages & when we saw there was no real "prize" in finding this rare character, we would eventually want our bad high fructose corn syrup filler back.

However, I must say, in Japan, being around others, old & young, this has started to rub off. Along with so many odd flavors that you can't find in the States, eventually you learn to live without the sugar & enjoy just trying new & random little treats in cute packaging...when you can get to them. Sometimes you have to beat off the children to even get close to the snacks "aisle".

*For those who live here or get these fun little snacks in care packages sent back to the States this article points out to look for:

  • A Heart Shaped Pinky
  • A Koala No March koala WITH eyebrows
  • Apollo with reversed colors (brown top, read bottom)...that is the pink strawberry things in the upper right corner of the photo
  • Penguin shaped Ottotto

Now who is paying that much attention to their food?

10:04 PM

Horsebortions!


Ok, ok...bear with me here...but $700 million of your hard earn tax dollars is going to the controlling of wild horses through grants for federal land, censuses, & yes, contraceptives.

NO seriously! This is not a joke & this is not a privately funded venture, but part of a wonder thing we called a "stimulus package" where apparently we are now "stimulating" horses! - HR 1018 (that's House Resolution 1018).

Yes, there is a certain part of the US in which wild horses are becoming more of a nuisance...but when was the last time they were digging through your trash or tearing up your backyard? NO really, when? These wild horses aren't everywhere throughout the US, just very specific regions in very certain state(s).

Blah, blah, blah...a sign of freedom they are. I have to say I agree with Glenn Beck on this one. "I am tired of signs of freedom, I want freedom!" And horse contraceptives? What? What is next, as Glenn points out...horsebortions?

Don't get me started. No wait...do! If they are wild, do they not fall into the "wild game" group of animals in which we can legally hunt them? And wouldn't selling a tag to hunt wild horses make revenue instead of a bigger debt? We eat deer, elk, moose, duck, squirrel, raccoons, lamb (which isn't wild), rabbits, buffalo/bison.... I hear horses are quite the delicacy too! Heck in Arkansas they brought in Elk to repopulate the region with a native animal that had gone missing to find itself overran with elk & now sell tags to hunt them each year to control the population. This makes much more sense then horse condoms...so to speak.

While you are paying more for your food at the local grocer, struggling to may be hold onto the job this "stimulus package" promised to give you, we are going to take $700 million to control wild horse populations...is that ok? That is also $700 million we could have helped launch some of the great new equipment we have created to serve our men & women over seas fighting for the freedom of these wild horses!

6:57 PM

Adding Some Confusion

Hey all my stamping & crafting friends & family...


I am going to mess you up just a little bit. I have gotten back online my own stamping/crafting site at:

www.thebutterbeanz.com

I will be using the above site for all my future stamping & crafting needs, blogs, & sales. Be sure to check it out! It is still under construction...

However, as much as it is apart of my life, this blog is mostly designed to let me just vent...for free! LOL! So my "venting" can be separated from my "creativeness".

You are more than welcome to keep following me here on blogger for those interested. Thank you!

6:52 PM

Good For Us…Good For Them

HOLY CRAP! Seriously? If you are that hard up for health care there is a program you can get on in which the all mighty, powerful, incompentent government will take care of ALL your woes. It is called the United States Military! And the best part about it is that you can pick & choose which program you want: Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, or Coast Guard.

Spun off another wonderful little snippet of a post: Good For Us…Good For Them, I am really sick of this entire debate & topic in general. The fact that it is being discussed as something "NEW" makes no damn sense when there is already a government health care program in place & it blows. Now, someone please, explain to me, how taking one shitty idea that barely makes an impact & spreading it out even thinner over a bigger surface (the entire US) will make this system "better"?

Even state care, Medicade, gets better care than those on the government plan! Why because it is smaller, by state, than say an entire nation! Also, because the states can help supplement some of the costs, the doctors are paid better therefore treating patients with a little better care than those on the government plan.

However, if "nothing but broken equipment, forced "experimental" plan, drugs, & ideologies, & no personal identity at all but just another 'number' to a system of overworked, beat down, clones we call doctors sounds like the plan for you then JOIN THE FREAKIN' SERVICE! If not..then vote NOT A CHANCE IN HELL on the whole concept & tell your public officials you said so!" - my own quote!


*Not discrediting the US Military service-members & their families who have to literally sacrifice more than should be asked of them time & time again. They deserve a free healthcare system...& one that is not broke...for their blood, sweat, & tears.

1:34 PM

Here's a Healthcare Reform For You

After the worst dental cleaning & exam in history (made my gums bleed more than I have ever experienced & then only "polished" them, no fluoride treatment or rinse), taking a second bath in my own spit & water (because their dental equipment was broke & I had to handle my own suction tool to help), & having the dentist give me a lecture on using his hard earned tax dollars to get dental care (because we spouses, you know, don't deserve care for the sacrifices we make & never carry dental insurance, even though I do)...I have a new idea about health care reform.

*Yes, the above is all true! Would swear it in a court of law! And that is what a government ran health care facility gets you too!!

With all this jabbering about an "immediate need" for universal health care to help those "47 million" Americans (out of the 306, 974, 395 million Americans total) without health care & the already outstanding & astonishing debt we have created since January 1st, 2009, I was thinking...

Why? Why do we feel so entitled to health care? Are we no longer responsible for our own health? We, as Americans, have bought into the idea that it is not our sole responsibility to take our health into our own hands, but to let the Lord & the Doctors make sure that we are healthy. Here we are, adults, unable to take the steps we need to ensure our own health in a society with the best health care on earth. This is amazing to me. We can't even make our own health a priority in our life, riddled with an affluent amount of excuses as to why it isn't our own fault that we are ill.

So under this assumed ideology, that I am certain the president & his goons are also using to push this "immediate need", that it is the doctors are responsible for our health. Right? Follow me?

What if our health care reform wasn't a free for all, or a change in "insurers" and insurance companies, but in the way we pay. The Chinese used to have this policy across the board: You only pay your doctor if your a healthy & fit?!

No seriously? What if you only paid your monthly fee if you were healthy, fit, trim, etc.?

OH WAIT! That's right! 1 - you can't cure stupid & 2- there are a number of health issues out there that are genetic, not the common cold.

So while Massachusetts is waiting currently 56 days to be seen by a doctor, the rest of the States averages 12 days. You pick! Which one is better?

8:31 PM

A New Theory

I have a new theory on why people overeat. I am not discrediting those with real issues, you know the kind of internal emotional issues that make you plum to hide or whatever. Which in itself makes no sense since it really just makes you more noticeable but in a bad way.


Beside the point, so I was making my lunch today. I great big sandwich with avocado & all. It was so tasty. Anyway, I could still remember the taste of the chicken we had last night in our homemade enchiladas & was thinking....

"Wow! I had forgotten that chicken could taste like that...like homegrown, just rung it's neck chicken. No wonder I had never really been a big meat eater growing up."

That reasoning then played into the knowledge I know about today's chicken. It is so chalked full of hormones that when we see a little breast for $6.00 a pound, we go with the big one for $1.50 a pound instead. But that chicken really has no flavor. Not a gamey, chicken flavor at all. It is just a white meat kind of flavor & is often dry. So we do our absolute best to cover it up with juices & seasonings abound.

This chicken I had the other night was a local Japanese selection from the local Co-Op (farmers market but like a real store). They were small in American standard size, still had some skin on them, & lots of juice once frozen & thawed. I thought for sure that the freezing then thawing took all the juice out & these were going to cook up try.

Not at all! Instead they were still really juice with some FAT still in the juice. They even plumped with cooked. When was the last time you saw your chicken "plump", none-the-less, your hot dog?

I am not a meat eater in any capacity, but I do like really got piece of deer or elk. Having a chicken taste like a real chicken yanked up out of the wild, that was a treat. Why? Because I could taste it!

If our senses all work together & our sense of smell plays the biggest roll in our sense of taste...I am going to assume that our obesity problem in America isn't just the FDA allowing crap in our foods, but that they also have no taste. They all have a generic taste instead. Yep, white meat, red meat, some green thing, etc. Even the tomatoes here remind me of my early childhood. So freaking good!

When we can taste what we eat, we can enjoy it & need a lot less of it. Hence the reason God gave us the sense of smell & taste combination. To enjoy His great works!

3:38 PM

What Is This?

Upon moving into our new home, I had found this little guy shoved in the back of one of the 4 drawers the kitchen came with. I wasn't sure what he was, so I had temporarily shoved him in the closet until I could deal with it.


Do you know what this is? Take a stab at it! One guess? Okay, one more...there was a sponge in the package originally. Well...not really a sponge but more like...

A Japanese version of the Mr. Clean Eraser! White like ours, but thicker. When I went to clean the spots off the walls from the movers dirty hands & such, I thought I would try this thing out first before using my own Mr. Clean Eraser from the base NEX.

It works! It works just as good as Mr. Clean himself! I bought a stash of Mr. Clean, but I will be keeping an eye for this little guy. And don't be surprise if yo get him in your "care package" from us! LOL!

2:34 PM

Why Whole Food Supplements?

Some of you may have heard of "whole food supplements" but most of you are sitting here reading thing & scratching your heads. "WTFreak?"


For years I have had to skip over the intake of vitamins because all they did was make me have this awful pain in my spine like they got stuck, or even worse, I would puke them right back up after 30 minutes to an hour.

Oh I tried all the different methods & varieties too. Outside of Vitamin C or other individual supplements, there was no way I was getting anything down this hatch.

Then one day my Chiropractor asked me if I had ever tried Standard Process supplements. I said no, until I saw the bottles & then was like, "OH yeah! One of my other chiropractors had be on some of these kinds of supplements after my torn iliotibial band injury." Then I never thought anymore of it.

I was having a sudden crash in my health. It was one thing that was leading to another & before long it was like one day I woke up old! "What Happened?" I have always been pretty healthy in my adult life...what was going on?!!! Yes, of course stress. But my body wasn't handling stress anymore. It was crashing...fast.

So the practitioner sent me home with a survey to fill out & then it was ran through a system & surveyed my ailments & concerns. The program was laid out & off I was with a multiple bottle load of various supplements, in which some I had never heard of, such as Catalyn. It looked like a lot of "pills" & I don't take "pills". And I had to takes 6 a day of some of them!!!!

This wasn't really the most amusing program of health to get from a holistic doctor like a chiropractor. I thought I had made a wrong decision somewhere, but I then again, I was willing to trust him more than a real MD any day, who doesn't solve problems but only masks them by suppressing your systems until you body does it's own healing. So...

1 year on this program & pregnant even, I can't sing enough praises of these Whole Food Supplements! I have not only found myself & my life again, but I have seen reverse changes in my body when I am taking these regularly. And the nice thing is that since I've been pregnant I can pick & choose which supplements I really need. Like I have no added iron to my diet simply because I didn't need it & it was making me sick. A simple one tablet prenatal vitamin off the shelf would never allow me this freedom.

The other many great things about whole food supplements is that they are not only separated out by dietary need, but they are also minimally processed & made with no additives. NOPE! They are made completely from food, no chemicals. And the food that is used with Standard Process is all organic! It is raised just for the making of these supplements. They even throw in bone marrow! A rich source of all kinds of vitamins & minerals that our bodies need that we don't get in our diets due to our "civilized" ways.

Because they are whole foods, made from real food, only of food, your body can digest these supplements with no irritation, upset stomach, etc. You know exactly what you are ingesting! Food! How can that be bad?

Why haven't these caught on across the mainstream market? Please! Do I really need to hold your hand & spell it out for you? It would kill many pharmaceutical companies & doctors. Plus, though holistic means of health are on a rise, these type of practitioners aren't really the mainstream just yet. So since they are only available through Chiropractors & various other holistic practitioners & stores, they costs a little more than that one tablet option at Wal-Mart or Walgreens.

Whole Food Supplements are only for those who are extremely serious about taking control of their own health & be responsible for their own health. It is not meant for those who need a "fix". If you are like me, & just can't go to the "doctor" for anything, then you might find these supplements life altering in a way that will supersede anything you have every tried.

Go to Standard Process & enter your zip code to find someone near you that sells these whole food supplements. If you are military, there are practitioners back in the states that will send them to you. That is how we work the system!

2:00 PM

The Japanese Toilet

Many of you have heard us talk about the “Japanese toilet” from our prior visits. Well the true Japanese toilet is a much like a urinal on its side in the floor much like this one:

Yes, same for both men & women, though the men have progressed much faster & have mostly urinals on the walls now, while the ladies are still....squatting. The original design of these toilets was so that back when everyone wore traditional dress, you simply lifted up the skirts & relieved yourself. But then again, they used to do this in the streets too & then wash the streets at night.

You will still find these traditional toilets all around Japan, especially at the train stations & most older stores & malls. They may have added a more western style toilet, like ours at the top, but there will only be a limited number of them available & usually reserved for those who are elderly....or in my case I believe pregnancy applies. (Squatting down off balance & getting back up is hard labor for a pregnant lady on a slippery floor.)

However, a western style toilet in Japan is not like one that you see in the States. You don’t just sit, do your business, get up & flush in the home. Because in houses toilets are kept separated from the rest of your “wash & bathing” facilities, behind their own closed doors & houses are small, the back of the toilet is also your sink.

You you read that right, the sink. Don’t panic! No! Wait! Listen! The sink that you see on the back of the toilet is fresh water coming in from a pipe, not from the toilet tank. I know that the appearance is very deceiving. I assure you though it is indeed fresh water. First you close the lid, then you lean over slightly & you wash your hands. The soapy water then fills the tank & bowl portions of the toilet. The nice thing is...it helps clean the toilet too! (The Japanese are always so practical & logical...it’s hard to get upset with them...ever!)

Other features you will find on Japanese Western style toilets that are also on the many in town versions is a built in bidet (french bum washers). They also come with built in seat warmers, so in the cold winter months you can have a warm tush when you use the toilet. Some of the in town versions also have a noise machine that will play sounds of running water to help you hide your “business” from the others ears. And in town, they have this new thing where you can clean the seat yourself with foam cleanser (much like hand sanitizer) & toilet paper before & after each use.

OH! And the flushing handle can be like the American style or one that you have to flip forward instead of backwards, or even better...a button on the wall! This is the tricky part about using toilets in town. They even have automatic & semi-automatic flushing. Sometimes you aren’t sure where to “flush” the dang thing!


P.S. Don’t be pushing too many buttons though...you will set off the bidet or a Japanese screaming something!

8:02 PM

The Enlightenment in Trash

People always ask, "What is so different about Japan?" As a sociology major I should be able to draw up a number of intellectual examples. However, for the first trip all I could ever seem to bring to point was the obvious things: their super clean behaviors, their niceties & super over politeness, their simple ways of life, & their impeccable logical abilities with no real example of one over another.


This time however, I have grown to see the true underlying component of Japan that is so different than that of the world I come from, the States. Their sense of responsibility. Yes, you read me: RESPONSIBILITY! Something that Americans have long ran away from & choose to make with a false facade of an ever growing me only society.

It came to light at first with the trash. Their trash system, though seemingly harsh to those Americans accustomed to just throwing away whatever they want on the curb & it disappearing the next day, is the most amazing recycling effort I can witness.

You really never know how much trash you create, even if it does overflow from the trash cans, until you have to literally take one item & dispose of it in 3 different trash components.

For example, a bottle of water. You drank the water & now you have this bottle. In America we complain about having to take the label off, & usually just refuse to do it, tossing it reluctantly into a "recycle" portion of the trash. WRONG! Here in Japan, you first take the label off. If it is paper then it goes in burnable, if it is plastic then it goes in "other plastics" or "non-recyclable plastics". Also, the cap to that water bottle now goes in the "other plastics" or "non-recyclable plastics".

So that is not a big impact, or so you think. Imagine if you drink at least 5-6 bottles of water a day? Then add your soda cans, which have to be rinsed first then tossed. Then add your daily food packaging & personal items. A razor blade is completely a different component all together! And to toss a thing of toothpaste you have to first cut the tube in half, rinse it clean, then throw into the right bin. Etc, etc., etc....

And every day is a different trash pick up, including group collections. Those are the bigger items or the multiple items you might have like cardboard, milk/juice carton (paper kind not plastic), clothes, etc. Oh Yes! You have to break them down, rinse them out, whatever, & then tie them up for disposal as well. There is never a just toss it option.

But the fact that they do this every day & do it well, no complaints, it amazing. Why? Because they each feel that they have a role in their community & in their culture that needs their responsibility.

Same with a driver's licensee. You get one, then you must be a professional driver. There are no excuses for bad driving behavior. None!

They keep their mouths covered even with a common cold or allergies to make sure that they don't spread it to everyone else around them. They wear masks & still go to work. Yes, it looks funny, but would you do that? Do you feel the need to protect everyone else around you from your germs that cause pain? Nope.

When was the last time you let your kindergartner walk 6 blocks home from school? Or trust that your 12 year old made it to school by taking the local public bus or train? Right. You didn't. Here is Japan, they do & everyone else also looks out for them & helps them if they need it. However, they never need it. They already have such a sense of responsibility at such an early age!

It could also be the strict rules & laws, unlike ours that allows for years of imprisonment before the actual term is served. But the fact of the matter is, it keeps everyone feeling like they are a part of a bigger whole rather than a victim of harsh laws & regulations. They work together to create one, like a society is supposed to. It is so amazing!

7:20 PM

Online Rubber Blog Sale

THIS BLOG POST HAS BEEN MOVED TO:

http://www.thebutterbeanz.com



10:57 AM

It's a Win Win Situation

I am not sure why more people haven't heard of this product, but it is one of the best on the market! It does what it says it will do & sold mostly as big name sporting goods stores. However, you can find it online in bulk which is great! (Especially for us overseas people who can't always live without our American luxuries...)


"EVERY MILITARY UNIFORM WEARING & SPORTS PLAYING INDIVIDUAL SHOULD BE USING WIN LAUNDRY DETERGENT!"

WIN Laundry Detergent was something that I read about in a magazine somewhere along the way over the years. I looked for it high & low never finding it on common shopping shelves. Then one day I found it at Dick's Sporting Goods. I got a bottle. I thought, "HOLY CRAP! They sure are proud of this stuff! $20 for a little bottle! This had better work!"

It does! It took out all kinds of sweat stains in B's white T-shirts, and the odors of his uniforms for work. Now I can't stop using it. It last me a while since I only use it on select items & not everything, so the money was worth the product. When I have something really smelly or really dingy I just add a little cap of this & "POOF" magic happens in the wash!

Personally, I am in shock that the US Military isn't shipping this in by truck loads for their men & women in uniform. I know that on the naval ships they sure could use something like WIN to knock out their funk!

4:14 PM

A Little Prep Work Goes A Long Way

As I was chopping up everything there was to chop in the fridge today it hit me that I wanted to share with you some of my tips on making our produce last until we can get it consumed.


See there is only two of us in our household & only one of us will eat fruits. However, we are both guilty of not eating enough fruits & vegetables. To add to that frustration, the prices of these products keep going up while the quality keeps going down.

So how do I get all this produce to last us & actually get us to use it? Well, a little help from my Grands & a little trial & error. The trick is to trick the mind! If you break it all down into usable sizes or servings sizes, ready to eat/use immediately, you are more likely to grab it & use it. But if you have to take it out, wash it, prep it, etc. just to get to a point to use it, you will skip over it more often than not.

First you will need:
  • one day to just prep food (Sundays while doing dinners or during the day when baby is napping)
  • produce of choice
  • lots of Gladware, Ziploc containers, or Tupperware (or all the above) in various sizes
  • a few Ziploc bags
  • 1 great & sharp cutting & chopping knife or a block of them (as is my case)
  • scissors
  • cutting board
  • trash bowl or can ready to be used

When it comes to lettuce, we are picky about it being only Romaine Lettuce. Besides being the healthiest lettuce to eat of lettuces, it also will last longer than most others we have tried. I shred the lettuce down by hand, pulling it off the main stalk (center part that will turn brown quickly) in bite size tears. I dispose of the center stalk from each leaf. You may use it, calling it a waste to throw it out, but it turns brown fast & no one wants to eat it then or anything that has touched it. I put my torn lettuce into a large square Gladware container & then in the crisper. I don't add a sponge, or paper towels, etc. Just like that into the crisper. I can get up 1-2 weeks of it being of good use, enough time for us to eat it. With it already torn, it is so easy just to pull out the tub & add lettuce to our sandwiches & burgers, or make a salad. We actually use the lettuce! It is gone before it goes bad!

Cilantro is one of those amazing herbs that no one really uses, mostly because it costs so much & you get this big bundle that you can't use before it goes bad. Like the lettuce, I chop it up, minced is more like it, and I put it in little tiny Gladware mini rounds (1/2 cup) containers. We never need much more than that per dish, including guacamole. I toss them also back into the crisper.

Grapes. I am the only fruit eater in this house & grapes are a pain to get down. They come in one big bag. I have learned that if I wash them, sort them, & divide them into little servings, I will grab a bag & eat them. But you can't just toss them into a Ziploc bag, the get all gooey & rot. I take a pair of scissors & I nick then bottom of the back & the bottom 1/3 of the bag sides to great little airflow vents. Yep, then back in the crisper! You got it! 2-3 weeks usually!

Carrots, Celery, Broccoli, & Cherry Tomatoes get mixed & matched into the small Twist & Lock Ziploc containers. This is a great lunch pack or snack to just grab! I buy the baby carrots & cherry tomatoes (to prevent getting gooey & chopping off a finger...carrots & I aren't friends), but the rest I buy in the normal natural size & cut down to finger food size that fits in these containers. I make up 5-7...a weeks worth to be shared between 2 people. B used to never snack on these kinds of foods until I did this. Now, he will crab them & some ranch & go to town!

Any broccoli or celery left over gets chopped down into "cooking" sizes (what we would normal want to cook with) & put into more Ziploc Twist & Lock containers & into the freezer! If you are going to cook with the celery you can take it out the day of or before, drain any water off, & toss it into the pan (like for potato soup). **If you pack the containers really tight, you will have less water when thawed.

I continue this pattern with just about everything from watermelon, strawberries, to tomatoes pre-sliced. I DO NOT attempt this with avocados, apples, bananas, or other like fruits. Even with the club soda or lemon tricks, they still go bad or turn brown quickly. I might save half an avocado (the seed side) with a little lemon juice on it to prevent browning if I know I will eat it in a day or two. I even cut down blocks of cheese to snack on & put them in small containers.

Imagine if you did buy in bulk? You could easily do this kind of prep work with bell peppers, spinach, green chiles, etc. Not only do you get to cut down on your grocery bill loss, you increase your diet potential all while also making dinner easier to make! The best part...the containers are washable! You can reuse them & be green!

Eating healthy is a lifestyle. That was the hardest thing to learn. And a lifestyle is what we have created. We are eating fresher by the day & we know what we are eating. I hope you got something fun & useful out of this blog.

9:42 PM

Dear Victoria's Secret

Dear Victoria's Secret -


I am very curious as to why you do not have a maternity/nursing line in your collections. I understand that you specialize in women, sexy women & their underwear, but does pregnancy eliminate you from that VS circle?

My VS bras are the love of my life. They offer so much support in all the right places at all the right times. Now that I am pregnant & a soon-to-be new mom, that support has to leave because your don't offer a line for hooters like mine & the journey that they are about to endure.

There is not an adequate maternity/nursing bra on the market for heavier chested ladies like me. Those that claim wonderful support let you down mid-day & are bulky. I feel like I am wearing a very cheap, overpriced, upper body armor. If I wanted to wear a sports bra I would have purchased one. I want to feel sexy too! And through these summer months, less would be better.

Can you please, for the sanity of women around the globe, start a maternity/nursing line? It would do a lot of hooters a lot of good!

Thanks! Can't wait to see your newest collection!
Amy Lee

11:01 AM

"Don't Let Your Children Define You"

This has to be one of my biggest pet peeves. Though our children should not completely define the person we are, they should definitely play a role. A friend of mine posted this as her Facebook update, which sparked this blog: "I was told I should not [let] my children "define" me.. it was left on my blog as comment. What do you think?"


This comment back that sparked the entire debate was: "Your children are a blessing, to be sure, but they are not here to "define" you and [any] more than you are here to "define" them. Your children chose you (and you them) with your unique collection of talents, personality, and abilities to guide them as they unfold on this life journey. You will learn from, and shape, each others lives in both mundane and magical ways."

My final word:"Lmao! Children don't choose you no more than you choose them. They're not puppies in a shop window & you can't take them back when their nature or personality don't agree with you or yours. Each child was hand selected by God for you, with it's own unique purpose. Choosing to be a mother is the most divine purpose you can do...& the unique purpose God gave only to women. There's a reason men don't have babies! And honey, if you chose to wear the stay at home mommy hat & make it your priority on life along side your husband, you win all my respect & admiration. How our children turn out as adults does define the kind of people we are. It reflects on us to a point. Like I said before, there is a line though in which thy cross over to adulthood & no longer all on you. Are the close to leaving the nest? No! So keep up the great job love!!"

Seriously! We wonder why our society has taken the turn it has & our 30 year old children still live at home & can't function as productive members of society. Even the Federal Government is labeling "youth" as anyone 24 years of age or younger. Well...here is why: YOU DIDN'T TAKE THE TIME TO RAISE THEM! Children need more than food, water, clothing, & shelter with a splash of verbal discipline. Raising a child takes more out of you than any job or college degree. You can't just specialize in one subject & expect that to carry your child through life.

Raising a child takes you actually taking the time to stop & THINK & follow through with action that will shape & define them into productive members of society. You have to think of how each child is different & you were blessed with more than one personality within your children. The approach to each one is remarkably different for various situations, including discipline. You have to create rites of passages that help them develop through into an adult, etc. If "X" is the end result that you are looking for in your child, then you have to take the rest of the alphabet to make that result happen. It doesn't just occur.

Being a stay at home mom doesn't make you less of a human being, less of a person, or less intellect. Being a full time mom is one of the roles that God designed women for. Sure children also must have their fathers in their lives. They are just as important. But God was clear about his roles as well. If your hubby is out fulfilling his roles then you need to be the team player & fulfill yours.

Society has made us believe that children are a "burden" instead of a blessing, making it easier every day to "rid" ourselves of the children we don't want. As women continue to push their way into a more masculine roles, we see men starting to retreat into more feminine roles. Then we women sit around complaining that men aren't men anymore & won't step up to the plate. How can they when you are hogging the entire thing? There has to be a balance. God was clear about this balance when he made woman as a "PARTNER" to man...not his boss or his hers. A team player. Here we are forcing our kids into team sports for a "well-rounded" structuring yet being led by adults who can't be team players at home.

Am I the only one that sees the irony in our society & the stupidity of it all? What is the deference of our children "defining" us than a job? Most of us let careers, money, status, etc. define who we are. So why not our children...our role as a mother...as a parent?

A family unit is that...a UNIT. It takes everyone & everyone has a purpose in that family. As a unit, when one does good or when one messes up, it reflects on us all. For example:

The other day I was at Mc Donald's on base having lunch, feeling a little ill (pregnancy) & there was these two mothers with their 4 children sitting over at another table. Each child was feeding off the other. So when the table beating for ice cream started it was cute. But then when it continued for 5 minutes & only a "stop" being said it got old fast. So then when the "fine...no ice cream" came, the high pitched squealing started. That kept up. And the only response from the two moms was "stop".

Here was two moms who children "don't define them", when the reality is they definitely define them! The only thing I could focus on, was not the child, but the parents. They were not doing their part as a parent or making any effort to correct the behavior. To me, I defined them quickly: worthless. And their children are defining them as "They won't do anything to me!" & they will go through life thinking that they can do whatever they want & no one will say a thing.

So someone, again, why do our children not define us?

7:10 PM

It Needs A Stronger Warning!

So, I emailed & asked Dyson how to clean my Dyson Animal Ball vacuum. The holes were getting clogged & the suction seemed to be diminishing. Yes, I clean the cleaning tool. Yes, I clean my vacuum. For the price of these things though, they should self-clean! However, I get an email back:


Hello,

Thank you for your question. You are able to do some cleaning to the clear bin and the cyclone. You can remove the clear bin from the cyclone piece and with a damp cloth wipe the inside of the clear bin down. The cyclone piece you can take an air compressor (if available) or a can of the compressed air that they sell for cleaning key boards and spray out all of the little holes on the outside and inside the cyclones. Please make sure that you do this in a well ventilated area as there will be a lot of fine dust that will come out of the cyclone piece. If you have any questions about cleaning these pieces please call our help line at 1-866-MY-DYSON. The Dyson helpline is open Monday through Friday from 8am to 8pm Central time. We are open weekends also Saturday from 9am to 3pm and Sunday from 10am to 2pm Central time.

Kind Regards,

However, this email should have came with a much bigger & stronger warning than that I need to be in a well ventilated area. Thank God I was outside when I did this project. Clouds of dust came pouring out with each spray from that compressed air! Clouds. As in you can't see through them! Dust particles came out in chunks! I needed a mask & some goggles! That is what they should have said! They also have added..."Beware. The canister is prone to coming off the cyclone when the top filter is out & open & the bottom is open!" I panicked thinking I broke the thing. Reassembly can be tricky, but I am just happy that they hard plastic canister didn't break on the concrete when it fell off.

I am so happy to have my Dyson back! It sucks so good!