Countdown to a new life.

"You have to practically die, and wake back up".

Not his exact words, but that is what Dr. Wayne Dyer told me the other night at 2:30 am on PBS. I could not sleep, and thankfully was so frustrated that I decided to while my life away by watching TV.

Why would he say this? Well, what I heard was that you have to practically die and wake up "brand spankin' new" in order to drop all your baggage, your bad habits, your toxic friends, family, and life in general.....unless, of course, you are committed enough to begin following the Tao. Dr. Dyer fascinates me. Check out his "Change your Thoughts, Change your Life".

I swear I heard him say: "So Heike, the first step is to follow the 80/20 rule. And start in your closet, then tackle the rest of your life."

"Oh, and Heike? Get going now, 'cause you have a LOT to get rid of before we can continue."

In case you, as I, did not know the 80/20 rule before Dr. Dyer made it up for me personally:

You use 20% of your ______________(fill in the blank with your favorite. Mine immediate list: shoes, clothes, books, yarn, fabric, beads, shoes) almost every day and every time you need ___________________ (shoes?). The other 80% of your _____________________ sit there unused. Take that 80% and give it away immediately, with love. Then take your favorite item of your 20% of ________________, and give it to someone with love. There, that is ONE of the steps to changing your life.

Wow. This show came after a few other signs were dancing in front of my face, it is time for some radical change. Since then I have shredded 5 million pieces of paper, helped my kids sort through books, cleaned out my fridge (20% edible, LOL), and tomorrow I am finally ready to give my closet a radical shake. (Goodbye, green go-go boots, good bye embroidered vest...and some other loved family members.).

After all, Dr. Dyer told me so.

In my next life, I will be a Drifter.

I have decided to be a Drifter in my next life. My family agrees that this would be the preferred lifestyle, so I don't have to do it alone. My dog does not care, as long as he is with us. We love the road, and discovering new places and people.

There, it is decided.

I have come to this conclusion after our recent road trip, and upon returning and facing the chaos of this house. On the road, we live so simple and happy, what happens when we come "home"? As of tomorrow, I am starting a new Dump the Junk challenge, as I seem to work better under pressure...

Scenes from our new life. Enjoy:


Our Gypsy Wagon :). The Big Blue Van is back in service, and we are loving having her back...


View from my bed in the morning...With the sounds of the crashing waves!


Robinson Crusoe casting? My children in their natural habitat.


And here we are, in MY natural habitat. I can't think of anything better than being by the Sea when the full moon is above us :).

"Fried Green Tomatoes", and then some....

One of my favorite movies is "Fried Green Tomatoes". I cried and howled with these women, and can watch it over and over again....

My friends know how much I love this movie, and that I LOVE to eat fried green tomatoes :). No surprise then, when a friend emailed me and asked if I wanted her green tomatoes before they get composted.

I had not idea HOW MANY tomatoes she was talking about! The Goddess was looking out for me, and the same day I picked them up, an email titled "How to make Homemade Green Tomato Relish" landed in my inbox, thanks to www.motherearthnews.com :)!

My first time making relish, and it is YUMMY! I have some extra....

So here you go, I copied and pasted the recipe for you, so you can make your own Green Tomatoes! (p.s. I used a bit less sugar, still sweet!)

Ingredients:
25 medium or 35 small green tomatoes
3 medium green bell peppers
2 medium sweet red peppers
3 medium onions
4 tbsp pickling salt
4 cups sugar
3 cups white vinegar
3 tbsp mustard seed
3 tbsp celery seed


Instructions:

1. Chop, process or grind all vegetables into a fine dice, then cover with the pickling salt and stir to coat. Let the mixture stand for 3 hours, then drain well.

2. Boil the sugar, vinegar and seeds for 5 minutes, then add the vegetables and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Seal in hot, sterile pint jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

What I am reading: "An Echo in the Bone"...by D. Gibraldon. This is the newest in the Outlander series, so I won't say much. I am a bit disappointed, was expecting ???? Anywho....I am only halfway through, might get better.

What I am manifesting: Organization. Trying to get my website updated for upcoming sales and the holiday season. I think every woman wants a Goddess for the Holidays, don't you?? :)

What I am thankful for: My family, and friends.

Great Cookie Challenge - Ugly, but fabulous!

A few weeks ago, my husband and I went on a date, and he took me to see "Julie & Julia"! Isn't he fab??

I loved the concept of taking one recipe a day and blogging about it....I love Julia Childs for her quirky self. I could never commit to blogging about one recipe a day for a year (can you imagine!), but can certainly do ONE a WEEK!

On a recent thrift store treasure score, I found "The Great Big Cookie Book" by Hilaire Walden. Over 200 recipes :). So the kids and I are going to sacrifice ourselves and try at least one new recipe each week and share our pros & cons with you. And the recipe, of course :).

Applesauce Cookies
Makes 36
1 pound cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped (I used applesauce)
3 tbls water
1/2 c sugar (I used 1/4)
1/2 c butter or margarine (butter only in this family!)
1 c flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon (we used almost 1 :)...we love cinnamon!)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking sola
pinch of salt
1/2 chopped walnuts
1. Cook the apples with the water in a covered saucepan over low heat until teh apple is tender. Cool slightly, then puree in a blender or mash with a fork. Measure out 1/4 cup.
2. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a baking sheet. In a medium-sized bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until well mixed. Beat in the applesauce.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into the mixture, and stir to blend. Fold in the chopped nuts.
4. Drop teaspoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
5. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, until they are golden brown. Transfer onto a wire rack and cool.

Ok, our cookies were pretty flat, not round and brown like the ones in the book (B says they are not REAL cookies! :)..). But oh, are they yummy! They are not even completely cool, and we have eaten most of them (We DO have to test them, aye?).

Enjoy!

Dr. Phil, I could have told you that!

Did you see the "Working Moms vs. Stat at Home Moms" show tonight?

I hardly watch Dr. Phil, or any T.V. anymore, but my husband was watching this when I came back from walking the dog.

"You have to watch this."

So I did.

LOL....this is an age old "Mommy War". Even on Dr. Phil, the cats' claws were coming out. I was a bit surprised at some of the things that were said, on both sides, and by Dr. Phil.

I have been on both sides, and still am. I had to give my precious baby to a complete stranger when she was 3 months old to go back to work. I also thought it would be no problem, that was, before she was born :). Once she was here, I did not want to give her to anyone. I remember sitting in the bathroom pumping milk with a slurping breast pump so I could breast feed her. I remember crying in that same bathroom, because I was miserable. I remember calling my sitter from work, to find she was not home, and leaving work in a panic to see where in the hell she was with my baby. I just about killed her. I remember my baby "smelling" like someone else when I picked her up (I am just a sniffy kind a girl). I also remember a sweet woman who loved my baby, and was sure to keep me up to date on everything.

I wrote for an online magazine, about Attachment Parenting. I was flamed by stay at home moms, saying I could in NO WAY be attachment parenting since I am working. I was thrown into the Mommy Wars without my fighting gear. I quickly flamed back, and realized how judgemental women really were. I petitioned that we should all work together to make the world better for our little angels. Yeah, right, that went well.

I did not have a boss like Dr. Phil who said I should always put family first. Whenever something important was happening, I could not simply take off, I had to feign death.

When my baby was 2.5 years old, I was working as a Sales Director for N. California for a luxury resort. I had to travel. It killed me. I would buy us "bonding" necklaces, call home constantly, etc. I came home from one of my trips and was sitting in the dining room with my baby. She goes to phone and picks it up. I ask "What are you doing?" She says: " I am calling my Mommy". "But I am right here." "No, you are my Mama, this is my Mommy." I had morphed into the split personality mama. I then picked up that same phone and gave my 2 week notice.

This was all very erratic, and I would not advise anyone else to this. It has been a rollercoaster of financial disaster, bliss, isolation, bliss, frustration, bliss, marriage struggles ("You need to go back to work!"), bliss, and serious self guilt, and serious bliss. I have gone to work several times since then, had another child, and survived. I am still married too :).

Now I am a Stay at Home mom, and there are days I would LOVE to put on my suit and go away for 8 hours.

LOL!

But I would not give up my life for anything. I get to hang with my kids, we home school, I see them grow and flourish. They will only grow up once, and I plan on being part of that. I can work again when they are old.

Don't get me wrong. I am also the product of a working mom, and I turned out pretty damn good. Still, this is the choice "I" make. Staying home does not mean that we are rich, that I am under-educated, or that I cannot find a job....or that I hate mamas that work.

Don't underestimate me, you hear?

Taking back America

I have said it before, and will say it again:

With a little thought, and a little inconvenience, each of us can help take back America.

This is from our dinner discussion.

"I" believe, that if every time you shop and you insist on buying "Made in USA", you can make a difference. I know it is hard, inconvenient, and pricier than buying "Made in Wherever", but I "insist". It is a pain in my butt, but I still insist. Just think if EVERYONE did this? I believe it would send a statement, and seeing past unions and high cost of labor (as you can see, we have already gone through the pros and cons of importing) here in the U.S, maybe all parties could get their heads out of their asses and help save this drowning ship. Companies here could continue to operate or reopen, people would have jobs, quality would not be a crap shoot, and maybe, maybe we could get back to making cars the world wants to buy (including Americans).

I buy local whenever I can, and usually hit the markets a half an hour before closing so that I can get the food I need for the budget I am on. I trade whenever I can. I buy used 98% of the time, I only draw the line at underwear. I take my friends' extra fruits and veggies and freeze, can, or jam them. As a thank you, I give them jam :).

I am now in the process of cutting away gas. As a kid, I walked everywhere, for hours. Of course I lived in a city, and the times were different. I won't let my kids walk alone here. BUT, I am making it a point that we walk together to places that are close enough that we can walk there within an hour. We need to wean ourselves from our car.

My mom laughs at me and says: "No wonder the economy is in such a bad state!"

That may be true. I may the cause of the retail downfall during the Holidays, and I certainly am not a benefactor of Black Friday. I choose not to be a mass consumer, I have enough essential things I have to pay for, like food and bills. You could argue that the people in the stores that close are losing their jobs too. It is true, but I will argue that there is no need for a Target, Mervyn's, Kohl's, Circuit City, etc at every corner. My goodness, they all sell the same stuff! It is the overindulgence of everything that is killing this country. Only allow so many clothes, electronic, craft, etc, stores in a certain mile radius, and they will thrive.

The more we think, the better it will get.....

:)

If you can read this....

evn thO I considA Mself quite comp savvy, I stil cnot read a few of d txt msgs Im sent. It sEmz mnE of my peers av mastered dis skill. f u cn read dis, plz contct me so I cn snd u d pattern 4t Vintage Crochet Tablecloth Id lk mke. Obliviously, there's sum1 ot la dat cn read:

Sl st in ea of first 2 chs of c8. Ch 8, sk3 ch, dc in next ch. Ch 5, dc in secn ch of next ch8. Rep around w dcs in 2nd an 6th chs, of ea ch8, and ch5 betw dcs. End slst to 3rd ch of ch 6 (12 spaces).

:)

Might as well be Japanese.....If this makes sense to you, can I send you the pattern for translation?