CHICKENS!!!!

i LOVE our chickens! They are really my daughter's chickens, but she lets me gather their eggs whenever I want.....it's like finding treasure everytime! She raised 5 chickens from chicks (they were a day old when she got them). They started out by living in our laundry room for about 3 months to make sure they were kept warm. A rather dusty and noisy situation. She has four different types: Americauna (2), Plymouth Rock (1), Black Cochin (1) and Dark Brahma (1). They all have lovely names: Grace Kelly. Mrs. Darcy. Meg White. Dolorian. and Sandra Templeton. They are so soft and fluffy! They all have very sweet personalities, and will follow my daughter around. My daughter and my hubby designed a chicken coop and then built it. It is beautiful! The chickens are about 10 months old now. It was so exciting when they started laying eggs. I had this secret wish that I would be able to witness one of the chickens in the process of laying an egg. Not too long ago, as I was checking on the chickens I could tell one was kinda busy! It was extremely 'cool'. The chicken was standing, and an egg could be seen descending...kind of a quiet "ur ur ur" sound with the egg emerging with each "ur". These eggs are beautiful! You know eggs from the grocery store are ancient. They can be months old. We get to eat really fresh eggs around here! They are usually from one day to seven days old. YUM! They are better scrambled, in an omelette, in all baked goods.....SO much better....than store bought! I always tell the "girls", "thank you for your good work!" and I tell them to treat each other nicely! (That whole pecking order thing is so true.) Oh, but I do love them, they just make me HAPPY!

Recipes from Facebook!

Who says that Facebook is a waste of time? Just over the last few days there have been many recipes and meal ideas from several friends. I thought I should jot them down here so that I will have food planned for awhile. *Soup, Stew, Chili (with cornbread) *Hot dogs & tator tots *Homemade pizza *Bar-B-Que glazed chicken with a baked potatoe and a salad *Chicken Tacos *Chicken Alfredo *Shepherds Pie *Clam Chowder *allrecipes.com *Hamburger Pie (hamburger "crust" with mashed potatoes, green beans, cream of mushroom or chicken soup mixed in with cheese on top) *Taco Burgers (brown a pound of ground beef, add a jar of salsa, put on buns with a slice of processed cheese on top! *Chili Chicken and Coconut Rice (sounds yummy....I need the recipe!) * Chicken ala King * I need to leave now......but will post the other recipes that I have received on Facebook in a bit.....

Now, mind you, I have been trying to do a little more cooking this week. BUT....I have noticed: tons of dishes, tons of prep, tons of time.......not really motivating. I don't know if it has really saved any money. More nutritious? Perhaps.

just breathe......

Listening to the breathing of a loved one who's breaths are broken by a 15-20 second long phase of not breathing, then labored intakes of air, followed by another phase that makes me not breathe as well. The human body is so amazing. At times it is so delicate and frail, not much can take away a life. At other times the body is shockingly tough. Abuse, disease, neglect doesn't seem to put a chink in it. The winding down of a life well lived.

Listening to the breathing of a newborn just a few hours old. Sweet, soft, rythmic. So quickly perfecting this new skill as she enters the world. Holding me in awe of the miracle of life. A life that will have nearing a billion breathes.

Did your spirits pass each other and converse? Did she share advice and wisdom with this sweet inocent spirit? Take notice of this wonder of breathing. Breathe in deep. and slow. and slowly exhale......

Miss Representation Extended Trailer

Please Share!

Please share the Miss Representation extended trailer www.youtube.com posted below! It makes me want to scream and cry! What the HELL are we teaching our (especially) kids and society in general? The Miss America Pageant is on tomorrow night, this is the supposedly "Good" pageant....the Miss USA Pageant is the one associated with Trump & considered the trashy one....but after my involvement at one of the state Miss America Pageants this past year I can only say I was shocked and disturbed! I cannot believe that in the year 2012 we are still only looking at a female's appearance to determine her worth. Come on ladies! Don't put up with it! We are worth SOOOOOOOOOOO much more!

Write this down! Take a little note.....

Nowadays, more than ever, I need to write things down. To do lists are a constant. I have yet to figure out a consistant, efficient way to write these lists. I also have employed a technique now and then over the years for expressing hard to handle feelings. Write a letter to whomever you are having difficult feelings towards. Compose it over the course of several days or weeks if you need to. Profread it. Make sure it says EXACTLY what you need it to. Now hang onto it and decide if you want it delivered to someone, or if you just need to shread or burn it. I have done this on several occasions and I am tellin' you that it works! Today I was at a class, "unleashing the power within"......if interested I can give you more info..... and we were taught to write about a negative feeling that we are having and keep writing, whatever comes into your mind, for up to maybe a half hour. If you pause, keep your pen on the paper. You will know when you are done. If you write about a person, or persons, and feel you need their forgiveness for holding onto these negative feelings about them, then visualize them (DON'T go and put these negative feeling on them!) and subconciously ask for their forgiveness....than ask for our Heavenly Father's forgiveness....and forgive yourself. Then crumple up the writing and burn it. Watch the smoke rise to the heavens and let go of the negative feelings. I think this is a great idea and I am going to give it a try. I think we get so far away from actually using a pen or pencil anymore due to our electronic devices that it is becoming a lost form of communication. Any of you that still write letters and mail them, Good Job! It is always nice to receive something in the mail that is not an advertisement or bill. Let me know if you try the writing suggestions and how it works for you....

Wow! Time really does fly by! I could swear that I posted just 3 days ago....but it has been more than a week! We are awaiting the birth of our 3rd grandchild.....a girl! Everytime we hear from one of the parents we wonder if it's to tell us that she is here! Very fun. They are keeping the name they have chosen top secret. I think that is very fun, also. I hope that the daddy does not choose a name like the ones he suggested for his new sister when he was 5 years old. He wanted us so badly to name his new sister "Sally" or "Abudada". I have no idea of where he got the last one. The first one could have come from a video tape (probably one of two that we owned at the time) I cannot even remember the name of it, but there was a "Sally in a red dress" and it was a children's sing along type video. Hope your New Year is going well......

The Dieting Epilogue

I began dieting when I was in the fourth grade. That is 9 or 10 years old. This was just a few years after Twiggy had exploded around the world as a super model. My friend, Andrea, and I (probably the two most developed 4th graders) decided we would bring a boiled egg and carrot sticks to school for lunch. This launched years of dieting and feeling dissatisfied with my body. After that there was:

cosmopolitan magazine diet

$13.00 a week for food and 500 -800 calories a day diet in college (then pneumonia and fiance breaks off the wedding, depression diet)

(My hubby married me at this low weight....and has NEVER said anything to me over the years to make me feel bad about my weight...he could have said I tricked him.)

weight watchers

nutrisystem

richard simmons

jenny craig

(My daughter in first grade wrote this about her mom: My Mom loves salads and loves to clean. Yeah, right.)

low carb

low fat

isogenix

herbal life

shape for life

....these are just some of the diets I strictly adhered to for weeks and months at a time. Then lets add exercise:

Hips,thighs and butts

Aerobics hit the scene!

My first Gym membership

Walking

Speed Walking

How to flatten your stomach

More Aerobic classes!

Walking every morning at 666 am, oops! a typo...that was suppose to be 6 am.

My second Gym membership (oh, maybe if I go twice a day)

Water aerobics.....man, why do we keep getting strep?

various excercise classes

Always walking

Health Glider

treadmill

stationary bicycle

I do not believe that 3500 calories equals a pound. Gained or lost. Just look around at people. Genetics DOES play a part! Metabolisms are not equal! I come from sturdy pioneer genes that survived the trek West! I gave birth to 8 pound babies and would only have lost maybe 6 pounds! Never mind the placenta and all the other stuff!

Don't even think about adding up the money, time, effort spent.

I can tell you calorie counts, nutrition facts, I spent years keeping track of every bite and every minute of exercise. I have drowned in water consumption. I have crawled on the floor with zero energy. I have NOT vomited. I now weigh more than I ever did being 9 months pregnant in my four pregnancies. And I am happier. I threw away the scale years ago because I did not want it to dictate my feelings. I also did not want my daughters to go through the same things with weight and low self-esteem.

Let me just say this, quit wasting your life away. Moderation is the way. Eat and exercise for health. To feel good. Go play with your kids. Quit fixating. Quit self-loathing.

As you can tell, I could go on and on about this subject. Maybe I will at a later date.