30 Day Experiment

So, yes, I'm going to incorporate a lot of raw fruits and veggies into my eating for 30 days and see how I do. Here's what I decided so far...

1. I don't have a juicer but I do have a blender, so I'll blend one fruit smoothie and one green smoothie per day, and the other food will be straight up veg and fruit eaten whole.

2. The exceptions to this will be fish, if I feel like I need it, cooked light. If I really crave protein, I'll eat a couple bites of something lean like steak.

3. The only real cooked food besides the fish will be bone/meat/veggie broth homemade, if I feel I need it. I'll never stray very far from the Weston A. Price thoughts on the benefits of these. Bone broth has had a very soothing effect on my joints and any aches. Oh, and I will use some of that 100% juice cranberry juice from the store, which I'm sure has been heated before bottling, but so far I'm using it to moisten the fruit before blending into smoothies.

4. No preservatives.

5. If wilting a green or dehydrating some pureed veggies makes it more palatable, I'm likely to try that.

6. Haven't decided yet if I'll take a once-a-week break and have a shabbat meal with whatever I want (as long as nothing processed). I'll figure that out by this Friday, but if I do it, it won't count as one of the 30 days.

7. I'm trying to keep it 80% raw. I'll guesstimate the percentages. I'm a firm believer that some foods simply are easier for our bodies to assimilate and absorb nutritionally when cooked. A good example are some tropical tubers and greens, which often have concentrations of things that would act as poisons if not cooked and drained first. But for now I'm choosing foods I know are fine without cooking, because I want to nutritionally pamper myself and regain all my old energy back. I'm looking to lose weight as a result, but that's not my sole motivation in doing this.

8. I will track the way I feel and if I lose any weight.

9. Drinks will be water, lemon-and-stevia or lime-and-stevia ades, tea, and herbal teas. Mostly water, though.

10. I'll be trying to figure out Florida again, to find which of these things would actually be grown during this season. I know I don't have it together enough right now to adhere to the best practices in tracking down solely local and in-season produce. That's my ultimate goal in how we should eat. But baby steps. For now I need to educate my body to want a range of greens (I feel sure we have those here year round) and to a much greater degree...and raw foods, which I almost never ate at all.

11. Fats are nuts, avocados, olive oil, flax seed and flax seed oil, seeds.

12. No restrictions on quantities, but striving for balance and staying active.

13. I'll stay on my regular meds, the hyaluronic acid supplement, and an after-shower refresher of spritzing with some water with tea tree oil drops added in before toweling off. That should help mitigate cleanliness as my body detoxes via my skin.

What can we use from what we have growing in Bucketville?

We don't have any standard crops growing right now, mainly due to my sucky illness that lasted so long. But we do have some non-standards ones that I can't wait to use daily, namely the Moringa and the Cranberry Hibiscus (using the leaves of each). Moringa leaves are supposed to be a nutritional powerhouse rich in so many things it would take a paragraph to list, and also high in protein....and we sure have plenty of those growing on the lot next door, hooray! The cranberry hibiscus has a bright lemony flavor and gorgeous magenta color with of course nutritional benefits of its own, so I'll use it in smoothies along with other players, and I'll blend it to include in the Stevia limeade or lemonades. I'll explore tomorrow to see what herbs and plants are still looking good enough to harvest and add to this list as I go. Even without a standard late garden, we still have about 11 tropical pumpkins/calabazas I can utilize.

I'll keep my thinking cap on, and I really need to study a planting chart again, because I still can't always get my head around when to begin things here...it's still very strange to think of growing things in the winter. But I'm not complaining!

I'll talk tomatoes in my next post, maybe. I've made a short list of the easiest things we've grown so far for this climate, and since next year may be full of this and that, I want to have the basics planned out in case we can't get more ambitious with the garden while busy. I still want us to have a nice rotation, still using the buckets for the baby plants. I'll take some pics soon, as there's a really big difference in the soil since two years ago before manure and compost applications.

All that later.

Oh, and I'm keeping the 30 day raw experiment details here...Raw Green Blender Queen

Let's see how this goes!

Contemplating Raw Food

I'll make this quick, as I'm short on time. I'm about to go in for allergy testing tomorrow, at my doc's recommendation. But I have a lot of reluctance to go down this road. I don't want to put more medications in my body. I don't presume to know what will be recommended, so I'll wait to hear, but in the meantime, I need to take better care of Me.

And so I've been doing some more reading up, as well as contemplating what would fit with our family goal of growing most of our own foods. That in itself will require a change of eating, because typically we can't afford right now to eat as much produce as we'd like. BUT (isn't there always a but?)...that has to change. As we DO grow more of our own food, our appetites will have to accomodate a lot more green things as well as some veggies that do well in our area but that I never grew up eating.

I'll go out on a limb and say that I never see myself totally eliminating animal products from our diets, or at least mine, by choice. That said, I DO see our transitioning to raw milk and milk products, unmedicated meats, and a completely different ratio of raw and veg foods than we eat right now. Eggs, too.

I simply don't know if I can do this, but I am trying very hard since the months-long run of having been ill and now feeling stronger, finally...am trying to listen to what I need to do better "self care"....I'm not hard on myself and don't ignore myself. But I need a more specific type of healing, I think, and I believe that means unburdening my body from complications and giving it what it needs to heal and be less toxic.

I'm seriously contemplating a modified raw food regimen (with some frozen berries thrown in), the exception being the occasional inclusion of meat/bone broth and fish. I am thinking of trying this for 30 days and charting the process, if for no other reason than to help me transition to a different ratio in my eating, changing over to mainly fruit and veg. It would also do a lot to help me eliminate the temptation of processed flour and other processed foods, as well as find other ways to get the taste I enjoy by un-learning some of my grab-and-go standbys and exploring some equally tasty but more nutritionally dense alternatives.

Maybe I just want to know I can do it and maybe I feel the need for a cleanse. Anyway, I'm thinking about it.

Strangely, and gladly, I am at a different mindset going into this than I have been at other points in my life. At other points, I felt the urge to nurture myself because of feeling depressed, and other emotions linked to situations present at those times. I did experience welcome breakthroughs when I did that back then. But this time is markedly different because I am very content and happy in general and the strongest emotion I have driving this desire is to be able to enjoy my world physically as much (and as long) as possible, to improve some conditions that I'd like to see gone healthwise, and to really invest in having as many years possible to enjoy my husband who is the dearest friend I have.

It's been important for me in the past to work through challenges when making life changes, especially to be motivated for the positive rather than through feelings of guilt, inadequacy, and such. Negativity or fear can't drive me. My weight has always been a challenge, but I can say that though I have a lot to lose, I've been both thin and very overweight, and I accept my body and am comfortable in my own skin wherever on the spectrum I am.

I made a conscious decision years ago to never diet again, therefore I won't. But old dogs can learn new tricks, and giving my body what's best is no prescribed diet...but it's a dietary change. I've lost 30 lbs in the past two years, most of it during the past year, ten of it while sick. I'd like to see more shed. If it happens, I'll applaud better choices and ride the momentum.

For now, I have to get used to eating foods I need, enjoying a broader range. (I already love veggies and fruits anyway). Lots and lots of different greens. A completely different ratio of raw and cooked, fruit/veg to starches and meats.

I'm contemplating whether 95% raw is something I should try for 30 days. That's enough time to see where I'd like to go from there. I'd include fats from fish, avocados, flax seed.

Thoughts? Experience you'd like to share?

I'll report back here about what I decide. I'll continue thinking about it while I fix myself a blueberry smoothie...yum :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Getting Caught Up

Boy does it feel better to feel better! It's done wonders to be back on my feet and tackle the backlog of chores that built up in the past few months. I'm about to have my kitchen completely back on track probably by later tonight, and that always gives me some peace of mind. There are still plenty of chores to go, but the pending list is growing shorter.

Soup's still our "fast food" and can always be changed according to what's on hand and our preferences. Some gorgeous sweet potatoes were on sale the other day for 25 cents a lb. so I got two bags full. I never used to like sweet potatoes growing up, but they were usually only prepared a couple of different ways with a lot of added sweetener...too sweet to me. For whatever reason, either changing taste as I grow older, or just finding different ways to use them, I really like them now. My favorite ways are roasted, baked and eaten like a baked potato with butter and a bit of sea salt, oven-style home fries, or in soups.

Yesterday, we feasted on baked sweet potatoes and they really filled us up fast. So into soup they went tonight, from a rich chicken broth that's as easy as putting a whole chicken in a crockpot with some sea salt and water and leaving it till it's falling off the bone...mmm. Stir in some veggies and spices on hand and yum!

Nothing much to report other than things keep good and busy and it feels nice getting caught up. Still wading through the red tape resulting from the truck theft, but we hope that concludes soon, too.

I hope everyone's geared up for a relaxing and happy Thanksgiving!

Be back soon :)

Feast of Thanks

An early Happy Thanksgiving to you all from our house to yours! We're celebrating early, potluck style, at some dear friends' house this weekend. (And there'll be some good eatin' and talkin', woo!) Yes, we two hermits do occasionally emerge from our cave a couple times of year ;-)

I was asked to contribute a few simple things. They basically amouted to Things That Require Stirring. Some are even more basic than that.

Six pans of good cornbread. Check!

Several gallons of fresh brewed tea, some sweet, some unsweet. Check! And ice. It's still warm here...

And pumpkin pies. Check! Doubtful on the pie crust, as I am one of those unfortunates who have not yet mastered the art of the pie crust. And those Pillsbury All-Ready ones? Well, dangit, I had to go and read the ingredients and sure enough, O Lard, there's lard in it. I have nothing against the piggies, but we just don't eat 'em, so I had to scramble to find some sort of easy crust to substitute. I found an easy recipe online with a simple list of ingredients that can be basically stirred and pressed into the pan using a bare hand and some waxed paper. It's not so pretty as the rolled out sort, but I need to work on my crust skills. So this sufficed for now and hey, the taste isn't bad. The actual pie is the same recipe we grew up with...my Grandma used the recipe on the Libby's label no matter what, and if you jazz it up with a few more shakes of spice than called for, it's tradition.

Oh, and the other true confession...I've never made homemade cranberry sauce. We've always chilled a few cans of the jelled sort from the store. I know this probably makes those who have real cranberry skills cringe. But alas, I am sticking to the familiar, so cans it is, woo! Nope, not even molded into the shape of pilgrims and turkeys, just the cylinder shape straight from the can, sliced into slices. No worries, we have cranberry-a-holics a-plenty and it never lasts long enough for anyone to critique.

I do have to say, having stocked up on frozen turkeys last year, and STILL having several in our freezer to date to cook and eat, we're looking at the Thanksgiving turkey with different eyes. We won't buy nearly as many this year, and will probably go for chicken instead so those turkeys we do eat are treats instead of standard fare (good fare, that is).

But anyway, that's our contribution to the full sideboard this year. Our hearts are even fuller than our stomachs will be. We truly have so much for which to be thankful. More than we can count.

Thank you, God. For so, so much!

I'm really grateful for my online friends here, too. Thanks each of you for what you add to our days every time you stop in here for a friendly hello!

Shabbat shalom!

Update

Quickie update:

1. I'm now in the care of an ear/nose/throat specialist. I'm feeling relief and can hear now out of one of my ears and both are so much better. We're working on the right ear to get the stubborn infection nixed. I really love this doc. He sees the yuck and gets this tube thingy and suctions it all out. Ohhhhh, so very great (total relief, ah :))

2. The losers who stole and wrecked our vehicle recently now have been making their way through our personal effects, namely the checkbooks and outgoing mail (checks sealed for mailing for monthly bills) that were among the stolen contents of the truck. It looks like we may be dealing with three counties in question, so I am doing due diligence trying to coordinate hubby/bank/case detective/copies of all the paperwork in question so that it can all be linked to the one same crime...and if fingerprints, checks, etc ever produce a break in the case, they can be busted for ALL of it. And oh, how I hope they are.

3. Been making the most of the library. The past few weeks it was espionage-ish type novels, then made my way through various sets of authors and their collections, then had a dry run of some authors I've never tried, with varied success. I'm now in the middle of one of Barbara Kingsolver's older ones, and just replenished the stack with some books of letters/logs/diaries (historical), some history local and of cuba, and various random selections from my ongoing author search in the fiction section, trying to locate others I've never read but might enjoy. I'm keeping the stack to about 15, and rotating out as I go so it stays fresh. I devour books.

4. Pulling things together for an early thanksgiving celebration with friends this weekend. Every minute between now and then is accounted for and I have no idea when i'll get the items in time (the things to cook and take...I was given a list of things to make that we don't usually have at home) because the work schedule (shared rides) have really screwy hours, PLUS Jack is having to handle driving time to banks to keep following up on the #2 above. But that said, my husband is very relaxed and seems to be immune to The Disaster Which Is My Kitchen presently, knowing that I will someday knock out the nuclear waste that is my stack of dishes in the sink. That, too, rotates, but quickly gets behind. I'm feeling SO much better physically! And perhaps too relaxed?? Well, I'm getting plenty of sleep, and am feeling so much better by the day!

5. And that's its own point. I'm so much better by the day, and I feel more like myself...HOORAY!!! Thank you to all who prayed for my health! There are still tests being run, but the feeling like I was hit by a bus is definately OVER. WHEW!!

6. Pup's good! Kaleb is thriving on his regimen, and is so well-knitted into the fiber of our family I can't imagine it without him. If you want a dog to not only be a faithful companion but to be totally in adoration and keep tabs on you 24/7, that's an Aussie. He's bonded well with Jack, too...they have their special "man talk" they do. but Kaleb is like an old mother hen about me and if one of us goes outside and the other stays in, he'll opt to stay close to me and worry about me while still going frequently to the window and worrying about Jack...it's really sweet. So we play and spoil the daylights out of him, and he seems to be thriving...yay :) His coat is looking like a whole new dog. We have to be careful not to be in the direct line of fire of his exuberance on these cooler days when he rockets around the yard outside when we take him out. He doesnt understand that he's the equivalent of a 65 lb freight train :)

7. Still researching the technologies I mentioned in a recent post, adn following up on the comments you guys left there. We LOVE those and love chipping away at those things!

8. Land search news on the horizon. Mum's the word till there's anything to report. But it still is being labored on.

9. I've never owned a gun. I've shot rifles and a shotgun before, but never a handgun. I've always been somewhat intimidated by handguns. But for whatever reason, we've made a couple trips to shops where I can see and feel handguns, to satisfy my curiosity and try to get over my irrational fear of them. I'm doing this for myself because I'd rather be educated than intimidated and ignorant of something. To know if I like it or not, and if not, to be sure of my reasons why. Doing some reading and going to these shops has at least gotten me less shy around them. I'm curious about them and am contemplating a gun safety class. And if I reach a comfort level, I'd like to go to a firing range and get more comfortable operating them. And possibly contemplate a class on concealed weapon licensing? Dunno, we'll see. Any thoughts?

10. I've gotten outside more and have been walking more. As my health has been better, I've craved walks in this beautiful weather that's mild but with good strong sun coming down...perfect! Been enjoying walking Kaleb, and I haven't gained back any of the weight I lost while sick (yay!). Now to get on a regular sleeping schedule.

all for now....

going to finish out the demanding week, and get in my great stretches of rest, especially since Jack's encouraging them. In spite of the stack of dishes.


I love my husband :)


P.S. Sometimes Kaleb snores like a little old man. And as he naps at my feet, sometimes he makes dog noises that freak me out because they sound like someone whispering. He also makes jealous dog noises, or pouting noises when Jack and I snuggle up asleep at night. But he gets over it. You should hear his sigh of resignation when we're all cuddled. As in "hey you two, get a room." And then he settles back into his deluxe pillow-stack condo beside my side of the bed. Yeah, he's got it so rough... It's a dog's life... :)

Things We're Researching

I've been remiss to mention some of the things that have come along the pike that have piqued our curiosity recently. Jack's passed along some of his links for me to add to mine so we can both be in on the research for down the road. I thought I'd pass them along here.

Before I go further, I'd like to say that I personally lean to the less-is-more concept of simplifying life. In fact, I'm not a technology bandwagon person. I'm also not a spend-more-to-be-green person.

My hubby loves technology and finding ways to innovate. I am a crusty codger about technology, and am more drawn to kerosene lamps and open fires, and very low-tech tools. That said, it would be a big adjustment for me to learn to live with average daytime temps of high 90s F for most of the year, and nights in the 80s F and up. But we keep looking for options and ideas.

Here are some things we've been reading up on, but have come to no particular conclusion about yet...but they continue to interest us in a closer look:

1. The Coolerado Air Conditioner. Here's a pic from their site --

Features of this type of A/C? It needs no refrigerant, and Jack believes that means it would cut out the A/C service costs completely. It supposedly is priced competitively with standard A/Cs, and it uses only ten percent of the normal energy of conventional A/Cs, which means it can be easily connected to solar panels without a huge drain of energy. It also thrives in heat and gets more efficient the hotter the weather. And so on and so on...here is a youtube video where they go into a bit more detail. Needless to say, this is on our curiosity list to follow up on and keep researching. It would mean A/C would be possible even off-grid, for the price of an airconditioner.

This video is about the larger A/C unit that would cool a larger building exceeding 1500 sq ft.

2. Getting Drinking Water from the Air: EcoloBlue 29 Atmospheric Water Generator --- this is something I ran across when googling off-grid living and was wondering about water options. The three downsides I see from the outset for this product are the cost and the fact it has a plug (needs electricity), and needs filters every 3 years or so. The up side being it produces clean drinking water from the air (yeah, that is very cool!) , needs 480 watts while running, cuts off when done....ergo, it could be fueled by solar panels as well. It's completely portable, meaning it's not fixed to plumbing or anything...it functions like a water cooler/heater drinking station. It can be used simply as an R/O system with existing water systems, if desired. But it needs no water source other than the air, since it uses the air humidity. It claims to produce 7 or more gallons of water a day, and switches off when full until the next time it's needed. Cost is in the ballpark of $1200. That's a big downside. For folks like us with filthy and very VERY hard to stomach well water due to the high sulfur content (we have to BUY all our cooking and drinking water weekly, ugh) We do have a Berkey filtration set-up, but it does NOT remove the sulfur smell...which is not something you'll find in their literature. So we're definately interested in these claims, especially since we live in a high-humidity area, though the literature states that it will run in any area.

Here's a video about it

EcoloBlue 28 Atmospheric Water Generator - Interview - NBC6- Watch more Music Videos at Vodpod.

Here's the pic from their site:


Reading comments from users seemed to show they were satisfied and also noted that periodic flushing of the unit to keep it clean was the only real maintenance that came up. We'll be checking this out more, but at this point, the price for our situation is too spendy.

3. The Rocket Stove. I first saw this at one of my favorite blog sites, La Ferme de Sourrou...here is one of the posts where you can see it in use. This has REALLY impressed me, since its biggest selling points (to me, at least) are its ease of construction from really inexpensive materials, its ability to realllyyyy get hot fast, and the fact (this is HUGE) it needs VERY VERY little fuel...a few corncobs, or small pencil-sized sticks, leaves, things you'd find easily without chopping a lot of trees or paying for fuel. Here are a couple of links I found you might enjoy. This handmade technology is SIMPLE but EFFECTIVE. It really will get our attention as we hammer out alternative ways to cook, especially if we relocate, without being dependent on paying for fuel or chopping wood. I'm not sure if I could adapt it for outdoor canning, but it's certainly worth finding out.

Here is one of my faves...I love the ease of construction. This one's made of adobe bricks.


This one below is constructed of basic metal containers and Parts one and two show the ease of construction from about any metal container (note: the author notes later to use black metal for one of the components)




This one is my favorite of all. This shows several being used in Africa. Each one is made of 6 bricks and is the rocket stove concept, using very very little kindling or wood, mostly just a few twigs.

This one shows the above 6-brick stove's construction. They apparently are later mudded over to customize the exterior shape for the owner.


That's it for now...what's caught your interest lately? I'd love to know what's worked best for you...any category...as a best solution for your homestead :)

Found!!!

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers! We really believe God allowed our truck to be recovered this quickly because of them...thank you, thank you, thank you to God and to you all, woo!

We got a call late evening last night that the police had found our stolen truck lodged in the mud on the side of the road on a two lane heavily partied area near a popular beach. These are photos taken in the dark, but they give some idea of what we found when we got there.



Probably, because the area is well-traveled, the location may have prevented them from stripping down the vehicle all the way...tires, etc. As it was, EVERYthing from the interior that could be removed by hand hastily was. Registration papers, everything from all compartments, our many tools and supplies we kept in the back for our work, and even stupid stuff...all gone. The gift they left us was the aroma of pot smoking and spilled beer, damage to the inside and outside we're not entirely sure yet the full extent is till we get it to a mechanic, and an abandoned cooler left in the truck bed.

One of the dents. The side door doesn't close well as a result. And soon I will discuss my FEELINGS about people who do this to other people's property just for the fun of it.

These smudges are where the deputy dusted for fingerprints...and got some good ones. I hope some are in the state computer and that they get prosecuted.

Darn, they'll have to funtion without their cooler! Here's the one they left behind. The party's over, losers.

We are VERY fortunate that the vehicle was recovered in this good condition, even though it might not be such good condition. It IS driveable...though we don't know if safely so. But being violated with this theft goes way beyond the inconvenience associated just with the vehicle itself. This has cost us a lot of money, and will until it's fully repaired and useable. It's cost us security...think house keys, driver's license, garage door opener, car alarm controller, wallet, cash, checkbooks, credit cards, SS cards, clothing with work logos, bills to be mailed...well, the list goes on and on, and so will the damage control. I'm not saying this feeling sorry for us...I'm saying it's a huge pain in the neck to try to outthink crooks fast enough before they can do us more damage from afar, to our bank accounts and so on. We moved quickly on those things...hopefully we covered all the ground we needed to, without forgetting something. There's still a lot of follow-up needed as a result.

I don't usually post on the blog on our day of rest (Saturdays). I did want to shout a huge THANK YOU and YAY to God and our friends here (you guys!) and let you know the truck's found.......whew!! :)

And because I'm me and it's shabbat, and because I feel violated by some drugged-up thieves who would still be running our only vehicle into the ground were it not for their bad driving while drunk and high, and our good fortune that they couldn't get the truck un-stuck from the ditch they wound up in, I'm going to wax "religious" for a moment (though I don't prefer the term, but for lack of a better one am using it)

Some people have a lot of mistaken assumptions about Jewish belief. Or I might just call it scriptural belief usually associated with Judaism, since Jewish belief can really run the gamut depending on the Jew. So I'll be referring to MY personal belief, but anyway...

Here's one of the myths. "The Old Testament is about judgement, not mercy or grace"

Here's Robbyn's take from being a child of both "sides" of that view. There is a distinct difference between doing justice and taking vengeance. In any just society, there must be laws that uphold right and give consequences for doing wrong, or there is no right and wrong. Doing justice is talked about constantly in the Bible as the distinguishing characteristic of those who love God and want to live peaceably with their neighbors. Where this ever got confused with wreaking vengeance and was determined to be wrathful and unforgiving, I have my personal suspicisions based on history, but it has nothing to do with a lack of grace and mercy.

As much as I might feel I've like to find the perpetrators who stole our vehicle and trashed it, and take a baseball bat to their vehicles, and maybe even to them, there are laws in place that determine the right and wrong ways to prosecute these people if they ever come to light, and to deter them from victimizing others in the same way again. The law, which in this case is our government's law, is there to protect the victim and to insure that the consequence for the crime does not surpass the crime itself...that vengeance cannot be exacted. Were someone to stalk and physically injure thieves for something like this, our government's law states that that is way beyond an appropriate measure for the crime committed. You don't do the electric chair for a traffic violation, and so on.

There are those who would say that having a changed heart for God means you turn the other cheek and negate the need for law and its judgements. Well, it might be interesting to count the occurences of the terms "judgement" and "justice" in the Tanakh/OT and realize they were there to protect both the victims and the perpetrators from unfair measures. The oft-quoted and much-misunderstood phrase "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" is a perfect example of this. In most quotes, it's maligned and used for a quick-reference quote to supposedly illustrate that if someone hurts you, you have the right to hurt him right back, buddy...an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth...take THAT! No, that's out of context, if anyone cares to read the surrounding verses where it occurs. The meaning of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" is amid the instructions of not wreaking vengeance, but that no consequence should ever exceed the crime itself. We have no right to over-prosecute someone out of anger and revenge. Someone back into our fence and damages a section of it? They pay restitution for the replacement of that section of fence, but don't have to re-fence our entire property. Someone tailgates and rear-ends a car? They pay for the damages that result from that, but don't have to buy new cars for every passenger who was riding along that day.

The grace part comes in where? That there is a just system found within the Bible and it is neither thrust on those who don't want to be a part of it, nor is it denied to those who do. It's interesting that most christians don't realize that Jesus was a Jewish leader who promoted the keeping of the law and taught that it would never go away, never presented a message that went counter to it, or it would have disqualified him as messiah to his followers.

But I'll stop there :)

I'm angry about our truck, but grateful we have it back. If they do find the thieves, they should be prosecuted to keep them from doing this to anyone else. I'll forgive them and won't indulge in any baseball bat-to-their-personal-property scenarios. But yes, they need the consequences, the "just measures" determined by law, or they'll do it again and again, or worse.

This momentarily ends my diatribe. Back now to relaxing with my hubby and also our endearing canine furball.

Shabbat shalom...

:)

Grand...

...Theft...Auto.

Tonight was not the night to leave a full set of keys, a wallet, and a lot of personal and work items locked in our only vehicle at work. At least for us, it wasn't the best of nights...but for some lowlife professional break-and-enter car thief, it was probably high cotton.

Our only vehicle is gone. Practically right in front of my eyes. Right at work.

Prayers are appreciated! We're making all the necessary calls to try to mitigate any compromises of identity, financial data/accounts, etc. What. A. Headache.

We would love the vehicle to be recovered in good and driveable condition. We're really happy no one was hurt (me!) and that we seem to have a pretty good basic insurance coverage (helps).

I need to send a big thank you to everyone who has offered health recommendations and encouragement in the last post, too...I've read them carefully and implemented many of them. I have an appointment with a specialist early next week, if I have a replacement driver's license and rental vehicle to drive by then.

Shall be back to post periodically, but wow, hmmm...what can I say? Just very grateful no one tried to take something more precious than some transportation...such as one of our lives.

Makes me hug my hubby tighter! And my sweet daughter, who was great about taxiing us home (wow, shoe on the other foot...memories of how many times we taxiid her ...thanks, Rachey!)

Hug the ones you love. Cars (or trucks) can be replaced....(we hope!!!)

:)


Love you guys :)

No Coincidence

It's probably no coincidence that my blues are occurring at the same time as this cycle of physical stuff recurs. I'm not going to write more about the specifics. Yes, I'll be making some necessary changes, and I continue to try different remedies.

Long story short is that I don't much like my personality just now, and normal life ups and downs just seem more intense, though they probably aren't. I feel irritable even in regular conversations with those I love. That's not "me."

I don't get really low often, but my spirits are really not in a good place. I'll be back here when I have something positive to contribute. I can't seem to shake my irritability, and it's got me wanting to just take a bus and disappear from everyone, period, till I find my good humor again.

My "sky's still the same color".....it's just my own perspective of it that needs a readjustment.

Hope to be back soon when I can find my smile :)