Inversions

One of the things I love about yoga, is the opportunity to challenge the body through balance and inversion postures. The children really love trying different poses as well. Often, we will go outside and experiment with various body challenges.

My daughter and I started out yesterday with Crane pose, moving straight into headstand. Slow and steady, focusing on balance and strength.

She and I continued on playfully attempting other types of "Poses" :)

Then the boys (including neighbor child) joined in the fun!



By the end, Whitby and I stuck our handstands for at least a couple of seconds. We want to get to the point that we can move slowly from Downward-Dog into Handstand or even Crane into Handstand. I have a feeling we will be working on those for a LONG time.

Facebook: sharing, unfriending, community, boundaries....

In February, it will be a decade since Mark Zukerburg rolled out Facebook. I was in campus ministry at the time and my friend/co-worker Joy told me about it. Through the years, I have collected around 1500 "friends" on Facebook. Most of them are students I connected with through campus ministry (on 3 different campuses), or people I met through work (3 different large churches). Then there are the high school friends, college friends, graduate school friends, and family/extended family. It is easy to gather such a gaggle when Facebook has been part of my life for 1/4 of my life!
Throughout these 9+ years, people have weaved in and out of my world, and I have weaved in and out of theirs - crossing and connecting, then sometimes detouring for months or years at a time.

It may sound silly, but I truly am thankful for Facebook.

I have encountered people who knew my mother and have told me stories and shared photos from the 50's and 60's.
I found my 3rd grade bestie, who I had not spoken to in 20+ years. She still lives in Colorado. Her folks are still in the same gorgeous pink victorian home on Main Street in our small town. Her dad still has that epic beard, the one he has had since long before epic beards were a thing.
My dear cousin and I, who were estranged for many years, were able to talk through former conflict and start a new friendship. Grateful that he and his wife are both in my life now and look forward to a day when I can see them again in person.
I try to keep up with the innumerable women who have touched my life in profound ways throughout the decades. But that's hard to do! So Facebook helps me check in on them see pics of their kids, their work life, home life and health.

I recently talked to a former co-worker who was telling me how he was about to go unfriend about half of his friend list because he hardly knows some of the people who had friended him.
And another person who unfriended lots of people because he only uses Facebook to keep up with people who he "actually interacts with in the real world".

I get that. Totally. Technology is here for us, not the other way around.
But these comments have gotten me thinking.

1. Ok, so you don't know half the people on your friend list. Did it occur to you that they may know you (or some form of you they respect/admire)? What if you made a difference in their life somewhere along the way? Perhaps that is why they friended you in the first place.
2. I can understand the argument that you have people you hardly even know flooding your newsfeed. The good news is you can label your inner-circle of "close friends", which tailors your newsfeed to highlight those people specifically.
3. Narrowing your list to people that you actually interact with in the real world: why on earth would you need Facebook? My friends span across the states and across the world. There is no way I could keep up with them without Facebook. Elizabeth is traveling in Alaska right now. Todd and Jenny are moving their family back to Dallas from Alaska. Christina is finally getting the 15 acres outside Dallas she and her hubby have always wanted - just in time for her 5th child. Tammy's ministry with children in India, and Amanda's ministry with children in Africa are both beyond inspiring. Shirl is traveling in Australia right now, but she and Greg have been missionaries in Columbia for most of their married life.
4. Narrowing your list: you're even missing out on the small things. Carla watched "Warm Bodies" last night. Chris should have been a comedian. Ginger has become a runner this past year, and loves it. Jay and Nan just celebrated their 20th in Bahamas. Karen inspires me every time I see something she posts on someone's wall as a birthday message - she makes me want to be a more intentional friend. Tonya's daily scripture peaks my interest to dig deeper. Coach Graham (my high school coach) retired. Friends are gay. Friends buy parrots. Friends buy boats. Friends have cancer. Friends' parents have died. Friends support and do not support gun control. Friends have babies. Their babies have babies.
5. Is un-friending a cry for attention? Is it simply good boundaries? Is it pretentious? Is it a way for people to have self-control on how much time they spend on FB? Each situation is different. I want to know your thoughts! But for me, it is a way to stay connected with eras of friendships which would otherwise fall by the wayside.

Confront me. Send an intervention. I am sure that I am way too into what others are doing. Understand that my husband and I have set boundaries for screen/phone/ipad/computer time when we are at home with the family. These boundaries we set for our children as well. We definitely have enough to do on our little urban farm to keep us off screens!

But as for me today, I appreciate Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and blogs. These things help me engage with the outside world. It's today's modern and efficient form of community -- life together (albeit often separated geographically). It is, in fact, actual interaction, in the real world.

*Disclaimer. I will unfriend anyone who is repeatedly disrespectful, arrogant and cruel.
**Disclaimer. I loathe all the advertisements and games I get incessantly invited to join.
***Disclaimer. I have unfriended in the past for various reasons.

Will this work?

I went to the grocery to buy wine.

The cashier asked if I had my I.D.

"No ma'am." I replied. "But......"

July 4th, 2013 (and 5th and 6th)

Happy Independence day!

We spent 4 hours at our Country Club pool, enjoying the bbq and a newly installed slide. It rained on and off all day here in Tuscaloosa. Fortunately, for the majority of the day there was no lightening or thunder, so the lifeguards at our pool allowed the fun to go on.

Since it was so cool outside when we got home, I built a fire, while Creighton did a couple hours of yard work. The children relaxed inside for a while, then joined us outside.

Creighton had purchased some city-limit approved :) fireworks for that night. We only got to about half of them, because of the rain. We tried again the next night - - still raining. And finally again on the 6th. Although it was STILL raining, we managed to get a break in the drizzle to finish off the sparklers. My friend Meredith and her two little guys came over, sparklers are always more fun with friends. :)



Then finally, the FINALE. A glorious Chinese lantern, that caused ooooohs and aaaaaaahs and delighted the hearts of the children. (Needle scratches record) Unfortunately, the lantern got about 10 feet in the air and then caught on fire, plummeting to its death. We put it out of its misery in the fire. Hugged our friends goodbye, then off to bed.



Overall a calm relaxing extended Independence Day celebration. Lots of rain, fire, yard work, and intermittent fireworks. Hope your 4th was fantastic.

To cool or not to cool?

We gather eggs everyday. The children bring them in, I wash them, place them in an egg container, and straight to the frige they go. I try to keep the containers dated so we know how old the egg is that I am feeding my family. As a responsible American mom, I try to take sterile care in matters of food.

Recently, while watching Downton Abbey (my obsession de jour), I caught a glimpse of the kitchen during an episode with Daisy and Mrs. Patmore preparing breakfast. In the frame, I noticed that in the center of the island, they have an egg keeper. Eggs, out in the open, room temperature. Granted, this period program is set in the early 1900's. Still, the image caused me to explore the necessity of egg refrigeration.

In the US, most of us buy refrigerated, store bought eggs. We naturally assume that eggs are supposed to be refrigerated. However, in most countries around the world, it is very common - even today, to purchase unrefrigerated eggs at the grocery.

I asked my Columbian friend about her eggsperience growing up in Columbia.

Well maybe it is fine for people in other countries to leave their eggs room temp. But this is AMEEERca. The USDA describes our American egg processing in detail. This grading manual offers us more than we ever wanted to know about the eggs we purchase from the grocery.

But wait, eggs sold at The Farmers Market are often sold unrefrigerated. So what's the deal?

There is a forum I frequent over at backyardchickens.com. Many yard bird aficionados agree that it is not necessary to refrigerate eggs. To clarify - farm to table eggs. One farmer said he actually leaves the eggs out on the counter for a month before packaging them and putting them in the fridge! Many contend that the reason the process set forth by USDA, requires egg refrigeration, is because the washing/sterilization of the egg damages the cuticle, a protective mucoprotein layer on the egg shell which keeps out contaminating micro-organisms and bacteria.

This whole process led me to an experiment.
Two weeks ago, I gathered eggs for two days. I have left these eggs on my kitchen countertop.

Yesterday and today, I have cooked and eaten the room temp eggs.

Captains log:
Cooked unrefrigerated eggs at 11:15am, June 28th 2013, and again at 9am, June 29th 2013. If I were to contract salmonella, it would show up within 12-72 hours after infection. It would last from 4-7 days.










I have not yet fed the eggs to my children, and certainly not my husband, who won't even eat the refrigerated ones after a week. Little does he know that store bought eggs are often a month old by the time they get to the shelf!

For now, I will continue testing this theory on myself. A royal food taster, so to speak. I will update in a week or so, assuming I am still alive.

Give me a commercial break!

One of my parenting goals, is to raise my children under an umbrella of gender equality. I want my sons to grow up in a world where women and men conduct themselves with mutuality and respect. I want my daughter to understand that she can strive for anything she dreams up - even if she does not have a penis. I have been intentional about the toys they play with and the content of the movies and TV shows they watch. I stand guard against anything that sexually objectifies women. I steer clear of shows that portray women as helpless or weak.

The children and I watch Netflix mostly, and they see lots of adventure shows and documentaries, as well as animated action and fantasy. I love Netflix, because we enjoy a commercial-free viewing experience. There are a few TV shows however, that I watch on Hulu: Modern Family, CSI, Nikita, and Survivor (which the children and I watch together). I understand that paid advertisements are what allow me to have the free HULU service, I appreciate that. But last night alone, I witnessed over and over, commercials in which women were powerless and dependent.

These two specifically, make my skin crawl.

In this AXE commercial, the runner throws a race because a guy says, "hey."


In this car commercial, the driver fantasizes about all the sexy women who will pine for him if he drives an Acura.


The third one I saw repeatedly is not quite as offensive, but I'm curious why Verizon chose the "Guy rescues technologically exasperated, pretty girl" angle. It's what sells, I suppose.


So many other titillating commercials to choose from (not necessarily that I have seen on Hulu - but various screen shots that accentuate my point).


I am aware that there are so many human rights issues to combat. This one just seems to hit me in square in the face day after day as I guide my children. Are you a parent? Have you had similar experiences? What are some ways you deal with it?

Best Laundry Detergent EVER!

When we moved to Alabama 2 years ago, my washer/dryer relocated to the basement. Because of the humidity, I have had a difficult time keeping my laundry from smelling musty. I have tried so many different products (homemade and store bought)!
Finally, I have settled on this THREE INGREDIENT DETERGENT.

1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1 bar grated Fels Naptha laundry soap

I use 1/3 of a cup per each load, which is probably over-kill, but my laundry smells amazing. Actually, there is hardly any smell at all. My husband used it for the first time on his laundry last week. I was curious what his opinion would be because he is very sensitive to smell. He called me downstairs and over to his hanging shirts. "Smell this and tell me what you smell...." As I leaned in to take a wiff, he exclaimed, "NOTHING! You smell Nothing! This stuff is so awesome!"

At last, I have a simple to make, HE, phosphate free detergent that really gets the laundry clean and deodorized. And the best part about it, is that it literally costs PENNIES per load.

A shout out to diynatural.com, where I found this recipe.

Date your eggs!

I don't know about your chickens, but mine have been laying like crazy this summer. I actually sold 7 hens because I was getting over-run with eggs! It's a great problem to have. And I enjoy dispersing dozens among friends.

When the eggs are coming in faster than a teenage halloween prank, it's easy to lose track of when they were laid.

Never fear, a washable marker is here! An eggcellent solution to stop the confusion is simply - to take a few minutes and date them. The washable kid markers are non-toxic so they won't harm the egg. If you don't want to mark the actual egg, you can just mark your carton as you fill it up. It doesn't take long, but for me it's been super helpful. My city-man husband appreciates it too because he get's a little nervous when he sees 6 dozen eggs sitting in the fridge!

Summer Screen Time

I am loving our summer system for allowing the children on screens. Typically, we spend a lot of time at the pool during the summer. The first 2 weeks, we got into a habit where as soon as the children walked in the door, they immediately got on their iPads... or turned on Netflix... or fired up the Wii. Before I knew it, 3 hours had passed by the time we sat down for dinner!

Haaeeeelll no. That ain't happnin'.

I called a meeting in the school room, and presented the plan.

While I do want you all to have a very relaxing and fun summer, I do need to put a boundary on the amount of screen time each of you get. Henceforth! One hour of screens will cost you one hour of school work. You give me an hour of work, I give you an hour of screens. This can be reading (from the approved summer reading list), Spanish, handwriting, review material from last year, or math. Expecting fuss and protest, I stood there in silence while they stared back at me. After a few seconds, the middle one replied, "Ok." Then they all ran off.

"That went better than I expected", I thought.

A few minutes later, the older two re-entered the room with a list of questions.

1. So what is the limit per day?
~No limit.
2. Are there roll-over minutes if we don't cash in the work minutes each day?
~Yes you are allowed rollover minutes.
3. How are you going to keep track of this?
~Good question. Here is the official clipboard I will use to document your work time and screen time.
4. Where is the approved reading list?
~Approved reading list is underneath the pad on the clipboard.
5. Can we do certain things together to save time?
~You mean teamwork? Synergy? Community? Of course. In fact, I would encourage that.


So far the system has worked beautifully! The children get home from the pool and walk straight to the school room and get out their books! They have been working together and encouraging one another. They have been reading together and doing math flashcards. WOW! I don't get this kind of participation during the school year!


This has me thinking - perhaps this will remain our screen-time reward system all year long....