Getting campy

We love camping. And we just found out.

We met some friends in Meridian, TX for camping and the National BBQ Cookoff. We had great time. Did some hiking, took some bird pictures, ate our body weights in BBQ, slept like the dead, marveled at the natural beauty of the world that was created for us. It was a fun weekend. I also made a mental list of what all we need to be more successful campers. Husband already wants us to do multiday hikes. I suggested we try camping without electric hookup first.

Here's the first guy we meet at the park on Saturday morning. He likes an early breakfast.

He flew away and met up with a Great White Egret who appeared to be his buddy. We found them and took more pictures of them.

I really liked the fog coming off the lake in the morning. It was just beautiful.

It would've been even more beautiful if I hadn't frozen my rear off the night before. We are *not* equipped for cool weather camping. Sleeping bags are on my list.





We also went hiking this morning and found our friend in a tree, greeting the eastern sky with a thoughtful stare.

At home, in my rocking chair, blogging

We have been having perfect Autumn weather. It is exactly what I think weather is like in England all the time: equal parts mildly sunny with a breeze, overcast and moody, drizzle and rain. I absolutely love this weather. However, I have transitioned from my plants dying because they are being baked by the sun to my plants dying because they are getting too much water. Ah, Texas. How I love thee.

As y'all know, I'm always trying to do something. It's kind of the basis of this whole blog. You all come here every day wondering if I've managed to get my life together, knowing that I haven't and secretly happy about it because that means I'll write something again tomorrow later. And that's okay with me, because honestly, if I were to accomplish one thing, I'd just think of something else I should also be doing.

So, what am I doing?
I will tell you.

I have successfully conducted my 15-minutes of Bible reading every morning (well, not every morning, but more than 95%). I'm in 2Chronicles, which is really a repeat of 2Kings. Despite the fact that it is violent and full of how God treats bad kings, it is not the most gripping reading, especially the second time around; but Moses and Joshua are tough acts to follow. I was kind of happy when Jezebel got eaten by the dogs, though. She was not nice.

I've managed to get breakfast for a few days now. I have oatmeal in the fridge that was first soaked overnight (to neutralize the phytic acid), then cooked and mixed with butter, coconut oil and honey. It is yum. So. Very. Yum. Note: oatmeal that is first soaked overnight, cooks up in about 3 minutes. It's like instant, but without the instant price tag.

I'm working on adding, and don't laugh at this, two minutes of exercise to my morning routine. Two minutes of jumping jacks will get your heart rate up. Once you stop laughing, give it a try. I've also done some crunches and some butt exercises. Right now it's not really about the work out benefit but the habit forming.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming..

I'm still adjusting.

I'm still guano busy.

But I'm blogging again.

In actuality, I've been blogging all along, but just in my head and not on any sort of readable media.

Returning to a workplace, where you used to work and left a year ago, is strange. So many people have asked me if I'm doing the same thing I did before I left. In fact, I am not. I'm not only in a completely different role, but am employed by a different company. And I can't imagine what kind of drastically wrong turn my life would've taken in order for me to have returned to the position I left. I feel sorry for people who do that. Unless the position makes them happy. Then I'm happy for them. But what a sad life.

I've also temporarily convinced a few people I hadn't really left.
They walk by, do a double-take, and say "are you back?"
"From where?"
"Didn't you leave?"
"Um, I went to lunch. Did you need me for something?"
Confusion spreads over their face.

The only notable events that happened during the Great Silence is that His Wife had a beautiful baby boy. I will travel to see them in November (crap! just remembered I hadn't actually purchased the plane tickets yet) and I can't wait. I plan on cooking, cleaning, laundering, changing diapers, holding precious baby and watching at least on girl movie with her.

I also very notably did not get pregnant. We are still kind of trying but mostly trying to get healthy. I still believe that healthy people are fertile. Fix the health and you will fix the fertility. This does not apply to people who have anatomical problems. Thankfully, that's not us.

I'm still ovulating roughly on schedule with the full moons. Husband is seeing a Reproductive Endocrinologist. I'm requesting that he request to have his thyroid tested and his Vitamin D levels checked.

I'm wiped out tired right now. I'm working 2pm - 11pm tomorrow as I did yesterday. Today I worked my normal hours. More on the irony of this later. I'm too tired to go into it right now.

Change begets change, which begets shopping

New job is going well. I've been overloaded with information. I've learned the bliss and wonder of a pivot table. Those of you who really know me, know I'm not being sarcastic or facetious. Those of you who don't know just had a little peak into my psyche.

New job requires business career type dress. I'm from a technical background. My wardrobe is severely limited in the business career type dressing. Especially since for the last year I've worn jeans to work almost everyday and I've gained weight, which means the dress pants I used to wear fit me, but in an obscene way. The same goes for a lot of my dress tops. They make it look like I'm working for a raise in the wrong way. All this to say, it's time for a wardrobe overhaul. However, I want to be organized about it. I would usually just go to the shops and buy whatever caught my eye or that I thought was a good deal.

Of course, I have a number-bulleted list of a plan:

1. Clean all the laundry so I know what I really have (daunting!)
   
   
2. Get rid of whatever is in the closet that I don't wear and anything that is too small
   I will probably move the "too small" into the box of "too small" that I have upstairs because I fully intend to be too small once again. Maybe.
   
   
3. Create outfits with what I have left and determine where the holes are.
   

When shopping, I will:

1. Stick to my list of what I need
   
   
2. only buy things that fit me NOW
   
   
3. not buy something on sale unless I would've bought it for full price
   
   
4. only buy things that I love on me
   
   
5. accessorize
   

New(ish) job under way

Started yesterday. I'm busy. Will write more later.

iPhone App: wCalendar & Darkness-- TTC

The post also known as, "How to use your iPhone to get pregnant."

http://triplecreeks.com/womancalendariphone.aspx

What it's used for:
Tracking your cycle. But only if you're a girl.

What I like:

• Easy input of temps and recording of other events (doing it) and signs (mucus)
• Nice calendar view
• Nice chart view
• Super easy to use
• Displays the day of the cycle I'm on

What I don't like:

• Doesn't calculate when I ovulated with the option to override
• Doesn't take when I marked as ovulation into account with projections
• Doesn't tell me what day past ovulation I am

If you are charting your cycle and I recommend checking it out. I use this app in conjunction with Darkness to do my lunaception.

Fight Back Fridays: Salsa, fresh and fermented

I've been meaning to join in the Fight Back Fridays over at Food Ren's blog. Today, I will.

On my quest to rid my kitchen of processed foods that contain fake ingredients, I'm focusing on condiments. I'm going slowly, one at a time. If I try to do things quickly, I burn up like space debris in earth's atmosphere.

I followed the recipe for fermented salsa in the Nourishing Traditions book by Sally Fallon. Last Sunday, I went to our local coop (or is it co-op?) and bought some farm fresh tomatoes, lemon, garlic, jalapenos and cilantro. I already had onions. I chopped everything up. I left the skin on the tomatoes. Mostly because I'm lazy. Added some whey from homemade cheese and a lot of natural sea salt. Smooshed it into jars. Twisted the lids on and set them on the counter with a towel over them.

When I uncovered them last night, egads! it looked like a science experiment. Or something I would've previously thrown out of my fridge.

Luckily I've also recently read Sandor Katz's Wild Fermentation and knew that some white mold on top of ferments is normal and not harmful. You just have to scoop it off.

Therefore I did not fear the white mold and opened the first jar. The bacteria had done their job. There were bubbles and some fizzing, like a carbonated drink, but salsa. I scooped the mold and tasted. Oh the tang! the saltiness! the spiciness! It was delightful. The jars are now in my fridge and I'm working on incorporating salsa into this week's meal plan.

I used to wonder how people ever lived before electricity and refrigerators. How did they store food? I think I'm slowly starting to learn that good, wholesome food doesn't necessarily become putrefied when it "goes bad". Food that hasn't been messed with can become something totally yummy and even good for you (probiotics!) when it ferments.

I'm looking forward to our farmer's market visit coming up tomorrow morning and am excited to find something else to ferment.

-------------------------------

I just had an idea! The mold appears as a result of the surface of the ferment being in contact with the air in the jar. What if I use my vacuum sealer to seal the jars? What then? I'm going to try it.