Majorly Random Things

Dinner Conversations

So, Thursday at dinner, we're talking baptism plans and Thing 1 is naming who she wants in the circle. She lists several people and I say, "Sounds good, honey." And then the water works start. I couldn't talk for a full minute or so. The kids kept asking what was wrong and Mark told them, "She's sad because Vavo won't be there." My Dad has so been looking forward to this. I could barely speak, but I said, "I miss him" and continued to cry. Thing 1 reached over and held my hand with tears in her eyes. I asked why she was crying and she could barely speak. She said, "Vavo." And I said, "You miss him?" And she nodded. Mark gets teary eyed. We're all crying and Thing 2 says, "Well, he still sort of can be in the circle." We look at him confused. I said, "How?" And he gets his typical goofy grin and stinker look on his face, puts his pontificating finger in the air, and says loudly, "Trust in God!" So, we're simultaneously laughing and crying. I ask, "Where did you learn that." And he says matter-of-factly, "Veggie Tales." Apparently our children learn great spiritual lessons from vegetables. Good to know.


Mortgage Fun

We've made the leap from a 30-year mortgage to a 15-year mortgage, saving us about $199,000. Our payments go up a bit, but it lowered our rate by almost a full percent. And it only cost us $129. And it's legit. Sweet!


Butter vs. Margarine

I'm on a mailing list for these once-in-a-while health emails (from this site-- http://www.Eat-Well-To-Be-Well.com). They have little tidbits of information and good reminders--like did you know that wild rice is a whole grain? We're into healthy eating and years ago, switched from doing everything "low fat" (as in the kind of stuff that is loaded with sodium, sugars, fake crud, etc. in order to be low fat) to simply eating healthy, natural foods as close to their natural state as possible (again, not to an extreme--we do eat junk sometimes, too). One of our favorite natural switches has been to natural peanut butter. Mmmmm, SO much better than the regular trans-fat, unnaturally spreadable kind (blech). We also much prefer butter to margarine.

Anyway, I got one on butter vs. margarine a while back and have saved it to post on our blog because I thought it was interesting, if a bit disturbing.

The closer a food item is to its natural state, the better it would be
for you. Case in point today is, butter is better for you than
margarine.

Let's look at the reasons why:

Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it
killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the
research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to
figure out what to do with this product. It was a white substance
with no food appeal - so they added the yellow coloring and sold
it to us to use in place of butter.

Hmm... Doesn't sound right, does it?

DO YOU KNOW the difference between margarine and butter?

* Both have the same amount of calories.
* Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared
to 5 grams.
* Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53%
over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent
Harvard Medical Study.
* Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients
in other foods.
* Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few
and only because they are added!
* Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance
the flavors of other foods.
* Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has
been around for less than 100 years.

And now, for Margarine:

* Very high in trans fatty acids.
* Triples the risk of coronary heart disease.
* Increases total cholesterol and LDL (the bad cholesterol)
and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol)
* Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold.
* Lowers quality of breast milk.
* Decreases immune response.
* Decreases insulin response.

And here's the most disturbing fact....

Margarine is ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC.

This fact alone was enough to make me avoid margarine for
life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen
is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

Don't believe what I'm saying about margarine? Try this yourself:

Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or
shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple
of things:

No flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that
should tell you something).

It does not spoil or smell differently because it has no nutritional
value; nothing will grow on it! Even those tiny microorganisms
will not find a home to grow.

Why? Because it is nearly plastic.

Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?

Remember, the closer something is to its natural state, the
healthier it will be. However, completely natural is best, of course!

Isn't that disgusting?


Chicken Cordon Bleu Recipe

Mark's Mom makes delicious chicken cordon bleu and we used to make it fairly regularly as newlyweds. Over the years, I've developed an aversion to touching raw meat so we don't eat as much of it (meat, that is) or at least not if I have to touch it a lot. :P Anyway, we've recently found a recipe that is called "10-minute chicken cordon bleu" and it's not half bad. It's here if you want to try it (and I found this through one of my SIL's friend's blogs and don't remember which or who). It's not bad and it does the trick, though it's not as good as Vivian's.


Weird Dreams

I sometimes dream that I find out I didn't finish some class in college that I thought I had (like I signed up for it and didn't ever complete it, somehow it got lost in the shuffle, they let me graduate, but now it's back and I've got to do it) and it feels very real and scary. I also sometimes dream that they're sending me back on a mission and I totally don't want to go again. It's been a while since I've had any of them, but something one of my brothers-in-law wrote reminded me of this.


Little Dude's Made Up Games

Thing 2 loves to make up games. They're very complicated, the rules are all over the place, and he always wins. Earlier this week, he made up one such game. It involved Star Wars characters, a bit of memorization and pictionary-type steps, as well as many other random things. One of the steps involved reading for a full minute. He later tells me, "Mommy? You know why I choosed reading as part of the game?"

"Why?"

"Well, I looked inside myself and felt it in my tummy and felt like reading was a good thing to do."

I verified that he meant what he said he meant and yes, he means he's understanding and practicing how to follow his heart and I'm thrilled about that. It's something we talk about a lot and it's so thrilling to see it sticking. I asked where he learned that and he says, "You teached me!"

I'm so proud of him. Thing 1 and Thing 2 really are great kids.

I'm totally behind on blogging, email, reading your blogs, and so forth. I'm getting to it. We've been swamped with business stuff, home stuff, and mostly regular old play-outside-and-have-fun stuff. We've been spending entire days at the park, swimming at the pool, enjoying kids' summer theater, free movies, reading programs, berry picking, cooking, games, school, activities, you name it. So, I'm very behind, but I'm getting to it! I haven't forgotten any of you!

And I've got more to write and pictures to post, but for now, I'm going to get ready, make blueberry muffins with the kids (Thing 1's own recipe!), and get ready to see "Rumpelstiltskin" at the local open-air playhouse! So far, we've seen "The Emperor's New Clothes" and it was very cute. We're excited! :) More later . . .