We Ate Too Much!

We ate too much, we really did! Last week at this time my house was filled with family and friends. I love all of them dearly starting with the tiny toddler, my grand-nephew who is just starting to walk. (Watch out world, he will soon be running--and climbing.) His Mama is a joy and treasure in my life, too. All the friends who came are dear to me and I felt loved and stuffed and exhilarated with excitement and exhaustion.

Cake, three kinds of ice cream, delicious Champagne, Chinese food, lasagna, steak, cheesecake, blueberry muffins, an incredible, edible fruit arrangement, my sister's delicious tilipio dish with its yummy sauce, more kinds of chips than I knew existed and a wonderfully gooey Midwestern cheese dip that is pure fattening. Oh, and I almost forgot the French bread. (Why is bread almost always served with pasta? They are both carbs and may as well be applied directly to the hips, or the gut, or the seat--depending on where the fat settles on any particular person.) I think I ate a month's worth of calories in ten days.


Watching the food flowing through this house accompanied by all the beverages and the coming and going to the airport, I thought, "How can there be a recession? This family is singlehandedly doing our bit to stave it off?" That may be the key actually to the whole thing of staving off recession. Turn off the television, forget the news and celebrate our lives; live and be happy.

Today my sister and her husband are on the last leg of their journey home. It is time to settle down to work again. I will try to blog more regularly and there is plenty else to do. Cafepress designs need tending, Squidoo lenses need updating and making, and I still need to figure out how to find more ways to sell Mary Kay products to more customers. Anybody with any ideas please leave comments.

Any good diet advice, I could use that too! (Of course, if somebody could just do it for me...) I am happy and grateful.

Going Green for Earth Day

Today is Earth Day a time to think about recycling, reusing and sustainable agriculture. One of my favorite companies, Mountain Rose herbs is included in the links to the right. (I am an affiliate.) Their philosophy is cohesive with that of Common Ground in Palo Alto, California, one of my favorite places. (I grew seedlings for them for a number of years in the 1980's--thousands of babies growing and being tended and taken to market each year.) This was an experience in urban intensive gardening.

To my pleasure I discovered this morning that the company whose products I rep, Mary Kay, believes in green too. Among the charitable activities that they participate in is tree-planting. For more facts about tress than you have ever known before, I recommend this link

http://www.marykay.com/peggymanor/content/company/pinkgreen.aspx

. There is also a link there to Arbor Day organization.

Recycle, of course, but let's also see how we can together consume less. I have been amused to see the ads on tv for tap water! Plant a garden if you possibly can. Buy local from local vendors, handcrafters and the farmers' market. Teach a child to play a musical instrument, sing, cook, knit or sew--all activities not requiring electricity to be "hooked into" something and also not subject to the constant media blitz of our electronic lives. Have a candlelit instead of electrically lit, meal once a week. Set up a compost pile. Make a braided rug out of your old clothes. Co-op shopping trips and carpool for other activities, not only work. Use natural pesticides instead of chemical bug killers. (Soapy water sprays and planting garlic around the roses really does get rid of aphids on roses.)

Celebrate and give thanks for life on earth and for the earth. Give food to a local food bank and make a contribution to an international charity that will give food to the world's hungriest as the prices rise on all commodities worldwide. Make a difference, praise God and give thanks on this Earth Day.