Public Enemy Number One

The Dreaded Tomato Hornworm

How To Get Skinny

I’m skinny now! Jumpers are my wardrobe staple, so believe it or not, I had no idea I was losing so much weight until I noticed my chores jeans were getting too loose and I went to try on some new ones at the oh-so-fashion-trendy local Tractor Supply Company (aka TSC). I had to keep going out in the store to find the next smaller size to try on until I finally got to the right size. We don’t have a scale here at home but I eventually discovered that I had lost 25 pounds. That doesn’t sound like very much to me, but I guess it made quite a difference.

People who diet to lose weight are probably thinking what a great problem it must be to be able to get skinny without even knowing it, so I will tell you how I did it.

First of all, as I mentioned earlier, I don’t have a scale. This is a psychological thing, I think. Just remember: a watched pot never boils. If you have a scale, you might try wrapping it up and putting it in the attic or basement or garage, or wherever you put your junk that you might use someday but you don’t want to give away.

Secondly, and this is the most important thing, realize that if you don’t feel comfortable with your weight, this is only a symptom of poor health. It’s more important to fix the underlying health problems than to be concerned with your weight. If you are a healthy individual, your weight will be just right. My weight loss came about as I worked on straightening out some health issues. While I was concerned with eating right in order to find optimal health, I also lost weight in the process. That was just a secondary benefit. I think that a focus on simply losing weight is misguided. When you initiate some sort of drastic weight loss diet that doesn’t take health into account, it’s easy to get discouraged with the results and you just go back to your old way of eating. Which is what got you where you were in the first place. Getting healthy is a long-term choice. It’s not something you do for a while and then stop once you’ve reached your goals. So, first things first: concentrate on good health - eat right, be active, and get plenty of sunshine.

Next, consider taking a few months off from grains: breads, rice, potatoes, oatmeal, other cereals, and sugar. I know this sounds impossible, but that’s what I did and I LIVED to tell about it! Doing this will help reset your metabolism as far as regulating insulin, and it will also help your gut to heal if you have fungal issues (most people do have fungal issues due to the widespread use of antibiotics). This is the part that makes you lose weight. But there is one caveat: don’t skimp on the fat! Coconut oil, butter, olive oil, and the fat from grass-fed animals are the best fats there are. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that a low-fat diet is good. Your body needs fat! Enjoy it! A low-carb diet won’t help much without plenty of good fat.

And lastly, remember that changing your habits to encourage good health will not result in a joyless life. I think sometimes we resist change for the better because we think that if we cannot eat Reese cups at least 5 times a week then our life will no longer be worth living. There will be nothing “fun” to look forward to. Let me just say: GET A LIFE! Ha ha. No, but seriously, folks, good health increases your capacity for joy. It increases your ability to fulfill God’s will for your life. And after adjusting your taste buds to healthful foods, you come to understand how delicious these foods are. This is not a concession to say this. I don’t just say it to talk people out of their Coca-cola. Really. Have you ever lost your sweet tooth and then discovered how sweet and delicious fresh home-grown vegetables can be? And as far as treats go: do you know how sweet raw honey is? Dates? Maple syrup?

So, what did I do after I lost all this weight? So glad you asked. I went on a shopping spree. I had to find some clothes that actually fit.

Children's Literature: Pick of the Week

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle. We've been reading this book for my older son's second grade school year, and we are having a great time with it. It's easy to understand the language used (not sure how you would classify it...maybe 19th century "old English"), and it's neat how the language adds to the fun of the book (words like "wot" and "quoth").

If you are interested in seeing our school reading schedule, we are following the Ambleside schedule fairly closely. We will finish our school year by the end of July and take August off. The next school year will begin on Labor Day (we'll have a 3rd grader, 1st grader, and a preschooler). It's great how much I'm learning! The best thing about next year is we'll be starting some serious American History. Exciting!

Work

The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life. -Robert Louis Stevenson

Blessed is he who has found his work. Let him ask no other blessedness.
-Thomas Carlyle

The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.
-Arnold Toynbee

This is the real secret of life - to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play. -Alan Watts, Work as Play

Summer Vacation Driving Tips

Here are some little-known laws from various states you may need to drive through as you journey to your summer vacation destination this year. It may be a little too late for some of you reading these. Sorry. I just hope you didn't break the law while you were there.

Alabama
It is legal to drive the wrong way down a one-way street as long as a lantern is attached to the front of your car.

Alaska
It is illegal to tie a dog to the roof of your car. (Mitt Romney, take note)

Arkansas
It is illegal for a person to blare the horn on a vehicle at any place where cold drinks or sandwiches are served after 9 p.m.

California
Any woman dressed in a housecoat is prohibited from driving a car.
It is illegal in San Francisco to buff or dry your car with used underwear.
No unoccupied vehicle may exceed 60 miles per hour.

Florida
If an elephant is tied to a parking meter, the owner or attendant must deposit money in the meter.

Georgia
In Marietta, Georgia it is illegal to spit from a moving car or bus, but is okay from a moving truck.

Illinois
In Evanston, Illinois it is unlawful to change clothes while inside a car with the curtains drawn, except during a fire.

Kentucky
If you stop for ice cream while driving, be aware that it is considered unlawful to transport an ice cream cone in your back pocket.

Massachusetts
You will be ticketed if you drive with a gorilla in the backseat of your car.

Michigan
If you car breaks down in Detroit and you are waiting for assistance, be aware that sitting in the middle of the street to read a newspaper is illegal.

Minnesota
It is illegal to cross state lines, regardless if you are walking or driving, with a duck on your head. And, if you're crossing into Wisconsin, the law also applies to chickens.

Nevada
It is illegal to drive a camel on the highway.

New Jersey
Drivers are required to beep their car horns before passing another vehicle.
If convicted of driving while intoxicated, you permanently lose the option of registering for a vanity license plate.

Ohio
In Oxford, Ohio, authorities will ticket you if you consecutively drive around the town square more than 100 times.
Keep in mind that if your car breaks down and you phone for a cab, you will be ticketed if you opt to ride on the cab's roof.

Oklahoma
It is considered illegal to read a comic book while driving.

Oregon
You will be ticketed if you leave your car door open longer than is deemed necessary.

Pennsylvania
If you spy a team of approaching horses, you are required by law to pull to the side of the road and cover your car with a blanket or dust cover that has been painted or sewn to blend into the scenery. But, if the horses react skittish to your efforts, you are then required to disassemble your car and hide the parts in the nearby underbrush.

South Carolina
In Hilton Head, South Carolina, you cannot leave trash in your vehicle out of fear of attracting rats.

Tennessee
It is illegal to fire a gun at any wild game other than whales from a moving car.

West Virginia
It is perfectly legal, for road maintenance purposes, to scavenge road kill.

from dmv.org

Hooray for Vitamin K!

I just read a great article on Vitamin K2! I can't help it that I am so enthusiastic about health articles like this. It just happens. It sounds like a lot of people in the U.S. are Vitamin K2 deficient. One reason is use of antibiotics. Our digestive tract can actually manufacture K2, but after taking antibiotics, your body loses the ability to make this important vitamin. The more antibiotics you take, the more Vitamin K2 deficiency. Also, some people are genetically prone to having low Vitamin K levels. Along with phosphotase (an enzyme in raw milk), K2 helps your body store calcium in the right places (bones), as opposed to the wrong places (arteries, soft tissues, organs, etc.). Anyone who has taken coumadin or has any kind of calcification issues should read this article: Vitamin K2 Controls Removal of Calcium from Arteries, by Dr. James Howenstine. Here's another good article on this topic. K2 is different from the Vitamin K you usually hear about that comes from leafy green vegetables. Some nutritional sources of Vitamin K2 are: gouda cheese, butter and other fats from grass-fed animals, natto, sauerkraut, and other lacto-fermented vegetables. There are also some recently developed K2 supplements. I think Dr. Mercola carries some in his on-line store, and apparently this Dr. Howenstine has a source for them. Another thing you can do to help K2 deficiency is to get your gut back into good shape if you've ever been on antibiotics (isn't that almost everyone?) - cut out sugar, cut back on grains, eat lots of (sugarless) yogurt and/or kefir, and take a good, high-quality probiotic. This is great information! Let me know if you have any questions. I enjoy finding out about this stuff!

You didn't ask, but Here's What I Think

I have a ton of things I'd like to write about, but not enough time to do it in. I'm only here now because it is so deathly hot outside, I don't feel like doing anything constructive. Hence, this blog entry. Wait, that didn't quite come out right. I think I just insulted my own blog.

Here's my topic today: Ron Paul, 2008 Republican Primary candidate. There's only one thing I don't quite understand about this guy, and that is his stand against the Iraq war. He says that it should have never begun in the first place. But it is unclear to me exactly what he would do as president, were he to be elected next year, about national security in the Middle East and Muslim terrorism in general. I know he would be strengthening the borders here and enforcing immigration laws (now there's an idea!). I'm not an expert in military matters (obviously), but it seems to me that just having our military suddenly leave the Middle East would not work very well. I think it is true that our "being there" has fueled their hatred of us, however, this philosophy alone seems to underestimate the evil at work in these Muslim terrorists.

This is the only thing I have found so far to dislike about Ron Paul. If it weren't for this one issue, I would vote for him with no reservations. I love his strict take on the Constitution, not to mention his honesty and intelligence. I mean...the man actually READS the legislation that he votes on in Congress! What a bizarre notion.

I still think that the primary next year will be the biggest election. A third party candidate doesn't have much chance in November, but if we elect a dud for the Republican nomination next spring (e.g. any of the current frontrunners), I will definitely be voting for a third party myself in November. I've heard the Constitution Party might ask Jerome Corsi to run on their ticket. In my opinion, this is not "throwing away your vote". I just don't agree with the idea that we should only support candidates that might possibly be able to win. That seems monopolistic to me. Kind of like saying we have to choose only between Wal-Mart and Target, and forget the little Mom-and-Pop store down the road because they can't compete anyway and they'll only go out of business next year anyway. Well, if we all gave our support to the best candidate despite their perceived "electability", then some of the better candidates at the bottom of the polls actually would have a chance now, wouldn't they?

No Longer Amateurs

Now that we have a pasture fenced in, you know we're really serious about this animal stuff. This is the real thing. The fence installers came and fenced in something around two acres of our land - all in one day. And it is a great-looking fence, too. They just pounded those big fence posts into the ground with this big pounding machine (sorry to get technical on you). Then sometime in the afternoon while all of this was taking place, I noticed that the e-mail wasn't working. Then a little later on, I noticed the phone wasn't working. All of a sudden it dawned on me: one (or more) of those fence posts was pounded right through our phone line.

It wasn't the fault of the fence people, so we just didn't even bring it up with them. My husband decided to try and figure out where the break was so that he could fix it himself. And if he would have found the break he would have fixed it too. He is just that good. But alas, the phone company had to come out and lay down brand new wire...two weeks later. Yes, we were without phone/internet service for two weeks.

Here is what I learned during my two weeks without the phone, e-mail and internet: life without this technology moves along just like it always did before, only maybe a little bit slower, and definitely more smoothly. I am glad to have the phone back again because of the security it brings in case of an emergency, but the first day we were back "on-line" and the phone rang several times within one hour, I was about ready to take the scissors and cut that phone line again myself. It was really quite pleasant without it.