Tag: what other people say

a time to be thankful…

On By HanneIn Health, Stress, UpdateLeave a comment

The past few months since I posted, I’ve really struggled with my health. While I didn’t do too bad on the antibiotics, it completely destroyed my immune system and I’ve been struggling with respiratory crap since July. I ended up back on antibiotics for 7 days earlier this month, and while I’m not coughing much anymore, I’m *still* congested. Ugh. Being sick pretty much for 5 months straight has left me feeling blah, uninspired and just… down.

imagesBut I also realized that while life has been a bitch for the second half of 2013, there are people out there that have it much, much worse. Sure I’ve been on some hard core meds over the course of those five months – but at least I can afford it (even if it pains me to pay for it). So over the past few weeks and over the course of the next few weeks until Christmas, I’m trying to focus on helping those that are having a hard time. And I’m having a good time doing it.

A week or so ago, I took my little buddy Evan for an ‘adventure’ (we go on ‘adventures’ rather than errands, because really… what sounds more fun?) to the grocery store to do a big shop for the Northwest Harvest food drive the radio was doing. We went up and down almost every aisle* looking for stuff on sale to maximize what I was spending and also for stuff a little different than the basic canned tuna, peanut butter, and pasta. I wish I had the link for a blog article I stumbled upon awhile back. Basically, a woman overheard a comment directed toward someone who was donating a couple jars of Greek olives, and something else considered ‘fancy’ and how the people at the food bank wouldn’t know what to do with those items. The woman writing the blog had been on assistance at one timeand while she wasn’t a chef, she could pull together some good meals out of various ingredients and *loved* to find different things at the food bank. Now she’s got a good job, writes a column, etc and likes to donate items that aren’t traditional to give a little variety.  So I tried to get a mix of basic items (because buying rice, pasta, etc. For me it was a trip to the grocery store. For Evan it was a chance to point out the things he knew, a chance to practice colors, and best of all (in his eyes) he got to put everything in the cart for me (he loves to be a helper).

Another way I’ve tried to boost the holiday cheer, is by getting a head start on my Christmas cards. Costco had a great deal on personalized cards, so I got a bunch and have been getting those started (big batch to go out this weekend). For those of you also doing Christmas cards, consider sending a card to a service member through Holiday mail for Heroes. The deadline is Dec. 6th, so if you’re lazing around this weekend with a belly full of Turkey, consider writing a few Christmas cards.

As most probably saw on FB, I didn’t get the grant that I applied for back in May. It’s not a surprise, but at the same time, it’s a big let down. I had big plans for that, and while not getting it this time around certainly won’t stop me, it’s put a big kink in my plans and it still hurts. I’m just going to take a little time over the holidays to not think about it (I’ve got enough going on already) and then time to dust off and keep moving forward.

Will try to keep this updated a bit more than once every 4 months.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

*My goal in life is to spell the word ‘aisle’ correct without having to let spell check fix it for me. Ugh.

“Your body hears everything your mind says.” – Naomi Judd

On By HanneIn Food, Health3 Comments

This was originally a facebook post that started to get long so I decided to post here instead – hooray for using my blog for more than one vacation a year!

Someone on facebook posted this article: The Undeniable Facts about the safety of Diet Coke.

I skimmed the article at first, picked up the basics of ‘yeah yeah, don’t judge people by what they eat, personal choice, etc etc.’ Sure, I’m not perfect with what I IMG_1496eat/drink (hello, I spent the 4th of July trying to recreate one of my favorite cocktails from a bar in Oklahoma*), but I do try to make good choices, and I’m slowly getting better at it. And I’ll agree that we spend far too much time judging others for every little thing they do, rather than working to make ourselves better.

But then I read the article again and I started to get a headache as I pieced together the general thought/idea of the post.

The author writes: “I don’t know if you’ve ever bothered to talk to someone who’s really old and had to do some of that live-off-the-land stuff, but you ask them if they want to go back to doing things by hand and they, like my grandma told me once when I asked if she missed the “good old days”, are probably going to come out in favor of automatic dishwashers, cake mixes, and Crisco. It’s called progress, because it is.”

…and pretty much uses it to justify why she enjoys a can of Diet Coke – carbonated water, colour (caramel E150d), sweeteners (aspartame, acesulfame-K), flavourings (including caffeine), phosphoric acid, citric acid.

How you even jump from automatic dishwashers to diet coke? And how is that progress?

Everyone is entitled to enjoy whatever (and we’ll all deal with the consequences when/if they happen), but how is it ‘progress’ to enjoy a can of chemicals and essentially make a mockery of people trying to eat healthily?  “It ends up being an us-against-them battle waged against supermarkets, farmers, and anyone not making that gross runny organic yogurt that makes me throw up in my mouth…”

It then goes to fear. “Out of the fear industry, many things have developed. Like foodbeing afraid of our food.” Well, maybe we should be. Look at these common foods/brands. Living in Denmark, I found most of these things on the shelves at the grocery store, but did you know that they have to be reformulated to be able to sell them overseas? Because stuff in the American versions is banned due to health concerns. And it all tastes the same too. So it’s not good enough for Europeans, but it’s fine for us? Remind me who has a higher rate of pretty much everything deadly? Oh, right. #murica

She continues into making it a poverty thing… is she ‘too good’ for the ‘regular stuff’ because she can afford the good stuff while poor people digging through dumpsters in Nicaragua don’t have enough to eat? She feels so bad, she has to pick the pile of non-organic strawberries that she finds at the grocery store instead? How about saying,’wow… that sucks to be poor in Nicaragua, but I’m gonna support those local, organic places because I can, and hope the whole trend picks up so that more and more will be organic and not come with built in pesticide. Maybe costs will come down and yeah… HEALTH FOR EVERYONE!’

“How does it work, that having a bountiful supply of food before me is seen as the enemy instead of a blessing?” Um… because last I checked, a can of chemicals isn’t food. That’s how that works.

Dear Julie (the author),IMG_1378
I get that you’re all about ‘things in moderation’and ‘don’t judge’ (because we shouldn’t), and that you support healthy eating too, but the article just comes across as so snarky and defensive over your poor habit. Those friends you mentioned? The ones to point out the negatives of your coke? Did you maybe think that they bring those things up because they care about you? Your article is embarrassing and so misinformed. But sure… enjoy your diet coke.

Oh, and those people that grew up living off the land..? The people that pay extra for organic produce? They know what a real tomato tastes like.

 

 

*The Flint Martini – Sailor Jerry Rum, Passion Fruit Juice, Cranberry juice and Serrano pepper. You’re welcome.