What Easter Means to Me

Ah, Easter. In the case of this year, April.

Poet T.S. Eliot (disclosure: subject of my master's thesis, which I finished almost 10 years ago now! Oops, I meant "100 years ago." hee-hee) wrote that "April is the cruellest month/breeding lilacs out of the dead land." Or something along those lines.

While I dig Eliot's meaning in my more pessimistic moments (my husband would say that that's every moment for me, ha-ha!), today, as a mom, I would prefer to spin the top in a positive direction: April is a good month. Life gets a chance to take its chance anew. We all get to be reborn, regardless of our spirituality or lack thereof (in my case). If we allow ourselves to embrace peace, we can be reinvigorated by the myriad beauties of Nature.

And, in our case, we get to go out and garden. Hence the picture of DD using her brand-spankin' new watering can (I told her it looks like it belongs to the Tin Man, but she couldn't relate because she hasn't seen that movie yet). I am humbly submitting my photo to the April photo contest at An Island Life here, which talks about what the Easter (season) means to me. An Island Life, if you haven't visited it lately (or ever before now), is the well-put-together (wish I knew how to do en dashes in Blogger!) site of Kailani, a lovely lady with three equally lovely little girls. I enjoy reading her posts about life as a flight attendant--how brave is that!?!--and her darling "K"-named girls. You can find the rules of the contest at the link above--voting starts April 9th, etc.

To paraphrase another Eliot line originally about music but ostensibly much larger, "while the season lasts, we are the season," so get out there and smell the roses with your noses (with apologies to Dr. Seuss); plant the flowers, veggies, and the like; hike the hills and dales; take nothing but photos; and leave nothing but footprints, my friends!

Peace,
Leigh

Chocolate, Food of the Gods

Everywhere I go (and look), it seems to me that women are more fond of chocolate than men are.

{The editor in me just snickered at a permutation of the above sentence. ... If I had written "women are more fond of chocolate than men" it could be true but also very funny. That is, that women like chocolate more than they like men. Now you know the weird way that my once-new steel trap works!}

My favorite 3 C's: children (namely mine! but others can be wonderful, too, of course), chocolate, and coffee. Distant fourth: cheese. I was trying to figure out a way to get hubby in there, but I just couldn't. Maybe confidant? ...

In any case, back on subject, my parents--bless their hearts--send us WAY too much "junk" food. It's not that I don't like junk food, mind you. It's just that I'm trying to get away from the junk food. (Though a crunchety chocolate bar every now and then never hurt anyone--I'm still desperately trying to convince my husband of that!)

That's where yet another giveaway comes in. Stacie, on her blog Simply Stacie, is giving away an Organically Hatched gift card. For those who don't know, Organically Hatched is a "green" company that has committed itself to providing the gamut of organic baby products, from music toys (gotta love their wooden "Tatiri" whistle on a keychain!) to bottles to slings to awe-dorable
Under the Nile Organic Cotton Fruit Toys (I know my little guy would love these, as he's all about putting things in his mouth right now). (To be fair, I have not tried their products yet, but their green stance and the look and description of the products are very attractive.)

OH is also proudly Canadian. O Canada!

So, when you've a moment, do check out both the OH site and Simply Stacie. Stacie does a lot of book reviews (I love books; just don't get to read many of them except for work and in little time blocks throughout the day), jewelry, and really all kinds of things. From beautiful Nova Scotia.

(Long live Scotland! hee-hee. That one's for Mom & Dad.)

Peace out,
Leigh

Milk, Shmilk!

When I was a kid (in the Dark Ages), we didn't talk about milk or what was in it. Loose lips sink milks, I guess.

Now, many glasses later, I have a family, and I think more deeply about things in general. (I've become quite the worry-wart, haven't I?)

So, the topic du jour spins around to milk. Some companies use steroids or antibiotics or some other chemical concoctions and others don't--we know that now in our era of product/brand transparency. Unfortunately, I cannot often afford organic or BSH-free, antibiotic-free milk.

Thus, it's up to my husband and I to do what's right, when we can. I truly believe the body is a temple and that food is a HUGE part of who we are as a society and as an individual. There was an old saying--garbage in, garbage out. If only that were true, because, unfortunately, it's garbage in, garbage stays in.

That's where freedom of choice comes in. You can choose the good stuff--it's just there for the taking. The Horizon milk, for example. Forgo the Starbucks once in awhile. Brown-bag your lunches a few days a week. Skip that ice cream cone this weekend.

It all adds up, if you're being frugal (as we are). And it just might add up to good health if you play your cards right. Plant a garden. Sow some herbs--oregano, chives, parsley, and basil are so easy to grow (take it from my black thumb!).

To that end, visit Melinda Joy's blog and take a chance on winning some Horizon milk coupons here.

As for me, make mine organic milk, naturally!