Wordless Wednesday: The Shiz

Thank you to Sarah from Harbuck & Co for this wonderful family picture of us with The Shiz.  The Shiz was the opening to the Hidden Village Music Festival and they rocked it out!  So maybe not so wordless :)

Mamavation Monday: Trying to garden in a bag

I have a black thumb.  Like seriously black.  I once tried to plant blackberry bushes and just about killed them or outright killed them, I don't remember anymore.  One week after I abandoned them to the great gardener in the sky, the stupid bushes came back to life and started growing!  I'm the sort of person should not have plants.

Now that I have Ravebaby, I am determined to try and grow things with her.  As a homeschooling mother, I feel like I need to expose her to a little bit of everything and growing stuff should be part of a well rounded education.  So what is a homeschooling mother with a black thumb to do?

The answer came via my Facebook timeline, garden in a bag!  I want to say that my fellow Mamavation Sista over at Just Joanna is the one who posted about this great idea but I don't really remember now.  The basic idea is you buy some prestarted plants and a bag of potting soil.  Next you poke holes in the bottom of the bag, turn over, and cut a square out of the top and plant your stuff in the dirt.  No digging up the ground and that means no scars in yard if I manage to kill everything again.

Ravebaby and I have planted cilantro, red bell peppers, and zucchini, which I bought at my locally owned feed store.  I placed my bag of Miracle Gro potting soil on an old palette to keep it off the ground and we're ready to see how we do.  If I manage to keep these alive for a while then we'll go out and plant more stuff in this manner.  The only thing I wish I had done differently was to have looked for and purchases an organic potting mix.  The Miracle Gro's chemically smell turned my stomach a bit and lingered in the car for way too long.  So here's to a garden in a bag!

Starting this Saturday: Hidden Village Music Festival 2014

 

It's almost here!  This Saturday!  Here is the line-up:

 Day 1: The Shiz (alt blues rock)
Day 2: Arborea (world music)
Day 3: Howlin' Brothers (alt bluegrass)
Day 4: The Farewell Drifters (americana)
Day 5: Christopher Paul Stelling (troubadour)
Day 6: The Sawmill Vagrants (old time folk music)
Day 7: Danielle Grubb (experimental jazz rock)
Day 8: Social Bliss (punk rock) & Terra Alive + Otonana TRIO (japanese rock and roll)
Day 9: Joe Fletcher & the Wrong Reasons (just joe this time) + Friendly People (folk infused indie rock awesome)
Day 10: Engine (folk rock)

This festival has something for everyone, $5 at the door, $30 for a 10 day pass!!! 

For more information: www.hiddenvillagemusic.com 
 

Disclaimer: I am the official blogger for the Hidden Village Music Festival 2014 mainly because DH has an ownership stake in Standpipe Coffeehouse.  So I can name myself official blogger and who will fight me on it? 

Draw the Line

This song says so much about me, my friends, and why we feel the things we do and the way we do them are important. It's great work from an unsung master of Punk Rock, and I figured it was high time it had a video.

#Mamavation Monday: Wheat is now my enemy

So the saga of wheat in New Orleans ends with me being super sick and swearing wheat off for life, like forever.

After my last Mamavation post, I went to the doctor and got some bad health news.  My blood sugar was 120 after a 12-hours fast.  That is so not good, like a few more points and I would have been pre- diabetic.  My blood pressure was up.  My weight was up 5 lbs!  In general my usually healthy wheat-free self was trying to cleanse itself and as a result I was going through the wringer.

One comment I did not expect to hear was that I was gluten intolerant.  Now before you jump, I went wheat-free for my daughter. I was nursing and when I ate wheat she broke out.  I never when wheat-free for myself or even for DH who also has a wheat allergy.  Why was this shocking?  Well I think in the back of my mind I was thought of being wheat free as an optional piece of my life.  I could go back to eating like a "normal" person at some point.  This experience has taught me that is not the case.  I need to not only be wheat free but gluten free; I wasn't expecting that.  How did we go from a household with two wheat allergy sufferers to where everyone has some wheat issue?

I am finally feeling better.  I had some tests run today and I'm waiting for results.  I suspect my blood sugar is back to normal.  My blood pressure is back to normal.  I've lost all 5lbs.  My thirst is back to normal and my energy level is returning.  Lesson learned, stay away from wheat!

Non-Negotiables

This is actually an assignment that I had to turn in last semester.  I sparked a lot of discussion for our group and really made me think about where I draw my own lines.  Just wanted to share.

My personal non-negotiables are flexible.  I think being inflexible leads to a person’s inability to forgive themselves for falling short.  We all fall short and as such we need to be able to forgive ourselves for times we don’t stand up, we stay silent, and in general violate our personal non-negotiables.  I honestly believe that a person’s inability to forgive themselves leads to refusing to allow others into our lives because we fear being seen as a fraud to ourselves and then in turn to them. 

1. I will treat others in a matter that makes them feel seen, heard and valuable.  When I fall short I will examine why I failed and how I can do better next time.
2.  I will treat myself as I feel that I should treat others.  I cannot treat others better than I treat myself.  If I don’t begin with being my best to myself then others will see my efforts as disingenuous and/or as a means to take advantage of me.
3.    I will be grateful for the life I have even when it seems to be going in a direction I do not like.  Being grateful will require me to stop and exam my attitude towards in the world in general and this will allow me to refocus myself on bring positive change into the world.
4.    I will listen without judgment realizing that I can only see through my own life experiences and that I cannot judge what others due since time, circumstance and life experience are different for everyone.
5.   I will practice forgiveness of myself and others.  Anger and grudges only serve to hurt me and if I keep hurt within me then I cannot keep the first four non-negotiables. 

#Mamavation Monday: Detox from Wheat

I totally missed my post last week due to being in New Orleans for the SERA conference.  It was a requirement for my doctorate.  While there I eat several things not on my gluten free diet and I'm paying for it!

I started with a mini meat pie on the way and only got worse from there including two trips to Cafe Du Monde for beignets.  I was stupid and I didn't think it would hurt me too much since I went wheat free for Ravebaby and not personal health reasons.  I was so wrong.

After four years wheat free, I started paying for the bites almost instantly.  So much gas and a headache.  Since arriving at home I feel like I've been fighting the flu.  Body aches and fatigue and a thirst I can't seem to drink enough water to quench.  I was already scheduled for my annual checkup for tomorrow and I think DH would have demanded a doctor visit anyway since I'm totally not myself at this point.

I don't remember struggling like this for years ago.  I think it is because before I had a baseline of normal that might included all of this achynessand fatigue but I don't remember.  My new normal was painfree and usually with plenty of energy so maybe that is why this seems so bad.  I don't like it.  No way I'm going back to wheat.  Anyone else ever try to go back to wheat only to discover it hurts?