end of summer family updates

With the summer nearing the end, and school about to resume, I thought I would take a break from vegetarianism, scary legislation, recipes, healthy living, and overall preaching from my soapbox, take a step down for a moment and post a quick update on my family news.

My oldest son got home from the summer session at Stanford on Sunday, and will be here for 3 weeks before returning. As a junior, he has been preliminarily approved for the post graduate law program they offer, which is pretty exciting. We probably need a good lawyer in the family! The next 3 or 4 years are going to pretty intense for him, but he seems ready for it. Right now, he is resting and piecing his brain back together after taking a grueling 15 hours over the summer.

My other two children are getting ready for the start of school, which begins on Monday, the 24th. Cheerleading practice has already begun for my daughter, and they started 2 a day training this week. They had a Back to School kick off pep rally last week. Its pretty exciting for her this year because this is the first year that she is on varsity, and the school's football team (5A school) won state last year and is expected to do well again this year. Down South, football is a huge deal, and alot of fun, so this should be a exciting season. She is a junior this year, and doing the International Baccalaureate diploma, so she will be BUSY. But, she thrives on busy-ness, so I am not worried about whether or not she can handle it. This is just "her".

My youngest is starting his first year of high school, and he is SO EXCITED! It's really cute. he has decided to follow his sister's footsteps into the advanced programs, and is pretty gung-ho about it. He is capable of the work, as he is a smart kid, but never developed very strong study habits.... so we will see. I know boys develop more slowly than girls, so this might be the year that it all comes together for him. If not, that's fine too. As long as he is happy, well balanced, and all of that, I am not overly concerned about academia. I subscribe to the theory that it is is meant to be, it will, but there is more to being a well rounded person than grades and school (Blasphemy, I know!).

Hubby and I recently decided to add another canine to the household. We had been thinking about another pet for awhile, so when the opportunity for a precious, 10 week old Shih Tzu came up, we jumped on it. So now, in addition to our tabby cat, Beans, and our Shih Tzu, Bella, we have Lola. She is absolutely adorable, and such a sweetie.

Lola meeting her new "sister":






My semester begins on Monday, as well. I am taking 3 classes, and 2 of them are online, so this should be a pretty light semester for me. I also have decided to go back into the salon and do hair 3 days a week, and will start that next week, as well. I am pretty excited about it. I am ready to do something I enjoy and is creative, if only for a few days a week. I still maintain my insurance business, but it doesn't require anything close to full time- thankfully.

The gardens are all doing very well. We have already harvested quite a bit, and there will be much more to come in the next few weeks. I am beginning to think about fall plantings, getting the beds ready, and all of that fun stuff.

My husband is getting his team ready for the compulsory gymnstics season. USAG recently had it's yearly Congress in Dallas, so we were able to attend that without going very far. They always have the Visa National Gymnastics competition in conjunction with Congress, and we were lucky enough to have access to a suite at the American Airlines Center! It was a great night, and the gymnastics was amazing!

Greg and I are also actively looking at having a child, and hope to be pregnant by the end of the year. I will keep you posted on that front;)

Community Gardening

This year, my dear friend organized, spearheaded, and made happen a community garden. Loving gardening as I do, I quickly jumped on board and leased a plot, and then another. The garden quickly filled up, and people rallied around it, as if it was something they had been waiting for. I know I had been!

For $35.00 per plot, per year, you have a 25 by 12 ft. plot, access to water, and a space in which to grow whatever you wish. In return, you must donate 10% of your yield to the area food pantry and agree to garden organically. It is a wonderful concept: it does something positive for an old empty lot, helps the environment, brings the community together, helps feed the hungry, provides healthy sustenance to your family, cuts down on a households food costs, and even provides exercise and fresh air to the gardeners. What's not to love?

Imagine how surprised I was when I found out that ours was the first and only community garden in our county. Ours is considered a wealthy county, however, there are more and more "white collar" poor, and the food pantry is getting more clients every day. All this while there are still many empty lots here and there...every neighborhood has at least one....and so I have to ask myself why aren't more of these little gardens? With so many benefits, it seems to me that if every neighborhood had one, so many problems could be solved, gaps filled, and we would all be healthier for it. Maybe I am naive and it isn't that simple. Or maybe the answer is indeed that simple; staring right at us. Often solutions are just like that.

Of course, community gardening isn't in line with the agricultural giants agenda, which could explain why they are not more actively promoted. Sadly, if agri-biz gets house bill 875 pushed through, community gardens- especially "organic" community gardens, will become a thing of the past. Under the guise of "eliminating food born illness", house bill 875 will make it illegal to grow food organically (i.e without the use of fertilizers and insecticides), this even includes the home gardener who grows food only for his/her own family's consumption with no plans to sell or distribute.

This is something we should all WAKE UP and pay close attention to. Whether or not you are into organic food, it is really all about CHOICE. Do you really want the government taking away that choice? This bill, by the way, is backed by the very entities who will profit from the elimination of organic foods. Monsanto, maker of Round Up and the worlds largest seed distributor, is a major backer. Do you want those who profit most from what you eat deciding what you eat? Do you want to lose the fundamental freedom to decide how to nourish you own body? And if you allow the government to take away your right to choose, what is going to be next? It is a slippery slope, my friend.

It's time to get informed. There is plenty of information out there on this bill. Find out all you can and then let your voice be heard.