New Beginnings

So, we left the farm and headed into town and are now renting a great big house on Main Street.  It is a bit of a fixer-upper, but it has SO much potential.  Strangely, everything we own kind of fell into place here and it looks as if everything was selected just for the house.  It has so much light and space.  It has a great warmth to it and I've been told it feels very homey and welcoming.  I will try to include some photos at another time.

Jack is so close to walking.  I know it is going to happen very soon.  He has stood independently a few times and he walks quite well behind the little shopping cart toy that he got for Christmas.  He is also finally cutting his front tooth on the top left.  I was beginning to think it would never break through!

In addition to the move, Andy and I have been busy with organizing rallys, demonstrations, and other such events in the area in protest of the Budget Repair Bill and the HR1 bill.  We had made it to Madison a few times, but found it somewhat of a hassle with the drive up there and a 10 month old.  We started things locally when I was sent an email from moveon.org that presented the idea of hosting a rally.  I went back and forth with the idea and ultimately decided it was time to quit bitching about it if I wasn't prepared to do something about it.  So, I finally decided to do so (at the last minute) and set about contacting the presidents of teachers unions, the VFW posts, DHS, librarians, etc.  I found no support from anyone other than the teachers, as everyone said the bill had no impact on them.  Yet.  It was very frustrating.  Needless to say, the turnout wasn't great.  We only had about 20 people the first week; however, the support was great from people passing by and we even made it in the small, local paper.  So we decided to do it the next week and we got 17 people, even though it was raining and very cold.  This week, we had about 13 people, but there was a rally in Janesville where Walker was speaking, so I think we lost some people to that.  Everyone has decided that we will continue to meet up every Tuesday this summer- until the bill is repealed.  

We attended an education forum at the Brodhead high school this Wednesday and got a chance to hear Senator Erpenbach and Representative Ringhand speak.  It was nice to get a chance to hear them speak in person and thank them with our home made signs that we carried near the entrance to the school before the forum.  We had a small turnout at each entrance and it was nice to have a presence there, as well.  Jack doesn't know what is going on yet, but he enjoys the people honking and waving as they pass by, as well as our cheers when they do so.  He is always quick to clap his hands and smile and it makes me happy knowing that he is going to be growing up with the belief that one person, little though they it seem, CAN make a difference if they choose to.

Pistachio Shells

Since Jack was born, Andy and I have been working on eating better.  As he eats more solids, we have become more and more serious about it.  I am trying to cut out as much packaged, processed foods as possible, as well as reducing our sodium, carbohydrate, and fat intake.  I was cooking only vegetarian meals for the past few months; however, we have decided to keep cooking some meat since the best sources of complete protein are meat, eggs, dairy and nuts and seeds.  And all of those are restricted from his diet at this time and can't be introduced yet, except for meat.  The referenced article can be found here:

 http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/meat-vegetarian-protein-baby-food.htm

We have agreed to make sure that the meat we do use is: local, free-range, grass-fed, non-GMO, and antibiotic and growth hormone free.  Or at least as many of those criteria as possible.    We stopped at a butcher in Monroe and selected all of our meats while the butcher was in another room.  We didn't get to ask him all the questions we should have and found out while paying, that the meat was from Iowa.  Better than Mexico or Canada, but still.  Needless to say, that will be our only purchase from his establishment.  Thank god for the internet, though, because with some research I found this gem, the future farm of our patronage:

Jordandal Farm out of Argyle, WI.  We haven't been there yet, but an appointment to go check out the place and talk to the owners is in the very near future.   
http://www.jordandalfarm.com/index.php

And we will be participating in a CSA share with either:

Tipi Produce out of Evansille.  The photo above is one week's bounty during 2010. Yummy!!
http://www.localharvest.org/tipi-produce-M4077

or

Scotch Hill Farm out of Brodhead.  Andy went to school with the owner's children and is pulling for this one because of knowing the family.  Their CSA only runs 20 weeks, though, and the other runs 26 weeks.  Decisions, decisions. 
http://www.scotchhillfarm.com/

Anyways, the last time we went shopping, we picked up a lot of fruits and vegetables to make for Jack and I got a lot of healthy snacks for us: nuts, rice cakes, dried fruit, garbanzo beans to roast, etc.  I bought a bag of pistachio nuts in the shell and strangely enough, I stumbled across an Etsy site, ReLoved Designs, the same night and became inspired to save my seeds to do something similar.

Here is another one of her creations:

Now if I could only eat them faster.  I was doing well until I had a streak of bad nuts and now I'm a little nervous.  Anyways, check out more of her beautiful stuff on her Etsy site
http://www.etsy.com/shop/reloveddesigns?ref=pr_shop_more
or her site at http://www.reloveddesigns.com/

Starting Out

My mother has been urging me to start a blog for a while now.  Granted, she wants me to do so to show off her latest grandson, which I will do, but I also plan on making this into a labor of love for myself, as well.  I need a place to vent, to create, to brag, to ponder, to record ideas, and inspiration.  A place to sow seeds.   I haven't found the right way to express myself online yet.  Here's hoping.  And if nothing else, I think this is going to be fun.