September Acres

LM watering the community garden I watched Jamie Oliver's 'Food Revolution' series when it was on last year and was really intrigued by the work he was doing trying to bring healthy, real food to schools and to our homes.  As parents we have really dropped the ball on nutrition, leading to alarming rates of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes.  We all have fabulous excuses for not paying attention to what we're feeding our children but the bottom line is it's our responsibility to make sure our children are taken care of and it doesn't look like we're cutting the mustard, nutrition wise. When I joined Twitter almost a year ago I had no idea that I would stumble upon another group of parents who are passionate about healthy, real food.  It has opened up my eyes even more and I was recently given the opportunity to host a 'Food Revolution' (or #foodrevparty) Party on Twitter.  I was nervous because I felt like these other hosts had been doing th...

...that this cutie is going to have his own design show starting in the Fall? I say, why wait until then...

WOW. Did any one see Andrew Young on Good Morning America today? His story is uttering amazing, something I don't think you could make up if you tried. Definitely one of those 'truth is stranger than fiction' deals. Yikes. Young is the former John Edwards aide who originally said that Rielle Hunter's baby was his. He was also on GMA yesterday and when George Stephanopoulos said Young would be on today with his wife I figured I thought Young was someone he wasn't. I mean, what wife would allow his husband to go along with that charade? Apparently, Young's wife (she originally said no but later changed her mind). Edwards was Young's boss you see and they needed the income and health insurance. Apparently Young was well paid and they liked it. I try not to judge and I think the Young's seemed like nice enough folks so I'll keep it at that. What would you do if your husband came home and asked you this? I'd like to think I would say ...

Did you catch ' Oprah ' yesterday? It was all about food. The down and dirty about food and where it comes from. It should keep me from eating. But it probably won't. Darn... Really though it makes you think about what you put in your body. I am a firm believer in food being really critical to our health - I think so many things can be helped with the right diet (I am not a doctor and don't play one on TV; this is just my opinion) -type 2 diabetes, headaches, stomach aches, puffiness, etc. I know how I feel when I eat well and I know how I feel when I don't. And sometimes (lots of times honestly) I don't eat well. This show may change that. The author of the book Food Rules' , Michael Pollan , was on. I love some of his rules: Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food (no Cheetos!) Don't eat anything with ingredients a third grader can't pronounce. Eat meat of animals who themselves have been fed a heal...

Charlie Gibson of World News Tonight signed off for the last time on Friday. I am what you might call a news junkie and I generally only watch ABC & Fox News. I watch Good Morning America almost everyday. So it was a sad day on Friday when Charlie Gibson signed off - for the last time. I watched him on his first day of GMA , way back when, his first day on GMA , again, not quite as long ago, his first day as the anchor of World News Tonight (finally, he gets the coveted job, I thought) and on his last day on World News Tonight. I am looking forward to seeing what Diane Sawyer does as I also enjoyed her on GMA so I will be watching again on Monday @ 5:30. But I will miss Charlie - it was like your dad giving you the news when he was on - safe & comfortable. End of an era for sure...

People announced their 'Sexiest Man Alive' - Johnny Depp . I don't see it. At all. Eddie Cibrian apparently made one of the lists. Good choice, I think. (Although I must say that I am not happy to see that he left his wife to be w/ Leann Rimes with whom he made a movie, now is maybe seeing someone else. All gossip of course but one wonders.) Who would make Debra's list you ask? Darius Rucker David Cook Chris Daughtry (I like the bald look!) Funny that those 3 are musicians and I am clearly not but there is some amount of sexiness to them. I would also put Hugh Jackman , Patrick Dempsey, Ryan Reynolds and Kurt Warner on the list. And my husband!!! Who would make your list?

I came across this article today. The Duggars are indeed expecting child # 19. Now I think large families are wonderful but I think there is a point where you have to think that enough is enough. I wonder about the kids - the older ones are basically raising the younger ones and not having much of a childhood because of it. Although I have to say they all seem really well adjusted and kind. My husband is one of 13 so he has some experience here. He knows the sacrifices the kids and parents have to make with that many kids. He loves all his siblings and certainly wouldn't change anything but he didn't want to do it again. Which is why we only have one. Most of his siblings have small families. One sister has 5 kids and the rest range from 0 to 3. I believe in the saying 'until you walk a mile in my shoes don't judge' but I just don't get it. And how in the world do they pay for health insurance for all of them???

I love to watch the View. My favorite days are the 'hot topic' days. I love Elisabeth Hasselbeck. I cheered her on as she faced up to that bully Rosie O'Donnell. Darn her for being on maternity leave. I saw this little gem of info on MSN. Now we have to see Kate as a co-host on Sept 14 & 15. I have said in the past that I am pretty much indifferent to her. I rarely watch 'Jon and Kate plus 8'. I don't know about her relationship with Jon. And I don't want to. I know that I think they are getting to the point of exploiting their kids in the name of their 'future'. But it's none of my business - it's their life, their choice. They will reap what they sow. I hope they are sowing more good than bad. So I am not really interested in seeing her for 2 hours chatting with the girls from the View. It will be Regis and Kelly those days for me. The other co-hosts filling in for Elisabeth are supposed to be Meghan McCain (the senator's daughter)...

Jenny Sanford. She should be up for sainthood. I mean, really, what else does her Governor 'husband' have up his sleeve? What else does he think the public needs to know about his 'soulmate'? What else does he need to have smeared all over the media for his young boys to see? Mark Sanford is nothing short of a dirty rotten scoundrel. Being a Republican, I had high hopes for him to help lead the party in the next few years. Guess we can cross him off the list. And this guy , too. I am sure there are others or will be all too soon. I have been reading about both of these politicians lately and so much runs through my mind. Most of it I can't write down though! Both of these men still have children living at home. Boys. What a great example they are setting for them, don't you think? Thank goodness these kids have strong moms taking care of them, helping to protect them from their fathers' indiscretions. Is this what you sign up for when you ma...

In the 'headlines' today: 'Octomom' blasts Kate Gosselin Suleman rolls her eyes while accusing Gosselin of being "desperate for attention" and "over-emotional." Excuse me?? First, let me say that: 1) I am not a huge celebrity gossip type of girl & 2) I am basically indifferent to Kate Gosselin That being said, this headline caught my eye yesterday on the MSN homepage making me check out the article. I thought 'of all people calling Kate desperate for attention.' And now I am pretty much speechless. On to real life. Little Miss went to her friend 'M's yesterday for lunch and to swim. I dropped her off about 11:30 and picked her up about 4. When I pulled into the driveway at M's Little Miss came running out of the garage, crying. I was not surprised as this is usually the case when it is time to go home. But this time LM said " M yelled at me, I want to go home." Ugh. M barely utters a word on most days so this surpris...

This conversation took place on the way to the mall with Little Miss: Little Miss: "Mom, it look like you have some grey hair on the side of your head." Me: "Yes, I know. I need to color it again." LM : "Maybe you should get some hair dye at Walmart ." Me: "I have some at home." LM : "You should probably get two boxes." Alrighty then. I did feel better when the cashier at Walmart CARDED ME when I was buying my bottle of wine. I think they are supposed to card you if you look like you're under 40. Works for me. My husband called a bit ago and asked what I was doing. Me: "Getting ready to email the Art teacher to find out why Little Miss got a 92 in Art." Husband: "Okay, psycho mom." So, I ask you: Am I a psycho mom for emailing her? Little Miss does not remember not turning something in or not participating. I thought I would ask the teacher to find out if something was going on that I was unaware of....

None of it important. First off, I have a weather update: Yesterday ended up being 101. Today is supposed to be 103 & tomorrow, 105. Cool down is coming on Thursday - 99. Tonight Little Miss has hockey - can you imagine putting all that gear on in this heat? Luckily, the kids are more tolerant of it than the adults. Well, who didn't see this coming? I just heard on Fox News Radio that Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco, announced his candidacy for Governor of California. Yippee. No offense to anyone, but what a scoundrel. Glad I don't live in California. And just wait, if he is successful (which is not out of the realm of possibilities) he will likely try to make the next step to the White House. You heard it here first! At least all his dirty laundry is public knowledge. I hope so anyway. I believe I have mentioned in the past how much I love my car . Anytime a tire needs air a little light comes on and lets me know. It's like magic. The light came on...

No red & no bow but my hair looked like this when I got up this morning. I washed my hair last night and went to bed while it was still wet. What was I thinking? It took forever to 'flatten' it down this morning. Of course, when I wanted 'big' hair, back in the day do you think I could get it? Why, of course not. I just heard on the news that Al Franken has been declared the winner of the Minnesota senate race. Yikes. I am sorry, people of MN. Maybe Gary Coleman will get another shot at Gov of CA, too. Of course, Franken may do a good job - you never know with politicians these days. As I was preparing Easter brunch on Sunday morning, my microwave went out. Lovely. So brunch ended up being a little more like lunch. The repair man comes today between 11 & 2 to look at it. Thankfully, it is still under warranty & I have the receipt. ( I didn't register it so I need the receipt. I don't register much since nothing ever breaks. Lesson learned...

My jaw hit the floor as I read this story today. WHY would someone think it's okay to call 911 because they can't get chicken nuggets? Granted, the store should have given her a refund but she should have called the district manager, not 911. They were probably doing her a favor anyway. Really.

This week on Good Morning America they have been doing a series on Garbage in America. It has been interesting to say the least. One day they talked about the trash in our waterways. It was really disturbing to find out that the fish that is caught for our consumption often has plastic inside. The trash that is thrown into the water (accidentally or otherwise) is eaten by the fish. Lots of plastic ends up in the water for some reason (the kind of plastic that is super easy to recycle in most areas of our country). Apparently, the US generates more garbage than any other country in the world. Lovely. I believe it is estimated that each person will throw out 64 tons of garbage in a life time. Yikes. One day they showcased a man who saved all his trash for a year in his basement (yuck). At the end of the year he put it out on the lawn to show exactly how much it was. Astonishing. And he was just one guy who composted and reused things. I bet if we could see the amount of ...

to say that I LOVED Michelle Obama's dress she wore yesterday. You know that I voted for McCain but style is style whether you are a democrat or a republican! Love the dress, love the Jimmy Choo's. Now if I were to be lucky enough to have somewhere to wear the dress I would order it in navy as yellow is not my best color. Are you reading this, Isabel Toledo?? The ball gown from last night was lovely but I wasn't totally wowed by it. I felt there were too many pleats on the skirt for my liking. But it was very pretty. And the little girls looked too cute in their colorful coats. I spent inauguration day in my DKNY jeans and Eddie Bauer t-shirt. Hmmm....

The Arizona Cardinals are 'this close' to going to the Super bowl. Yahoo! It has been a long, hard haul but they have finally made it this far. We have never been huge Cardinal fans but when in Rome... We are Rams and 49'ers fans but since Curt Warner was once a Ram and we now live in Arizona we are on board. Luckily, the NFL realized that my daughter's birthday party is on Saturday so the Cards should play on Sunday. How very nice of them. Looking forward to a good game. The Eagles should be good competitors so it should be fun to watch. Maybe some good football food is in order for Sunday. Nachos, anyone? Little Miss will be 7 on Saturday. She requested her 'theme' to be 'The Dog' . I jumped at this right away because I was dreading the Hannah Montana or High School Musical theme. We are going to have the party at the house with some friends. We'll have pizza and a craft and the kids can play. Pretty low key. We got her a scooter and new helmet....

Looks like 'People' got it right this year, don't you think? I am looking forward to seeing his new movie, 'Australia', too.

Well, here goes - my post on Sen Obama's redistribution of wealth idea per the request of Europafox . I orignally wrote this on Oct 20 and since then there has been more talk about this in the mainstream media. I still think there are alot of folks out there who just don't get it. Otherwise intelligent people who find nothing wrong with this idea of taking from the rich and giving to the poor (hence the Robin Hood reference). I find it scary that he is talking about 'change' & this is one of the things he has in mind. I didn't get all technical with stats and details because that's not really what I intended to do. It was a post on my thoughts about this aspect of Obama's campaign and this one issue that I strongly disagree with. Here you go... Please tell me I am not the only one outraged... I am hearing more and more about Sen. Obama's plan for 'redistribution of wealth'. I have heard quite a bit today and it really makes me sick to my sto...

Tonight is the last presidential debate. I am interested in watching it and I hope it is a real debate and not just an opportunity to blame the other guy. I can only imagine how hard it is for these men to debate and not blame. But don't you want to know just exactly WHAT they will do as president?? I have to say that I am not quite sure on either side. I know that the things Sen. Obama wants to do are against what I believe (ie. 'universal healthcare', taxing the 'rich', etc.) and I hope that Sen. McCain can get across his plans & ideas clearly. Oh, and don't you just hope they can actually really answer a question they are asked? That is the one thing about most politicians - they don't answer the questions. How many of us would keep our jobs doing that?? Only 3 weeks and this election is over...