Happy Samhain

Samhain occurs on October 31-November 2 (depending who you ask) and has its roots in ancient Germanic and Gaelic festivals. As one of the 8 sabbats on the pagan wheel of the year, it is commonly thought of as a pagan holiday. However, the things it celebrates are things that many of us celebrate, and since I'm always up for a good celebration, we decided to have a little Samhain at our house this year.

At Samhain, the Wicca say farewell to the God even though he readies to be reborn at Yule. This grand sabbat, also known as Feast of the Dead, Feast of Apples, All Hallows, and of course Halloween, once marked the time of sacrifice. This was the time when animals were slaughtered to ensure food throughout the winter. The God fell as well to ensure our continuing existence. This is a time of reflection and coming to terms with the one thing in life which we have no control - death. Wiccans feel that on this night the separation between the physical and spiritual realities is it's least guarded and it's veil the thinnest. It is a somber holiday, one of dark clothes and thoughts for the dead, and a time of remembrance of our ancestors and all those who have gone before [link].

Samhain is a Gaelic harvest festival held on October 31–November 1. It was linked to festivals held around the same time in other Celtic cultures, and was popularised as the "Celtic New Year" beginning in the 18th century. Samhain marked the end of the harvest, the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half". It was traditionally celebrated over the course of several days. It has some elements of a festival of the dead. The Gaels believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin on Samhain; because so many animals and plants were dying, it thus allowed the dead to reach back through the veil that separated them from the living. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. People and their livestock would often walk between two bonfires as a cleansing ritual, and the bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames.
In Scotland the dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white. Samhnag — turnips which were hollowed-out and carved with faces to make lanterns — were also used to ward off harmful spirits [link].

 (This site also has a lot of information if you're interested in reading some more)

Other traditions that have taken root in Samhain are All Saints Day (Nov 1) or All Souls Day/Day of the Dead, which celebrate or reverence those who have gone before. I felt like the idea of Samhain really incorporated all those Christian holidays and then some (with the harvest/sacrifice/thankfulness), and therefore opted to use both the traditional name and some of the older traditions in our celebration.

Samhain feasts traditionally include fresh meat (giving thanks for the harvest and the sacrifice of the animals to sustain us through the winter). Pork was common, or wild meat. Potatoes were also common as, of course, was pumpkin. (Ironically I was thinking 'last harvest festival' and didn't think about the hunting side of it, so I neglected to thaw out any of our frozen bear, and we had a vegetarian meal featuring pumpkin soup.)
I took an idea from the Mexican Day of the Dead and made little breads. I didn't make them with skull shapes--the bread rose slowly and I ended up rushing to try to get it cooked in time for dinner. So I just took a knife and poked in little people shapes in the top of each loaf.

"Ancestor Bread" (something like the Mexican "pan de muertas" aka "dead bread")

As we ate dinner, we talked about some of our ancestors. Well, at least we intended to. We ended up having two boys who thought that pumpkin soup was not a cool food, and who made great moanings about it while explaining that they would be just fine with a dinner consisting entirely of bread.

So this year's celebration was something less than stellar, but hey, there's always next year, right?!

Pumpkins

Wolf carved both the faces--the one on the right has its mouth sewn shut (apparently he remembered "Hocus Pocus" a little too well?!) and I LOVE the eyebrows on the guy on the left! (He looks a little stressed out, maybe he realized he had a fire inside instead of a brain?)

Yes, I used a stencil. I'm still pretty darn pleased with myself though:
Behold, the Celtic Tree of Life!

I also made one with (a simplified version) of The Amethyst Network's logo

For the record:

Wolf's costume is a sackperson

Not the dude from "9"

You can see it, right?

  He even has a button that says "I ♥ Little Big Planet" so it's totally obvious!

We haven't even seen "9,"  Hadn't even heard of it in fact, until people kept saying that they thought that was what Wolf's costume was from

(although now we've gone and watched a preview and decided to put it on our netflix queue...)

But he is a sackperson. And don't you forget it!!

Stuff I made in Sep/Oct

Yeah it's a multi-month F(inished) O(bject) post. That means it's more interesting!

• 3 sleeved bibs

  

  (would anybody like to see a tutorial for these? I think they're pretty brilliant which is why I snagged the idea, but I will post how to make them if there is interest)

• wall-hanging remotes & controllers holder 
  

  

  we were really tired of cords everywhere and things getting lost in the couch or piled on top of the TV or stolen by the baby...so now everything has its own place! Everything fits down in the pockets, I just pulled them up for demonstrative purposes.

• 2 halloween candy bags
  
• 1 turtle costume
• 1 sackperson costume
• 1 blue velvet gown (and a necklace/earrings to go with, although that was a 5 min project, consisting of putting some beads on earring wires...yeah, hardly worth mentioning...)

Wolf as a Sackperson--he loved the costume again once the initial frustration of the day had worn off, Bear as a lion, although he doffed the hood immediately after the photo and didn't wear it to the party, Mama in the medieval gown, Eagle as a turtle...and you can kinda see the orange treat bags on the couch behind us.

• 2 solarveil hats ☺

October is always sew busy. ☺

That Kid

Recent news reports have been full of stories of gay teens who have committed suicide after being teased or bullied. Celebrities and others have risen to the occasion with the "it gets better" campaign of youtube videos, encouraging kids to not give up, because it life will get better. I think they are trying to do a good thing--encouraging kids to persevere--but everyone is overlooking something crucial. It's not just gay kids who get teased. And it's not just gay kids who commit suicide. In fact, "suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-to-24-year-olds, and the sixth leading cause of death for 5-to-14-year-olds" [American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry].
I appreciate the effort to reach out to the gay kids, but there are so many kids--so many people--who need acceptance and love. Let's not focus our lenses too tightly.

We all knew somebody who was "that kid." You remember him (or her); the one who was different. Maybe he talked funny or had body odor. Maybe she was fat or really socially awkward. Maybe he was bigger than everybody else his age, or maybe he was clumsy. Maybe she wore weird clothes. Or maybe it was something else.
And because that kid was different, he got harassed. And sometimes somebody told an adult, and sometimes they didn't. And sometimes the kid got more 'normal' with time, and sometimes they didn't. And sometimes the bullies got in trouble, but often they didn't. And the bullies may have varied from year to year, but oftentimes the kid was the same kid who got picked on day after day and week after week and month after month...

And sometimes, that kid is my kid.

A month ago I started talking with Wolf about what he wanted to dress up as for Halloween. Very early on he made up his mind. We talked and planned and I bought the fabric. I consulted with him multiple times to be sure I was making it 'right' by what he wanted. He wanted to be a "sackperson" (the character from the Little Big Planet video game). We settled on burlap as a good, textured fabric. It was a hassle to cut and sew, but I stuck it out and we ended up with a costume that he loved. Hubby and I both thought it was unlike any other costume we'd ever seen, but hey, so is a sackperson! Wolf was happy with it, and that's what mattered. Wednesday was the school halloween party and costume parade. Wednesday morning he was beaming as he put on his costume before catching the bus to school.
Wednesday afternoon when he got home he threw the crumpled costume into a corner and said no way was he going to wear it to the church party on saturday. Understanding that he was frustrated, Hubby suggested just setting it in the costume box rather than throwing it away in the garbage can. "No dad," Wolf said, "you can't save it for Bear, he would get teased too." Wolf had been teased all day long, taunted with chants of "sackboy, sackboy" ("I was a sackperson mom," he explained), and harrassed with old standbyes like a girl repeatedly stepping on his heels so that his shoes kept coming off as he tried to walk in the parade.
These kids are 5th and 6th graders. I know people often try to excuse elementary schoolers by suggesting that they are too young to know any better, or too immature to filter their actions, but that is bull. These kids are 10-12 years old. They are NOT too young. Just as my son is old enough to not punch them in the face when they harass him, so too they are old enough to be nice to him, even if he's the weird kid.
I'll be honest, Wolf does struggle socially. He is one of those kids who kinda lives in his own world, and he's not very good at reading social cues. He's very bright and very social, but he can be awkward. We have been working with him to help him learn better social skills. He doesn't hit the kids who tease him, and he doesn't harass them back either. He sometimes reports to an adult, but much of the time I think he just takes it, and then comes home and melts down.
My son has a strong support system around him. He has parents who love him and go to bat for him. He has a teacher and a counselor at the school who are his friends and who he trusts and feels safe with, and who help him work through things. He has two little brothers who adore him. Even with all that support, he still suffers when he is treated badly. Anyone would. Bullying is always unacceptable.

This youtube video has been going around facebook this week. It's part of the "It Gets Better" campaign which I mentioned before. Granted, they made it with gay kids in mind, but when I watch it I think of all those kids who are "that kid," including my kid, and including me. Everybody needs love and acceptance.



So let's all grow up a little, shall we? Let's be nice to people, no matter whether we agree with them or even if we like them. There is no excuse for being mean. Ever. And as we are nice to people, let us make sure we are teaching our children to be nice too.

The Gluten Experiment: Part 4

Part 1--going gluten free
Part 2--eating 'normally' after the GF test
Part 3--low (glutenous) carb, focus on whole grains

Part 4--adding enzymes and/or soaking flours
(If you missed my note on this last time, soaking flours helps the grain begin to break down, so that it's easier for the belly to deal with. Digestive enzymes do the same thing only on the inside rather than the outside!)

The first thing I did was switch back to my soaked whole wheat bread recipe. It takes longer to make (it has to soak overnight) and the simple truth is that I got out of the habit of making it because I just always forgot to start it at night and so then when morning came I needed to make bread so I'd do the standard non-soaked recipe. Both are excellent breads, but right now I'm feeling a sense that soaking will help me.
When the first batch of soaked bread came out of the oven I purposely had several pieces (hot with butter mmmmm!) to see if I noticed anything as the result of the carb/wheat binge. I did not. This is an indication to me (again) that I do not need to stick to a strictly gluten-free diet.

I am slowly working on incorporating other soaked recipes into my diet. I made pancakes one day last week and that was easy. I'm working on adapting some other recipes--such as my roll recipe--so that they can be soaked as well. I think the soaking will especially make a difference for my occasional white flour recipes.
In conjunction with soaking more, I am taking an enzyme pill which will hopefully help deal with the unsoaked foods in my life. I don't want to have to swear off everything made by anyone else, and I really don't think I need to. I just need to make sure I take my supplements and eat well at home, and my body will probably tolerate occasional exceptions to policy without completely revolting.

I do also think that candida is a very valid issue for me. Candida is essentially a systemic yeast overgrowth, and it feeds on sugars and yeast. So if I get a flare up of it, then I get crazy intense cravings for sweets and/or yeast breads. It is really hard to knock them off, but once I do it for about 24 hours it starts getting easier, and usually within about 3 days I'm feeling quite normal again. I'm hoping that my new (or renewed) efforts to consume only minimal amounts of white flour/sugar and yeast will help me avoid those flares.


At least at this point, after a month and a half of experimentation on myself, I have reached a few conclusions about how I should eat:

1. Eat whole grains, soaking them when possible, especially if it's one that has gluten in it
2. Avoid white/yeasty breads in general. If I do consume them (ie, at a holiday gathering) then be sure to take my enzyme supplements.
3. Avoid purchased breads/floury things because they are the devil: unsoaked and full of other garbage
4. Regardless of the type of carb, aim for less rather than more. Fill in with more of other parts of plants (leaves, roots, etc instead of seeds).
   

10 10s in 2010--update 3

Oct 27 update
(since a number of items appear more than once, I am putting notations by the first occurrence, then making the font on subsequent ones smaller. I'm also shrinking the font on anything that hasn't changed since last time...)

1--Keeping My Home

1. Create (and then stick to) a housekeeping system more or less epically failing here at this point...I hate being regimented. Mmm, must try harder.
   
2. Try out at least one new recipe each month Jan-Troy's Chicken and Speedy Burritos Feb--Spider Spaghetti, Mar--Lebanese spinach puffs and cheeseburger buns, April--black bean/rice veggie burgers and pound cake and trifle, May--spinach stuffed pork loin, June--tarragon cream halibut, July--Salmon burgers and salmon-dill quiche, August-- veggie gingerbread muffins, hot Mexican salad, September--gluten free cookies and stardrop (GF) cookies and Indian-style chicken, October--
   
3. Serve balanced meals (with a protein, a vegetable, and a starch/carb) at least most nights usually so far so good
4. Grind my own wheat flour going great!
   
5. Make bread all year It's been a year now and going strong
   
6. Build up my food storage--at least 3m worth of all non-perishable items oh man, I gotta post some pictures of our pantry. It's lookin awesome!
7. Learn about gardening in Alaska--what foods grow well, when/how to plant and harvest, etc so far so good
8. Have a garden kitchen containers--basil rocked, tomatoes did fine, chives were alright...broccoli was an epic fail. I think my containers were not big enough.
   
9. Can/freeze produce in season salmon, smoked salmon, halibut, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, apples, rhubarb, apricots, and black currents (off our own bush!)
   
10. Participate in the butchering and/or preservation of a moose that Hubby shoots (that's one of his goals for the year) He didnt' get a moose in spite of much trying, BUT we are buying a half a cow from a local farmer next month. ☺
    

2--Read Books (ideally including the following specific titles)(* means I've started it, date indicates when finished) I scrapped half the list and instead am putting things I actually did read

1. 4/10 To Kill A Mockingbird--dang, how had I never read this before? It was excellent! So much better than most other 'coming of age' stories I've read.
   
2. A Christmas Carol
3. 7/10 something by an Alaskan author Tom Bodett rocks. That is all.
   
4. a biography or memoir
5. *Going Rogue by Sarah Palin (mostly for cultural literacy)
6. 1/10 Icy Sparks--story of a young girl in Appalacia and her life with undiagnosed Tourette's. Unfortunately the way it was written was just really depressing, so even though the idea of the story appealed, I don't recommend the book.
7. *Fablehaven (I started this...then Wolf stole it from me...I'll get it back when he's done I guess!)
8. *The Mists of Avalon
9. 8/10The Passage by Justin Croner (NYT top book) intriguing and fascinating page-turner, set in the near future but with major changes to the land and government. Unfortunately the ending was terribly anti-climactic.
   
10. 6/10 The Audacity of Hope by Barak Obama (alternate) This book was so sooo good. Regardless of our agreement/disagreement on any given political platform, this book demonstrates that our president is intelligent, thoughtful, logical, and ethical--he tries really hard to be true to what he perceives and believes, and I have to respect that.
    

3--Improve Financial Stability

1. Pay off (at least) one account DONE!! We also rolled all our debt together and lowered our interest rate, so we're paying things off faster now AND we literally cut up the credit cards that we had. That feels so good.
   
2. Keep current with tithing (unfortunately some months this has been hard for us, and then catching up on our tight budget is even harder) just have to keep it up...
3. Live within our means, always considering wants vs needs, and making the modest choice even with the latter. ☺
4. Use coupons and shop sales at the grocery store I've been good about sales, not so much with coupons
   
5. Use our tax returns and PFD's wisely (for food storage/debt, not playing!) so far so good
6. Build up our food storage
   
7. Build up my year's supply (the non food stuff, like toilet paper and toothpaste and laundry soap) to 3-6 months worth
8. Do not buy any new diaper/etc fabric no sweat
   
9. Sew items to sell using the fabric I have obviously
10. Actively market my etsy shops It has slowed down a lot, but I've been putting my efforts into The Amethyst Network and family things, so I'm ok with that.
    

4--Be More Present with my Family

1. Read more books to my kids so far so good, I'm trying to read to Wolf sometimes too, which is kinda fun for us both, even if he's a great reader himself, sometimes the bedtime story with mom is still cool with him (just don't tell his friends!)
   
2. Acquire a couple of new children's books in order to do #1 without losing my mind ☺
3. Cuddle my kids every day ☺often, I'm not sure if I hit every day, but at least most days
   
4. Include the kids in the housekeeping schedule (give them assignments)
5. Stay OFF the internet one day a week (generally Tuesdays) mostly failing at this right now...however I'm spending less time online in the average day, so even if the days off are infrequent, the overall hours are still reduced
   
6. Be a good example for the kids by limiting my screen time on other days ☺
7. Say "just a minute" less often workin on it...doing ok...
   
8. Play with my kids, not just work near them so far so good
9. Have a monthly 'date' with each family member it's been hit and miss the last couple of months, but I'm getting them in this month and plan to finish out the year
   
10. Go to bed at the same time as my Hubby usually ☺
    

5--Create

1. Create (sew or knit) at least 6 things per month, for my family or my shop so far so good... I really like doing the "finished objects" post each month to help me see what I've done. Jan FOs, Feb FOs, Mar FOs, Apr FOs, May FOs, Jun FOs, July FOs, Aug FOs, Sep/Oct FOs,
   
2. Introduce a new product (or two or three) in my shop(s) this year. Four so far.
3. Allow myself the thought-outlet of blogging frequently ☺
4. Finish Wolf's sweater I spoke with him about this, and expressed my concern that I'm knitting so slowly at this point that he's going to outgrow the sweater before I can get it done. Together we made the decision that I will set this sweater aside (make it for Bear when he gets bigger), but that I will make something else for Wolf. We're currently scouting for a cool pattern.
   
5. Knit something for myself (I have no idea what yet) HAHAHAHAAAAAAAA! yeah right. Not this year methinks!
   
6. Use up existing stash rather than buying new materials
7. Try out at least one new recipe each month
8. Learn how to make shampoo/conditioner This I think will slide this year
   
9. Make handmade gifts for my family/friends (not necessarily to the exclusion of purchased items). I'm making all the halloween costumes, and several Christmas things...we'd talked at one point about an all-handmade Christmas, but we're not doing that. The items from Hubby and I to the kids will be handmade though!
   
10. Help my children make things

6--Focus Inward

1. Be more active (I'd like to go walking, though in winter in Alaska with two little ones and no where to walk indoors this is a challenge...) I'm a bit hit and miss, but I am getting out often even if not always walking per se...
   
2. Work on my poor ignored abdominals...crunches or pilates or something I've been totally slacking off on this ☺
   
3. Get outside more often so far so good
4. Read more fiction (see list above!)
5. Read my scriptures We're doing better with the family reading, but this probably has to count as a strike cuz I'm not doing well on my own
   
6. Pray more (an ongoing challenge for me unfortunately) so far so good
7. Get the local breastfeeding support group on it's feet.
   
8. Sing more so far so good ☺
9. Take time to be still and quiet I'm doing much better with this
10. Check in on these goals at least quarterly to monitor my progress ☺

7--Focus Outward

1. Do my visiting teaching every month this has crashed and burned on the "all" and "every" part the last two months, but we keep trying.
   
2. Become a Big Sister with Big Brothers/Big Sisters...it's something I've wanted to do for a long time. or not
   
3. Build up the local breastfeeding support group.
4. Fulfill my church calling (I am the coordinator over the Relief Society meetings formerly referred to as "Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment meetings") so far so good--I'm now also the music coordinator for the ward.
   
5. "Pay It Forward" whenever I can (in whatever ways I can)
   
6. Look specifically for opportunities to PIF/send out good karma yes
   
7. Shop locally or handmade whenever possible.
8. Feed the local missionaries each month
   
9. Teach a friend how to do something new going with the henna here..although I've also had some cooking discussions and I did what I could via internet to help a friend with some sewing ☺
   
10. Teach my kids how to do new things Wolf is cooking more, Bear plays games, helps me bake, and is very helpful with the baby, and even Eagle likes to put things away into containers/boxes!
    
11. BONUS--start a nonprofit organization for miscarriage support and education (ha, who'd have guessed!)
    

8--Learn

1. Read a parenting book Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn (review coming sometime...)
   
2. Read a marriage/relationship book The Soul of Sex by Thomas Moore (not that it was just about marriage, but the philosophy in the book has definitely fed my marriage in a positive way ☺ )
   
3. Read a political book The Audacity of Hope by Barak Obama
   
4. Read a nutrition or health book
5. Read a biography or teachings of a latter day prophet or apostle aww scrappy
   
6. Read my scriptures
7. Learn new knitting techniques Jan--increases, Feb--seaming (shoulders, sides, and setting in sleeves), Jun--picking up stitches
   
8. Learn how to make shampoo and/or conditioner
9. Try out at least one new recipe each month
10. Seek to find/recognize the sacred in all aspects of life, and the connections between truths ("spiritual" and otherwise) this has been just awesome

9--Blog

1. Write a series of posts about The Family proclamation HAHAHAAA how about 2011 for this one? I wrote about The Relief Society stuff instead, how's that?
   
2. Finish the final post in my "motherhood" series done ☺
3. Finish the birth-related posts that are sitting in my drafts folder done ☺
4. Research and write more posts on specific vaccinations
5. Write reviews of the books I have read but haven't written about yet: Hold On To Your Kids, The Omnivore's Dilemma, Raising Your Spirited Child
6. Write reviews of books I read this year slow but steady, right?
7. Post more regularly on my cooking blog so far so good...and yummy...
   
8. Post more regularly on my family scrapbook blog (it's private, for keeping extended family updated mostly) so far so good
9. Fill in gaps by posting older stuff on the family scrapbook blog too so far so good
10. Leave comments on my friends' blogs ☺
11. BONUS write a series on the Relief Society proclamation
    

10--Celebrate

1. Celebrate the earth cycle holidays (equinoxes, solstices). so far so good
2. Finally start our long-planned family tradition of having an authentic medieval meal (ie, big meat, candlelight, no utensils) once a year. It was pretty cool
3. Establish a new family tradition for Jesus' Birthday This was also pretty cool
4. Have a family pizza night at least twice a month frequently, and invite someone to join us. We are going at monthly-ish, which is fine. It's fun, but it is a lot of work.
   
5. Have a family or couples game night at least once a month strike--STILL haven't been doing this at all.
   
6. Go to playgroup and mom's support (breastfeeding) group and RS meetings and thus rejuvenate myself often mom's nights are good too
   
7. Visit some major sites of my own state this was quite an adventure, to say the least...
   
8. Play music in the home/car, and sing more so far so good
9. Get outside often and breathe deeply this has been good
10. Do my best to live deeply and suck the marrow out of life this has been very good
11. BONUS start a new family tradition of celebrating the countries of our ancestors by having a meal of authentic foods on that country's national holiday (some I've hit and some I've missed...and I'm just being ok with that at this point)
12. I know I posted somewhere my plan to make cakes for each family member's birthday, but can't find it on this list... I have done it for Hubby & Bear, Wolf...Eagle's will be coming soon!
    

Exciting Events

I just had to share a snapshot from my week...

On wednesday I went to the grocery store with the two younger boys. When we came out, I unloaded all the groceries into the minivan, and then buckled the boys. Eagle really hates being buckled in right now, and arches his back and complains mightily, so I gave him my keys to distract him as I buckled. I have done this many times and it is fairly effective. Then I shut the door and took the shopping cart to the cart-return (which was in the stall directly across from the van).
As I turned around to come back to the van, the horn started blowing. Oh great, Eagle had pushed the "panic" button on the key fob. Oh well, no biggie, I knew it would turn off when I started the car. He probably just was attracted to the button because it's red--that's more interesting than the black buttons I'm sure. So I grabbed the door to hop in...and you guessed it, he had also pressed the "lock" button, and every door on the car was locked. I checked.
I tapped on the window to make sure the kids weren't upset by the horn going--they weren't. Bear said something about the red button (he knows, he's pushed it a few times himself!), and Eagle grinned impishly. I leaned against the window and asked Bear if he could unbuckle himself (to get the keys away from Eagle and let me in). He can't reach the doorlock when he's buckled, so he couldn't just push it for me. He started to tear up and told me he couldn't undo the buckle--he's tried before, and never been able to do it. I was just hoping that maybe somehow he'd gotten miraculously stronger in the week since we last tried!
Meanwhile, Eagle was grinning and giggling and pushing buttons. I knew that pressing "unlock" once only unlocks the driver's door, and that it takes two presses in rapid succession to get the rest of the doors, so I went around to the driver's door. I was hopeful that he would push the button but I wasn't dumb enough to hope that he'd press it twice! He "locked" the doors a few more times, and pressed the "panic" button again too before he finally pressed "unlock."
All in all it was probably about 5 minutes that I stood there rapping on my windows trying to get my 11 month-old to push the right button.
I have concluded to not let him play with my keys anymore...or, at least, to not ever close a door while he is doing so!

My 24

After my most recent update post, I got a comment that sounded like many I have gotten before. "You do so much, I don't know how you do it," or "You have kids! How do you find the time to do all this stuff?"
I think this is a very interesting question, and I'll try to answer it.

There are 24 hours in a day. No matter who you are, no matter where you live, we all have the same amount of day at our discretion.

Personally, I am often thinking that I don't do nearly as much as I could. I spend too much time on the computer and I can dink around as well as anyone I know. On the days when I really put my mind to productivity I can do twice as much as on an average day. It is also only fair to inform you that, along with my Productive Days, I also have Lazy Days, wherein my accomplishments for the day are usually limited to making dinner, maybe a load of laundry, reading most of a book, and/or writing three blog posts.

I do NOT "multi-task." For one thing, there is no such thing--it's simply a matter of rapidly going from one task to another and then back again. The human mind CANNOT do multiple things at once [link] [link][link](see, science agrees with me). No, I do not do multiple things at once. I don't really "switchtask" either (going back and forth between two or three things--read the first link). But I do change activities throughout the day. I sort the laundry then put in a load to wash. Then I mix up the bread and set it to rise. Then I change a diaper. Then I move the laundry into the dryer and put in another load. Then I dink around on the computer for a while or read my book. Then I punch down the bread for another rising, and switch out the laundry again. Another diaper, put baby down for a nap, play with my toddler, do a little knitting... Really, there is nothing extraordinary about my days.

Mama always told us that "a change is as good as a rest" and I have certainly always found that to be true in my life. I don't need to take a break from getting things done, I just need to change activities regularly. Having small children facilitates this beautifully, as I am constantly being interrupted to feed someone or wash a bottom or attend to the latest little heartbreak or outbreak of contention.

We all have the same number of hours in a day, and we can only do one thing at a time. As Gandalf said, how much time we have "is not for us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." [link] So how do I "do so much?" I simply try not to spend too many of those hours in waste. It is that simple.

• I do best when I sleep around 8-9 hours a night, and I usually get at least 8. I got by just fine on 7 hours when I was in college, but I don't anymore. I consider getting enough sleep to be a very worthwhile use of my time.
• I don't spent much time preening myself--a quick shower is about it (my morning 'put-myself-together' routine takes about 5 minutes if I don't shower, and 10-15 min if I do, and consists of putting on clothes and combing my hair, no makeup, no fancy stuff). For the sake of the math let's add in bathroom trips and so on, and call it about a half hour a day spent on personal hygiene time.
  
• I spend a couple of hours a day online--I admit it's often more. I justify it as my "mental health/adult interaction" time, but I could cut it down and still be fine in those regards. I try to have a screen-free day every week or so.
  
• I do not work outside the home, I suppose that allows me to do more within my home. But I do work from home sometimes (and besides, the people who have asked me how I "do so much" are often also stay-at-home moms).
• I usually put a couple of hours a day into preparing meals. Sometimes more, but usually not less. Good food matters, not just for physical health, but the time and effort and slowness of home cooking is healthy on emotional and intellectual levels as well. It requires a level of consciousness about living which I feel is very important.
• Another hour or so goes into chores--laundry, cleaning rooms, doing dishes, vacuuming, etc etc. Once a week or so I do some deeper cleaning and spend a couple of hours. About once a week I take a couple of hours to go grocery shopping.
  
• I spend a couple of hours--even three--doing stuff specifically for my kids. Changing diapers, nursing, settling disputes, shuttling them around, helping with homework, or just playing with them... With a newborn of course it's more, but with a nurse-every-hour newborn I do a lot of nursing at the computer, or with a book in my hand; and often one of the kids helps me with cooking or cleaning, or I guide homework while making dinner, so things overlap. I think 3 hours is a fair estimate.
  

So of 24 hours in a day
8--sleep
.5--personal care
2--computer
2--food
1--chores
3--miscellaneous kid stuff
16.5 hours of the day consumed by my normal routine. That leaves me over 7 hours for doing all kinds of other things. Some days that gets sucked up by park trips or grocery shopping. Other days it gets sucked up by the computer. Some days it gets sucked into big projects (such as spring cleaning, or winterizing the house, or a sewing project, or a culinary endeavor, or building a website, or canning...), and other days I spend my time with a good book, or long shower, or with friends.

But we all have the same 24 hours in a day. I don't think my productivity is anything remarkable. And now I'm really curious--if you don't have the time to "do so much," then what are you doing with your 24? (If you blog about this, leave me your link please! I really do want to know!)

The Gluten Experiment: Part 3

Part 1--going gluten free
Part 2--eating 'normally' after the GF test

Part 3--low (glutenous) carb with a whole grain focus
So far so good. I made a batch of homemade rolls (one of my favorite things) and snacked on them quite a bit one day, and found that I felt quite unfilled and also had that lethergy and malaise, and that was what made me realize that a problem with candida (yeast/sugar) may be a more likely culprit for me than a problem with gluten.
As I work on cutting back it gets easier. The first couple of days that I avoided white flour I was craving sugar like crazy--we didn't have any cookies or anything in the house, but I realized after the fact that I went through most of a jug of fruit juice in one day. Whoops!! As I stick to it though, I am finding that I don't crave those white breads/rolls as much as I used to. I make whole wheat bread and I seem to do fine with a little of that. I didn't notice any ill effects after having a meal with pasta in it. But I'm trying to take it very easy on white/processed flours.

There is one last step, which I am slowly starting into, and that involves soaking my grains and/or taking digestive enzymes. Soaking flours helps the grain begin to break down, so that it's easier for the belly to deal with. Digestive enzymes do the same thing only on the inside rather than the outside!