Viburnum: Doing Its Job

Cool when stuff blooms in winter. I have lived in SC for 9 years now and I don't think I'll ever get over that. Or 65 degree days in December. Or Thunderstorms in December.
Or not having to wear 9 layers to go Christmas shopping.

This is What I Have to Say

"Bob, I absolutely refuse to buy you socks for your birthday. You will simply have to come up with other ideas. If you need socks, get them yourself. They are not a luxury item."

"Taylor. It's time. Take off the grey hoodie and put this long-sleeved henley on. You are not 7 years old anymore."

And so that's what I said after my errands this morning. 

Bob's birthday is pretty much always a problem. Years ago, when he needed tools, or had something he enjoyed that needed equipment, like cross-country skiing, I would gather money from the family and splurge on something really really great that, more often than not, was able to double as a Christmas gift. Skil saws, skis, a weight bench...that kind of thing. Now what he does is publish a list that is supposed to work for both events. And inevitably that list has 5 items on it that cost between 5 and 10 dollars each. Well? No MORE! Thank goodness I didn't draw his name for Christmas! I don't know who did, but it's THEIR problem now! 

This is the first year we've drawn. The 5 of us did, $100 limit, I got Taylor. Who wants a 20" monitor for his computer...worth more than $100 but I owe him $40 for last week's Christmas bush purchase. Yes. Bush. It's not a tree. Oh sure, when it's out there on the tree farm, growing out of the ground, shaped gloriously like a Christmas tree, it looks like a Christmas tree. But once you hack off enough lower branches, and you see that it has more than one main trunk growing out of the ground? You end up saying to yourself, "darn, but if this thing isn't really a BUSH!"

Where was I?

Taylor. He wears grey hoodies all winter. Actually, fall, winter and spring. T-shirt underneath. Not a sweatshirt. Not a zip-up hoodie. Just a pull-over hoodie. Grey. He has two shades of grey. And he doesn't wash them often enough for my taste. So I am dragging him kicking and screaming into adulthood and I am buying him other warm, long-sleeved options. He didn't fuss! But then, he's not much of a fusser. I just told him he's too old to dress the same every single day. When people don't know who they are? They describe him thus: "You know...that tall brown-haired kid with the grey hoodie?"

Yup. 

So foot has been put down. 

Bragg Liquid Aminos-a new favorite product

photo from Bragg.com

So here's a product I discovered a couple of months ago and am I glad I did! I adore soy sauce. When we order Chinese food, or I make it at home, I always use a ton of the stuff. But the sodium really throws my system out of whack. First there is the night-long thirst, then there's the swelling in my fingers. It's like eating an entire large bag of potato chips by myself. It always seems to take 48 hours for the effects to wear off.

I started noticing Bragg Liquid Aminos in recipes. They would call for soy sauce or BLA. Since this product is not sold in regular grocery stores, I'd never heard of it and couldn't find it when I went looking. But I did see it at Earth Fare. I decided to try the small spray bottle. It was not cheap...about $4 or $5. But it sure has been worth it. I believe the first time I tried it I used it in a gravy recipe. The gravy (vegetarian) was fantastic, so I branched out to stir fry and now use it to spray on Chinese take-out. I fully expected it to be an "acquired taste." I figured there would be a funky aftertaste, as is the case with so many things we use as substitutes for stuff we are used to. Not the case at all with this.

The Bragg.com website reveals that liquid aminos are not their only products. They have a range of items from vinegar to olive oil to seasonings and put out a newsletter, as well.

"You are what you eat, drink, breathe, think, say and do. Take control to live a long, vital, happy life!" Patricia Bragg

The Right to Die & Being Prepared for the End of Your Life

So lately I've been recording the Dr. Oz show and watching it at my leisure. Good stuff on there most of the time. But today I watched yesterday's episode about the Right to Die debate, and it's been walking around with me ever since.

There was a woman on the show that suffers from a terminal illness and I can't really get her out of mind. Here is a clip from her part of the show. She is bound to a bed or wheelchair all of the time. She is not able to do anything at all but speak. She wants to die because she's tired of fighting for life. She doesn't seem to be in pain. She seems to have full capacity to speak her mind.

I AM a proponent of the patient's right to ask that they be allowed or assisted to die. But I wish this woman hadn't been one of the examples of someone who would use that. When I think of someone who wants to end their own life, I think of someone that is in horrendous pain. Or someone that is reliant on feeding tubes and respirators to continue living. Or both. Not someone that can still have the capacity to finish raising her children, albeit from a bed. Not someone that can help her family with important life decisions...how to deal with relationships, how to choose a college, whether to take a job or not, or even whether to wear purple socks with a red sweater. I don't think of someone with perfectly coiffed hair and the ability to communicate clearly with others without pain.

I think of someone in Montel Williams's situation. He talks about it here. And worse. (If you haven't watched "You Don't Know Jack," you really need to.)

I certainly don't want anyone to think I believe the other woman is not suffering. Clearly she is. But to me, she still has a lot to offer right now.

That said, Dr. Oz touched on another subject that is very real. He didn't spend much time on it, but that other subject is that of preparedness. No matter who you are, no matter how young or old you are, you really need to keep your affairs in order and up-to-date. You need to have a living will and you need to be sure you have the right beneficiaries set up for your assets. Recently an acquaintance of mine passed away tragically. It was discovered after his death that he never transferred his beneficiary information on his retirement benefits to his wife. Those benefits are assigned to another family member who, it appears, does not plan to turn them over to her and their children.

THERE IS NO EXCUSE for letting these details slide. NO. EXCUSE.

Two Restaurants to Try

I'm excited about two restaurants I want to try.

The first is Fern Flavors from the Garden, which is a VEGETARIAN restaurant that has opened in Charlotte! FINALLY! Their website is not built yet, but they do have a Facebook page and they have good status updates on there. Helen Schwab of the Charlotte Observer reviewed them recently here and here. They've only been open a short time. I'm not sure when we'll try them, but I know we will.

The other restaurant is Erin's Restaurant in Rock Hill. They are not vegetarian per se, but they will cater to you if you tell them you are vegetarian or vegan. However, since I have been adding the occasional fish to my meal, I have a feeling I'll feel compelled to try the Shrimp & Grits they are mentioning on their Facebook page this weekend.

So I'm excited. But we're not going to rush out this weekend. Too much other stuff going on right now. I'll take some pics and write something after I've visited.

Gardening Junket Today

Neighbor Mary and I will go another plant-buying trip today. We haven't discussed where we'll go or even when we'll leave, but it promises to be a beautiful day.

The plants I put in a couple of weeks ago are doing well. Especially now that we've gotten some considerable rainfall this past week. The two hydrangeas started wilting about 2 days after I planted them so I had to get out there and water like crazy to pull them back. We've gotten nearly done clearing the underbrush and dead limbs from the woods, so now you can see all the way through to the back of our lot. It's cool seeing the dappled sunlight come through. You can almost imagine little critters around in there. Maybe a gnome or two...

I've been thinking about composting more and more too. I'd like to develop a plan for composting our kitchen waste. We use our garbage disposal a lot for eggshells and peelings and that's a lot of water use, too. My friend Julie says she collects it in a pail under her kitchen sink and then periodically goes out, digs a hole, and buries it. Maybe we should try that. I think a rain barrel probably should be in our future, too.

Let Me Drive to Your House and Read You the Announcements

A frequent comment I get from parents is, "I didn't know about this."

It's often said in an accusatory fashion. I like to think they might be accusing their own kids of not telling them, but really I think a lot of time they are accusing me. Or, if not me personally, they are accusing the school. Of hiding information from them? Of conspiring to keep them in the dark? Of trying to lose money by setting up costly events that won't fill up because we don't tell people about them? WHAAAT???

I don't know.

Yesterday a parent asked about an event we have coming up and wanted to know if it was too late to sign her kid up. I told her yes, it is too late, all the arrangements have been made. I'm sorry.

"I didn't find out about this until the phone message last night."

"I'm sorry."

"Why didn't I know?"

"Ma'am, I'm not really sure. We sent out emails and did phone calls. We advertised on our website and did announcements within the building."

"Well, can I be notified when you do this [event] again?"

"Certainly we will do a lot of advertising when it comes around again." (which, I'm thinking, you will ignore JUST LIKE YOU DID THIS TIME!!!!)