Brief Self-Debate...

this morning....I had thought (very briefly) about switching to a different blogging setup (i.e. Wordpress, etc) and promptly discarded the idea.  Blogger is comfortable, and as my well worn yoga pants can attest I adore comfortable.

I played around with the Pages feature a bit (they are not currently showing, so don't go looking) in an attempt to combine the dietary/lifestyle change blog with this one....fail.  I don't want, nor do I have the patience, to maintain to separate blogs...so you lot will just have to deal with any KA-BOOM moments that I have on that front.  Deal I say!  Besides, it might be edumacational for some.  I'll be setting up a Linkage page (or two) to make that at least easier to hunt through.

On to happenings in mi casa....nada.  Tanker has us packed to the bare minimum (which makes cooking super fun...not) and we're in the just counting down days mode that we excel at.  32, for those that wonder.  Not soon enough.

Now, I'm off to enjoy a second cup of coffee to hopefully warm up from the chill of the rainy outdoors!


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In Relation...

to last week's Wayback Wednesday (which I accidentally posted on Tuesday)....

Does anyone other than me find THIS (troops on the ground) ironic considering THIS (less troops in EU)?

We would have been part of that lovely mass exodus hell (lots and lots of friends were) had Tanker not gotten his WTU transfer in.  It was messy, it was extremely trying for the families involved and it lessened our force numbers in the EU mightily.

Anyone else see the correlation?

(S/N:  Please take a quick second to send warm thoughts, hugs, prayers, whatever to a family that I grew up with...my first childhood friend has gone missing in a boating accident.  While I've not spoken to her in a while, I did spend a considerable amount of time with her twin girls playing nanny of sorts.  It's been nearly 24 hours since the accident....so, you know.)

Pantry-style Linkage....

specifically for Red Hen...as promised!

These are a few of the places I've been looking and watching prices on rice/GF flours...there are mixes available (sort of like self-rising) but I'm just pricing the straight up flours.  There are several recipes on the net for mixing your own as well.

Fine Rice Flour - 50 Pound Bag (affiliate)
AllBulkFoods (list of all flours...GF showed up at the top of the list for me)
BulkFoods (their prices overall seem lower per pound than the others)

There are also co-ops that generally have good prices...the problem for me is that none are active in my area.  If you order, please let me know about your experience...I'll do the same when I order as well!

Can't Remember...

If I'd ever share these before or not...I'm sure most of you know about them, but just in case.

Self-Education via Coursera.org (I enjoyed the discussion in the Disaster Preparedness course)

And a little know thy enemy via FEMA (a whole list of courses designed to educate the average joe in how to work like them) that I'm actually finding a bit enlightening.

I only do the freebie stuff, of course, 'cause I'm cheap like that.

Enjoy!

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Wayback Wednesday.....

Back in 2008 (oh mercy!) I posted this:

pathetic rhetoric and soapmaking

Wonder if "they" still see anything coming out of Russia as "pathetic rhetoric?"  Somehow I doubt it.  Still not taking them as seriously as I'd like, given the situation and lack of response.  But then I've always seen sanctions as a sort of like telling a toddler no while smiling.  It doesn't exactly elicit the response you'd been hoping for.  As a matter of fact, it sort of encourages the actions you were attempting to stop.  Then you have them challenging you without regard to any further threats or recrimination because they've already got you figured out.

Russia tests Obama (as if they don't already know what kind of grinning pushover he is)

Remember Georgia?

Pretty sure what happened there gave Russia some very valuable lessons that they've taken and utilized, this time with success.

P.S.  It's snowing here.  Nice summery weather this past weekend (even got a bit on the pink side from enjoying it myself)....and now, snow.  Ma Nature:  keeping you on your toes since forever.

Unofficial Confirmation...

Unofficial as in I've not been through a battery of blood tests and medical related go....confirmation as in I'm feeling it...bad.

Gluten is NOT my friend.

Today has been so solidly horrible in the gastric department after last night's short love affair with homemade pizza rolls.  They were delicious (oh so delicious)...they are the devil.  After going almost a full two weeks sans gluten, last night's splurge has shown me today exactly what gluten does to me.  It ain't pretty.

So there in lies yet another new obstacle to rebuilding the pantry.  Wheat and any product containing it is out.  Substitutes are in.  And since those substitutes are incredibly hard to find at decent prices locally, I get to turn to the interwebz in full to procure them.  It also means that shopping for long term storage meals just got a lot more interesting.

As much as the Screamers and Tanker loved the Chili Mac from Wise Foods (I did not partake...it was lunch for them the day I went and got some gum scraping done); they do not carry gluten-free goods.  There are other companies that do, however, and I will be researching what they carry.    In the meantime, I'll be working on a new pantry stock list.

So tell me....any special dietary issues you're having to deal with in regards to prepping?



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While I'd Like to Say...

that it's all over (the Bundy thing...see previous post), I have the deep, dark in the back of the mind kind, of thought that it is not.

Found these (I'm entirely too tired tonight to make sure these are super reliable sources...just giving you a springboard for your own research):

Laney Land (ironically around the same time frame as the Bundy blowup)

Federal Land Buy-up (article dated to 2010 but still highly relevant in light of recent events)

Overall, if article #2 is reliable (and given the .gov I'm prone to believe it is) then article #1 and the Bundy brush-up make total sense.  It ain't about turtles and cow poop folks.

And now I'm off to relax from a rough day in the sun, shooting springy pics...but I'll leave you with one of my favorites from today.

Are You Paying Attention....

to the goings on in Nevada?

Here's a Google search...pick an article.

I've been watching a lot of mud tossing from supporters of both sides play out on my FB (yes, I do have some incredibly liberal friends that fully believe the .gov is meant to be in charge of every aspect of our lives...I know, how?) feed.

Do I know the whole story?  No.

Do I care to know the whole story? Not really.

Why?  Because the only thing that is ringing my own personal alarm bell is the fact there are 200 ARMED agents locking the ranch down over some grazing cattle and a turtle species (oh, and a possible solar energy plant and fracking).

Why the alarm bells?  Because of so many reasons.  One being the overall acceptance that this is totally okay by an alarming number of my friends...another being that the MSM is only just NOW paying attention to a fight that's been going on for the better part of a decade (that's really no surprise though, neither is the spin being put out on it).

So, are you paying attention?




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Ever Get the Feeling...

that the whole world is sort of holding its breath right now?

Waiting to see what is going to happen next?  Wondering when, exactly, the other shoe will drop?

There is just so much going on across the globe that one can hardly keep up.  Naturally, MSM is failing to put the most important things at the top of the reporting list but that is nothing new.  Throw a bit of celebrity gossip at the masses and bury the stuff that will (rather: should) get the masses riled.  The ones that are waking up are edgy, angry that they've been kept (allowed themselves to be kept) in the dark for so long...but not angry enough yet to act.

The whole thing is just a tinderbox waiting to go up in flames.

Officially....

we are packed...as much as possible considering there is still a long stretch of 7 weeks or so before moving day.

Full, labeled, taped boxes are stuffed into a corner in the living room and the youngest screamer's ex-room is full up.  Spare room is pert near empty (it was our pantry/storage/crafting area) and everything is off the walls.  Nail/screw holes filled.  All that is left is to paint, pack up the few remaining necessities then load everything onto a truck and clean up.

This is going to be the longest 7 weeks.

Ah the trials of being married to an OCD "get it done ASAP" kind of guy.  Me, I would have waited until May to even start.  Him, he's been sneakily packing since we decided/understood that a move was going to have to happen (ahem...end of January, beginning of February).  I detest packing; he revels in it.  Consider us opposing magnets.  But it's done (mostly) and we wait.

In the wait time, we have been taking stock and making plans.  Considering we will be doubling our household square footage, we are shy on furniture.  So the deal is I get to yardsale for furniture that I can go all re-finishing crafty on...and that we will build what we know we can't afford to buy finished.  There are plans saved and dog-eared in magazines (only with plans attached) of large dining tables (our 4 seater will be woefully pitiful in the incredibly large dining room), bookcases, storage shelves and more.

The yard/garden area takes considerably more planning as I want it to be functional AND gorgeous.  A place that I can grow a "hidden" food garden while still being able to entertain family and friends.  A spot for us, the screamers and the dogs to frolic (I really don't frolic but ya know) and relax.  But also a place that will grow as much of our fruit and veg for the table as possible.  The ideas are there in my head...it's the translating to paper then yard that is a little more tricky when I'm not actually there looking at it yet.

Plus, the majority of planting opportunities for the year will be past by the time we're down there.  Trees can go in this fall and some late summer/fall crops.  But other than that, we're kinda stuck waiting for next spring.

We've gotten pretty good at waiting.

At First....

I thought this was a joke...a bad one...but a joke.

Congress doesn't get paid enough!?!

Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) (aka MORON) needs to be brought down to the level of the lowest paid of his constituents.

Dear Rep. Moran and any other political figures that think like him;

Go straight to whatever hell you believe in.  Start using your PERSONAL wealth to pay for your living standards...not the monies you are paid to do a job you are not doing.  If the public worked as hard as Congress does, there would be absolutely no one being paid because they would have all been fired long ago.  You do not deserve a pay raise.  You do not deserve the money you are being paid.  And I'm beginning to suspect that you do not deserve lips to spread the idiocy that your obviously damaged brain conjures.

Adventures in Boxing...

moving style boxing that is.

In the beginning there was a house full of stuff.  Stuff that we didn't think we really used.  Then we began packing and realized that we do indeed use the majority of the stuff (aka kitchen stuff) when we have the room to use it.  Rather, when we have the room to have it accessible for use.  Current kitchen was not designed well and a large chunk of my stuffs was relegated to the spare room, out of sight therefore out of mind and out of use.  For the past 8 months I'd be cooking and think "I know I have (insert implement/device/etc here) that would make this easier" only to not know if it was boxed in the basement or hidden away in the spare room somewhere winning at hide and seek.  I know now.  I'm telling you I simply cannot wait to get into a kitchen that has not only a real pantry but the cabinet space for my stuff.  I real kitchen, not this child-size imitation (seriously I have less than 18" of counter space to work on...no joke).  Excitement!

Other adventures in boxing...we're apparently horrible cat parents that never, ever get the poor unloved cats toys (intense sarcasm).  We've got several boxes pre-taped and setup for packing...I'm forever finding a cat in a box.  There are only two of them but it's like they're tribbles.

Ah well.  Such is life.

Off to do more of the packing thing while the sky is cloudy then once the sun re-appears it is outside to do some yard clean-up and maybe transplanting of the grapevines.

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