2013 Begins with a Good Omen

 This morning was a slow start, and I didn't even party last night.  I welcomed with some relief, the vigilant cold (flu?) that forced me to stop the frenzied partying, eating, consuming, gifting, and worrying that comes during the Holiday Season.  The past two days have found me in bed sucking lozenges, sleeping, and watching Netflix on my phone.  Laaaaazy bones.

So this morning I heard the usual sounds of the little farm waking up-starting with the turkeys.  We still have 3 turkeys left from heritage breeds Narragansett and Royal Palm.  Two puffy males constantly strut in front of the lone female, their male ego a beautiful blue show.  The turkeys were loud, gobbling, gobbling, gobbling.  They kept getting louder and louder until it approached the level of ruckus.

I opened the blinds to see a huge flock of wild turkeys descending on the farm!  It was invigorating!

So the Mister and I hurried outside to investigate and dissuade our guests from discovering the free food.  There must have been close to fifty, gliding in and surrounding our turkeys.  Our two males were puffed and huffed.

Through the gate and already the wild flock is starting to part.

Some flew away.

 And that-a-way.

Others meandered to our neighbors field.

I felt a flood of options and questions come over me:
What if we just made them our own flock?
Let's have a big dinner?
How are they thriving and surviving so well in the winter?
Do you think they'll come back?
Where are they going?

When we turned back to our turkeys, they were still fluffed up from the encounter.  Not being a turkey whisperer, I couldn't tell if their gobbling call (answered one second later by the simultaneous gobbling of the entire flock of wildlings) was a warning, a threat, or just a Hey! Where'd you guys come from?

Here they are in the neighboring field, close to fifty of them!  The sky above, the clouds, the vigorous show of family and flock, the asking for blessing from our farm (sorry, denied!) seemed just the sign I needed to start my 2013.

So I started my morning with a O.J., banana, spinachspinachspinach green power smoothie.  A sign of things to come?

Then our post-Holiday overly-blessed house spent the morning taking care of some important business.  Like how is it my kids have never seen Goonies?  I almost feel like my duty as a mother should be in question.  This is one of the great films from my childhood.

Use caution when blowing young minds.  They are little sponges.  I dread the day my kids get a facebook, pinterest, and whatever else account. 

Oh Samwise, how cute you were.  I once wanted to kiss you braces and all.  Big brother is taking it all in, and I'm making a list of all the great 80's flicks that need to be shown weekly for Outdoor Movie Nights on the farm.  A sign of things to come?

And occasional distraction with little brother, just to prove we're not total TV Zombies.

Happy New Year!
Love From,
Mrs. Olsen

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January One - 11:14 p.m.

Last year's reckoning was depressing. This year I'm not deep cleaning under my stove as a consolation prize. That is good.

My salad a day for 2010 was a positive arc. I'm feeling good! I got my cheekbones back in June and then promptly got pregnant.

My goal: try to keep my cheekbones until this kid arrives. With holiday goodies and a resurge of sugar cravings distracting me, it could be a task indeed.

So to carry through to better health for the sake of my new crop growing in my womb, I decided to keep going on a salad a day until my green Martian appears on earth (he has to be green after all that roughage right?).

Better documentation is key to staying on track...so here I am scrambling for my greens via spinach smoothie at 11:14 pm.

Nighty night,
Mrs. Olsen

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City of Steel, Bowl of Greens

Yesterday, I was "en-route" to my European Vacation for just over 24 hours. Ugh. What time is it? One of my fears on this trip has been: Will I be able to get my salad a day? Well yesterday, during our 7-hour layover in New York, I put these fears to the test. Check out my little mini New York adventure below:


Upon emerging from the swarthy subway tunnels, I emerged into the cliched version of New York that is Times Square. Immediately we were dazzled by the lights, the energy, people, shops, and advertisements.

My first thought was this: I wonder if any trees can grow here. It was several blocks before I found this.



Not technically a tree, but living and green. Maybe my miniature adventure should have been to Central Park huh?

So since we went straight for the cliche New York life, my next thought was this: I want a New York Dawg.

I had images of Tina Fey, long lines of weary corporate workers, and downing some meat the farmgirl in me doesn't want to think about with onions, relish, catsup, and mustard.



We succeeded. Here's my man with our New York Dawg. I was disappointed only catsup and mustard were available, but after a 5 hour flight with a small cup of water and some nuts, I was ready to eat a roasted rat.

Not really, that would be gross. My point is, I try not to buy or eat hotdogs, but man was that dog good!


Bonus! Snapped a photo of the Times Square Naked Cowboy's competition. What is she? The Naked Cowgirl? I'm not sure, but I learned The Naked Cowboy recently sued her for...infringement? I shouldn't put things on the blog I don't know anything about, but there you have a fairly naked woman amongst the lights and action of New York.

My last and final thought before we had to jet back onto the subway was this: Where can I get a salad?

Then we found a little deli that sold raw greens, fruits, sushi, and pastas for $7.99 a pound.



The noodles make it look gross, but it was the perfect end to my mini New York adventure. For just five bucks, I snarfed fresh strawberries, kiwi, ginger dressing, and a couple sushi rolls that had no chance in heck of growing within 20 miles of the deli, but which tasted absolutely fresh and delicious.

Well that's it for now. Good night/afternoon/morning...I'm not sure which one.

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Nightswimming

There was a time in my life-my skinnier, single life, that I was a proficient nightswimmer. Large bodies of natural water: lakes, oceans, sometimes the eddies of a river, would unwittingly accept my sweaty armpits and oily hair as I checked the swim off as my daily shower. I'm pretty sure my sister Niki contributed her urine upstream from me a few times as well, bless her little heart. The girlfriends and I would sneak into the night, shed our clothes as we screeched off of docks or cliffs, and become mermaids at best, fish in the least.

Then came marriage, motherhood, pregnancy, weight gain, bills, diapers, and the fixing and cleaning of 3 square meals a day. So nightswimming and it's inclusive stress-relieving benefits, fell by the wayside.

But last fall I said enough is enough! I realized a beautiful reservoir was just down the road. I realized the night would hide my no-longer-smooth thighs. I realized I had some new girlfriends that would screech off of docks even though we were all mothers and wives. "Come away with me in the night" I said. And we did.

And so it was that I got a call inviting me back into the water for the first time in 2010. Just hours after my sister Niki left town (blessing?) me and the girls went away into the night.

First test to know if it will be a great night. This little poem my dad taught me as a girl:

Red Sky at Night

Sailors Delight

Red Sky Morning

Sailors Take Warning

Here's Sara and I taking clues that it will be a good night while we wait for Heather to come.

Heather wins!..and with glasses on no less! In the end, she chose french fries. Hmmm, maybe nightswimming may be a danger to my health after all?

Naaah.


Here's me timing my camera to see how long it will take to get a picture of Sara in mid-air jumping into blue.


Instead I got this. Oh well.



Aaaaahhhhh.


This is why I got the call this time. Heather is ready to POP next week and was delightfully weight-less in the blue.

My other highlight of this night (apart from the fact that I was nightswimming) was the reality that the last time I jumped through stars into blue (last fall) I was 30 pounds heavier! Still not ready for the public swim, but the salad a day plus consistent exercise is slowly but surely making a difference! Wahoo!

Thanks ladies! Call me anytime! Sorry we missed you Wendy and Rebecca (and even Niki).

Favorite nightwater picture ever here.

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Year of Salad Update

How much salad can this blog take before it's left in forgotten no-man's land? (hint: please take my survey on the sidebar if you have a moment). In case you're new around here, when that crappy New Year rolled around I decided to simplify my resolution list and just try to eat a raw green salad every day in 2010.

My new routine entails many breakfasts where I drink my favorite spinach smoothie, and there are lots of p.m. meals that get a salad as well. All in all, things have been going pretty well. For example, last Friday was a day of hauling compost from the landfill, filling garden boxes, running for cover from a hail-storm, checking the back-side of our goat to see if she's going into labor soon, eating home-made soup, cleaning my bathroom, and watching a flick with The Mister of the House.

So all that right there, that big run-on sentence of stuff, was just me running around until at 9:30 I crawled into bed, tired and ornery, and realized this: "Awww crap, I didn't eat a salad today!" I ate soup full of beans, carrots, celery, onion, and chopped up swiss chard (worst vegetable name EVER)...but no salad.

So I laid there in my bed, thinking I should just go make a quick salad and be done with it. Why didn't you make a spinach smoothie with your soup? Well, gosh I don't want to poop my brains out. Bean soup AND a spinach smoothie. Gosh I'm tired. Should I get up? Maybe The Mister would make one for me if I call out to him..... Just go before you fall asleep.... Mister, is that you? I gotta get up and eat a .....zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

So May 1st, 2010 is my official first day of missing my raw greens. Dangit!

However! I have been asked a few times: So is your salad deal helping you lose weight?

The answer, yes. It's simple and sustainable. I'm trying to cut out processed foods as well, not to mention having a plethora of raw fruits and veggies from the food co-ops are making positive impacts. But so far this year I've lost about 15 pounds. Not bad, huh? Still a lot to go. Still fat. But not bad.

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Week of Salad: Monday

I'm still doing it! We're in March and every day this year (so far) I've eaten salad! Some days my salad is a spinach smoothie, and once in a while it's steamed cabbage. Other days it's both. So I figured another weekly audit is due. So this week I'll be posting pics of my salads.

Last week I totally started craving an old recipe I had forgotten. So I bought some mushrooms, and baked up my favorite recipe, and ate some delicious mushrooms with my salad today. I was going to save a few for tomorrow, but they got lost in my stomach. Once you try them yourself, you'll wish they got lost in yours too.

Here's the recipe...

VEGGIE-STUFFED MUSHROOMS

20 large (1 ½ to 2-inch diameter) mushrooms (about 1 pound)
½ cup broccoli, finely chopped
¼ cup carrot, finely chopped
1 TBL onion, finely chopped
1 cup seasoned croutons, crushed (about ½ cup)
½ cup (2 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1/8 tsp salt
2 TBL butter or margarine, melted

Carefully cut out stem end of each mushroom. Reserve enough stems for ¼ cup chopped mushrooms. Place hollowed out mushroom caps onto glass pie dish or (small) casserole dish.

With reserved chopped mushrooms, add the remaining ingredients. Spoon mixture into caps and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until tops are lightly golden. Serve warm.

Love from,

Mrs. Olsen

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Letter: Dear Jenny,

Dear Jenny,

Last year I casually watched you document a year of eating salad. Usually you sent out a weekly picture that looked something like this:

Photo Credit: Jenny @ SimpleLifeLove

I'll be honest, at first I thought I would get a wash of new salad combinations and recipes, daily postings and inspirations. When I realized you weren't flooding your blog with salad postings, I learned to pop by once in a while and get a quick review of all your greens. It didn't make me eat more salad by the way. That was unfortunate.

But when I read your review of your experience at the end of the year, you said this:

"Would I recommend a year of salad goal? YES! Really, its been fun. And it isn't as hard as it may seem! You can do it!"

Maybe it had to do with the fact that I made a plethora of resolutions in 2009 that I soon forgot. I was unfocused, distracted, and undisciplined. Maybe it was the fact that someone actually invited me to do a specific resolution. So I thought about it starting January 1, and while I was thinking about it I ate a salad every day.

I don't know how to photo edit like that, and I swear I took a picture every day so far (just for fun). But now that I've uploaded my camera, I only found 3 pictures. Oh well.

So I guess it's official. Raw greens every day in 2010 for Mrs. Olsen!

Signed,

Hoping Green turns me Lean in 2010

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Letter: Dear 2010 Self

Dear 2010 Self,

So a couple days before Christmas I visited an elderly woman in the neighborhood. In my church, I am officially assigned as her friend, her visiting teacher. I'm not sure how that is supposed to work, since she's got me by several decades, but I enjoy visiting with her.

Something that came up in our conversation was how we were both slumlords. By slumlords I mean owned property we rented to college students. Mostly I just wanted to call myself a slumlord cause it sounded cool, but according to our properties they were on the older side, but clean.

We shared horror stories of being the nice landlord giving a handshake deal to be compassionate, only to be burned by sloppy, careless, selfish, high on independence college punks.

Elderly woman: I stopped by the apartment where a bunch of girls rented. I checked the kitchen and couldn't believe it! I told those girls I was going for a sandwich and when I came back, they needed to have swept underneath the stove. I mean, that thing hadn't been touched in five years! Those girls all left except one little freshman girl who did the work all by herself. When I came back I told her I wouldn't let any male relative I know date girls who were so sloppy and careless.

2010 Self? All I could do was nod, smile, and slightly gasp. I didn't dare say that I never knew you could just slide that thing (i.e. stove) off the wall. My mom was a clean freak, but that department was never covered.

Can I just say that for years! when I had a messy pot on the stove, I cringed to see food particles hit that crack between the stove and the counter. I would pull out spatulas and try to fling the food out from the crack so I could clean it up. Sometimes it worked.

Sometimes it didn't.

Apparently most people know this cleaning trick, since the previous owners did the stove shuffle when they painted an accent wall in the kitchen (red) which was then painted over by me (blue).

So shortly after this visit where I am the "teacher" visiting the woman who knows more than me...well, I pulled that sucker off the wall quite easily, I swept a load of crap in the the first picture, mopped the floor, and then wiped the food sweat from the sides of the stove.

I had a little helper. Isn't he cute? He's my official boyfriend.

Please remember to clean your stove. You never know what desperate consolation prize you need to cling onto when the new year rolls around.

Signed,

2009 Self

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Letter: Dear 2009 Self

Dear 2009 Self,

As usual, you had great intentions for the year 2009:

some religion (read the standard works...I think)

some nature (grow a square pumpkin and/or watermelon)

some health (basically look like you did when you were 21)

Hmmm, let me check back to your old blog post, cause I can't even remember the others. ... Hang on just a sec (*whistling).

Okay, I'm back. There was lots of others. By the looks of things, you didn't really take the bull by the horns, or even the tail. You don't even know what a bull looks like do you?

What's wrong, Father Time got your tongue?

Love Always,

The Yearning but Never Arriving Mrs. Olsen

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Dear Moses, Deliver Us from Selfishness

Speaking of fruitless resolutions, and setting yourself up for disappointment, I am just realizing on this cold day in March that my first quarter of 2009 is nearly over. And also that I wanted to read the entire standard works this year.


Since the standard works are essentially in four sections, that means I should be finishing the Old Testament by the end of this month. And I'm just barely escaping out of Egypt...I haven't even supped in the quiet grace of Esther, beheld the armies of Jericho, or thrown Daniel in the Lion's Den.


But I have to remind myself, that enjoying the scriptures as a long tall glass of water is the better part to being in a mindless hurry. So in order to not be discouraged, and give up altogether, I remember Moses:


Ever mindful of his weakness (slowness of speech among others)he steps into the darkness with faith: The Lord has a plan for me and His people.


With a staff of wonders, a faithful brother as a spokesman, he approaches powerful prideful Pharoah. He has permission to unleash wonders, signs, and tempests if it will get the job done. He has a covenant people who have a special election:

not to be an uplifted people, but to be an uplifting people.

Slavery, burdens, and disregard for their life is standard. They have heavy hearts, and in modern-day society, a big-time class action lawsuit would have clearly laid out their injustices, and paid for the college education of the upcoming 3 generations of Israelites.


My movie-sense knows what is coming next, and how mighty Moses, with the Lord at His side, could rightly condemn the idolatry, dictatorship, and greed of Egypt.

Mrs. Olsen as Hollywood Screenwriter writing for "Moses": Your false gods will sustain you no longer. The true and living God shall scourge you for your disregard of human life! Let my people go or you will pay...big time! [glower eyes and lean in aggressively] You. Can't. Win. [steps back from a frozen and bewildered Pharoah and nudges off to the side]. Israel, go get your things. We're leaving. [pause. snickers quietly and turns back to Pharoah] Good luck getting your golden gazelle to the fourth story antechamber. [swaggers off as Pharoah's countenance hardens into an angry furrow].


So something like that right? But his first petition to Pharoah actually goes like this (Exo 5:3):

The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee,

three days' journey into the desert, and [serve] the Lord our God.

As in "Pretty please! We're just taking a week off, we need the blessings of service in our lives. Listen, I'm giving you the full itinerary here so we're not pulling the wool over your eyes...we'll come back".

What all those movie-renditions kept leaving out, was that with each new petition to the Pharoah, and each subsequent wonder from heaven, was the quiet request NOT to "Let my people go you big jerk!"......but rather,

"Let my people go, that they may serve"

(see Exodus 8:1, 8:20, 9:1, 9:13, 10:3, 10:26)

Undoubtedly Pharoah made things worse than they could have been, what with his continual hardening of his heart. And who knows, perhaps the faith of Israel could have flourished alongside that harsh environment, but it seems to me the greater sin of this arrangement was this: refusing the blessings of service.

1957. "Moses leading the people" by Arthur Boyd

While it is clear that their law required sacrifice, feasts, and rituals as a form of service to their God, the Lord has made it abundantly clear the full definition of service to include: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these...ye have done it unto me."

Sometimes the Lord makes us strong enough to bear our burdens, and sometimes he puts on a multi-million-dollar fireworks show to lead us into a new haven in the wilderness. But in both instances, it seems we are not to lose our focus of the importance of reaching outside ourselves, to serve.

Which is why this blog post is over! I've got the littlest people of the kingdom to take care of: fevers to drop, diapers to change, pee-stained sheets to wash, and songs to sing....all of this amidst the undone resolution to be thin and fabulous, among others. Here's to your health and wellness (and mine!) growing grace by grace.

Have the best of days. With love,
Mrs. Olsen
current lover of Moses... though it should be Isaiah, and ideally Shadrach, Mesach, and Abed-nego

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Forging Ahead into Aught-Nine

I love how this blog makes me look cooler than I am. Or maybe it's helping to get me off the chair and have something to show for myself. It's weird when good friends or sisters make comments with exclamation points (myself included). A show of conversation, but a real reconnection to people you've lost in the shuffle. I like it, I mean, keep 'em comin'. I'm not making fun okay? It's cute. And interesting.

So anyway, maybe since I wrote a sizable resolution list last year on paper, then tucked it away somewhere so I could hang on to it, then promptly lost it, and became forgotten in the blur of 2008...well, maybe having the blog will be good for that. Make me more accountable. Perhaps send some cheerleaders on the way. For what it's worth, here's the positive changes I hope to forge into the aught-nine. My Resolutions:

• Read the "Standard Works"


• For one month, perhaps the summer, experiment with a low-carbon diet. Not Atkins you cotton-headed ninnymuggins.


• Keep up my weekly tango with Ulysses (aka $50-spot every week for groceries, gas, and entertainment) until the Olsen Household has a 3-month reserve in savings.


• Start a video spot for the blah-g. Involving Rainbow Girl. It'll be fun!


• Grow two square watermelons....or square pumpkins.


• I hate to say it....it's so cliche. I really do need to get in shape. But I'll work that out on my own. I'm not airing that dirty laundry on this blog.
• Submit some words somewhere. just for fun.


• Lastly, to accomplish at least two things on this list (I am NOT giving up already, I just don't want undue discouragement getting in the way so early).

Cheers!

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