In Which Universal Healthcare and Organic Produce are Correlated (a non-scientific, non-study)

There are many more important issues I could be attending to at the moment, yet I find myself sitting at the computer reading through a scientific study done on food.

There are two reasons for this.

One, since being diagnosed with infertility and endometriosis I have tried to change my eating habits: no more wheat, no meats with added hormones, and more organic produce when studies have shown the man-made chemical content to be significantly higher in certain conventionally produced fruits and vegetables (among other things). As you might imagine, eating this way has caused the grocery spending this year to soar to astronomical heights. Did you realize it is possible to buy a red bell pepper for $5? Yeah, for ONE bell pepper! I think I once had to buy a (as in ONE) medium-sized tomato for $3.

Two, my husband somehow has some extra time I don't know about to read news articles...nah. He must have heard it on the radio in the car. So, last night he informed me that a study was done showing there's no health benefit to eating organic versus conventional foods. This declaration has floated around for a few years now, but apparently yesterday it was important enough to be addressed on talk radio.

So I just found the research study...done by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Tropical medicine? Really? Yes. I have no idea.

Admittedly, I then thought, "This from a country who is fast becoming as obese as America and has a universal healthcare system that ensures equally useless and poor medical care for all? (A situation that America seems intent on emulating shortly.) Does it really make sense to dissuade the populace from eating the expensive organic vegetables?"

(By the way, has anyone in our government taken a gander at the UK's health system? I mean, because that's where we're headed. But that's an entirely different post.)

And you know what I learned from the study?

Nothing that makes any difference to me.

OK, here it is: organic produce does not have better or more nutrients, vitamins, and minerals than other produce. Not adding pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, or fertilizer to plants will not just make the produce have super doses of vitamin C or iron or what-have-you.

This, I already knew. And this is what the London group researched. They specifically did not study the contents of pesticides, herbicides or fungicides in various produce. I figure those chemicals may have negative effects on me and the environment.

Even if they don't, much of the organic produce I buy just tastes so much better.

(Incidentally, the hormone-free meat also has better texture and flavor. In my humble opinion. Which is really mostly what this blog is.)

I guess I'm willing to pay a lot more for groceries that have even the tiniest potential of keeping me healthy for longer.

(Because goodness knows there will probably be no medical care that's worth anything available to me by the time I reach old age.)

P.S. I have been diligently trying to solve the $5 for a red bell pepper problem by growing my own. Trouble is, they just won't get very big before something eats them or a disease of some sort rots them. Now I know why those darn organic red bell peppers are worth $5 apiece!

Watermelon and Things More Satisfying

You know those little seedless watermelons they sell for about $4-5? I refuse to buy them because, even though they're the perfect size for me and I'm the only one in the house who eats the watermelon, I will not pay $5 for a tiny watermelon.

BUT, if you have a Sprouts near you, I'd just like to announce that they have these little watermelons for the low, low price of $1.49. Although, I have to admit, I never think the seedless watermelons taste quite as sweet or crisp as regular, seeded, full-size watermelons.

But really, for $1.49, who cares?!?

(And also, the boneless, skinless chicken breasts with no hormones are on sale for $1.79/lb. Can't beat that. OH! And the halved walnuts are only $3.99/lb.)

This has all really made my week. I am apparently easily delighted this week!

I understand all this advertising for groceries is not the cleverest, most entertaining reading material. Luckily, today I happened upon a document on the computer of good quotes I've run across. Here are some of them for your reading pleasure:

“Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.” - Swedish Proverb

“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a way so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.” - Indian proverb

"I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I do not feel it. I believe in God even when He is silent." - inscribed on cellar walls during the Holocaust in Cologne, Germany

"When we walk to the edge of all the light that we have, and take that step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen - there will be something solid for us to stand on, or God will teach us to fly." - author unknown (to me)

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." - C.S. Lewis

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." - Mother Teresa

"A woman is like a tea bag- you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water." - Eleanor Roosevelt

"A room without books is like a body without a soul." - Cicero

"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." - from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling

"The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares." - Henri Nouwen

Now, don't forget to put cheap watermelon, walnuts, and chicken on your grocery list for this weekend!

A Million Little Reasons

One of the projects in a study I'm doing for our small group asks me to list a bunch of (like, in the neighborhood of 25) reasons I "need" my husband.

(I realize discussing the definition of "need" can be a whole other conversation, so if you have trouble with it, just think "reasons I like my husband to do life with me".)

I have to admit that within the first ten items I wrote down were some monumentally important reasons such as: "to kill cockroaches" and "to take the trash out".

Men, (as if there are any of you reading this) do not underestimate the importance of taking out the trash. I'm not sure why I hate it so much, but I do.

After noting my complete lack of depth in some answers, I then filled my list up with more substantial, emotional reasons that I need my husband.

But it got me thinking. There sure are a lot of practical reasons I "need" my husband.

• To water our (large, corner-lot) lawn by moving around multiple sprinklers because we refuse to pay the money for a sprinkler system.

• To go out to get the mail at night after I've forgotten to get it earlier. Because there are ugly, albino lizards on the front porch that give me the creeps.

• To negotiate with the credit card people and have fees removed when I accidentally, ONE TIME, forget to pay my bill on time.

• Actually...To negotiate with anyone about anything in order to score free or cheap services/products. My husband is a master at this.

• To hang his work shirts up on the top rack in his closet. This saves me pulling a chair over to do it myself (because "myself" is too short to reach the rack without aid).

• To periodically use the plumber's snake to clean out our shower drain. (The hair? It accumulates. And it is disgusting.)

• To dig up grass and till around in the vegetable garden, reconstituting the soil in a matter of hours. That task would take me days...or forever. I'm pretty sure it'd be closer to forever.

• To put the Christmas tree straight in the stand.

• To help me flip our mattress a couple times a year. Even though he thinks it's ridiculous and useless to do so, I am a little particular about my sleeping environment. (And don't we all know it's not useless? It really does make a difference. I think Oprah says so.)

What are the silly little...er...practical ways you need your spouse?

The Good Old Days

There is a little-known movie that is my ultimate favorite summertime film. It is this film that puts me in the mood to take a road trip during the summer months. It just plain makes me laugh and think of simpler times. It is Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss.

And I would recommend it to each and every one of you except for one little fact.

It seems there may have only been five of us on the planet who knew the joys this movie brings, because long ago (apparently even before the advent of the DVD) they stopped producing copies of the movie.

So, you can sure watch it...on VHS...if you have $40 lying around to spend on a VHS tape...and if you still have a VCR...or a way to convert the VHS to a DVD.

Oh, and the $40 price tag? That's for a used VHS tape.

The new copy on Amazon is going for a cool $150.

And now you all know I still own some VHS tapes...and a VCR...and I actually use them.

I am feeling older by the minute.

Next thing you know I'll be telling you they just don't make films like they used to and how back in my day you could buy a car for what they're charging for used VHS tapes nowadays.

And then I might as well inform you of all my bodily ailments. (Actually, I do have a weird pain in my left elbow.) But it's 10:30 now and this body needs to get to bed, so I'll spare you the details.

If it wasn't so hot I promise I could come up with a great title.

When I was a little girl, I used to love going on summer vacation to visit our grandparents.

OK. Well, the long car ride wasn't my favorite part even though I have vivid memories of it. To this day, if I leave on a car trip before the sun comes up I am reminded of summer vacations to visit the grandparents. It's a combination of climbing into a hot, stuffy car, looking out at an ink-black, starry sky, and smelling coffee (my dad always brought a thermos of it for the ride).

The memories turn a little sour when it comes to three hours into the drive and my sister and I are fighting over space in the backseat and asking "Are we almost there yet?" every half an hour.

However, an even more purely pleasant vacation memory recently came to mind when my mother-in-law brought over some peaches she bought at a nearby farm where she and my sister-in-law went to pick blackberries.

Being in northwest Arkansas was always such a relaxing, fun part of our vacation as a kid. (That's where I came to realize Texas has no trees and there is such a thing as beauty in nature.) One activity we sometimes took part in was going to a pick-your-own-blueberries farm. There's just something fun about picking your own berries. Maybe it's my imagination, but they taste sweeter.

Now, don't get me wrong. It was HOT. And I do believe we fought the bees and mosquitoes, but it sure kept us entertained for a morning.

We also would just walk around the area where my grandparents lived and pick blackberries. Or, bring back a handful and eat the rest right off the bush.

Now, if you live in the south where it's hot as blue blazes all summer, the time to go to a pick-your-own-anything farm is straight away in the morning. You can enjoy the nature, feel like a pioneer, entertain the kids, choose your own fruits (or vegetables) and pay a LOT less than the stores charge for the same thing. Really. What more could you ask for?

And in the fall, there's pick-your-own-pumpkins. In the winter you can go chop down your own Christmas tree. It's an event for all season really.

I found a perfect website that lists, by state and counties, various options for these very activities. They even mention which farms grow organic produce.

It's getting late in the season for berries, but we took a gamble and drove out to visit one of the farms advertised on the aforementioned website. Can you believe we picked all these...

For only $16?!?

And now that I've taste-tested quite a few of our blueberries I can say without a doubt that they really are sweeter than anything you get in the store...it's not just my imagination.

My Apologies

I feel a little guilty. You see, there have been many people directed to this particular blog after using various search engines to find information on cicada-killers.

The problem is that there is nothing I would exactly call "information" on this blog.

Unless you wish to be informed on the random minutia of our everyday lives here in Texas. (We're having pork ribs for dinner and John's new office parking garage will not take credit cards for payment.)

Or unless you want a description of what 104°F (40°C) feels like. (Imagine standing in a wet sauna in front of a blazing bonfire wearing a wool coat and cap.)

So, I deeply apologize to all those studies, serious researchers combing the internet for scholarly findings on the cicada-killer. As you are now well aware, this is not the place. (Those cicada-killers are, however, the biggest dadgum wasps I've ever seen in my life!)

And I'll just end this post now before I accidentally change the fact that this blog is an absolute dearth of scholarly information or objective fact.

Do have a good day. (And if you're in Texas, please do not venture out of doors except in the case of extreme emergencies.)

Blazing Fire

While on our most-enjoyable vacation in Portland, I was a wee bit consumed with worry about scheduling an appointment on the appropriate day of my cycle for a fluid test to see if all was well in the healing process after my surgery two months ago.

(Only other women going through all this infertility stuff will understand the waiting, the counting days, the wondering if spotting constitutes day 1 or not, the question of whether a short or long cycle means something bad for the next treatment, etc., etc., etc.)

Turns out I need not have worried. (As is almost ALWAYS the case, but it is sure to take me a sweet FOREVER to learn that lesson!) Earlier this week the test showed that I have healed much more quickly and fully than even my fertility doctor had imagined! Plus, the doctor finally came out and said that since he corrected such a large septum in the uterus, our chances of achieving pregnancy with IUI are a little better than he had at first thought!

I praise God for this!

And then I started thinking about what my reaction and relationship toward God would be had I not healed so quickly. Or had I needed another minor surgery to correct things after the major surgery. Or if it ends up that I just won't ever get pregnant. Or if nothing we do ever allows us to have children.

Well, I would like to think I would still praise God. I hope that my purpose in life is bigger than getting pregnant and birthing children.

I love the story in Daniel about Daniel's friends who refuse to bow down and worship the golden idol that King Nebuchadnezzar constructs. (I also really like that name: Nebuchadnezzar. But, not to worry, I don't like it enough to name a child after him.) The king tells them they face being thrown into a blazing fire (the likes of which are approximated rather well by stepping outside the door of your air-conditioned dwelling in Dallas today) for their disobedience..."and what god is there that can deliver you out of my hands?"

This is the response that means so much to me:

"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

"Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (That's Psalm 73: 25-26.)

When you experience a relationship that enriches your heart and spirit, you begin to realize that other stuff, even outcomes of situations, can't compare or bring any better contentment than what you already have in that one great relationship.

And I praise God for that!

5 Things to Love About Portland

This post is tardy seeing as we got back from Portland Tuesday night, but since then the days have been filled to overflowing! How is there so much to be done - even on days off?!?

Of course, a lot of the "stuff to be done" isn't really work - calling up friends I haven't talked to in a while, playing shuffleboard, hanging out with family. I guess I should more accurately say: naps, sleeping in, and blog posts are apparently at the bottom of my list.

We were in Oregon a week. While we stayed in Portland(for free, thank you very much Marriott), we made multiple day trips from there so we got to see the coast, the Columbia River Gorge area, the Mt. Hood area, and Mt. St. Helen's. This gave us a couple days actually in the city.

There are tons of reasons to like Portland so, rather than bore you to death, here are my top 5.

1. The city is big in a small way. Portland offers museums, arts, night life, restaurants, rivers (thus, water sports), and parks - plenty to do. But it's small enough to get around in easily and the city centre is especially pedestrian friendly. Mass transit is easy and convenient, and biking is a main mode of transportation. Portland felt a little like a mix of Amsterdam and Prague to us.

2. It is soooo easy for me to find food to eat in restaurants and grocery stores in Portland! (Because of the endometriosis and infertility and all, I'm trying to eat healthier: no wheat, less dairy, no red meat, hormone-free poultry, organic produce, no caffeine, etc.) The northwest U.S. is, for some reason, more health-conscious than the South, so organic food is abundant and the list of restaurants catering to wheat- and gluten-free diets is quite long, especially compared to Dallas. There are even a couple bakery/coffee shops that make wheat-free baked goods! And we got a wheat-free pizza the first night we were there!

3. The temperatures in the last week of June in Portland were approximately 30 degrees cooler than those found in Dallas. I think the hottest it got was maybe in the upper 80s and when you go up in the mountains it stays in the 60s all day. Yesterday in Dallas it was around 103 with a heat index of 180. OK. 115. Seriously! I wish I could have boxed up some of that cool, sunny weather and brought it back with me. (I think maybe this reason to love Portland should be listed as number one!)

4. Saturday Market. Maybe it was the perfect weather, or the abundance of interesting stalls to look at, or the fact that a market will always remind me of life in Europe, or the sweet smell of "elephant ears" and roasted corn, but this is just a fun, enjoyable weekend activity!

5. Rose bushes grow in abundance on the sides of the highways going through the city! Most cities I can think of line the highways with the ever-attractive, definitely cost-effective, concrete walls. Or maybe hills of weeds. The sloping hills surrounding the edges of the highways in Portland are green and planted generously with rose bushes. The red, pink, and white roses were out in abundance in June. I think roses love Portland, too! (The picture is actually from the International Rose Test Garden, but the roses on the side of the road looked just as great.)

Why do we live in Dallas? Oh yeah, jobs. Portland does have the second highest unemployment of any city in the country (it's over 10%). So quitting our jobs to move there in hopes of making a living might be a bit on the foolish side right now. And we might need some financial resources to buy wheat-free pizza, ride the public transportation, and support the Saturday Market vendors.