Well, I helped my friend Trudy with her first day of farm school this morning. The kids (19 4 to 7 year olds) were supposed to be there by 9:15. But, their driver decided to take a tour around UNC and didn’t get the kids there until almost 10! The kids all listened to “farmer Trudy” while she talked about cows and their anatomy. And then she used a surgical glove and some whipped cream to explain udders. (I wasn’t there for this part so I’m not sure what she did, but I heard it was the hit of her talk:-) Then the kids split up into two groups, the cows and the horses. Half of them came with me to hear about plants and herbs, and the other half went with Trudy to learn about the miniature horse. So, needless to say, I had a lot of competition. Who wants to hear about plants when there is a horse around? Most of the girls were very attentive and loved answering my questions (what is a plant? who can name a weed?), but the boys… “When are we going to get to see the horses?” “I’m hungry!” “Is there cow poop around here??” We talked about how you can make a wish on dandelions and how you can chew up plantain to put on bee stings. They really liked to look at my press book of flowers and smell my herb soaps. All in all, everyone seemed to have fun. Next week will be 8 to 10 year olds. They will probably be a little more interested in the plants. I’ll have to look up more fun facts though, ’cause I think that will make it more interesting for them

Thanks Rue! I was going to go take a nap, but now I can’t sleep! I have a task to go count my books!! 🙂

Number of Books I Own: ~150 (that’s just mine. K’s and Toby’s probably brings the total to ~400. We use to have a lot more, but we are trying to get rid of half of what we own in an attempt to simplify our lives)

Last Book I Bought: Entertaining and Educating Your Preschool Child – an Usborne Parents Guide, 365 Days of creative Play for Children 2 Years and Up – Sheila Ellison, et al, Homeschooling for Dummies – Jennifer Kaufeld. I ordered all three at the same time. Obviously, I am trying to get a little bit of a clue as to what I am doing homeschooling K.

Last Book I Read: Well, I can’t remember the last one I finished. I am currently trying to finish three: The Village Herbalist – Nancy and Michael Phillips (really great book! I wish I had more time to devote to reading it!), If You Like My Apples: A Simple Guide to Biodynamic Gardening – Clue Tyler Dennis and Luke Miller (Way too basic so far! I hope it gets better!) , and Home Learning Year by Year : How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School – Rebecca Rupp (haven’t read much yet, but it seems good so far).

Books That Mean A Lot To Me: 1- I have an old copy of The Prophet – Kahlil Gibran that I really like. I remember seeing this book on my dads bookshelf when I was a kid. Then, when I was a junior in high school one of the lunch ladies gave me a copy and told me I should read it well. I did and was very thankful for her. It’s a great book with a beautiful message and I have to open it every now and then to remind myself about being a good person. 2- Some of you may agree with me and some of you may think I’m a looney, but I really love my Harry Potter Series J.K. Rowling. They are such fun books to read, but they also remind me not to forget about the magic out there. I wrote a letter to JK to thank her for sharing her gift with the world and she wrote me back!! So, I keep her letter in one of the books.

OK Time for the Tag!: Have any of you done this yet??
Stella
Toby
Kathy
Jamie
There are many more I would like to tag, but I will stop at four. If any of you non-taggies would like to join in, please do! 🙂

You are Sandra Bullock!

Which Beauty Icon Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

That’s funny! I met her once. Ok, when I was 16, I landed a job doing warpaint for the indians during the filming of Last of the Mohicans. My roommate during the filming was this great lady who actually was a professional make-up artist. We stayed friends after the movie and when she was in town a few years later for the filming of 28 days with Sandra Bullock we all met up at a local pub for some drinks. I thought it was kinda funny that they were shooting a movie about alcoholism and they were all hanging out doing shots at a bar 🙂

This morning, I went out for my walk. When I got to the end of our gravel road, the air was filled with the sounds of roosters, sheep and other farm animals, as usual. But, there was this other sound. It was kind of like a coyote, a long drawn out note with a down note at the end. As I walked along, the call got louder and was repeated over and over. Then it got a little lower, and I starting thinking that there might be some wild animal giving birth in the nearby woods. There was no one else around, no people or cars, so it was a little freaky. The sound kept getting louder and then it took an up turn and started getting higher and higher, and then went faster and faster. I felt like I was in some horror movie, that’s how weird it sounded! Then, it went staccato, and that’s when it finally hit me!! The poor animal giving wild animal birth in the woods this spring morning, was one of my neighbors practicing voice lessons!! Keep on practicing, baby! Keep on practicing!

2 years ago today, Toby and I got married! The past two years have been wonderful! Kind of like Rocky Road Ice Cream… We’ve had our ups and downs and seen our fair share of nuts, but life has been sweet and creamy and damn, that chocolate tastes good 🙂

I was married once before and wasn’t planning on doing it again. I figured, if my first marriage, that I thought would be forever, could fall apart so completely, why would I want to do it again and risk the same thing happening. I would just stay in a long term relationship and never add the word “marriage” to it and everything would be fine. Rational thinking on my part, eh? So, Toby and I talked about kids, and houses, and all the other stuff, but not really about getting married. Until Christmas day 2002, when Toby popped the question. How did he propose? He sat down next to me on the couch, and instead of presenting me with a ring, he gave me a Vitamix Super 5000 with grain attachment (I guess you could call this my Red Ryder BB Gun). I believe his words were something like “I know you have wanted this for longer than you have wanted me. So, I thought it would be more appropriate than a ring. Will you marry me?” Any man who could know this about me is fit to be wed. So, of course, I said yes 🙂

By now, some of you are counting on your fingers… “ok, so if they have been married 2 years and K is almost 2″… Yes, I went to my wedding barefoot and pregnant! Check out the belly.

So, I had a massage tonight (a gift from a friend) and I am feelin’ great! I’ve only had 4 or 5 professional massages in my life, and this one was awesome! She even used hot stones, essential oils, and everything! What a treat for a mama in need of a little pampering! So for all of you local readers, I just found out that she is giving massages for only $33 (for an hour!) through April! You can’t beat that. Think – early mother’s day gift to yourself! And tell her Maria sent ya! —-Asha Gleason 919-593-4628—you won’t regret it! I think I am going to send Toby for a massage… I wonder if she does massages for babies? 🙂

All dressed up for Grandpa!

My little piggy saying “Cheese!!” (or maybe she is asking the question “How far can you see up my nose??”)

I have something to confess. Yes, I have been busy with the business and all. But, things have recently calmed down and I still haven’t been keeping up my end of the blogging. You have my husband to blame. Two Sundays ago (the 20th), we were all feeling tired and in need of a good ‘veg-out’ night. So, he decided to give me my birthday present early…the first season DVD of ALIAS. See, I have just gotten into the show, now in it’s 4th season, and I am totally lost. Who is Rumbauldi? Why was Sydney missing for a year? Is Slone a good guy or a bad guy??? So, for the last week and a half, all of our spare evenings and most lunch hours have been filled with double-agents, plot twists, and lots of kick-boxing! We are both totally hooked! Everytime we hear the theme song we get a little adrenalin rush and one of us will pick up the cat and make him do the “ALIAS dance”. (We’re not so sure he likes it, but he needs the exercise). So, Monday we finished the first season…all 22 episodes. 🙂 Last night, Toby went out and rented the first disk of season 2…4 episodes…done! AHHH, I’m an ALIASoholic!

So, the 80’s radio station that I listen to plays Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” a lot. I use to love that song when I was a kid. But, I took the time to actually listen to the lyrics recently and maybe I am a little naive, but did you know that he isn’t really talking about a car??? Let me give you some sample lyrics (this is what he says in between the “little red corvette baby you’re much too fast” chorus):

I guess I shoulda known
By the way u parked your car sideways
That it wouldn.?last

See you.? the kinda person
That believes in makin..ut once
Love .? and leave .? fast

I guess I must be dumb
.?z u had a pocket full of horses
Trojan and some of them used (YUCK!!)

But it was saturday night
I guess that makes it all right
And u say what have I got 2 lose? (Your health?? Can we say AIDS?? She has used condoms in her pocket!!)

…
I guess I shoulda closed my eyes
When u drove me 2 the place
Where your horses run free

.?z I felt a little ill
When I saw all the pictures
Of the jockeys that were there before me (Um, yeah, I think I would have left by then!!)

Believe it or not
I started to worry
I wondered if I had enough class (Class?? She sounds like a hooker!!)

But it was saturday night
I guess that makes it all right
And u say, baby, have u got enough gas?(ok, wait, if we are using the car as a metaphor, than what kind of gas are we talking about here??)
Oh yeah

…
Move over baby
Gimme the keys
I.?gonna try 2 tame your little red love machine (OK, that’s just disgusting! I think, if Toby ever called my hoohaa a ‘little red love machine’ I would have laughed in his face and said ‘never again!’)

…
Girl, u got an ass like I never seen
And the ride…
I say the ride is so smooth
U must be a limousine (Prince, you are a serious perv!! But I have to hand it to you, it took me 20 years to realize that you weren’t talking about a car!)

Hello and welcome to the 2004 Christmas Olympics Medal Wrap Up coming to you live from North Carolina. We have looked over absolutely every little thing that we have received this year for the holidays to find it’s country of origin (ie where it was made). We find it a very interesting experience to learn where all our stuff comes from. This year, we are happy to report that USA has won with 29 ‘medals’, but they are followed closely by China with 22. The full listing of ‘medalists’ are:
USA – 29
China – 22
Mexico – 4
Canada – 3
France, Italy, Holland, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia all with 2 medals
Costa Rica, Brasil, Isreal, Korea, Portugal, Ireland, Singapore, El Salvador, Columbia, India, and Cambodia rounding it up with 1 medal each.
For those gifts that we were so excited to use (like those really cool fuzzy socks) that we ripped the tags off we have the Unknown country category with a total of 10 medals.
(Yes I know that sounds like a lot of gifts, but every book, jar of jelly, and piece of clothing counted as one medal each. Plus, don’t forget that we have an 18 month old and gift happy grandparents:-)
Thank you for supporting our 2004 Christmas Olympic Games and please keep us in mind next year when you are buying your gifts and try to support countries with fair labor practices.

So, I have finished my last exam and given my final presentation. Yes, I know I was only in school for one semester, but it sure feels nice to be done! I have so many other things to keep me busy. Plus, I can always go back to get my Master’s degree some other time, right? Well, maybe… some of you may know that in 1998, I was supposed to start at Emory to get my Masters in Midwifery. But, I decided not to one month before school started. At least this time, I made it through a full semester. So, the way I figure it, I will need 2 more possibe degree options and then one final real one to finally get a masters if I keep doing it at this rate 🙂

On another note, I am having some problems with Suki (the dog). She seems to be very happy that K is walking now. Because, as Suki sees it, that means she is free game to chase and stomp on. Whenever we are all outside, Suki charges K and knocks her down. So, now I have to keep Suki in the house when K is outside. It sucks! But, yesterday when we were all inside, Suki charged at K and pushed her down hard, then stepped on her. I said a few choice words to Suki and tossed her outside (well, more like slowly shoved…she is 65 pounds you know??) I’m not sure what to do. It’s going to be years before K is really big enough to defend herself and, though Suki is extremely smart and knows that she isn’t supposed to chase K, she can’t seem to control herself. I think Suki needs a playmate. But, one – She is an akita and very unfriendly to other dogs and two – I don’t know that I want to take on another dog right now!!

-Researched and ordered shitake mushroom plugs for the trees that we took down in the front yard.
-Mourned the trees we took down in the front yard, but am very happy for the warm sunlight that we are now getting on our house.
-Still working on my new product line…I’ve already ordered ~ 20 pounds of different herbs…mmmmmm
-Visited family, step-family, family-in-law, soon-to-be-family.
-Took all the Thanksgiving turkey frying oil from my brother and put it in my car! (Yup, the Jetta can run on turkey frying oil too!)
-Finally finished my last school project.
-Tried a good bit of goat milk to see if I can drink it without getting all gassy…so far, so good. (You wanted to know that, right?)
-Taught K how to say “wierdo”, “fuzzy”, “papaw”, “super duper”, “booty” (as in ‘pirate’s booty’ the smack), “bling bling” (as in her Aunt Carla, now called aunt bling bling, since she was trying to get K to say bling bling instead of thank you! That’s what you get for trying to teach my daughter inproper inglish!)
-Spent some time trying to figure out how to be a good mom and wife without losing my mind. I need a week vacation at some seaweed mud spa!!

Happy (almost) first day of December!

Toby had a rough day today, so I took him out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant we had never been to before. (Whose spirits aren’t lightened by a ton of chips and salsa and greasy cheese??) After dinner, our little tornado (aka-K) decided she didn’t want to get into the car. She has just recently realized that she is mobile and doesn’t need to be carried everywhere. So, since it was a fairly nice night out, she decided to take a stroll. Toby and I followed her around while she waddled around the block, powering her locomotion by a flailing right arm. She is such a total cutie!! We probably walked around for 20 minutes…which is a lot for her!! It’s easy to remember what a wonderful life I have when I look at her.

On another note…The photographers from Kiplinger’s came down for the photo shoot on Friday. I was expecting a snooty group of people who would throw their noses in the air and complain about how unphotogenic we are. But everyone was completely wonderful. Neither one of us likes to have our photographs taken and we were in front of the camera for ~3 1/2 hours, but they made Toby and I feel very much at ease. I believe the issue will be coming our early next year. It will be the 2005 Best Mutual Funds issue. I’m so not a wall street woman…it’s wild to think my face will be on the cover of the magazine. SOOO I have started working on the re-vamp of my business (I really hope it does get mentioned in the article). Here are my ideas for new products:

SOAPS

• Peppermint/Poppy Seed
• Gardener’s Scrub
• Cinnamon/Oatmeal
• Lavender/Rose
• Coffee ‘Morning-Pick-Me-Up’
• Jewelweed/Poison Ivy Soap

TEAS

• Rooibos Daily Tea
• Lover’s Tea

KIDS

• Immunity Blend Glycerite
• Respiratory Health Glycerite

OTHER

• Green Sea Goddess Facial Scrub

I would love some feedback…would you use it, catchy names, anything (this is where I need you lurkers to speak up!! Maybe you’ll get some samples!)

My favorite moment of today:
Driving to school, alone in the car, music blaring the local 80’s station, singing at the top of my lungs…”Been around the world and Ieeeyaaeeeyaaee, I can’t find mah baybeh…”

The race was amazing!! I’ve been in big crouds of people before, but there is no way to adequately describe the feeling of watching 35 thousand people from 100 different countries running in New York City, surrounded by over 2 million cheering spectators. It was electrifying! We had a blast!!! Even Toby, who is currently hobbling around the house discussing how he will be sore for a week, had a great time! He ran 26.2 miles in 4 hours and 46 minutes, and that includes the times he stopped to take pictures, eat an orange, and stand in line to pee! I’m beeming with pride for my man. Here are just a few shots I took for your viewing pleasure:
Mile 17, Toby stops for an orange and a picture. That’s my sister to my right. She flew up to NY to visit and watch the marathon.
This is the sea of runners after they have crossed the finish line in Central Park and were given their medals and warming blankets.

Live From NY CITY…it’s My Blog!!

(I’m trying to type as quietly as I possibly can while K is taking a very needed nap next to me. We are currently sacked out in my cousins studio apt. in Manhattan. I haven’t been to NY since I was 10 and I feel like a kid again…what a wild place this is!)

Last March, Toby’s friend asked him if he wanted to run the NY Marathon with him and Toby said yes (Neither of these two are runners, by the way.) So, for the last 8 months, Toby has been in training…and this Sunday he will race. I am so proud of him…what commitment (what is it with me and the “…”? I really have no concept of when it is appropriate to use it, but I sure do like it…Now, on to the race…) Early in his training, I tried to get out and run with him, for support (mentally, not physically. He has a good pair of running shorts to take care of that). But, I couldn’t even make it more than one mile and I was wheezing. So, whatever…I’m not a runner!

ooopp, the queen has just woken (is that a word??) from her nap. So we are headed to the corner store for some fruit.

I’ll keep you posted on the marathon.

Four more years of his macho, take over the world, bullshit! Four more years of lies! Four more years of support for the rich! Four more years of destroying the environment! Four more years by scaring this country into feeling like we can’t live normal lives without constantly looking over our shoulders! Four more years of forgetting about the children! I know that Kerry is not the end all-be all, but he’s certainly better than what we’ve got now!!

I am depressed. I am sad and disappointed. I am scared for this country. I am scared to see what is going to happen in the next four years. I am more worried about four more years of Bush and his crew than I am about terrorism, that’s for sure!! Toby joked about moving to New Zealand if Bush won…now, I am seriously thinking about it!!

I don’t want to believe it. Please, somebody wake me up!!

OK, so ~2 months ago I wrote an email to Kiplinger’s Magazine asking them some financial advice. I wasn’t really expecting much of an answer, but I thought, what the hooey. Well, I got not only an answer, but a phone call from one of the big wigs at the magazine. We talked for ~40 minutes and he ended by saying that he may call on me sometime if he needs to write an article about mutual funds for short term investing (which is what we talked about). Long story short, we are not only going to be in an article, we are going to be on the COVER of the magazine!! AND we are not only going to be on the cover, but we are going to be on the cover of the “Best Mutual Funds” issue, the best and most popular issue of the year!!! WOW!! All because of a little question. So, now they are sending down photographers to spend the day with us, do our hair, buy our photo clothes and get shots for the cover and one for inside the mag. Isn’t that crazy!!

So, since my business might be mentioned in the article, I’ve decided it is time to do a total overhaul to the website, product inventory, etc. If you have any suggestions for new products that you might like to see, or anything else, please let me know!

Aside from the mental tribulations of how to best lead satisfying lives, we had a wonderful weekend!! On Sat. we went to a friends house for pumpkin bread, lentil soup and apple cider, followed by pumpkin carving! It was great to be out and social! Sometimes I feel like we are stuck in our house doing chores all the time (if max would just learn to poop out side, we could get rid of that stupid litterbox!!).

Then on Sunday, we drove out to Silk Hope for the Shakori Hills Music Festival. Toby was helping at the Biodiesel table, while K and I roamed. She loved the music. Especially the woman singing in spanish…she was mesmerized. There were also lots of people doing face painting and henna. So, of course, K needed to get a painting…

I hope everyone is enjoying the first day of Fall!! In celebration, I made some apple cider, with fresh apples, cinnamon and ginger. Mmmm, Mmmm, good!!

Here is a picture of K from last fall. It’s one of my favorite pictures, so I thought I would decorate my blog with it today. Have a good one!!

OK, who out there wants to hoop?? I have all the stuff it takes to make them (the big adult hoops, not the little flimsy kid ones), cool colored tapes and everything, and I will make you one, FREE. Here’s the deal…You have to come and hoop with me!! Yes, I am lonely and desparate and I want a hoop friend! Here are a couple more sites to get you interested!! I’m serious…Free hoop, just be my hoop friend!

We headed down to the beach this past weekend and had a blast!! It’s probably been 20 years since I’ve really played in the sand. (I think we should all have a mandatory week of playing in the sand every year!) K was scared of the waves and doesn’t like the feeling of sand. So, I just sat down with her on my lap and let the waves run over our legs. After a few minutes and was playing in the sand, too! She even started her own shell collection.

It was a wonderful break from our structured lives.