Veganish

I haven't written in a while.  I've thought about it, but I haven't done it.  Because telling people (okay, mostly my dad) about going vegan (ish), would be like telling him I've decided to become Amish.  He would freak out.  Or at least roll his eyes and do an awesome face-palm.  I grew up on a beef ranch y’all.  I can still conjure up the smell of burning flesh as cattle are being branded, at will.  And it smells like home!

We've already cut meat out except when company comes, and life has been like that for years.  I don't like to cook it, and I rarely like to eat it, and touching raw meat makes me gag, so, no big deal there.  I grew up without milk, with the exception of a few times a calf would die, and the mom still needed to be milked, so we'd have fresh, raw milk for a few weeks.  Mom would try her hand at her own cheese, yogurt, butter, etc.  But we didn't buy milk from the store much, and NEVER drank it from a glass like some of my friends did.  I can do without milk.  There is such a good selection of non-dairy milks now that I haven't bought cow milk in years anyway.

Enter- the things I'm going to have a hard time with.  Cheese, butter, sour cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, honey.  Scratch that.  I'm not cutting honey.  Let's back up.  This decision was made after a lot of scripture reading, blog reading, and reading historical quotes from prophets.  We decided we needed to more closely follow the Word of Wisdom and other scriptural counsel for health, and cut out the things we felt to be unhealthy.  I personally have a hard time entering yet another weird group to which I don't really belong (ie I have different reasons for a belief, or really don't believe anything else most of the rest of the group believes) but it looks unavoidable at this point.

So allow me to show how I am really between worlds, yet again, and don't exactly fit into the omnivore group or the vegan/vegetarian crowd either.  I don't think meat and dairy are good for anyone.  Not just "this is best for me and my family" (an argument I abhor).  (Don't worry, I won't try to go around to all my omnivorous friends and family telling how horrible it is to eat meat...unless they ask:).  And I also realize that it isn't a commandment to be vegan, and is a commandment not to tell everyone it's a sin to eat meat.) I think it's hilarious and ridiculous for ANYONE to adore their pets, fight for animal rights- or at least vote for enacting animal cruelty laws (or think hunting is totally wrong), and still eat meat!  First, because animal cruelty laws don't really apply to the animals you are eating, and second, because it makes zero sense that we eat cows but eating horse would be gross, or eat pigs and turn up our noses at dog.  Especially since it's totally cultural.  Other countries eat those and think we're funny.  And we peg them as unrefined...because that's just what we do to justify our choices as better.  Religiously, eating a lot of meat because everyone else in the ward is doing it too, and ignoring our own scripture, is, well, hypocritical.  But as a whole we do tend to pick and choose, and ignore the things we don't want to give up (me included). 

Vegans- well, there is a stereotype.  Not that all vegans can be put in a little box and labeled as to entire personality and character based on diet, however, it is true that most of the ones I know, have met briefly, or read about on blogs, etc. seem to have some beliefs that are somewhat expected of vegans.  I've been referred to as "crunchy" and "granola" several times.  Many people I know embrace those terms.  For your reference, here is the urban dictionary definition (because I only heard it a couple of years ago and had to look it up even though it's been around for decades):
"Adjective. Used to describe persons who have adjusted or altered their      lifestyle for environmental reasons. Crunchy persons tend to be politically strongly left-leaning and may be additionally but not exclusively categorized as vegetarians, vegans, eco-tarians, conservationists, environmentalists, neo-hippies, tree huggers, nature enthusiasts, etc."


None of those terms come even close except vegetarian or vegan.  In fact, I may be opposite of each of those other terms.  Secondly, I don't eat this way because I care about the animals, at all.  I don't, and further, I don't even really like most animals.  So other vegans and I tend to have very little in common past a love for awesome new meatless, dairy-less recipes.  Not only that, but some don't want to be friends with me because of the number of children I have (on purpose!).  Climate change and overpopulation are non-issues meant to distract people from life and give them something to worry about in my opinion, and yet because I am different in some ways, it has been assumed that my ideals align in these areas, and I have been accosted or rejected over my indifference to my family's carbon footprint and my "selfishness" in having more than 1 or 2 children.  Most vegans, I think, don't use leather either.  I'm totally okay with leather (and wolf-skin coats!).  And honey.  They don't use it.  After about 5 minutes of reflection, I concluded that honey was made by God for me, doesn't hurt the bees, and has great medicinal value.  I see no reason to give it up.  Making me...not exactly vegan, but more than vegetarian.  Maybe there's another word?  Oh yes.  Weird.  That about sums it up.




And let's not tell my Dad yet k?  I'm sure he'll figure it out at the next family reunion when I break out the special marshmallows or tofurkey hot dogs.

Well, on the bright side, I'm still alive.

I wrote this in list form because it’s all a little overwhelming, and lists are therapeutic.  More so when I get to check things off.

1.       1. I have a tibia evulsion fracture (not what they said in the ER), and some damaged muscles.  I was ice skating and fell.

2.       2. The ACL fractured the bone and is currently unattached, floating around in space, with a small piece of   bone on the end.

3.       3. I don’t like surgery.  I don’t want to do surgery unless it’s absolutely necessary.  The doctors said it’s just fine and poses no risk to try to let it heal naturally.

4.      4. My physical therapist says a knee is either a “coper” or not a coper.  A “coper” will develop muscle around the knee to compensate for the missing ACL.  He named a couple of NBA player names that I’m sure everyone but me recognizes, and said that they went on to play professionally without an ACL.  That was encouraging.  I decided (God-willing) that my knee is definitely a “coper.”

5.       5. Physical therapy is hard and frustrating.  The things he tells me to do seem ridiculously easy, yet my muscles will not obey me and move when I tell them to.  I feel like some of them (muscles) are not even there (go figure).  There are six exercises I’m supposed to do once an hour.  The six exercises take me about 20 minutes to go through.  I think I’m going to have to work up to this.

6.       6. I’m very blessed.  Ladies from church have helped so much- cleaning, cooking, and caring.  My husband is awesome (even if I am upset about my messy house).  He loves spending time with his kids, cooking, and doesn’t mind looking after his invalid wife.

7.       7. I can now shower, get dressed, and possibly put my shoes on by myself (note to self: buy shoes with Velcro instead of shoelaces).  I can sweep the whole living room from a sitting position on the couches, and folding laundry is a breeze.  However, it is dangerous to try to carry plates, pieces of trash, piles of laundry, or a phone while operating crutches.  Also, those trash cans you open by stepping on them- it’s a trap; it looks easy, but doesn’t work the way you’d think it would.

8.       8. All in all, all is well- or will be.  I will get better, hopefully sooner rather than later.  My kids are safe and healthy; their guardian angels work overtime.  My husband is superman.  Priesthood blessings have made all the difference to me, and I’m very happy to have the Gospel in my life.  It makes everything better.

The Pure Genius of Oil Pulling + Health Conscious Kids--And it has Nothing to Do With Health

Well, okay.  I do oil pulling for the health benefits as well--and it really has helped.  I have some terrible tooth pain and I'm hoping to avoid a root canal.  Oil pulling helps immensely.  It also has the awesome side effect (happy surprise!) of making my teeth whiter, and helping my smelly breath- which I've had a problem with for years.  Yay.

My children are obsessing over health at the moment, probably because their mom does it.  And they are still at the stage where they want to be just like me :).  As I have worked on this tooth, Olie and Demetri have given up or minimized refined sugar with me, passed up pasta and other yummy things for dinner to have just a big salad, and most recently, started doing oil pulling with me.  Today I set the timer for 15 minutes (none of them have actually made it that long until today), and handed out the spoonfuls of oil (I know, bleck!).  Teddy sauntered up to me and bravely asked if he could try too (for the first time).  With Shawn at work, a very asleep baby, and a usually quiet 2 yr old (unless riled up by big brothers), do you know what I had for 15 solid minutes?  Silence.  15 minutes of total and complete silence.  In my house.  It was glorious.  We should definitely do this every day.  But I imagine the novelty will wear off fairly quickly.  Still, one can dream.

The end of a comparably decent day

Oh goodie, a new month.  Shawn is over halfway done here!  I've noticed that most of my intended posts lately have just ended up in my journal.  I really do write most nights, they just don't always make it onto the blog.

The cub scout's outdoor cookout went better than expected :) and I think they all enjoyed it.  Families were invited and all the little kids looked like they were having a blast.  We have two new scouts and two more coming in this month!  I'm sure glad we just split into two dens.

I just finished the handouts and class outline for the herbal class I'm teaching (which was called a "medical emergency class" in the e-mail sent out to the entire ward.  By me?  Ha!  I just agreed to share the herbs I can't live without...hope the crowd isn't too disappointed). 


And now, I do believe it is time for bed.  The headache I've had for the past two days is finally slipping (the advil probably helped) and my hives are going down.  Hives from what?  I don't know.  I just get them occasionally.  This bout wasn't bad.  Sometimes I look like I have welts across my face and entire body.  I think it's a food allergy, although I can't figure out what food.  I've been told it's from stress.  Here's to a low-stress diet :).