The End of a Veggie Tale

Some of you may already know that Sean and I participated in a CSA program this summer. It all started with a Kashi ad in my Real Simple magazine...and then a quick browse on the Internet...and then sending a big fat check to some farmers in Hohenwald, TN. I had friends who participated in CSA programs before, and I was willing to give it a shot. It took a bit of convincing to get Sean on board, but he finally gave in and let me get my way. At times it was a bit overwhelming because there were too many veggies, and most of them I didn't recognize. Or, if i recognized them, I hadn't cooked them before. In addition to the vegetables, our weekly ration also included a portion of meat (chicken or pork) and a half dozen eggs.

The CSA box had to be picked up every Sunday at 2:30. The drive was only 3 miles up the road, but sometimes it was a challenge if we had plans to be out of town, or on the other side of town. After swinging by the pick-up station, we'd return home to take an inventory of the goods, and then it was time for me to find creative ways to cook, can or freeze the massive amounts of produce we had. At one point I had an entire crisper drawer full of red new potatoes...

Here's a shot of the last box we received a couple of Sundays ago...















...and our refrigerator afterwards. You can tell a lot about someone by taking a peek into their fridge. I'm curious - what do you think about Sean and me after seeing ours (click the picture to enlarge)?
















Pros:
6 months of fresh, locally grown, organic produce
Supporting the local economy and farmers
Learning how to can and freeze
Trying new foods and testing new recipes
The farm sent a newsletter and a weekly email with the option to buy "extras." I regret never trying their homemade cinnamon rolls...

Cons:
Mandatory pick-up time. Not that it was terrible, just sometimes tricky to plan your day.
Not getting to choose what you want to eat. I subscribe to Cooking Light and Real Simple, and I love them for the recipes, but I didn't get a chance to try many of them because I needed to use what came in the box.
Excessive amounts of food. We bought the small box fit for 2 people, but there was SO. MUCH. FOOD. And they didn't give us massive amounts of the good stuff - just potatoes. Oh, and cucumbers. I would've much rather had a box full of heirloom tomatoes, but that's just part of the risk, I guess. I felt terribly guilty because some weeks I couldn't keep up with the cooking/canning/freezing, and I accidentally let a lot of food wilt or spoil.
Time. The time it took to catalogue everything. The time it took to meal plan and try to maximize all of the product. The time it took to freeze and can vegetables. I do not recommend this CSA box thing for working mothers. I'm not even a mother and I sure had a hell of a time keeping up with it!

I truly appreciated the food, the farmers and the program altogether, but I don't think I can subscribe to the CSA box again. I'd rather visit the farmer's market every weekend (where the same farm sells produce) and just gather what I need for the week.

a belated birthday celebration

Happy Birthday, dearest friend. We had the BEST time celebrating with you. In your true humble fashion, you postponed your birthday party so that I could join you. Just one more reason why you're so special...Cheers to another year of you, another year of being friends, and cheers to drinking too much wine and eating too much food!

Silencio Por Favor!

Shhhh.

Be still.

Lower the volume in your head. Heck, just go ahead and turn your brain completely OFF. No thoughts.

Just be. Right here, right now, in THIS very moment. No before, and no after. This tiny pinhead of a moment is all there is.



I find it very difficult to "just be"...If you read Eat, Pray, Love then you might be familiar with her term "Monkey Brain." I have Monkey Brain, like, 100% of the time. It's crazy and disorganized up in there. Someone recently said to me, "Get out of your head." WOAH! That's major. I thought about it some more. "Get out of your head." It makes so much sense, yet no sense at all. I keep thinking about it, which probably means that it's stuck in my head...ugh

a busy weekend

Murphy is currently sharing the computer chair with me, taking a little post-dinner nap. He loves to share the computer chair, any chair, just as long as he's touching one of us. He had a really big day today. We went to a Boston Terrier "tea party" (sans tea) hosted by a local BT rescue group. Not as organized and fun as I had hoped, but still a joy to see all the smiling black and white faces. Boston Terriers of every shape and size were all around. Murphy received many compliments on his long legs, lean body and his markings. He's quite handsome if I do say so myself...especially in his bandanna. We hung out at the park for a couple of hours, playing with Murphy's long lost cousins, and then he went for a dip in the creek to cool off before we went home.


Once we got home it was nap time for me (Sean watched football). I was exhausted! We stayed up late the night before. After work on Friday, both Sean and I needed to unwind. We hosted an impromptu happy hour at the house where our best friends joined us. Happy hour turned into Happy Six Hours, and it was so much fun.


Cut to this morning: I really wanted to sleep in, but we had the Boston Terrier tea party at 11. I was dragging, a little...After the tea party I squeezed in a nap, and then it was off to the Vanderbilt campus for tailgating.

For the past 28 years, a family friend has hosted an early-season tailgating party at his Alma mater, and this was our first year to be invited to the event. This was most definitely not your mama's tailgating, friends. Clues that we were not experiencing the "normal" tailgating traditions:
- Fully catered buffet, complete with wait staff and a floral arrangement
- china, silverware and white linen napkins
- men wearing suits (including a couple of seersucker)
- jewelry. lots and lots of gold jewelry.
- open bar with 2 bartenders, no tip jar
- 4 piece Dixieland jazz band


I think it's fitting that Vandy's colors are black and gold. Very classy. VERY. Classy. Orange on the other hand? Not so classy...


Needless to say, we had a wonderful time and were very thankful for the opportunity to join in on the fun. I was a little embarrassed to be wearing jeans and flip flops with a 3 week old chipped pedicure, but that wasn't going to stop me! We mingled with several friends and struck up some acquaintances with the other guests. Go 'Dores, I guess? We didn't stay for the game. Sean turned down a pair of tickets because he's more interested in watching some of the teams on TV tonight. I couldn't have been more relieved! I wanted to get back to the house to finish the weekend chores and go to bed early. I have another busy day ahead of me...

On the agenda for tomorrow: Helping mom purge 15 years worth of crap from her house in preparation for her garage sale. This is going to be an emotionally exhausting day. Mom doesn't enjoy parting with her belongings, even if she hasn't looked at it for over a decade.

Labor Day Weekend

Sadly, we weren't at the beach this Labor Day weekend, or anywhere else for that matter. We weren't soaking up the last rays of summer. No lobster dinners, pina coladas, sundresses or sunburns. We were just here, at home. That's ok, though...we were lucky enough to have great company and perfect weather.

Sherri and Keith asked us out for a sushi date at Ru Sans, and following our raw meal we headed to Sambuca for some lounging and post-dinner drinks. Actually, we just went for drinks...the lounging was accidental (but much enjoyed!)

Sunday night we went south to Spring Hill to hang out at Shereida and Jeff's house. Because they have a fenced yard and a sweet doggy named Maddie, we're able to bring Murphy with us. It's nice that we can make it a "family affair," but Murphy is an embarrassment to our clan. He humps Maddie like there's no tomorrow! Poor Maddie...

We played games with S&J into the wee hours of the morning, and decided to crash in their guest room. This morning we were treated to a yummy, greasy breakfast at Cracker Barrel. So, technically we did spend the night out of town this holiday weekend...in Spring Hill, TN...where there's a barn across the street from Cracker Barrel...and where guests drop their pack of chew and bend over to reveal their rebel flag boxers. Ahhh, life is good

...and she's back!

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." I think that pretty much sums it up.

After a 2 month+ hiatus, I'm back in the blogosphere. I don't even know why. Just shut up and go with it.

I was waaaay down in the deep, dark places of my brain where no one should ever go. The kind of place where you just KNOW for sure that you'll never be happy again. The place where you think oh my god do i need medication?

All I have to say is: BLECH! I hate that place.

So I went to yoga. And then I got this book. I talked to my beautiful, loving, wonderful, patient friends...a lot. I also talked to my hair stylist. And with the encouragement of my sister, I even talked to MY MOM. I know. It was weird...

And slowly but surely, my old self began to emerge from the shadows. Things are looking up. Way up. I even got a promotion. again, very weird.

I'm totally comfortable being in the spotlight as long as it's on my terms. The minute someone calls me out, makes a formal announcement about me, shines the light on me when I least expect it...that's when I get all weirded out.

It's not as if every single day was full of deep depression. I still laughed. I still enjoyed life. I still loved my husband, went to work, took care of my dog, made dinner...but along with all that was this underlying tone of sadness. I had some major changes going on in my life. Re-defining yourself doesn't always mean sunshine and roses. Doesn't always mean a new hairstyle or outfits. Sometimes it means digging up a bunch of deep, dark shit and getting dirt under your fingernails. And that's where I was...

I'm back now. Feeling good, feeling free, at peace for the most part...knock on wood...

Top 10 things on my brain:
10. Maximizing Labor Day weekend
9. Missing friends who live out of town, and wishing I could scoop them all up and take them to the beach with me this weekend
8. Thankful for my wonderful friends who continue to ride the Crazy Stacey Train with me
7. humbled by my promotion. glad that I have a wonderful boss.
6. Is summer really almost over? I don't know if i'm ready...Do my winter clothes still fit?
5. Ecstatic about my new mid-day dog walker
4. seriously need to organize the bonus room closets
3. Missing sister :( both of them!
2. I love my house, and where it is. I'm glad Sean chose this place.
1. Why are Sean and Murphy being so quiet right now...what are those boys up to?

The Seventeen Magazine Project

Why wasn't I this awesome when I was a senior in high school? Check out The Seventeen Magazine Project. This project blog was so interesting to me that I just read evey single entry in one sitting. I swear, 10 years ago I didn't even know half of the words this girl uses in her blog. Pennsylvania schools must be better than Tennessee's. Either that, or I'm just retarted. (probably the later...) At that age, I didn't know how to think critically about the world around me. I mean, I guess I did to some extent, but I surely wouldn't have been able to crank out blog posts complete with charts, graphs, and open-ended surveys. The sad thing is...I went to college and became a Sociology major where I STILL didn't do anything like that.

All of a sidden I feel very disappointed in myself...for not being a better student, for not doing something with my education, for not applying myself. I don't reckon there's anything I can do about it now, so no sense in beating myself up over it. Besides, I'm officially on vacation for the next 9 days! 'Tis a time to celebrate.

I'm celebrating today by not getting out of my jammies. I'm supposed to be cleaning house, but I got sucked into that blog and haven't been doing much else. I should probably make myself useful around the house today. We've got a lot of cleaning and packing to do before we leave for Florida tomorrow! Adios, amigos - I'll be enjoying the beautiful sun, sand, and tar balls of the Redneck Riviera for the next 7 days.