I do it every time...

Currently reading:

1. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley - Retelling of the Camelot legend in the eyes of women. I like that it makes Morgan, his "evil" sister into a not-so-evil person. Kind of like the original Wicked. 800+ pages...oh my.

2. Djibouti by Elmore Leonard - Newest book by this one. Caught my eye because of the interesting cover. It's about modern-day pirates off the coast of Somalia...we see it all the time in the news but it becomes completely different when someone turns it into literature. The jury is still out...we'll see when I finish it.

3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - Trying to finally get through this before I see the new movie. I loved Emily's Wuthering Heights but Jane is just not my favorite, so far anyway.


Sometimes, I can get as many as 5 books going at once. I do not recommend this. It becomes difficult to decide which one to pick up. I just really need to finish at least one of these this weekend.

*On a side-note: I plan on watching Dr. Zhivago today...for the first time. I have read the book, and I believe it is like a Russian Gone With the Wind...so good.

FB-Free...is the way to be!

It's official. I have been Facebook-free for almost a week. What? Why? How?

Reasons:

1. I need a break.

2. I get tired of people's stupidity. Okay...this might be mean. But I just do not care about every single thing you have done that day. And I do not care or want to hear about your ridiculous opinions about x y or z.

3. People say things on FB that they will not say in real life. To me, this is not genuine. And I do not enjoy it. At all.

4. I hate to be addicted to anything. And I feel like I was becoming borderline FB addicted. Therefore, I am removing myself from the problem.

Four good reasons. I like them. I think they make sense. Now, this isn't a forever thing. I am shooting for a month or so, depending on a variety of factors. But I can say that I deactivated my account on late Monday night, and so far I have not seriously missed it. Which is a good sign. I'll be back. Eventually.

Beet Juice

This is a funny story about beets. And how they make my hair shine. And bring a little tear to my eye.

Last week I went to Little Rock, Arkansas for spring break. I lived there for two years while in the Americorps, and I have a lot of friends that are still there. So I decided that Little Rock would be my spring break destination of choice. While in Little Rock, I stayed with a good friend and had the luxury of using her shampoo and conditioner. This shampoo and conditioner was made out of grapefruit and sugar beets. And it made my hair really shiny and pretty. And it has not a lick of icky stuff, such as parabens, phthalates, sulfates, etc. 

The best part about it was that it is made out of sugar beets! Which is probably not the same thing as a regular beet, which is partly what this story is about. Using this product made of beets reminded me of my grandma. Gram, as I often called her, died four years and 2 months ago.   

About five years ago, Gram was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. She was 58. The cancer, being stage four, was inoperable, but she chose to become involved in a clinical research study. She went through two rounds of chemotherapy, but the result was more growth, not less. Basically, there was nothing the doctors could really do, so they sent her home to die. 

As a last resort, she went to a homeopathic doctor, who put her on an entirely all-natural diet. She was instructed to buy a juicer, using only organic fruits and vegetables. 

So how is this about beets? I am getting there!

During the last few months of her life, she was supposed to drink juice several times a day. And the juice was supposed to have beets in it. Unfortunately, she hated beets! I was usually around on the weekends, driving back and forth in between school, work, and winter break. By this time, she was often on strong pain medication that sometimes made her slightly loopy and confused. BUT...she ALWAYS knew when beets were in her juice. The juice-maker for the day was instructed, often by my aunt, to at least sneak a sliver of beet in her juice. But no matter how small the sliver, Gram could always tell. I drank so many rejected beet juice drinks, that now I love beets. Not the canned ones, but whole, fresh beets. I asked her once why she hated beets. I believe it had something to do with being forced to eat them often as a child. 

This might seem like a sad story. But in my opinion, it is a happy one. Even during the saddest of times, my memory clings to the moments that made me smile, and for that I am grateful.

Nostalgic...

This picture is from my City Year days, back when I was a Corps Member in Little Rock, AR. 

I served in City Year (an Americorps program) for two years. 

Some days, I really miss it. Especially the kids.

I'm sure at some point I'll write a full-length blog on City Year and how it affected me. For right now, this picture is worth a thousand words...