Monday Morning Mix-Up 8/1/11

Happy Monday morning, reader friends!  I hope you're having a fun summer.  Even though it's flying by, as it always does, we've been enjoying every moment.  I only feel bad that Kent's been pretty stressed at work because he's so busy.  We're not complaining; in this slowly recovering economy it's great for a construction company to be crazy busy with work, but it makes it tricky for him to enjoy his summer as much.  We went out recently to de-stress with some friends and try out a new local restaurant, which I'll tell you all about tomorrow.  🙂

• Have I told you before that we're not big campers around here, to say the least?  Some of our family go every August and we've said we'll go every other year, so the kids can play with their cousins, get to know their Aunts & Uncles more, etc., but Kent & I don't love it.  It's just a lot of work for only a couple of nights.  Yes we could go for longer, but I don't know which would be worse.  We do have a nice-sized tent and good air mattresses, and since we're going with such a big group we don't have to take every little thing we might need because they all love to camp (crazies) and have it all.  So I just need to plan some food to bring.  That's where my friend, Katie, comes in!  Have you seen her newly updated e-book, The Family Camping Handbook?  She tells me right off the bat in the beginning of the book that I may not have the right attitude about this…ya think?  Partly, though, I think the problem might be that we just love our home so much.  We have crickets in the woods and frogs in the pond lulling us to sleep every night right out our window.  (Unless it's stupid-hot and we need the air on, that is.)  We have a private, peaceful, green view out our back door, and friends to play with out the front.  We have our own beds and clean bathrooms right here.  (Well, sorta clean.)  But as I said, being with family is fun and important (that picture is from a couple years ago), so I'll put my good attitude on and have a great time, oh yes I will!  (Katie covers everything in this book, and I mean everything about how to make camping more smooth and enjoyable, and I also got some great ideas from her on fairly simple Real Food to take for all three meals of the day.)  If any of you have some good camping tips for me, I'm all ears…

• The other day I spoke with my 97 year old friend, Eva, our neighbor at my Mom's house up North.  You should see her get up out of her chair, she's faster and more smooth than many people half her age, especially the ones on statins.  (Scroll down at this post on healthy fats for information about what statin drugs do to you.)  She was telling me she's on only three medications and, “The doctor tried to get me to take Lipitor, and you know, I told him that I think the side effects are worse than the problem it's treating, so I wouldn't do it.”  I made sure she knew how smart (and rare) she is.  By the way, she still lives by herself and is a super sweet, positive lady.  And guess what?  Her Mom made her take cod liver oil throughout her childhood.  🙂

• Have you seen this cute new book by Sommer Poquette (who isn't too far from us up in Northern Michigan) called, “My Mommy is a Blogger“?

• Wait until you read this story from Kimberly that is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time:  Bone Broth Brigade helps Houston family through crisis.

Have a great week!