Plugging in again, briefly

Well here I am, back again after our week of being "unplugged". Despite the fact that certain people didn't think I could do it, I not only survived without the computer and TV, but enjoyed myself in the process. Who'd have thought?

The first day of our little adventure saw me throw myself into trying a bunch of new recipes, after a morning of grocery shopping. Throughout the day I also did a few loads of washing, changed the sheets on the bed, tidied the house, played with and read to my little girl and just generally had fun. I went to bed exhausted, but happy, and full of optimism for this new week. I had plans that Peachfuzz and I would get outside for a walk every day (which we should do anyway), but the weather was not cooperating at all. Day two brought a little more cooking, a lot more playing and a lot more reading. By the end of the day, I'll admit I was starting to get bored, and couldn't wait for Papa Bear to come home. I wondered if we would really be able to do this.

Without going into too much detail about the rest of the week, I'll say that things started to look up. Yes, there were times when I wished I could jump online and check my email or look up a recipe. There were times after Peachfuzz was in bed that I thought it would have been nice to curl up on the lounge in front of CSI or Lost. But you know what, we always managed to find something to do instead. We all connected with each other a lot more over the past week than we have in a long time. I think I was a better wife, and I know I was a better mother than I had been for awhile. I might have been "unplugged" from the TV and computer, but I was certainly "plugged in" to the needs of my husband and daughter a lot more than I have been lately.

I was afraid that today would see all these wonderful new revelations come crashing down around me as we went back to life "as normal". I woke up and Papa Bear had the news on, and the peace that had descended over the past week was shattered... or so I thought. As he left, he turned the TV off, and it hasn't been on since! We are about to go watch a show we recorded last week (yes, that's probably cheating!), but I am proud that at almost 8:30pm, we've watched a total of about 10 minutes of TV today.

As for the internet, well, I was determined not to jump back into my old habit of "checking my email" while I made breakfast. This would always end up taking a lot longer than I anticipated, and despite knowing I had things to do, I'd end up getting sucked in for hours at a time. Today I saw Papa Bear off, then made breakfast for Peachfuzz and I. We ate quietly at the table together, then I got Peachfuzz dressed for the day. I put the nappies on to wash, wrote my shopping list, changed the sheets on both beds, spoke on the phone with both my mother and mother-in-law, then headed out the door to do the groceries. We shopped and ran a few errands, then came home where Peachfuzz went straight to her nap. I hung the nappies out, put another load of washing on, and put all the groceries away. Then, and only then, did I decide I had done enough "work" that I could come online again. It was just after 12 noon and I was logging on for the first time since last Sunday evening. After half an hour I was back to baking some fresh bread, making lunch, blowing bubbles outside with my girl, doing puzzles and reading stories. We made scones together and then got dinner on. I also laid out the pieces for a quilt I'm making and then came back on here to write this post.

It was nice to get back online and see what's been going on over the past week. But it was so much nicer to take that time off and re-evaluate what's important in my life. Surprisingly, I have actually enjoyed all this domesticity. I like being a homemaker. And while the internet will always be here, my Peachfuzz will not always be a delightful, curious, busy 18-month old who makes me smile every minute of the day. So yes, I'll be sticking around here, and trying to update often. But I won't be letting this online world suck away all my time so that I have none left for the people who really matter. I love my little family, and I'm so glad to have re-connected with them all once again.

Unplugging

April 23-29 is TV Turnoff Week (link via Simple Living: Simplify and Reduce and after a quick discussion with Papa Bear, we've decided to participate. As well as turning off the TV for a whole week, we'll be keeping the computer off too, which means no blog reading or updating for me. I really think this is going to be a fantastic thing for our family. We watch more TV than I'd like, and I know I spend far too much time online, so now we're taking drastic measures! I'm excited to see how much more time I'll have for reading, crafting, cooking, playing, walking, dancing, breathing, nurturing, and just living. See you all next Monday!

For my sister

I promised my sister I'd take a belly shot when she left and one when she comes back from her travels in three months time. So this is me, a week after she left, just shy of 22 weeks pregnant. Miss you LJ!

Some sewing inspiration

So many wonderful finds on the internet lately have been convincing me that I need to get more confident with my machine and start sewing! Here's some of what's been inspiring me lately:
- These cute aprons.
- These dresses and skirts. I adore the red one near the top with the tree applique. If you click on no other links, at least click this one. I think these clothes are gorgeous, but they're the kind my husband would abandon me in public for wearing!
- These bags. The skirts and dresses at this site are beautiful too.
- These absolutely gorgeous fabrics from Denyse Schmidt.
- And finally this post at my all time favourite blog, SouleMama. Because I would love for my Peachfuzz to be that excited about sewing at six years old.

Getting out of the house

Despite the fact that I'm still sick, I had to get out of the house for awhile today. What I thought would be a quick trip to run a few errands turned into a three-hour jaunt with my mum that left me exhausted, but very glad to have not spent another day cooped up in the house!

Going totally against the compact (let's be honest - we're not even really doing it!), I went out and bought Peachfuzz a whole bunch of new clothes for winter. The weather has been getting cooler lately, and despite me thinking she had a whole wardrobe of winter goodies, I discovered that three pairs of trackies and a couple of jumpers does not a winter wardrobe make. I was counting last winter's stuff, forgetting that she was only 8 months old then! So the girl will now look very stylish in her 2 new pairs of leggings, 2 pairs of cords, 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of tracksuit pants, 3 long-sleeve shirts, 3 singlets, 3 pairs of socks and a pair of shoes.

After this little shopping expedition, I can see why I was originally drawn to the idea of the compact, and why I think I need to seriously revisit it. Once I pulled one thing off the rack, it was so easy to just keep going. I felt quite guilty about supporting the whole "Made in China" industry, and the ease with which I just kept choosing more and more stuff. I thought about my dreams of making and thrifting my children's entire wardrobe - what happened to that? I was discussing it with Papa Bear tonight when he came home, and I figured it's because of a lack of preparation. I know I want to learn to sew well enough to make clothes and I have patterns, fabric and a machine at my disposal. The problem was getting to the point of desperation and having next to nothing for the girl to wear. Because my sewing skills aren't up to scratch, the easiest thing to do was to go buy new stuff. I didn't look in even one second hand store! So the moral of this story is, I need to be prepared. I need to learn to sew while we all still have plenty of clothes, so that when we start to need replacements, I am ready to go.

Oh well, another lesson learned I guess. After the mega-shopping spree, we had a trip to the library. I love going to the library. It's like a giant treasure hunt, and though I always go in with one specific thing in mind, I am always surprised at the gems I come home with that I never thought about. I am always eager to get home from a visit to the library and sit down with all my books and a cup of tea, browsing and trying to weigh up what to read first. Of course today was no exception. Here's what I'll be perusing for the next three weeks:

100,000+ Baby Names by Bruce Lansky - We are absolutely set this time around for girls names. In fact we have four that we pretty much adore, and may have trouble choosing between should this baby be a girl. But boys names have us stumped! We have a short list of names that are "okay", but nothing that "really sings to me" as I keep saying. Papa Bear agrees that although the boys names are okay, none of them has been kind of "yes, we have to call our son that" type of names. I bought a baby name book with about 1500 names in it, and we couldn't agree on any except two that are just okay. So this is the reason I was in the library in the first place, trying to find a good baby name book. If we can't find something we love in a list of over 100,000 names, we're in trouble! As well as the typical list of alphabetised names, this book has information on how to choose the right name, popular names throughout the decades, names around the world, the impressions names make and more. I'm excited to start reading and finally find that perfect name.

The Candle Cafe Cookbook by Joy Pierson, Bart Potenza and Barbara Scott-Goodman - The Candle Cafe is a famous vegan restaurant in New York, so when I saw this book, I had to grab it. The few pictures in the middle of the book are amazing, and though most of the recipes seem a bit sophisticated for every day cooking, I've already picked a handful I can't wait to try.

Nature's Pharmacy for Children - I guess I picked this up because we've been sick lately, but I've been more and more interested lately in natural remedies for everyday complaints. I've only flicked through this quickly, but if it proves to be a good read, it might be going on my wishlist. I'd like a book of this sort to have on hand as a reference for when my kiddos aren't feeling the best.

Children's Rooms by Joanne Copestick and Babyspace Idea Book by Suzonne Stirling - These were my happy "I was totally not looking for that" finds for today. We've been discussing how we will do the kids rooms once this baby arrives, and as yet, I don't think we've really made a firm decision. Should they share a room or have their own rooms? How will we make it work either way? Both these books have some great pictures and design ideas that I hope will inspire us and help us figure out just what we're going to do.

Wow, I think that's enough reading material for me (and for you - congratulations if you've made it this far!) for awhile. I'm off to have a bowl of steamy pumpkin soup and curl up with my books!

Sore throats and stuffy noses

It seems that despite my best intentions of posting more regularly, something always gets in the way. Our household has been hit pretty hard with some sort of flu bug, probably due in part to the time of year and the weather. For five days now we've been sniffling and coughing and just generally miserable. Thankfully Peachfuzz seems the least affected and is her usual busy self during the day, suffering only a little at night when she gets a bit congested. Papa Bear and I on the other hand, have both been feeling pretty awful around the clock. Here's hoping it's over soon!

One thing I've been struggling with is ridiculous food cravings. Partly from being pregnant (I can't get enough salty potatoes at the moment), and partly from being sick. Having a crazy sore throat has made my mind turn to foods that are soft and can be swallowed easily. I keep thinking about how nice a plate of fluffy scrambled eggs would be, but as yet, I haven't given in.

I wrote earlier this year about going vegan, and have been trying since then to stick with it. Like most transitions, it's been slow. When we first dabbled with vegetarianism, we started out only cooking vegetarian at home, but still eating meat when we went out socially if there wasn't a vegetarian option. Eventually we decided we would no longer eat meat at all. Well, since I wrote about going vegan in January, I've been doing a similar thing. We've been eating only vegan at home (though Papa Bear still has Parmesan on his pasta!), but not insisting on it when we go out. And I've decided it's time for that to change. I'm officially calling myself vegan, which means I'm officially cutting out all animal products from my diet.

I know the vegan diet seems extreme to some people, and many people worry about where you get your protein/iron/calcium/B12 etc. All the nutrients we need can be supplied by a vegan diet, and if need be, supplementation when necessary. To make sure that we are all in the best health possible, and not missing out on any important nutrients, I am keeping track of what we eat, and regularly evaluating to make sure we are meeting the recommended daily intakes of the various vitamins and minerals we need. I can understand that when you don't know much about eating vegan, it seems scary and restrictive, and I know there are legitimate concerns. But I say all this to hopefully help put your minds at rest (hi family!) that we are trying to be as healthy as possible, and "do this vegan thing right"!

With all this in mind, I'd like to give my new blog a plug. Tasty Vegan Eats is where I'm keeping track of the various new recipes we try. It's really for my own reference more than anything, but I thought it would be good for anyone interested to see that 1) vegan food isn't weird and 2) we eat really well! The new blog doesn't replace this one at all, it's just a nice little side addition. I'm heading over there now to post some more recipe reviews, why don't you come check it out?

Fun in the kitchen

What better way is there to start the morning, than baking Choc-Chip Muffins on the kitchen floor with your littlest apprentice!