as one door closes, another opens

i'm sorry.  but Very Nearly Hippy just ins't working for me anymore.  it was fun, but things have changed.  and as such, there is a changing of the guard.  

i've started a new blog Our Weird Wyrd.  and the fist post is 

here http://ourweirdwyrd.blogspot.com/2014/07/to-new-beginnings.html

please join me there if you'd like to keep up with the Tomasellos (but you don't have too, we still love you even if you don't read the blog)

updates

wow.  i haven't posted since may.  and it's almost august.

i know, you forgive me.  because you are faithful minions.  and i loves you.  yes you.

anywho

and i know you already know this, but it helps me to put it down on "paper".  we have a new plan.  and the awesome part is that it fits in with most of our other plans, it's just a bit more long term.  the plan is that in the next ten to fifteen years, all our debts will be paid off and we'll have saved enough in the bank to buy a 36ish foot sailboat that we'll be living on.  hubby and i will each be in our (very early) fifties (and i REALLY don't feel like i'm going to be 40 this year, i still feel like i'm doing something wrong when i buy wine) so it's a perfect way to ease ourselves into some kind of retirement.

plus our jobs suck just a little less now that we know there's an end date.

but there is a huge adjustment.  another reason for the 10-15 year time frame.  first step is trying to simplify our lives.  getting rid of clutter/downsizing/minimizing, whatever you want to call it.  several bags have already gone to goodwill, and many hundreds more will go eventually.  i'm sure that eventually i'll have to give up on my big canvases, but i really don't want to.  i've got time to figure out how to do that on a boat.  we're also going to be buying less.  a lot less.  less nights out (ha!  like there were soooooo many of those), less new toys.  less new clothes.  i've given myself a challenge to only buy 4 articles of clothing for the next year.  july to july.  should be interesting.

and i'm thinking of re-naming my blog.  i have an idea about what i want to call it, but i'm not 100% sure yet.  i may just make a new blog altogether, that's always an option.  i'll let you know either way.  and i promise i'll try to post more frequently.  i can't guarantee, but i'll try 

To My Niece, on the Eve of her 21st Birthday

My Darling Meg,

tomorrow is your 21st birthday.  you will be officially, at least in they eyes of society, an adult.  you can smoke.  you can drink.  you can fight and die for your country.  you can vote.  yes, for all but one of those things, you have been able to do for quite some time.  but i've included them for a reason, because i want you to understand the weight of being an adult.

being an adult is filled with responsibility.  please don't for a second think i'm saying this because you are irresponsible.  you are not.  you have taken on more responsibility in your short life that some who have been alive decades longer.  i'm talking about responsibility to yourself.  you are a smart and witty and beautiful woman.  and that is a heavy and glorious purpose.

glorious because the world is so sparkling and new.  there is so much yet that you haven't experienced.  there is food and drink, and art, and distant lands, and music...  i cannot even begin to tell you the beauty this world holds for you.  you have everything ahead of you.   love.  oh love.  i hope so much that love grabs onto you and never lets go.  it makes you see everything again with new eyes.  there is so much of this world to be passionate about.  you've seen so little of it.  my greatest wish for you is to get lost in the world and to just experience it with open arms and soul.  be a nomad, even if it's only in your mind, make the world you home even if you never leave your apartment.

heavy because it comes with burdens.  humans are humans after all.  people will see your brains and assume you are a "bitch".  they will see your looks and assume you are dumber than a box of rocks.  both false.  but before ever talking to you they will have a preconceived notion that you are less than you are.  that you are lacking.  and they will try their hardest to grind you down, to bring you to their level of pain so that they are not alone in it.  to make one more miserable asshole in this world.  just like them.

prove them wrong darling.

your responsibility as an adult is now to prove to the world that it is possible to be sweet but not stupid.  to be wildly intelligent and vastly beautiful.  prove, my dear sweet Meg, that the people of the world cannot break you.  to be wild, and free, and glorious.  be yourself and NEVER apologize for it.  for you my sweet have NOTHING to apologize for.  you are perfect.

happy birthday

your aunt heather

Po-Tay-Toes

boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew.

i love potatoes.  and since their gluten free its something that i can eat as much of as i like.  i made a whole bunch tonight to go with our every morning eggs, and they turned out so perfectly that i just have to share


Po-Tay-Toes

5 lb bag of potatoes
1 large onion
1/2 c veg oil
Pink Hemylaian Salt
Fresh cracked Pepper
Thyme
Garlic powder
 (honestly, i didn't measure the spices, just do it to taste, i LOVE thyme, so this has a lot in it)

wash and cube the potatoes, chop the onion, pour the spices in the oil, mix up, and dump over the potato/onion.  mix every thing up and put on 2 baking sheets in a 350 oven for 30 minutes.  check after 30 to see if they need a little more time.

these are so wonderful and it makes a lot, so this can be stretched out over several meals, a bunch of breakfasts and probably a dinner or two.

enjoy!

Coconut Rice and Peanut Butter Sauce

so i've obviously recommitted to eating gluten free.  

i love my stir fry.  so so much.  but seriously, it's RIDDLED with gluten.  everything in it.  soy sauce... gluten.  store bought stir fry sauce... gluten.  packet of instant egg drop soup...  you guessed it.  now don't get me wrong, i made each and every one of those things for hubby for dinner, i just can't eat it.  but what i did make for me?  oh my dear sweet baby Thor, it was good.  i was very proud of myself and posted a picture of my dinner on facebook, and my friend Kathy asked for the recipe, so here you go.  i'm including the sites where i found the original recipe as well, but i'll list my substitutions/changes here


Pressure Cooker Coconut Rice  here

1/2 c brown rice
1 can coconut milk
1 c water
1tsp sugar
1/4 tsp Himalayan pink salt

dump everything in the pressure cooker and put on high.  once the top starts swinging (i have an older model), let it go for about 3 minutes, then turn off the heat.  when when it stops rocking all together, release the rest of the pressure, then open when the pressure is totally gone.  ALWAYS  follow proper safety instructions (especially if they differ from mine) when using a pressure cooker!

Peanut Butter Sauce here
1/4 c peanut butter
1/4 c water
2tbl lemon juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2tbl apple cider vinegar 
1/4 tsp corn starch
mix everything together and heat up till it starts to bubble.  pour over stir fry veggies, and serve the whole thing over the coconut rice


mmmmmmmm

It started out as a simple experiment

I started to eat gluten free to see if I felt better.   To see if I could get the bloaty feeling and the stomach cramps (that could get quite bad, actually) to go away.  Id already switched to regular soda from diet to see if that got rid of my migraine headaches,  so in the 'let's get healthy' push that seemed the next logical step.

And I did feel better.  Quite a bit better.  Bloat gone.  Cramps, all but disappeared.   I even lost a bit of weight.  That honestly is no small feat, im a stress eater, and this was a particularly stressful time.  (Issues)  I even managed to go to a Con and stay mostly gluten free.   Yes, it involved taking all my own food with me, but I did it dammit.  

But finances being what they are (we like to be silly and pay all our bills when they are due), and our completely frakked up-corporate-owned food system being what it is, hubby and I had to make a tough decision when it came to groceries.  We could get gluten free food for me, and everyone else would have to eat processed cheapass "food", or we could eat as unprocessed as we could for the whole family,  and I would have to eat gluten.  

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Its been two days.  And this experiment is now concluded.   Im absolutely certain that if I dont have celiac disease, im at the very least gluten intolerant.  Within these two days ive had massive stomach cramps like someone socked me right in the gut, headaches and now a full blown migraine, every joint hurts.   And im not even going to get into what goes on in the bathroom.   Its not pretty.  Or fun.  For anybody in the house. 

So thats it.  I have to be gluten free. While I haven't been tested, I think I know my own body well enough to know that something is wrong with it.   I didnt run to a doctor when I broke out in hives when I eat dates, I know im allergic.  (Actually in that case I do, they will kill me, but the analogy is sound) The next two weeks will be tough, but I see a lot of rice in my future.  Thankfully most of the groceries we got, I can have.  Ill be having green beans on mac n cheese night,  though.  I may have to leave some stuff off my plate, but ill manage.  This, like everything else is a work in progress.  

the sword holder

my friend Jodi found this adorable sword holder on pintrest.  i absolutly had to make one for bam.  but the link was dead of course.

so i decided to bust out the pen and paper and make my own.

the pattern itself only took 20 minutes to make (i'm a professional remember)  and it sewed up like a treat.  see...

here is the pdf for the pattern.


SWORDHOLDER


construction is super easy.  cut out two of each patter piece, plus one of interfacing if you're using a thin material (i used canvas for this one), sew the front and back of each piece together with a small (1/4 inch) seam allowance.  notch, flip, and press.  take the "sword piece" and make a 3 inch slot with the zig zag stitch with the stitch legnth as small as you can make it.  make it in the shape of a rectangle about a 1/4 inch in width.  i used bias tape on the very top of the sword piece.  now put the sword piece on the shield piece, and stitch it on, leaving the top (bias taped bit) open.  top stitch the sword/shied bit.  now attach the shield/sword bit to the belt bit however you like.  put on your favorite belt.

adorable.