TC Larson

Stories and Mischief

Organic Milk: Worth the Money?

28
Feb

Don’t stress out, Dear Reader, I don’t have my soapbox at the ready and I’m not trying to convert anyone to anything here. But my husband and I have recently experienced a change of heart about some of our eating habits, as many people have lately, and I thought I would share about one point in particular: milk.

At our house, we drink a lot of milk. Scratch that — my boys drink a lot of milk and I do a fair amount of baking and cooking with it. I know that almost all milk is now “made” without growth hormones, but we got to thinking about what the cows are fed, the conditions in which the animals are living, along with what other chemicals that may be permissible in the cows, things needed to keep the animals healthy when they live in tight quarters. Because we want healthy kids and the thought of them ingesting antibiotics unnecessarily is disturbing (as is the thought of cannibalistic cows), so we started buying organic milk.

We checked it out, wanting to make sure someone wasn’t just slapping on a stamp that said “organic” which allowed them to do nothing different in the production but let them jack up the price. There are differences in the standards, just as there are differences in the standards for eggs, with some marketed as organic AND naturally fed (as opposed to being fed stuff they don’t naturally eat…like other animals) rather than just organic. They are getting better standards overall, but to be totally honest, we were sortof hoping for a way out of spending the extra cash.

The more we looked into it, however, the more convinced we became that this would be a wise use of our money and occasional inconvenience. We can get a package from Costco that has three separate 1/2 gallon containers and I think it costs about $10. That is pricey for us, when we could still shop at Costco and pay $3 for a gallon of regular milk. We probably go through about three gallons of milk a week. Ouch. We may have to rethink that tradition of Swedish Pancakes on Saturday mornings because it uses up four cups of milk in one sitting! Still, we decided that the benefits outweigh the costs.

That doesn’t mean I give milk to my kids as readily as I used to. I’m way cheaper than that! They already had to guzzle down a cup of water before I’d give them milk anyway, and now sometimes we forego the milk altogether. That also goes along with a changing awareness of where all our food comes from, the conditions it has been raised in, be it vegetable or animal, the role of marketing and lobbies in what things we think are supposed to be good for us, and a sense of personal responsibility (read: guilt?) for the consumerism of the United States, myself completely included. We’ve also started eating less meat in general, or using it as more of a “side dish” rather than the main event. Everyone is still growing and staying healthy (except for that terrible bout of the stomach flu we had a week ago, but that was unrelated since on one day there were 150 kids out sick from our elementary school). And it feels better to know that we are being awake and mindful of such a mundane but necessary part of our lives.

I’ve included a link so you could take a look at what the LA Times said about this recently. I’d love to hear your thoughts about the whole organic movement. Hope to hear from you!

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/13/business/la-fi-dairy13-2010feb13

Trust and Bravery: Trying to Get Published

19
Feb

Yesterday I had two significant phone calls (not that my other phone calls are insignificant, but this was in a different sphere) regarding the manuscript I recently submitted. Oh, did I not mention that I FINISHED and SUBMITTED my manuscript to a publisher in the Twin Cities? No? Oh well, you know how these things just happen.

Yeah right.

I was FREAKING OUT about it, but I chose to let the dust settle before I wrote about it here. I can get a little…what’s the right word?…um…spazzy when I get excited so I decided to spare you my exclamation points and just casually mention it to you now.

Okay, so now we’ve established that I submitted a completed manuscript, my first attempt at writing a novel, and that I’m a spazz. Well, the editor emailed me and asked me for a synopsis, a term I’ve only read about a little bit as I’ve tried to learn about the publishing process. And since we’ve established that I’m a spazz, of course I read the email and got excited and terrified at the same time. I then sent an email to a woman who has been mentoring me in writing and asked her what this meant and what the heck was a synopsis. She wrote me back and invited me to call her.

This is where it gets interesting.

I visited with her and got some very helpful insight into what I should work on, along with some unearned praise and encouragement. The feeling of being validated in a new adventure is amazing. It brought tears to my eyes. During the conversation, she informed me that she had placed a call to a good friend of hers at a different publishing company, who knows more about the publishing business than anyone she knows. She told him about me and he said I could call him. Oh, and he’s the Director of Acquisitions.

No big deal.

I did call him, and we talked for quite a while. Again, for him to take me seriously and act as though I was really a writer felt absolutely amazing. He invited me to send him my manuscript. Let me rephrase: the director of acquisitions at a publishing company, the guy who decides which books they buy, asked if I’d like him to read my novel. He is currently reading my story.

Did that sound casual enough?

As I think about it, I vacillate between utter joy and huge dreams, and the grim reality that the chances of actually getting published  are extremely slim. But as my own story has unfolded, things have happened that I never anticipated. I’d like to think that there’s something else at work here, possibly some providential timing that I can only guess at. That’s where the trust and the bravery come into play. I need to trust that no matter what happens, even if this is the end of the line for my manuscript, I have learned about the process firsthand, and I have the satisfaction of knowing that I accomplished the goal of finishing a whole book. I need to trust the timing. I also need to have the bravery to step through the doors of opportunity if and when they open. It is more than a little scary, and I often feel like I’m fooling myself into thinking that anything will happen. But when I allow myself to trust and believe that something might come of all this energy and time, the prospect is exhilarating.

What are you doing lately that scares you? I’d love to hear about it.

Excerpt from Chapter 17

30
Dec

This is  a short excerpt from the story I’m still working on, but don’t worry, Dear Reader, there is an end in sight. We’ve rounded the corner and can now see the final lap. Ready the mylar space blanket and energy bar! Maybe I’ll be able to tell you I’ve completed it within the next few months. That would feel wonderful!

The portion I’m including begins in-progress so if there are details that aren’t quite clear, try to let it go and press on. It’s just a fun adventure scene that I thought you’d like for a minor distraction during this Christmas break season. I’d love to hear your reactions. Thanks for letting me share. Chapter 17 Excerpt

Back in Action: Our Return to the Rental Market

2
Nov

Once we owned a house in Owatonna. That’s not nearly as romantic as ‘Once I had a farm in Africa’, the opening line of the movie Out of Africa. But that is our story, and the downer is that we STILL own a house in Owatonna. We don’t want to own it, we’ve tried NOT to own it, and yet here we keep going, owning it.

We had a renter, who we thought was a buyer, who remained a renter and who has now given her notice that she will be taking all her truckloads of stuff to another house somewhere else (who knew so much stuff could fit in that house! It’s amazing — it’s like expand-o house with stretchy walls or something!). We thought we had more time, since she has a daughter in high school who is not graduating this year and that would motivate the renter to stay. But that is not the case, and she is leaving town.

Fabulous.

We are now forced to revisit the housing market and decide what we can do about this house. We plan to rent it out, since nothing has significantly rebounded in the past year and housing prices are still dismal. We received one call asking if we’d rent it with an option to buy. Is this like those sometimes seedy rent-to-own stores, the ones where you can rent a couch or a dresser or an oversized fish tank? It still doesn’t unload the mortgage for us, and sounds like it would just complicate matters by introducing another party to any interactions between the bank and us, which doesn’t make much sense since as a general rule most interactions with banks are complicated anyhow. (How would I know? I never talk to my bank. And they never talk to me. I think we both know the other party exists, but we don’t keep in touch. They scare me a little bit.) It just doesn’t sound like a good idea.

The house is available in December, and if you know of a solid renter who would like to live in a classic house in a quaint area, you know where to send them! Or if you have keen insight into the world of “option to buy” we would be happy to benefit from your wisdom if you’re willing to share. Here’s a link to the house:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/apa/2675903995.html

Art House – Nebulous and Inspiring

6
Oct

Last weekend I went to the Sara Groves concert at Church of the Open Door in Maple Grove. I’ve never seen her play live before, and I had a great time. She’s very engaging, not to mention that her music is filled with poignant images and captivating wordcraft. Check out some of her music for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/user/SaraGrovesMusic#p/u/5/o5IEsE6ofbg (the MySpace site included less than a minute of the songs it listed, and that’s no fun).

Besides all that, she and her husband/manager/percussionist, Troy, made what sounded like the official announcement of the creation of Art House North in Saint Paul. http://www.arthouseamerica.com/blog/art-house-north.html She was so funny about it, and for people who like to know exact details and a laid-out plan, she probably made them a little crazy, because she and her husband don’t know exactly what will happen with it. They do have a model for it, though, and they’re basing it on what they’ve witnessed in Nashville: http://www.arthouseamerica.com/about/

From what I gather, the idea is to bring Christian artists together and help them grow into greater impact in their community. Sara — yes, I just called her “Sara” and you probably would too if you saw her in concert. She seemed like someone I have always been friends with but just didn’t realize it yet, as if just as soon as things settle down, she’ll get around to calling me and we’ll resume our great friendship. Anyway, Sara referenced a quote (I can’t remember who it was from) that talked about not looking to the government to know about a people, but looking at their art instead. It is the art, the music, the theater, the literature, the photography, that reflects the heart of a people. I think that informs the purpose of Art House North, but they are still filling in the details.

Something in me was very attracted to the idea behind Art House. Maybe it was the thought of doing something of significance to a larger segment of the world besides my own family (don’t worry, fellow mommies, I definitely am of the mind that raising with children is of the utmost significance, and creating a home that is filled with love and peace and safety takes an untold amount of hard work). Maybe it was the idea of  being an artist, someone who is driven by that inner force to create. Maybe the appeal was a connection to community, that adolescent desire to belong that we never completely outgrow. It may even be old memories of dorm life or time spent working at camp, when a whole bunch of pals were always nearby. There was no telling what kind of antics would occur in a 24 hour period.

Who knows what will come of Art House North? Only the Lord knows, because from the sounds of it, they are remaining open to His leading, which is rarely neat and never on our own time schedule, right? But I bet there will be some exciting things to come from Art House North, so keep your eyes open and if you find out anything, be sure to let me know!

Postscript: I would be remiss if I discussed Sara Groves and didn’t mention International Justice Mission, an organization that fights human trafficking throughout the world. Here’s some information from the IJM website, which is http://www.ijm.org/:

International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to secure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to ensure that public justice systems – police, courts and laws – effectively protect the poor.

IJM’s justice professionals work in their communities in 13 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to secure tangible and sustainable protection of national laws through local court systems.

See why I didn’t bring it up earlier? That’s a lot to process, and definitely a topic for a future night. Be well!

The End of Summer

20
Aug

It is cool this morning, the air is dry, and there is a subtle scent that has me thinking that even if the calendar didn’t say it was the middle of August, I would still know that autumn is on the way. My sweetie has been saying it is the end of summer since July, though, so I’ve been resisting and trying to be the summer optimist.

My family is in for a serious reality check this fall. Over the past year, we’ve had very few things regularly scheduled in our lives. I homeschooled my oldest son, my middle son did a few days of preschool, and our youngest, our daughter, just hung out and did whatever the rest of us did. Even this summer, my husband and I chose not to sign up the kids for many activities, for a few different reasons: we wanted to be free to spend time at the family cabin, we were just getting settled into a new house and town, we don’t want to be the parents that schedule every waking moment for our kids…and we missed most of the deadlines in the spring!

A few weeks ago, however, I wished we had more structured outlets for the kids. There was one five day period when they were all crabby and difficult, which made me feel crabby and irritated. I realized then that there is a certain amount of schedule that helps define a summer, helps punctuate it and make it flow. Of course families who sign up their kids for multiple clubs or sports also have times when their kids are ornery too, but they have more times when they don’t have to hear it since their kids are off doing something else with somebody else. There’ve been times when I wished for that this summer, if I’m totally honest. But shhhh, ’cause I’m not supposed to say that out loud.

As we get ready to start life with a 2nd grader and kindergartener (the preschooler hasn’t gone anywhere, but we aren’t sure if she’ll attend a program or not), we want to be purposeful about which activities we enroll the kids in. There are so many things available for kids to do these days, and they’d probably have a great time in any number of them. But we’re trying to look towards the future, and not get ourselves committed to something we’ll regret later.

Let’s take sports, for instance. What if we sign up our oldest for hockey this winter? Do I ever want to see my baby get checked up against the boards by a boy twice his size? That sounds like a really stupid idea! But what if he tries it and likes it? I had a brother who played hockey growing up, and I’m familiar with the sharp smell of indoor ice rinks and the smell of stinky hockey equipment cluttering up the laundry room. And football doesn’t seem much better, without even bringing up the expense of the required equipment.

It’s not only sports that we’re thinking about. In an attempt to raise well-rounded children, we also want them to be involved in music (a high priority for me, especially). Do we automatically start them on piano? Then I’ll have to draw them a keyboard on the dining room table, ’cause we don’t have a piano, nor do we intend to purchase one. (Do they have indestructible, outdoor pianos?) Then there’s the mid-week church activities, not to mention all the after-school clubs they offer these days. We could already choose between chess, Legos, science, cooking, art, and even more “enrichment” activities.

How does one choose? That’s where you come in, Dear Reader. I have my own ideas, but I’d love to hear your words of wisdom, as my family enters the world of elementary school schedules, and grooming my children to take over the world. How do you pick between “the better” and “the best” for your family? Post your comment so I can come back and blame you when I’m stressed out from driving my kids all over the place! Ha! I’ll need somebody to be the scapegoat.

My Children's Musical Future

Plant Progress Report

3
Aug

It is now officially August, so I thought you might be interested to see how things look now in my garden. Also, you may be interested to know about my rooting powder experiment. If growing things interests you, read on!

Here’s what the homemade climbing trellis looks like:

Even though it is covered in green, the white still shows too much.

The scarlet runner bean has put forth a couple flowers, no beans, and definitely fewer of everything than I was hoping. Upon a longer term inspection of my sunlight situation, I have learned that the morning light starts on the other side of the garden (thus the morning glories have been unhappy) and placing my contraption further to the left would have supplied more light, and then more flowers. That’s alright, I knew it wasn’t going to be a long-term spot. It’s a good thing I started a garden notebook, because I usually forget all the things I think I will remember to do differently the next year.

And now for the status of the cuttings I took this spring. Even though they have been neglected and left out in the rain (apparently I keep forgetting to pull them to a covered spot after trying to let them dry out from the last time I forgot to pull them to a covered spot!), two of the three cuttings are growing roots and one of them is even putting up two shoots already! Check it out!

Please note the sprout in the center. I'm so proud!

I thought it would be fall before I saw any progress, but I have been very restrained and haven’t peeked even once, so maybe leaving them alone was helpful? Wahoo!

And finally, I have an unidentified flower that has finally bloomed. Because I’m an optimist, I left it to grow even though it may be a weed. But it isn’t spreading or prickly, so if it does end up being a weed, it is a well-behaved weed! If you can tell me the name of the flower on the left, my garden will thank you.

This plant is about 12" tall right now.

Amazing Squirty Stuff

1
Aug

My superhero daughter recently got yellow gum on her Wonder Woman super suit. Lest you think me a negligent parent, the piece of gum was the size of a dime, so it would not bother her system if it ended up in her stomach, and it was an earned privilege that she has handled well in the past. (By the way, it is amazing the surface area gum can cover when stretched out. Crazy!)This gum problem might not immediately strike you as cause for alarm, but you’ve got to know, Dear Reader, that in the world of super suits, rockin’ girl suits are hard to come by, particularly ones that have matching boots, a cape and belt to go along with the dress.  This was a super emergency situation.

I left the gum to dry out, thinking that I could flake it off once the gooey-ness had deteriorated. But I must have been dealing with long-lasting ingredients, because even after a couple days, the stuff did not dry up. In keeping with my dry=better theory, I decided not to try and freeze it off with an ice cube. I had to pull out the big guns.

Quite a while ago, a good friend of mine told me about a cure-all find of hers. It had taken Sharpie Marker off the ceiling of her car, if that’s any clue as to the power of this stuff, all while managing NOT to leave a greasy or discolored mark in its place. It was difficult to find at the stores that I frequent, so when I came across some I went ahead and bought it in a preemptive moment of wisdom.

I dug this stuff out, squirted it on the supersuit (both the blue velvety material and the red faux lamè) and then brushed at it with a rag. Unbelievably, the gum came right off! It rolled into little balls or wads and came up easily. I threw the supersuit into the wash, and it now has resumed its proper place in our suit rotation.

If you’ve got a seemingly inconquerable mess, stain or goop problem on your list of things to handle, maybe this stuff will make your life a little easier. Good luck!

This squirty stuff is worth any extra trip to the store.

The Search is Over

11
Jul

I have a bee in my proverbial bonnet about a certain flower. Until today I couldn’t figure out what it was called exactly. I could only describe it, which usually brought blank stares or puzzled looks from the unsuspecting witness to my enthusiasm.

You must understand, Dear Reader, that I’ve only seen this flower in person once, and that was before my slow transition into the herky-jerky gardener I have now become, and so my observation of the plant in person was only fleeting.

But this summer I saw a photo of this flower in an old magazine from last year and immediately when I saw it, I knew that it belonged in my garden. It is too adorable — yes, adorable can truly be used in this circumstance — to be ignored. It is too unusual to dismiss. It is just way too much fun to let it pass into the hands of some wiser gardener. And therefore, I plan to purchase my first bulb online, which requires quite a bit of trust if you ask me…which I realize now you didn’t actually do…so…should I stop writing now?

 

No! Ha ha! I shall press on!

You have to order the bulbs now, during summer, and they don’t ship your order until fall. Does that sound fishy to anyone else? Let me get this straight: you want me to place an order with you now (on my computer, no less! It’s not like I can march down to Linders or Bachmann’s and talk to a manager if my order doesn’t get delivered), pay you now, and then just hang out and do my thing until you send my order to me four months from now? That’s nuts!

And yet, I am willing to suspend my suspicious suspicions and try to regain the trust that businesses will do what they say they’ll do, and that they will actually come through for the Little Guy. How cynical I’ve become over the years! How untrusting! It never would have dawned on me in my younger years to think that a company might not give me the best deal they could, might not think to mention the fine print, might not be trying to find a product that would satisfy both my needs and their own. Whew! To be that fresh again.

If all goes well, maybe that’s what this bulb purchase will do for me — restore my faith in corporate America. Because right about now, I’m thinking that come autumn, I might open my delivery and discover a box full of packing peanuts and discarded cracker jack prizes instead of my prized flowers. But only time will tell.

Check out this crazy flower. This is the one!

Allium