Farm Share Pick up

Stacey and I joined a really interesting Farm Share (CSA) this winter. Yes, this winter. That's right, we enjoy farm fresh food in the winter season in Mass. No, not all the produce comes from Mass, but one truck travels from Florida to Mass to collect the week's produce. Then we pick it up at a local bakery.

This week we got carrots, salad greens, head of lettuce, bok choy, fresh parsley, tomatoes, eggplants, onions, beets, new potatoes, apples, and PINK GRAPEFRUIT!! And I used some salad greens, onions, and carrots to make dinner to night. A simple, throw-together buffalo chicken salad. It was delicious.

Just chop up the onions and garlic. Wash the lettuce and carrots, chop and slice. Add all the veggies to a bowl, and mix it with hot sauce, blue cheese dressing, and S/P.

Try it yourself!
-S-

Welcome to Washington, Senator Brown.

In a special election in Massachusetts to replace the late-Senator Ted Kennedy, voters went to the polls last night. In one of the most liberal states in the union (MA), voters decided that something new was more important to them. Replacing the liberal Lion of the Senate will be a little known state senator Scott Brown. He beat Martha Coakley last night.

Personally, I did not really think Coakley was a great candidate. I did not vote for her in the primary elections, but of course, I backed her in this election. It is amazing, the only a year after the last presidential election, you can run on an (empty) platform of "CHANGING Washington" as Brown did. Clearly most voters are not happy with Martha and/or Barack's policies.

I do not think "pushing through" a health care reform bill is the best measure, but now I feel that many good ideas will need to be tabled, as the Democrats last their 60-seat "super majority." Amazing.

Only time will tell.
-S-

PS: Happy One-Year Anniversary President Obama!!

Update: Blog Ideas

Recently I published a post about how I was hoping to organize my blog and set out a schedule for my postings. I am revising/revisiting this post now. Previously I outlined the different blog subjects I hoped to blog about. They were (1) Running, (2) Reading, (3) My Life, (4) My Opinions, and (5) Other things I find Interesting.


Here is how I think I am going to re-categorize these:
(1) My Life
 a. Family  b. Events/Experiences  c. Career  d. Travel

(2) My Opinions and Reflections
 a. Politics  b. Sports  c. Green and Progressive Living

(3) My Hobbies
 a. Cooking  b. Running  c. Books and Movies  d. Health and Exercise  e. Crafts



MY LIFE:
I love my life, and sharing the important ups and downs is a great way to reflect for me and for others. I live with my wife (Stacey) and our dog (Kylie or "Ky") outside of Boston, Mass. We try to live a simple life while enjoying the things we do and do things we enjoy!
I am a preschool teacher at a day care at Tufts University, and she works for AthenaHealth. We like to travel, but work has kept us pretty tied down. As we explore this Earth, I hope to record our experiences here, too.

OPINIONS and REFECTIONS:
There are many things in this world that we just can't ignore. Whether it is a silly picture or a stupid quote from a politician, we are bound to stumble upon things that draw a reaction up within us. I am letting some out here. Some will be rants, hopefully more will be informative and imploring. Only time will tell.
I love Boston sports teams--Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, and Celtics (and the Revolution)!! Additionally, in college sports I will sometimes blog about Virginia Tech, where my father and brother are alumni. And Duke, where my mother received her Masters degree.
Lastly, I am firm believer that we need to change the way we live to make this world a better place. The things we have done in the past have made this world sick--the people, the Earth, and our children. We can use a band-aid on our lifestyles to help this heal. I hope to share some of the ways my family and others are changing their methods to produce stronger, healthier results. Yes, this is from a progressive, environmentalist's perspective, but I encourage dialog from all points of view.

HOBBIES:
Along the way to a healthier earth and lifestyle, my family has picked up many hobbies. Some have stuck and some we've dropped. Some we hope to learn, and some we hope to shed. This will tell about some of these trials.
My wife and I LOVE to cook. I enjoying eating, too; and she is more devoted to cooking than I, but I hope to share some of our explorations in cooking here and on our other blogs, too.
I love to read and watch movies. I hope to blog about some of the books, movies, magazines, and shows I enjoy along the way.
I have been running a lot, and I am training to run in a half marathon this year. Since I do not have a different place to journal about my running, I am using this blog. Many will not find these posts interesting or informative, but I hope to post them non-the-less.
We also like to tinker around with building/making/growing many things for ourselves, instead of buying them. From sewing and knitting to gardening and DIYing, I hope to post about our craftiness.

Well, there is an update outline of what this site is about.
ENJOY!
-S-

Sox Rotation

Well, it sounds like Daisuke "Dice-K" Matsuzaka has not been so honest about how his 2009 season went. He had a groin injury, and he lied about it to the Sox. He hurt it before the 2009 season started, then took meds to help control the pain. Clearly he did not have a good season (W4-L6, 5.76 ERA, pitching under 60 innings!!).

If the relationship between DM and the front office/staff and his 'mates is patched and he's healthy, then he should be very helpful in the rotation. Adding Beckett, Lester, and Lackey in front of him; and possibly Buckholz in front of him to (5th if not). The rotation looks pretty strong.

Plus the Sox have Wakefield as a spot starter or a long-reliever, too. The Sox didn't throw money at Wakefield to have him on the 25 man roster just to coach, but at 43 (and coming off back surgery) the innings he gets will probably be much less than in previous years.

Granted you can never have too much pitching. Pitchers get hurt all the time, and having someone like Wake to plug any leaks is perfect. He is a knuckleballer, so the stress on him body/arm is less than most pitchers (hence his age). I am very excited about this season, and I know I am not the only one.

While the rotation is one of the Sox big off-season improvements, I don't think it their biggest. Check back for more Sox posts.

Public Libraries

I don't know when the last time you visited your public library, but you really should go check it out. While I was not a big fan of reading as a child, I certainly did visit my public library. And while you might think that West Virginian's can't read, I was able to, and there was a library downtown, where I'd spend many afternoons.

It's a great concept, and probably why I was so attracted as a child, to gather a resource for all to use free of charge. All you need is a library card, which takes just a promise to return the material at a certain point. WOW! That's a lot more trust than you see from most government organizations.

Sure, you pay for the material through your taxes, but is there a better reason than that to GO use this resource. You're already paying for it, so why not USE it. I check out a few books a month, but a library has so many OTHER resources, too. I borrow magazines all the time. Why pay $20 a year, when you are borrow them for free. I read about 4 magazines a month this way (and check out about 4 others randomly throughout the month, too).

Oh and if I can't find it at my library, I can request it from another library and they will send it to mine (for FREE, in my case)!! This includes DVDs, CDs, Wii games, magazines, and books. What more could you want?!?!

One last thought...why not pass the buck and donate some of your media throughout the year to your library. How many times are you really going to read those books your mother got you when you were 14 and you still haven't read. Most libraries will take used books and other media so long as it is in working condition. This is also one of the reasons libraries are environmentally friendly. Reducing the amount of waste you contribute to landfills and reducing the need for short-lived consumer products.

So, if you are bored some weekend, Google public libraries near you and go check it out! At least for the free Wi-Fi.

QUOTE

Just thought I would share this quote, because it has great meaning.

"Our lives begin to end the

 day we become silent about 

things that matter."

-Martin Luther King Jr.

HOBBIES

So Stacey and I have been getting into a few things recently. Stacey has really enjoyed reconnecting with her knitting. She started knitting in college (I don't think she started before that), and she has really been working hard to try new projects. She knit her mother and sister scarves for Christmas gifts, and she has since been working on socks. She has a few other projects in her mind (and notebook), so I am excited to see where she goes next.

In addition to her knitting, Stacey got a sewing machine for Christmas. She has made us a few clothe bags to store our grains in--this is the best way to store them long term so they can breath. Additionally she made her first pincushion, and other little test samples, too. She is really excited about making a quilt, and the patterns she has shown me look beautiful. I hope she will teach me how to use her sewing machine, because I would enjoying making a few things with it, too. I'll update her project list, so look for posts with "sewing" and "knitting" as labels.

Stacey and I are always cooking new things, and we have lots of great kitchen tools (many wonderful gifts from our wedding). Our stand mixer is a favorite, as it has the pasta attachments and an ice cream attachment, too! We are really into making soups these days, but I am excited about making some more pizzas! Look for posts with the label "cooking" for updates on our cooking adventure. Otherwise, see if we have any posts at our cooking blogs--Stacey's Where's the Meat and my Where's the Grill? We try to cook as many veg*an (Vegetarian or Vegan) meals as possible. So, they're good sites for that. Mine favors more from the grill, though.

My recent hobbies include reading and running. Reading was NOT something I enjoyed until the past couple years. Growing up I was way more math-orientated and didn't really appreciate literature. I didn't give school assignment their due, and I seldom made time to read another other than Sports Illustrated and Backpacker magazines. In college I didn't really make time for it, and I wasn't reading for classes, as I was an engineering major. Now I have a long commute (30-60 minutes) to work, and I often read on the bus or listen on my bike or running. It has brought me a lot more pleasure than I previous thought a book possibly could.

Lastly, running has really become an important part of my lifestyle. I commute to work via running a lot these days. Biking is much quicker, but it's too cold in the winter, so I run more. I really picked it up when I got the Nike+ system. First it was just part of my iPod Touch, then I got a pair of shoes, too. It really makes it that much more fun to enjoy my stats and goals. I wish I could say I've lost 20 pounds, but last I checked it's more like 5 pounds. Hopefully in the next months, I will see more pounds come off (I'm shooting for 2 a month).

Our hobbies are really fulfilling us and giving us more do than watch TV, which we love a little to much. Check back for more updates on these hobbies and the new ones we find along the way!

Peace

-S-

Blog Ideas

So I think I need to organize this blog a little better. Not that anyone other than my mother and wife read it, but it could use a little direction.

I'd like to blog about:

(1) Running

(2) Reading

(3) My Life

(4) My Opinions

(5) Other things I find interesting

RUNNING:

I think, rather than any sort of daily or running-day updates for the blog, I'd rather shot for a weekly update on my running progress. Well, I haven't decided which day of the week this will be, look for a specific day of the week to be devoted to running.

READING:

My goal is to read three books a month. Therefore, there should be at least 3 blog posts about the books I read. My family's book club meets early in the month, so there should be one then, and I think I will just post the others as I finish the books. No specific days for these posts, I think.

MY LIFE:

Definitely no certain day of the can be devoted to these updates, so I will update these blogs as things in my life happen.

MY OPINIONS:

Again something more off the cuff for these, but I think I will try to devote a day of the week or every-other-week to these posts. These will include quotes, things I recently read, or just general blabbing.

OTHER THINGS:

Not sure what's in this category, but I assume there will be things--new hobbies for example--that aren't really opinion or important enough to be considered "a life event." These will be random posts, for sure.

Well, this is what I hope to be the NEW organization for my blog. Hope this is helpful in providing more clarity and enjoyment when reading my blog.

Cheer!

-S-

BOOK: Ethan Frome

This was the second time I read Ethan Frome. The last time was over a decade ago in grade school. This America Classic by Edith Wharton is a short story about love and life. My family noted that, like most "classic," Frome is quite sad. While many stories of love offer a more upbeat and gleeful perspective, this one offers a more realistic, warts and all look at love.

Ethan Frome is the title character and protagonist, though not the narrator of this book. The story unfolds his love affair with his wife's cousin, who comes to live with them. As his wife grows more sick, she kicks out her cousin in favor of a more capable bed-hand. Ethan is not happy with this situation and the story tells of the budding love affair's trials.

Overall, it's a quite read with a tragic ending. If you like classics, then this one is for you. Our family rated it a 7 (out of 10), and would recommend it to most people.

Happy Reading!

-S-

Next Book: Loving Frank by Nancy Horan and Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri.

RUN: 4 Times, but my shortest Distances

There are two many runs to quantify here, so I will just give you the totals for the day.

RUN (4): 3.52 miles in 26:39 minutes (7'32"/mile pace).

Some good runs, and especially my run with Kylie. She's doing great.

-S-