November Pagan Family Circle - Page 24

[wombatclay]

Thanks all! :heart

This morning Laia asked why the google doodle wasn't changed for my birthday. I told her it only changed for things that a lot of people know/things that are really important. And she told me I was nicer than Sesame Street and more important than the moon. Awwwwwwwwww!

I have a gfree cake mix and gfree pizza ready to go for dinner tonight and I splurged on a cup of skyr for lunch. mmmmmm yummy! There's a company near here that makes the most yummy skyr... a sort of icelandic yogurt "cheese" you eat with a spoon. It's so good, and even healthy for you, but expensive. Makes a perfect birthday treat! (I had the pomegranate/passion fruit version).

Maia- Hang in there sweetie! Keep breathing. (and the winter car kit fills a standard tupperware box... the kind you can get at target for 4-5 dollars. I haven't needed thte kit in probably 6 years or so, but when you need it you REALLY need it!)

dok- what a story! And what an adventure!

[Vojerleda]

Originally Posted by wombatclay

holidays- complicated.
.....
It sounds like a lot, but in actuality it is nice to have things really spread out. You don't get that huge buildup with immediate "that was it?!?" feeling that sometimes hits when you've got a month or two all building towards a single (consumer oriented) holiday. Plus it lets dh and I start/maintain new traditions without giving up the favorite traditions of our own childhood (me- every year a gift of new underwear/socks from a fictitious Aunt, all day low key holiday buffet, a candle/calendar for the season, the new years eve jigsaw puzzle. dh- cutting a tree and dragging it home, big holiday meal, carols and nog on Christmas eve, visiting family on Christmas day)

This is pretty much what we do, also. We tend to have our own "family Christmas" on Yule, then we pack up and go to grandma's. We also leave our tree up until Epiphany (is that the 12th night? *counts on fingers... wait not enough fingers...* yeah, it's about the same time....) , but I don't usually put it up until December is underway. It's more fun to spread it out than have it pop and fizzle afterward.

[DaughterOfKali]

Quick post: Went to doc. I have to give up dairy. I lurve cream (in my tea) and love cheese. Cheese, I know I can find a vegan substitute. But the cream is another story. She also told me to stay away from soy. So I can't even do the soy cream.
I hate rice milk in tea. blech.

Anyway, had more bloodwork done. Got to go outside with Roo and let him run around. Be back later.

[mary3mama]

Happy Birthday, Clay!! And your wee one is just too sweet. I love little moments like that that help me remember to look at the world through their sweet little eyes.

Originally Posted by DaughterOfKali

Quick post: Went to doc. I have to give up dairy. I lurve cream (in my tea) and love cheese. Cheese, I know I can find a vegan substitute. But the cream is another story. She also told me to stay away from soy. So I can't even do the soy cream.
I hate rice milk in tea. blech.

I don't like rice milk at all, in tea or otherwise. But I've found that I do like almond milk in coffee and tea. I don't drink coffee anymore but LOVE the creaminess it gives to my tea.

I'd have a hard time giving up dairy, though. I've never found a cheese substitute that I really liked (actually the same with meat substitutes) and I am a sucker for the raw milk that we get. Just got a new gallon yesterday and it is half gone already.

As for the soy, are you allergic or is it more of a question of the phyto-estrogens?

[witchygrrl]

Originally Posted by DaughterOfKali

Quick post: Went to doc. I have to give up dairy. I lurve cream (in my tea) and love cheese. Cheese, I know I can find a vegan substitute. But the cream is another story. She also told me to stay away from soy. So I can't even do the soy cream.
I hate rice milk in tea. blech.

Anyway, had more bloodwork done. Got to go outside with Roo and let him run around. Be back later.

Unlurk...

DoK, try coconut milk in your tea. It's sooooo delish! There's a brand called So Delicious--they make creamer and ice cream. yummy yummy!

okay, back to lurking...

[Aeress]

Clay- woohoo! Happy Birthday!

[femme_rouge]

Wombat

I'm at the hotel. A little cooped up at this point It's raining and I told DP to take the car to his conference because he'd be back at 12. He's late now and we've reached our snuggly/cozy/tv watching/bed jumping limit. Oh well...not much longer.

We celebrate Solstice and secular Christmas. We also stretch out the activities over a month or so. We do an advent paper chain for the month of Dec. with an activity for each day. Speaking of, this would be the perfect opportunity for me to decide on the activities. If I can get away with it with the kids here of course.

I think I'll go do that and try to read a little.

Happy Friday

[DaughterOfKali]

Originally Posted by mary3mama

But I've found that I do like almond milk in coffee and tea...>snip<

As for the soy, are you allergic or is it more of a question of the phyto-estrogens?

Can't do almond. Allergic to tree nuts.
I don't know why she said no soy. She's testing for celiac and other possible causes of abdominal/tummy pain.

Originally Posted by witchygrrl

Unlurk...

DoK, try coconut milk in your tea. It's sooooo delish! There's a brand called So Delicious--they make creamer and ice cream. yummy yummy!

Thank you! I didn't know they made creamer! I'll see if my local WF has it tomorrow.

[Aubergine68]

Happy Birthday, Wombatclay! Icelandic yogurt cheese sounds grand...

I love how children understand that there is nothing more important than celebrating the end of a journey around the sun and the start of the next.

I am loving the raw milk and cream we are getting from our cowshare. I believe that it is healthy for my family.

But my fat jeans are getting tight. I have to find some balance and go back to the higher-veg, lower carb and meat diet I was on before. (I tried going vegan and had some major gut issues that scared me off of the green-heavy diet I used to love. I think I need to try to eat more paleo. And get outside and run around more.

I managed to tap away an ongoing sinusitis issue that was a daily problem for two years since I had jaw surgery

Have to work on tapping for weight loss/diet issues. This is not the healthiest body I'm ever going to have and I'm past 40, gotta manifest the health and energy I deserve. But first, gotta manifest the energy to get this darn child psychology course done. Nov. 30 is the last day and I still have about 25 % of the work to do.

I love almond milk or coconut milk in tea/coffee/smoothies. I've lived on soy versions of dairy foods for a couple of years when my nursing baby was dairy allergic and never got excited about the taste of soy.

I just got e-notice of another interlibrary loan for me Hope it's an Ellen Dugan!

Well that was 20 minutes of rambly typing... wonder if any of you are still with me.

I'm sure you're having a wonderful time, Maia! Thinking of you.

I keep meaning to leave my tree up till Epiphany, but I always get just sick of it on New Year's Day. I should invent a phase of winter decorations to transition to from the tree to extend the season. Maybe something Oriental involving a total house-clean and reorganize and lots of lights. I feel like the natural "end" to our winter celebrations ought to be the Lunar New Year.


Have a grand weekend, everybody!

[peacelove]

Happy Birthday, Clay! What a lovely dd to say such sweet things!

[KJoslyn78]

Originally Posted by Maiasaura

My mom plays hand bells, too

Happy Birthday to your 11yo! Where in NY are your relatives moving to? Are you somewhere in NY too? I lived in Syracuse for 10 years, including school. Graduated from SU.

Sounds like a ~whew~ kind of accident. Glad you're OK. Off to read about your DD's issues-- my DS has pretty severe ADHD. Highly spirited-- I knew from in utero, srsly. It's been a journey!

I've been playing hand bells on and off since i was 12 - i love 'em

My sister-in-law (and fam) moved to Watertown, where her husband is a Air Traffic Controller at Fort Drum. They both use to be ATCs when in the Air force, but she had twins (at 32 weeks) and did honor guard until her discharge. He's working as a civilian on the military base. I grew up in Seneca Falls though, about a 50 minute drive from Syracuse (or Rochester, or Ithaca, Seneca Falls really is at the middle point of all 3 of those cities!)

Originally Posted by DaughterOfKali

Quick post: Went to doc. I have to give up dairy. I lurve cream (in my tea) and love cheese. Cheese, I know I can find a vegan substitute. But the cream is another story. She also told me to stay away from soy. So I can't even do the soy cream.
I hate rice milk in tea. blech.

Anyway, had more bloodwork done. Got to go outside with Roo and let him run around. Be back later.

I likely missed it - but i hope for whatever reason you went to the Dr - you're ok I second trying the coconut milk/creamer - i haven't seen it here (yet), but i know i will be as soon as i can get my hands on it!


It's the weekend - i'm so excited! (esp since i get to go see New Moon tomorrow night! )

[witchygrrl]

Originally Posted by DaughterOfKali

Thank you! I didn't know they made creamer! I'll see if my local WF has it tomorrow.

I'm pretty sure they will. If not, it's definitely in Framingham at both WF and TJ's. Also, FYI, I've tried it straight from the can, and it's pretty darn good that way also.

I had to give up dairy when my Bean was a few months old, and while I've since added it back in (she's no longer so sensitive to it), I've been experimenting with non-dairy stuff anyway. The coconut milk is the best yet!

[wombatclay]

dok- I second coconut. And if you can't find the so delish creamer, try plain coconut milk. In the fridge it'll seperate... you can either shake it all back together or just scoop out a glob of the semi solid coconut oil. I like to drop big blobs into my oatmeal but the girls prefer to have the shaken milk drizzled on instead. But the thing is, the oil provides a similar "mouth feel" to the dairy fats (which is why something like rice milk just does not work in tea/coffee... the mouth feel is totally off if you're used to a diary or dairy sub).

For milk though... is it lactose or the actual cow milk protien? Maybe ask the allergist for specifics. DH has lactose intolerance but I have an actual intolerance for cow milk protien. Which means we are each "ok" with different dairy items. Like that oh so yummy skyr!

yogurt cheese- we had this a lot as kids but it doesn't seem common in much if the US. To make a home version, take a big blob of yogurt and stick it on a square of cheesecloth (a few layers) or a clean kitchen towel. Wrap the yogurt up in the fabric and suspend it over a pot or bowl (I usually push a chop stick through the knot holding the fabric closed). Let it sit over night or at least a few hours.... the water in the yogurt will drain out (you may need to dump the pot a few times, this whey is great for adding to stocks, rice or barley water, etc). After a few hours/over bight you'll have a semi-firm, thick, creamy, blob of yogurt "cheese". You can eat it straight, dollop it on soups, spread it on breads/pancakes, whatever. You can add flavors before you drain it too... I like blending in honey and sunflower seeds but my brother loved a version that had soy sauce maybe? I don't remember exactly, but it was smokey and savory and he'd roll the finished product in salted nuts kind of like one of those cheese ball things.

Anyway, when I was little my mom had this "thing" for a while for eating a "biblical" diet.... basically a diet that Jesus may have eaten. And yogurt cheese was in this cook book. The diet didn't last long, but we kept the cheese! And every year the easter meal was "middle eastern". Instead of a more US traditional ham or turkey we'd have hummus and falafel and pita and honey pastry and cucumber yogurt salad and whatnot. Although we celebrate spring instead of christ I've kept the food tradition.

Confession- I guess I should share the other thing dd1 said... when I pulled out the box of birthday candles she asked how old I was. I told her. She looked at the box for a minute and then said "wow. that's really old. do you think they made that many candles?" Ah well. I'm more important than the moon so I may as well enjoy my candles!

(and a box arrived for me and I think I know what it is! Squeeeeee! I've had the same winter coat for almost 10 years now and it's completely worn out. I got a bit upset when I unpacked it this year and it was in such ratty shape and I was trying to figure out how to make it look "cool" instead of "crummy" and DH heard me whining. I'm 99% sure DH got me a new winter coat because he said something just the other day about not wasting time patching my old coat! I can't wait to see if I'm right.)

[DaughterOfKali]

Originally Posted by wombatclay

dok-
For milk though... is it lactose or the actual cow milk protien?

We don't know yet. I just had blood work done to check for Celiac disease.

I'll ask the allergist if we can test to see if I'm allergic to milk protein/lactose. I'll have to set up a separate appt for the testing. My allergist visit on Monday is just about asthma stuff.

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by DaughterOfKali

My mom lives in Redwood City. She'd love for me to move to CA. Honestly, I'd be nervous about earthquakes. And services for special needs children (autism spectrum). It's sad but I haven't even been able to afford to go visit her. I'd love to see CA.

Nice area, that I lived in Santa Rosa for a while, and over in Yuba City (an hour north of Sacto) and liked it pretty well. Services were pretty reasonable there (I worked in the field

Originally Posted by singin_angel

Hi Mamas!

It's foggy here today. I can barely see out the window.

We celebrate Yule and Christmas. We do Christmas because DH's family is christian and they love to celebrate with presents and all that. I haven't started planning for Yule, but that is something we just do here.

We sorta do the same, although nobody in our family is overly Christian really.. even the IL's. It's more of a cultural, family thing than religious at all.

Originally Posted by wombatclay

Cold and raining here too! DH has sworn never to live someplace without snow. He loves cold, snowy, winter weather. Me? I'd be happy with 50-75 degrees, seasonal rain, fog is good, sun is nice, gotta have a breeze. But if it doesn't have a few months of hard core snow DH wont bite.

LOL I'd tell dh that once he starts taking over all winter related chores, THEN he can demand a place with 3months of heavy snow.

Originally Posted by DaughterOfKali

Quick post: Went to doc. I have to give up dairy. I lurve cream (in my tea) and love cheese. Cheese, I know I can find a vegan substitute. But the cream is another story. She also told me to stay away from soy. So I can't even do the soy cream.
I hate rice milk in tea. blech.

ICK! Definitely try coconut milk as a sub (I was planning to suggest this and it appears so was everyone else lol) My MIL tried to give me rice milk in my coffee and it was the most vile thing ever, I could not drink it! I'm not a fan of soy either, although I like tofu But then again, tofu does not contaminate my coffee lol, and we all KNOW how I feel about my coffee!!!!

I didn't make it on yesterday, but I'm not up for a full on catch up sorry! We had the boys big group activity day with our distance ed school and it was GREAT! The boys went to the groups, participated, and had FUN! I chatted with a couple of the mums and got to meet one of the members of my own aussie pagan homeschoolers group We have been chatting on fb and via email for a while and a couple of months ago she signed her kids up with the 'school' as well. We hit it off pretty well so I'm looking forward to hanging out at future activity days Kinda bites that she lives at least an hour away though

Ok, must get a move on! Have a great night mamas

[wombatclay]

It is it is the coat I wanted! LLBean, faux shearling, in "mushroom" brown! AND a pair of winter boots! He got me a pair of gloves and a matching hat but those will have to be returned/exchanged. They're a wool blend and just slipping them on for a minute turned mt hands red/itchy. He had hoped that the "blend" would make them wearable but no such luck. Ah well, we'll get an exchange and I'll have a mini gift later.

But yay for warm snuggly durable coats!

[redveg]

Originally Posted by DaughterOfKali

Quick post: Went to doc. I have to give up dairy. I lurve cream (in my tea) and love cheese. Cheese, I know I can find a vegan substitute. But the cream is another story. She also told me to stay away from soy. So I can't even do the soy cream.
I hate rice milk in tea. blech.

Oh man I hear ya DOK. The one thing that keeps me from being Vegan is the dairy... I wish I could say it taste the same, or close to it, but it doesn't. I have such a hard time drinking tea, without cream...stinks!

[redveg]

Originally Posted by wombatclay

Confession- I guess I should share the other thing dd1 said... when I pulled out the box of birthday candles she asked how old I was. I told her. She looked at the box for a minute and then said "wow. that's really old. do you think they made that many candles?" Ah well. I'm more important than the moon so I may as well enjoy my candles!

Tell her how old I am, that will really get her thinking. 44 in 16 days..

[liza-s]

A recommendation for a cream substitute: cashew creme. You might be able to find "Mimic Creme" at a health food or natural food store. I find the flavor of coconut milk overwhelming - I actually didn't really care for coconut flavor until I had to go off dairy when I found out my son was allergic last year.

& I hate to say this - but you girls have some thin blood. It is not cold at 32 degrees in November- that is a warming trend. We've warmed up to 7 degrees today. It's been getting down to -10 at night & 7 seems balmy. (Okay, my first winter here I would have agreed that was crazy. But today running my errands I just had to wear a lightweight fleece jacket instead of my down jacket - but I am 40 weeks preggo and my internal thermostat is probably a bit off.)

I'm feeling like this weekend might be the date - birth day that is. Tomorrow is my parents anniversary (#39!!!) and my brother's wife's b-day. And Sunday would be a birthday of 11/22 - a cool number. Okay - my other cool reason. DS refers to my belly as the "pumpkin moon baby" or "moon baby" because of the crescent moon shaped eyes on one of the jackolantern faces I painted on my belly. Well - we have a crescent moon in the sky. So I'm trying to will my body into labor. Plus, if baby comes now I can actually eat on t-giving. Please send me some birthy energy...

[liza-s]

Oh, one more thing--- enormous moose.

I can't remember who wrote that their kids didn't believe that a moose can be bigger than an truck or SUV. Well, one of our newpaper photographers got some really good pictures of the moose. You can see them at http://www.adn.com/photos/wildlife/moose/story/1020381.html?/1521/gallery/1020382-a1020392-t3.html . For clarification - it was only at his shoulders that were taller than the trucks. But his rack is probably 6 feet wide.