Food Revolution and Life

Have you ever had so much on your to do list that you just want to sit down and give up?  That is how life has felt the last few weeks.  I think we all go through times like this and the good thing is that there's usually a light at the end of the tunnel and we just cross our fingers hoping it isn't a train.  It's not a train, right?

I've got lots of great recipes and food related posts waiting to be shared but so little time to get them up here.  I hope you will hang in there till I get myself better organized.  In the time that I haven't posted as often I have also been doing some soul searching.  What do I want out of this and my other blogs?  Who do I want to reach?  What do I hope to accomplish?  The answers to these questions are many but ultimately I want to bring some joy into people life and also inspire them.  Inspire people to think outside the box, to make changes that are good for them, their families, their communities and this earth.  On a food blog that's going to be about doing all those things in relation to - well, food.  Preaching to the choir isn't what it's all about.  It's great, it lovely, it's nice to have at least a few people that don't get all weirded out or defensive or think you're whacked because you care about what you put into your body and what others put into theirs.  But the real change happens when people see what you're doing and get excited about it and maybe try it little by little themselves.  That little by little can add up and the next thing you know big changes are happening around you, in your own life, in your families lives an in your community.

That's exactly the kind of thing that Jamie Oliver is after in Food Revolution and he's up against some pretty big barriers.  But he cares, he's got an audience and he's going to make a difference.  If you haven't seen the shows yet, please give yourself the time to sit down and watch them.  It's worth it.  Really it is.

http://www.hulu.com/jamie-olivers-food-revolution

And I'll be back soon, a little more organized and full of stuff to share.

Happiness is Spring

Happiness is Spring.  And getting my first blogger award.

Jeanne from Collage of Life, In One Place and Finding My Way stopped by to give me a Happiness Award.  How awesome is that?!

Here's how it works:

1. When you have received this award 

you must thank the person who 

gave it to you in a new post.

2.  Name 10 things that make you happy.

3.  Pass the award onto ten other bloggers

and inform the winners.

Naming ten things that make me happy is easy.  Deciding which ten of all the great bloggers I read to give the award to - not so  much.  No wonder Jeanne temporarily forgot how to count!

I'll start with the easy part. Ten things that make me happy.  These are all things I experienced yesterday.

1. Birds Singing.

2. Walks.

3. My Green and Yellow Tevas.

4. Exploring the Nooks and Crannies of My Extended Neighborhood.

5. Whimsical Garden Art.

6. Pondering the Lesson of Nature.

7. Narrow Tree Lined Lanes.

8. Flowering Magnolia Trees.

9. Daffodils.

10. Spring!

 Now for the hard part!

1. Ange @ Signed by Ange for her humorous and art-inspired blogging.

2. Kate @ The Holdfast Seeker  for being a kindred spirit and her wonderful writing.

3. Lili @ Fearless Nesting for all the lovely posts she writes and all the sweet comments she leaves.

4. Marie-Jolie @ Permission to Unwind for her philosophical "yarns".

5. Meli @ Bikes and the City for pictures of bikes with coffee - I get all giddy when she posts a new one!

6. Ecogrrl @ EcoGrrl Speaks for being a faithful commenter and a such an interestingly eclectic blogger.

7. Dawn @ Dawn's bloggy blog for all the birding trips I get to experience vicariously through her blog.

8. Tiff @ Carbzilla for being such a fun person and living in Seattle so I can enjoy her company in person.

9. Averie @ Loves Veggies and Yoga for her smiling face and words and so many yummy recipes!

10. Small Footprints @ Reduce Footprints for her artsy green-inspiring self!

Phew!  I made it!  Thank you to all of you who visit my blogs and help create the community that makes blogging all that much more rewarding.

The Blog Disease

Image Credit

There are currently 615 articles and blog posts in my Google Reader.  By the time I am done writing this post that number will have increased.  And I will want to read all of them.  Each and every one of them.  I respect the time that it takes to get a post up on a blog or an article written and published.  I know because I write blog posts and articles too.  I wish I got more of them written, in fact.  And there is the problem.  It takes time to read all those articles and posts.  It takes time to write my own articles and posts.  I have so many articles rambling around in my head waiting for me to take the time to get them down on paper or typed up on my computer.  If I go and read the 615 and climbing (I just looked - it's 616 now) articles waiting for me in my Google Reader more ideas will be sparked and I will have even more writing to do.  It's a vicious yet glorious cycle.

I have so many interests that I can't limit myself to just one kind of blog or website to follow - like food blogs or birding blogs or green living blog - I have to follow them all, and more.  Likewise I can't just have one blog.  No, I have three blogs that are currently active, several that are closed at the moment and one that I co-author with my husband.  I think this certifies me as an insane bloggomaniac, don't you?  It's a disease of sorts, really, and it's contagious. Because one of the common side effects of bloggomaniacism is blog-pushing.  That's where the sufferer shares their suffering by pointing out to others all the amazing blogs that feed their habit.  Sometimes they do it all at once.  At other times they're more sneaky and they only give you a handful to check out at any given time. It doesn't seem overwhelming so you fall right into the trap.  You really have to watch out for those sort of bloggomaniacs - their dangerous.  They'll even write a whole blog post about it and you'll never know what's coming till it's too late.

A Handful (or two) of Blogs I Read (and you should too)

Collage of Life

Permission to Unwind

Signed by Ange

EcoVelo

Bikes and the City

Change Your Life. Ride a Bike!

Love Veggies and Yoga

Oven Aversion

Rawmazing

EcoGrll Speaks

Peachy Green

Reduce Footprints

The Holdfast Seeker

Dawns bloggy blog

The Tangled Nest

And don't forget to visit the other blogs where I write, too!

The Tern's Song

Rutabagas and Other Adventures

Gettin' Around

I hope this post finds you all happy and enjoying life (and addicted to blogs).


Current number of articles in my Google Reader: 618