Two posts in one day?! I know, it's a first for me! However, I just received some fun news that I a) wanted to share with you, and b) wanted to ask for your support regarding. As you might know, I'm trying to make something of myself in the world of freelance writing. As part of that venture I've started writing for content sites like HubPages. One of my articles (called "hubs" on the site) was just selected as one of the top food hubs of the week! Now it's up to readers to decide which of the editor-selected top choices is the favorite. The article with the most hubs gets featured in the weekly newsletter, which generates a ton of fantastic exposure.
Here's where you come in, wonderful readers. My hub, Let Them Eat Hummus: 5 Healthy Recipes, is one of the editors' top food-related picks. If you think my hummus article really is the best of the best, I would love to have your vote. While you're visiting HubPages, be sure to check out my other hubs as well as the vast selection of quality writing by other authors.
What are you waiting for? Go! Read! Vote!
Vote For Hummus: A Shameless Plug
Almost Bald
Just over a year ago, I just my hair short. As in, less-than-one-inch short. The shortest that it's ever been . . . until now, that is. When I first got my hair cropped, the Best Husband Ever said that he liked it -- and that he thought it would fabulous even shorter. Hmm. As weird as it sounds, the idea got stuck in my head and would not leave.
So, at long last, I acted on the idea. This week I asked the Best Husband Ever to shave my head. Excited, we set up shop in the bathroom and the shearing began. Just in time for Friday Firsts, this is the first time I've ever had this little hair.
At first I really did not like it. Not only does my scalp now attach a la velcro to any fibrous object which comes within a square foot of my scalp, I look kind of man-ish. (No, not manly -- man-ish, thank you very much.) Every time I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror I jumped with the renewed shock of my near-baldness. Thankfully, the Best Husband Ever likes it. A lot, it seems.
The hair sacrifice went down on Wednesday. Now that I've had time to adjust to the fact that I have more hair in my two eyebrows than on my entire scalp, I like the new 'do (or lack thereof) better. I still think I look like a bad G.I. Jane wanna-be, and it feels like there's a constant draft blowing at my nearly naked head, but I'm making my peace. It's actually kind of cool. I might do it again when the weather turns warm enough that I'll appreciate an all natural personal air conditioner more.
The moral of the story? Well, there isn't one, really. Sorry. If you're looking for something more insightful, check out my Miracle post, because you all left me such thoughtfully crafted comments. Regarding my sandpaper head, however, it was all in good fun. But I'm glad I tried it. Now I know that baldness, as neat-o as it might seem, is probably not for me. I'll stick with my one-inch follicles, thanks. But I'm glad I did it. And I think the hubby is, too. How's that for couple's night?
Thankfully (for all you foodies who find my hair adventures a bit strange, at best), I also have a first-y recipe. This week I found some yummy sounding all natural apple spice mustard on sale in the grocery store. Mustard? With apple? And spices (which were simply listed as "spices" on the ingredients list, which I found a tad unsettling)? I was in. On the back of the jar I found a recipe for Rainbow Slaw.
A long-standing source of [rather unappreciated] amusement in my family is my penchant for cabbage salad. Specifically, for my grandma's cabbage salad. For as long I can remember, I have gobbled down this amazing cabbage salad that she would serve when we visited her for a meal. I have since attempted to recreate that ambrosia of the salad world, but as you might expect, nothing beats Grandma's. To my knowledge, she would mix up super-minced green cabbage with vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar, and a few tomatoes, then let the whole thing marinate in the fridge. By the time I arrived, it had achieved perfection. Everyone at the table knew to leave plenty of cabbage salad for me.Let me be clear -- the following recipe, based off of the one I found on the jar of apple spice mustard, is not my grandma's salad. But it's pretty darn good, and healthy to boot. I expected it to bother my stomach, but strangely (and wonderfully) it does not. I added slices of turkey bacon to my second attempt at this but didn't think they added much. Try it and see what you think, then check in here with tasty alterations. I can't wait to see what you come up with!
Colorful Cabbage Slaw
3 T cider vinegar
2 T apple spice mustard (or your favorite mustard -- Dijon would work)
1 packet of stevia OR 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
dash of onion powder
sprinkle of sliced garlic
1.5 cups shredded green cabbage
3/4 cup shredded red cabbage
1 large carrot, shredded or thinly sliced
1/2 red apple, cut into thin matchsticks
In a large bowl, mix the first 6 ingredients together. Adjust the sugar, salt, onion, and garlic according to taste and preference. Add the vegetables and toss until coated. Serve immediately, or cover and chill for up to 2 hours.
Makes 1 big personal salad, or 4-6 side salads.
Treasure Seeker Sequel
Remember The Treasure, a video that I posted a while back? That was part 1. Here's part 2.
Visit Dan, the amazing talent behind both videos in this series as well as many others, at 4:14 Productions.
While you're web hopping, check out some of my latest scribblings:
| Hula Hooping: A Holistic Fitness and Weight Loss Practice |
Fit Kids: 5 Ways to Get Children Hula Hooping for Health
At-Home Weight Workouts: A Few Favorites Happy Thursday! |
Self . . . Help?
Titles spied in the Barnes and Noble self-help section:
- Happiness for Dummies
- Ten Days to Self Esteem
- I Can Read You Like a Book
- How To Save Your Own Life
- Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man
- The Idiot's Guide to Organizing Your Life
(Don't believe me? See for yourself.)
Happy [mostly wordless] Wednesday!
Miracle
At the beginning of this past winter my wonderful mother-in-law bequeathed two herb plants to me. One was rosemary and the other oregano. I'm not sure why she gave them to me since I have a chronically black thumb, but give them she did. I waited for the two plants to wither and die, as is inevitable for any plant in my care that's less hardy than a cactus.
But they did not die, surprisingly. Both plants made it through the winter, and although the oregano did begin to droop significantly I was able to revive it. The rosemary and oregano plants lived happily on -- until I killed one.
When the rare Montana sun makes an appearance during the winter, I like to set my plants out on the deck to soak in the rays. That's what I did with my mother-in-law's plants, then promptly forgot about them. They stayed out overnight, and although the temperatures at the time were unseasonably warm, the oregano had turned black by the time morning came. Oops.
Now that spring has officially arrived and the weather is staying warm consistently, I decided to do some yard work today. Part of that venture included ripping up the withered skeletons of all the potted green things I've slain since last summer. The oregano was on my list of exhumations as I wanted to make its pot available for my next victim -- er, gardening attempt. But as I inspected the forlorn oregano, I glimpsed something tucked away beneath the brittle tangle of black twigs -- something green!
It was a leaf. Or really, several leaves, sprouting up in spite of all my mistreatment, in spite of the death surrounding it. Against all the odds, the oregano grew and continues to grow. I feel incredibly humbled and blessed by this tiny and yet not-so-tiny miracle.
There's some sort of God-message tucked away in all this, but I can't quite put my finger on it yet. Can you?
The Writing Life, Week Two
Last week I shared with you some drastic life changes, and that now I am trying out the freelance writing life. Now we're heading into week number two of my writing venture, and I wanted to take a moment to assess how it's going.
I am enjoying finding what methods work for me and hitting my writing stride. However, there have been some challenges as well. I've submitted to query letters to magazines and am growing extremely frustrated with the process as well as the up-front sense of non-accomplishment after spending an entire morning crafting just such a letter. Equally frustrating is the fact that when I think I've hit upon a great topic to query on, a Google search reveals that articles on that exact topic have recently hit newsstands. I'm trying to look at this positively since, as my father-in-law pointed out, my ideas are apparently publishable and in demand, I'm just a little late. I can't argue with that wisdom and logic!
I'm proud of my progress. In addition to querying magazines I started submitting to various reputable content sites (since not all content sites are created equal) to practice my freelance style and technique, beef up my clips, and get exposure while making a little (stress on the "little") cash. Here are my latest and greatest articles, which I'd love your feedback on:
Before you go about achieving your own daily goals, stop by my Ask [Almost] Anything page. I just posted answers to these excellent and thought-provoking questions:
- You seem recovered from ED...yet the things you eat are not too different from a dieter. Eating healthy is good...but do you think you might be overdoing it?
- I like that you're so expressive about your faith, without tiptoeing around it. Do you ever feel a taboo in talking about your faith?
Sprung
Happy spring (and, randomly, Pi Day)! We took two of the pups, Jackson (the distant black speck in the above photo) and Lio out for a hike in the glorious sunshine. It was wonderful, although having it light so late in the evening was a bit weird . . . but I'm sure we'll adjust!
What did you do?
Posts
