I attended a fabulous presentation on how to use local herbs and plants to strengthen the immune system during the winter months. Angela Tiberio is a wealth of knowledge and right in our own backyard — Honeyoe Falls.

Here is one of my favorite recipes:

Lemon Ginger Tea, good for warding off colds and/or helping ease congestion

Grate 1 tablespoon ginger and add to 1 quart boiling water.

Let steep for 30 minutes.

Add the juice from 1 lemon and honey to taste.

Optional:

If you need additional heat, you can add a pinch of cayenne.

You can also add astragalus root, to boost the immune system.

Fresh crushed garlic is also a good preventative plant to add.

You can make a large batch and keep it in the fridge.

Enjoy,

Rebecca

I made the mistake of going to bed with the girls at 7:30 last night and awoke at midnight, unable to return to my delicious slumber until 5:30 a.m. when I ran into the other bedroom in a fit of anger. Andrew was kind enough to let me sleep in and made the traditional whole wheat pancakes with strawberries on top at 9:00. I had to take a shower, which made us quasi-late for Quaker meeting (you have to wait in the library for 15 minutes if you’re late). I made it in, but Andrew didn’t because he was trying to get Ostara settled in with the babysitter in the children’s room. He came in at 11:15 without any kids — mission accomplished, but said Ostara was crying off and on and he might have to leave again.

I was enjoying the silent worship and thinking how different it was to be silent with others as opposed to tossing and turning in bed. I thought about how I used to expect to receive a message from Spirit every Sunday, but have been having difficulty settling into worship because of the kids. Then I heard Ostara cry. I tapped Andrew and he ran downstairs to assess the situation. I got an annoying tickle in my throat and went to get a drink whereupon I met Andrew and Ostara. He handed me Ostara and mumbled something about her not wanting to stay downstairs anymore. I still had a tickle in my throat, so I took Ostara into the library and we read some books.

When meeting was over, I took Ostara in so I could listen to the announcements. She wasn’t being too loud, just sharing her usual comments, when she got shushed. Yeah right, I wish it were that easy to keep her quiet. I tried to tell her to not to talk, but to no avail. So then the person started to complain that she couldn’t hear. So much for me getting to hear the announcements. I took Ostara down to the children’s room again and tried to figure out how I could be a Quaker when I never have more than 20 minutes of silence at a time and am losing my connection with the community because my daughter gets shushed during announcements. I’m thinking a microphone might be a good investment for the meetinghouse. Either that, or I need to find a less silent religion.

Rebecca

Okay, I really wish I had my camera with me today. We Wolfs went enmasse to the Eastview Mall because the giftcard Andrew received for Christmas was burning a hole in his wallet. (He selected an 8GB iPod Touch so he could use the program Hippocrates at the hospital. It’s charging now and I can’t wait to test drive it!)

Anyways, back to the story. The Apple store was unable to read his gift card properly so he had to take a LONG walk to the mall service desk to remedy the problem, come back to the Apple store and try again. Andrew took Arianna with him and I walked with Ostara, who is a tad slow, being 20 months old and all. We went by Teavana and I drooled at all of the pretty teapots (wow, 50% off of $169 is still a heck of a lot of money for a pretty pot). We walked by Gymboree and I quickly checked out the bargain bins and found — nothing to fit either child of mine.

Then we walked past Abercrombie and Fitch, which has a killer stereo system to blast out popular dance tunes to passersby. Ostara stops dead in her tracks. She walks towards the store, as if being pulled in by a tractor beam. She stops at the threshold and listens to the thumping beat. Then she starts shaking her little hips back and forth. Meanwhile, I’m trying not to laugh too hard and the people walking past are amused, although not quite as much as I am. I try to steer her into the direction of the mall office but she turns around, plants herself in front of the store and starts bopping again.

She is TOO cute! Needless to say, we didn’t make it to the office. Andrew and Arianna picked us up on the way back. Darn, I need to remember my camera more often!

Rebecca

but it’s only 3 blasted degrees F outside. It took 4 hours for my house to warm up yesterday and I’m sure I’ll be gone before it’s heated up today. Luckily, I got a new yoga tape and Pilates ball and the girls and I kept ourselves warm by exercising.

Arianna goes to the Kanack School of Music and they have a 100 days of practicing marathon going on right now with lots of cool prizes along the way to keep up your motivation. Arianna wants to go to Color Me Mine studio in Pittsford and paint a piece of pottery for herself and her friend. The 100 days are almost up and she has yet to claim most of her prizes. She’s been practicing every day we’ve been home but lost the practice sheet for awhile. We found it last week crumpled into a ball inside of her winter boot. Don’t even ask because I have no clue how that happened!

Rebecca, who is checking into flights to Florida

Arianna was talking to our house cleaner, Patrick. She told him that her father was a nurse.
He said, “My dad was in the army.”
Arianna replied, “I think it’s better to be caring than to fight.”
And we agreed.

It’s amazing how well the propaganda works at this age!

Rebecca