What is food and what isn't?

I heard this question proposed on the radio the other day while driving to work. It is part of a new government program that would tax non-food items. One of the defining features of "food" is that it contains flour. Therefore some candies will be taxed and others will not, funny huh? The guys on the radio really got into it. They said that the deli food at grocery stores must surely be taxed as deli food is a "luxury food" item and is prepared and served by others, almost like a resturaunt. They thought for sure that a whole chicken sold in the deli would be taxed. An employee from a local grocery store deli called into the show and informed them that whole deli chickens were not taxed, but fast food items such as corndogs, Chinese food, jojos and such were indeed taxed. The DJ's thought this in consistency was humorous and they concluded the following:

"If you can't eat it with your hands while driving and texting then it isn't taxed."

Katrina Kenison - The Gift of an Ordinary Day

Blue Monday

I just heard that today, the third Monday in January, has been identified as the most depressing day of the year. Some scientist who studies seasonal affective disorder decided this based on research. These are the reasons why today is the most depressing day of the year:


1) Distance from Christmas
2) Debt incurred from Christmas
3) Too much rain, sleet, snow, and hail and not enough sun
4) No holidays in sight
5) Monthly salary
6) Abandoning, giving up, or not starting new year's resolutions

I am not sure that these are all of the reasons why this day is labelled the most depressing of the year, but it certainly seems like enough. Now I almost feel guilty for having such a great day today, it was the last day of a wonderful and relaxing long weekend in a high altitude snow camp and I got to ski down the first four miles of the mountain road to catch the shuttle to the parking lot. The sun was out and the views were incredible. I should think about spending this day in such splendor every year!

Remembering to Breathe

One of the things that I have learned from the few yoga classes that I have taken recently is to breathe. This sounds simple enough, but when I pause and think about it, I realize that I probably only breathe with about half of my lung capacity most of the time. One of the reasons that yoga poses are so challenging for me is because I need to think about how I am breathing while I hold the pose.

This weekend we have been invited to join a long-standing group at their annual winter camp. We have never been to this camp and only know one family of participants (the ones who invited us) the trip requires preparation in terms of food and winter clothing for all of us and I am not a person who likes to be caught unprepared. I also don't like to have to rely on others should we forget something important. As we are snowmobiled into this camp, we will not have car access for a couple of days. I have been forgetting to breathe all day. Only now, when I am really thinking about it do I pause and stop for three deep breathes. There, that is so much better.

I hope that this weekend turns out to be fun and relaxing. Now if my husband would only get home from work early like he said that he would we could go and get started!

The Hangover

I have to admit that I had some initial resistance to seeing this one. My fear was that it would be way too unrealistic and full of fart humor for me to appreciate. My good friend and neighbor kept telling me how funny it was, so we watched it last night. This movie was indeed very funny, much better than I expected. It reminded me of "Fandago" which is one of my favorite movies of all time even though I am not a huge Kevin Costner fan. If you want to laugh, I can pretty much guarantee that parts of this movie will make even the most stalwart of moviegoers crack a smile.

Now for a More Personal Touch

HAPPY WINTER

Finally, A Great Ski Weekend

It has taken us a while to get our downhill skiing into gear this year. Over the Christmas holiday we cross-country skied, but we all like to downhill ski as well. The kids did great at Crystal Mountain. The easier runs go on and on forever, very wide and forgiving, a great place for kids. Beautiful weather, not sunny, but a bit grey, great visibility though just a perfect winter day.