My favorite store of all time

PCC Natural Markets. They are only in the greater Seattle area, but they should be an example to grocery stores everywhere. They but Whole Foods to shame. Think costco (organic) food prices but without the bulk and with more choices and products. They even have a full vegan refrigerated row with chesses, milk and whatever else you could need.

I knew I was in love when I walked in one day to buy my staples, bought about $15 extra dollars in shampoo and still walked outspending less than my usual trips to other grocery stores.

...and it only got better. I became a member (it is optional) and now once a month I get an additional 5% off and another time I get 10% off everything. The membership was $60 and it is a lifetime membership, unlike Costco where you pay every year.

They only allow the use of plastic bags for produce (which usually are wet from the misting) and the dry goods (like grains, soup mixes, and nuts) but in both cases there are small brown paper bags as an option too.

They have cooking classes for toddlers up to seniors.They support farmland growth and local farms. They carry harder to find meat, like lamb and bison. Every time I try something new from PCC I fall in love all over again.

If you are ever in the greater Seattle area make sure you check out PCC.

Worth the time

My parents claim they know (all about this.) Well if the "know" the why don't they make the necessary changes???

I can talk until I am blue in the face and nothing ever changes because I am and always will be the "daughter" and they the "parents". I hope I am smarter than that when I am 50.

Another strike against phamacetical companies

I can't believe that anyone would be so naive as to even make all these assumptions this in the first place. Motrin is working on pulling the ad.

Old Pictures

My mom and I taking a bath circa 1981.

Dig my pin striped jeans, suspenders and my volcano science project. 1989

Just in case there was any doubt about my poor white trash history :) It was a 4 door long bed Chevy. I slept in one of the bench seats, my brother in the back row, then my parents and youngest brother in the back of the truck. Not sure when this picture was taken other than sometime between 1985 and 1992. I believe this was Pismo Beach.

It's offical

My mom has cancer in her bones. It took doctors 6 months to figure out what we already thought it was by the power of deduction and reading on the internet. Just one more mark against doctors in the US and another reason I don't trust them. She has been suffering with no name to her pain for almost a full year now.

So after Thanksgiving she starts Chemo and we go from there. As she says the good news is she will finally be loosing that extra 100 lbs she has been carrying around and we will be making a few trips out to California. The doctor that she is working with told her that some blood count number (to tell you have cancer) is the highest he has ever seen, but with a bone marrow transplant and possibly some stem cells she should be okay after they are able to kill off the cancer.

Just when I was happy that this ride called 2008 was going to be over....a ride called 2009 is looking even more challenging.

Feeling skinny--er

I am officially down to 134 lbs. My size 4's fit. I am happy. About 7 more pounds and my 2's should fit. I am very excited. My husband even said, "What is this you loose a few pounds and suddenly you have energy?" I seriously thought loosing weight would be harder this time around, I love to be wrong :)

My goal is to be squeezing into those 2's for the new year. With Gibo's help I should be able to do it.

Worse than poop

Baba has this big waiting room chairs that he got for free 3 years ago and he loves them. I hate them. They are our dinning room chairs. When we moved they got covered in plastic. Baba put Zuzu's chair on top of the plastic (as in 4/6 chairs were still covered in moving plastic.) Her chair is on there in such a way that he threaded it through holes he poked in the plastic.

Most of this week our apartment smelled like something died. 2 days ago I figured out it was her chair. So yesterday I vacuumed the sides to see if I could get anything out. It still stunk.

This morning after breakfast while baba was still upstairs I said screw his precious chair (and cover) I am taking the booster & plastic off.

I seriously started gagging. Ever smell a rotting animal...the stinkiest smell you can imagine...that was this. A brown puddle of milk with floating chunks and a ring around the edge of the booster chair.

I seriously contemplated throwing the chair away. I held my breath and hosed it down in the sink. Then I soaked it in the sink, then scrubbed with soap. Then sprayed down with anti-bacterial cleaner then rinsed again.

I think it will be okay now. Did I mention I hate Baba's chairs.....