This post comes during a “life time-out”, or as it shall be known by me from this point on. A time when the daily life routine is interrupted for an important news flash. I’d be remiss not to follow the pattern and take a time out from my daily routine to write about it.

My heart is as full as my eyes at the moment, which just happen to be overflowing with emotion. I just hung up the phone with a friend. While content is personal, the feeling is universal. This dear friend isn’t someone I can put a tally of years next to, our time together was relatively short. It’s been several months since we had interaction, I’m chagrinned to reflect on the probability that I didn’t even get a Christmas card to her (I so hope I did!!). But here’s the magic, none of that matters because frankly, none of that matters. It’s not how long you know someone - it’s how well. It’s not the things you don’t do - it’s the things you do. Some people you get to know because you work with them, others because you serve with them, others because you share similar life experiences or live next to them, and the list of reasons goes on and on. The bottom line is there is a list and its bottom line is the same: people, that’s what it it’s all about folks, people.

On a day when my mood has been a reflection of the continuous rain outside (for all those friends who endure many days of rain, I have a newfound respect for you!), I can sit here at my computer and reflect how moments of interaction with friends through the day have brought me intermittent rainbows. One doesn’t know this because she was simply sending me an email which brought on some discussion during my day, but it was a rainbow all the same. In fact, most of the people who do much for me probably don’t know it. I try to express my gratitude and love often, but I know I miss more than I catch. If my friends who read and comment on my posts here could see what they do for my heart, they might be surprised. It seems so little a thing, but it all comes back to those who take the time to make the time. The busy dad in Oregon, the friend I met in a chat room so many years ago when our daughters were babes and who bless her heart still finds ways to find me and reach out to me, the co-worker from years ago, and the list goes on and on. Or how about that sweet lady who smiled at me at the grocery store, or the nice man who offered to take my cart when I’d unloaded the bags? Yes, they added rainbow fragments to my day too. If I had but the immediate memory and time to write about each of them I could fill an entire page. If I could extend it to those who have touched my life it would turn into volumes. If I could wrap it all up I’d have a lifting power beyond imagination. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

Trust in your heart. Trust in your feelings. When you find yourself thinking you should just call someone you should. It’s the someones in your life that make it worth living. It’s the calls you make that make the difference.

I’m taking a life time out to share my thoughts. To openly put out there how grateful I am for all the people that make my little world go round. You are many. You are amazing. You are what it’s all about.

The wise advice to be prepared is timeless. Yet, I’m continually surprised at the depth of it. There was a time when it meant being ready to take a test or turn in an assignment; a time when it was about hitting a work deadline, and eventually a time when it was about taking steps of independence and starting my own family. That brought an onslaught of new applications to the principle and they moved through my life in perfect harmony with the winds of growth and progress which defined each season. On this note, I must express gratitude for this passing of time and progress. While some elements are those of which you desire an end to never come, there are plenty counterparts that keep you praying for a new day NOW.

Another interesting spin on this preparedness concept runs parallel to daily life. The wisdom of preparation steps in your life to help in times of scarcity make the difference between weathering a storm and being beaten by it. It’s better to be the industrious ant or squirrel than starving in winter. At the time, you may store up reserves thinking it’s for a big calamity or natural disaster, but it’s far more likely to be a personal winter; a lost job, wayward child, etc. And when you go through a few of these you can’t help but understand preparedness in a new light. It’s not about having a year’s supply of food or a garage full of emergency equipment, it’s about being able and willing to step up when the call comes. It means being emotionally and psychologically open to options and solutions as much as being physically able and willing to perform them. It may be a call to move for employment, to make changes impacting your children’s lives and ability to flourish or it could be as simple as being able to give your neighbor that egg or cup of sugar they just ran out of. The size and scope of arising needs is a colorful rainbow of opportunities, and they often intersect with the lives of others.

When my husband and I made the decision to move a few months ago, a key element of our decision was to prepare ourselves for the future. Although we couldn’t define why, we both felt a strong need to free ourselves from objects limiting our capacity to accept potential opportunities. (Like moving to Spain for example.) This move has been key in that process, in cutting financial strings. Surprisingly, it has also enabled us to consider things we wouldn’t have before.

Some things you can’t prepare for. You can’t even predict them. But I’m learning that when you’re doing your best to be prepared, that very process can be your strongest ally in the world of unknowns.

Our time here in California looks to be short. There are needs on the home front with my parents, there are needs within my growing family that being in our hometown can fill. We are now in a position and mindset to consider and deal with both. We couldn’t have seen or predicted these events, and yet here we are evaluating them. The stars seem to be lining up in a way that points to every step we’ve taken to this point having been to that end. Crazy how you can start out climbing one ladder only to realize when you get to the top that it’s pointing to one across the room. So on to the process of building a bridge between them.

Life gets stale…check for freshness.

My thoughts run amuck this morning on this simple word.

It all began when I opened a can of sugar from my food supply yesterday. To say it didn’t smell sweet would be an understatement. I can’t even describe the smell beyond some horrible combination of musty tin and something utterly undefinable. Stale is the only word that comes to mind. Efforts are underway to determine if the sugar is salvageable, I’m hopeful that aeration will be all that’s required. This is the second time that smells have gone wrong in a 10 can storage container for me. The first was a 72 hour emergency supply kit where even the hard candy tasted like the small bar of soap in the same container - regardless of how many layers of sealed plastic bags were used to separate items. Make no mistake, smells matter and they’re powerful too!

This is about the time my thoughts start pouring out in all directions.

I think about how many things in life go stale quickly, how many of them we remain ignorant to because we haven’t checked on them in a long while, and how many are salvageable. This list is endless. In fact, one could define my inbox today as stale. Ironically, as I’ve been thinking on the need to clear it out again for the past week, I’d read this headline this morning: “It’s time to deal with that overflowing inbox” Fate? Coincidence?

I think most everything is at risk of becoming stale. From dreams to food and everything in between, it seems we’d do well to rotate these things on a regular basis to check for freshness.

With the foundation set, it’s time to bring the education players on the stage. Here’s a few lessons to share.

(These lessons apply to majority of people and homeowners in the U.S. today. If you’re lucky enough to be part of a grandfathered property and you, your ancestors and your posterity never have and never will move, pat yourself on the back and don’t bother reading the rest of this. Also, if you can buy a house outright with your own cash, you also qualify for an exemption. If you’re not part of this crowd, you probably should read this.)

Lesson #1) ‘Owning’ a home is a misnomer.
To own something signals to our minds a completeness, a finality if you will. You pay for something and then it’s yours to keep and control. To slap this description on a process that typically spans three decades is where the misnomer comes it. Until you’ve made that final payment you don’t own your home, you’re renting it. The owner is who you borrowed the money from to sign a contract allowing you to move in and become responsible for the property. Oh, and you’re also paying them for the privilege of using their money in addition to your rent. However, when it comes to maintenance and all other related costs, rest assured your ownership is immediate and complete. So what you really ‘own’ for 30 years (or until you’ve paid off your loan) is an expensive rental.

Lesson #2) The lender has one goal.
The lender’s reason for existence in this business realm is simple, they are there to make money. There are several ways for them to do this and they have several backups to protect their investment, some of which include:

• Mortgage Insurance: This can be collected in the event you are unable/willing to make your payments.
• Property Value: They can resell the property for it’s value price should you not fulfill your contract.
• Government Aid: This only applies to the current housing mess, but lenders are receiving bailout money for homes in foreclosure in an effort to keep them from going bankrupt.

When you hit the grand scale of lenders that are so common in the U.S. today, there is no such thing as people and common sense. It’s all business and numbers. Programs put in place to help the people don’t work because of this truth and this single objective. Banks have every reason to foreclose on homeowners, not help them. The point of this lesson is knowing the lender is not there to help you once the contract to secure the home is signed. In fact, after that point you’re on opposing sides of the game.

Lesson #3) The home as an investment is a misnomer.
While this is the number one selling point, it is untrue for the average homeowner. The reason this sell works is because generally we are slow and lazy with no desire to do the math. By definition, an investment provides a return or pay out equal to or greater than the amount spent. Some will argue that this is where your home equity comes in as you can leverage it to borrow still more money. That’s a hollow argument to me as borrowing money isn’t the same as earning it therefore your gain isn’t on the investment or net worth side, it’s simply an expense category item used to satisfy a need or want leaving you with still more debt. The greatest irony of this is the pattern of upgrading we so readily buy into. We believe that to be happy and successful we have to keep getting more which potentially leads us to a bigger house. We fail to recognize that more equals more - more commitment, more expense, more everything. So, to qualify as an investment your home has to provide you payout for ALL the money you put into it with an additional profit above that. And here is where we fail because we don’t do the math. If you’re fortunate enough to sell a home and reap the equity, you may feel like your home was an investment. The problem is you never factor in the rest of the equation which is balancing your gain against your expenses, you simply see money that didn’t exist before. That’s a wonderful thing, also something you never consider balancing with it’s opposite which happens when a home’s value suddenly drops through the floor and you can’t sell it even if you wanted or had to. In fact, it took this experience for me to really think on balancing the equation and here’s what I discovered for myself:

$432K (30/yr, 6% on $200k -$528k if 8%)
+$60k (General guidelines say 1% of a home’s value is a good yearly estimate for routine maintenance)
+$50k (30 years of repairs and major things outside routine maintenance - I know this is low but we’re just getting a framework)
+$50k (30 years improvements - again, low but it’s just a framework)

=$592k - or an even $600k for easy math. So this is the minimum you need to receive for your home to hit the break even point - not make money. Big fail for investment math.

Now if we flip this (and I’m not a mathematician and I don’t play one on TV so this isn’t accurate, just info to get you thinking) by saving that same money you were going to spend on the home (I’m not talking the necessary payment amount here, just that excess for maintenance and such) you’d not only do a great deal to increase your net worth you’d potentially earn enough money to buy a home outright in less time than it would take you to pay for one on the “regular” plan. Especially if you invested it wisely in some compounding interest money market account. Food for thought.

Lesson #4) When things go wrong, they go terribly wrong.
The saddest lesson in home ownership has come in recent years with the mortgage industry crash. The reality is, your home isn’t worth what you paid or even what the economy says it’s worth at the time, it’s only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. And the extension of this is it’s only worth what your lender is willing to accept. To further complicate things, a big mess, like the mortgage industry created with inflated values it couldn’t support, can result in a wave of consequential changes from new programs, to new legislation. The impact is far reaching and will be felt for years to come. The things you know and understand today may not be the same tomorrow. This is also the point at which I learned how the bank is actually on an opposing side from you. See, if they chose not to accept an offer when your home is upside down, you lose and there’s nothing you can do about it. And remember all those ways listed above for a lender to make money? They all work against the buyer. The bank will make more money by refusing or messing up a short sale offer and pushing the home into foreclosure than to help the buyer resolve the debt. Oh, and conditions of need over want in regards to moving - say for a new job, they have no influence. This is all about money and you’re on the short end of the stick. The worst part of all this is learning the hard way about the instability of what you thought was sound. It’s a rude wake up call to realize that circumstances completely beyond your control can change everything and leave you helpless. In fact, it’s a rotten feeling indeed.

Yes, it’s been a wicked learning curve. While we’ve successfully navigated away from the drowning Titanic, we’re still watching helplessly on the sidelines and feeling the waves of the aftermath. But we’re fortunate, we’re fine. Our credit will be marred by circumstances beyond our control, but we don’t need it to live and enjoy life as we’ve known it. We’ve been blessed to have a great job with a terrific raise, a comfortable and nice home we’re renting, money to meet our needs/wants and the knowledge that we did everything we could regarding our home in Arizona. Most people who have lost or are losing their homes today aren’t anywhere near as fortunate. I feel for them. We’re all wiser for our experience, but it doesn’t ease the pains of weathering the storm.

There seems to be more broken about our system than works. Did you know you can’t start a short sale process until you are behind on your payments? For us that meant we had to deliberately not make a couple months of payments to qualify for the only way we could sell our home. Some suggested renting in hopes the value would increase to the point we could sell it. Unfortunately we could never rent it for anywhere near the monthly mortgage payment and a partial payment is looked on the same way as no payment. Further, the recovery time looks to be about 12 years. Two mortgage payments are out of the question, especially when one was already our limit and we moved to one of the most expensive areas in the country. So with no option, we hired a real estate agent to list the home, agreed to maintain our utilities to the property and skipped a couple months of payments. We were encouraged when the bank approved our status for the government short sale program and although that was a bugger of paperwork and red tape, the offer was submitted to the bank. All was looking great until the bank decided they wanted more money and countered asking both seller and buyer for more. That did two things, first it caused the buyer to withdraw their offer and second the added paperwork and process delayed the process. To our disappointment, the next thing we learned was that our approval had been disapproved because of timelines not met - not met because the bank delayed the process. The ray of light was that we had a second offer ready to submit and while it would be a pain to restart the application and approval process for the short sale program it could be done. Well, it was supposed to be an option until we received foreclosure notices in the mail yesterday. Now we’re told that because the process is too far into foreclosure short sale is no longer an option. Apparently, while the left hand of the bank was processing our short sale program, its right was simultaneously pursuing foreclosure procedures. I am so saddened for our good neighbors too. Our home had the potential to be inhabited with new owners and continued home care. Now I fear it will fall into a state of ugly abandonment and for absolutely no reason. While we’ve always known we’re at the complete mercy of the bank and system, it is still utterly disappointing to see it work against us.

So let’s recap. A program is devised to alleviate insurmountable challenges with relocations. Approval is granted and two offers are obtained. The first isn’t accepted and the second isn’t considered. Bank forces both credit damage and foreclosure as a result. Epic fail - definitely broken. Is there any wonder that our legal system is now littered with lawsuits over messes like this?

The fine print is something I’ll not miss again. I may never own a home again - by choice. If I do, it will be when it can truly be an investment because it’s paid for from the start. But through all this, I feel we have been truly blessed. The weight of the ball and chain are gone. The mess isn’t cleaned up yet and I have no idea how long it will take with the bank running the show, but it will eventually be cleaned up. A whole new world is open to us with these cables of home ownership keeping us anchored. Maybe we’ll end up in Spain for employment yet. Regardless of where we go in the future, the knowledge that we can, and the freedom and ability to reallocate our income to our advantage are liberating and wonderful. Life is good.

Chalk it up to lessons learned. One very, big lesson to be exact: home ownership and what it really is and isn’t. Now, to be fair, this isn’t a news flash lesson but it is definitely a course correction and eye opening learning curve. Think of it as an expanded view. I literally feel like I just climbed on top of the barn and got a whole new perspective. This is good, this is a sign of growth and if I can keep it in my memory a sign of potential wisdom.

To understand where I’m coming from I must back up the train about 18 1/2 years ago, for this is where the seeds for independent living and home ownership began. The time is spring of 1992 and I’m engaged. Blake and I are talking about our new life we’ll be starting together in May, we’re making plans, dreaming, plotting our future course and such. One of the topics on the burner is where we’ll live. While apartments are the most common and expected avenue, we start thinking that if we could get into a little duplex we’d have something to show for the 4 or so years of expected rent. Problem: we have no money for a downpayment and we’re going to be living in a new and unfamiliar place. Extension of the problem, we can’t convince Blake’s dad, our only source for a solution to the problem and super smart accountant, that this is a wise investment. He counters that we don’t know where we’re going to be after graduation which is only a few years out and thus staying flexible with renting makes more sense. Hindsight shows this would have been very wise indeed, however all is not lost as through this exercise Blake’s younger brother received the fruits of planting these seeds a few years later. You’re welcome, Ryan. ~wink~ But I digress. The point of this share is that even before I was married I had a belief in the value of owning a residence; an accepted social truth that it would be an investment instead of flushing money down a toilet never to be seen again.

Blake and I spent the next 5 years spending every possible downpayment dollar on taxes. We were DINKS (dual income no kids) and we had no deductibles. It was most disheartening and we grew accustomed to the reality that we were locked into renting. In our 5th year of marriage we moved back to Idaho where Blake had taking a job for a start up company. This was a turning point as after 6 months, Blake’s dad asked us why we weren’t settling down with a home, which would be a wise move. We explained the lack of downpayment and this time he offered to help which made it possible for us to purchase our first home. ~Thanks Dad!~ It wasn’t anything fancy, only 1,000 sq. feet and $65k, but it was ours and it felt wonderful. We spent the next six years making it ours, creating a yard and increasing it’s value. When we moved in 2002, we felt it payed off as we were able to sell it for about $87k. The point of sharing this is the reality that our fist expectation of ‘making money’ or receiving a return on our investment was achieved.

2002 was an ugly year for us. Our business had gone under, I’d suffered a medical disaster that stretched over 3 long months building a mountain of medical bills and there was no work for Blake in the small Idaho town. Suffice it to say it was a miracle we were able to purchase anything when we moved back to Arizona. We found an affordable townhome for about $120k. It took us 5 years to dig out of the hole we’d dug with our financial disasters, but toward the end of year 4 our home provided us some additional help with a home equity loan that helped us clear our consumer debt. In 2006 we were blessed with a nice salary increase for Blake. This coupled with our cleared consumer debt gave us a new lease on life. We decided it was time to really “settle” and bought our first dream home. I describe it this way because the first two homes we bought were choices made by lack of options more than anything. This time we went looking for something we wanted and we found it. A great home, nice sized yard, pool in the backyard, everything we thought we wanted to live the good life and be super happy for the rest of our lives. We had added confidence as the townhome we’d bought 5 years before had nearly doubled which fueled our ability to purchase our dream home for $374k. The point of this share is multi-faceted; 1) we gained experience with the process of buying and selling, 2) we were able to use home equity to help us make progress on financial goals, 3) we capitalized on selling high returning more profits, 4) we followed the typical ‘American Dream’ pattern of upgrading.

So far so good right? I thought so too. However, my lesson was just beginning.

In fairness, things were really good for about the next three years. When the dust settled, our monthly house payment was about $500 more a month than promised when we purchased the home but it didn’t kill us. However, when Blake took a job he really wanted that let him work from home we sacrificed some monthly income and in the 4th year we’d have some bigger home maintenance and growing kid financial needs. We didn’t actually see the results for about a year, when we started noticing the consumer debt had crept back up to compensate. Naturally, this would be about the time the nation would experience financial distress and our area was hit with the demise of bank mortgage disaster. The long and short is that the value of our home fell to half what we paid for it. For the first while this was disappointing to be sure but it wasn’t a show stopper. We had no intention of moving so we figured we’d weather the storm and eventually the value would come back up to what we’d paid for it - by all practical and realistic projections about 7-12 years. I was blessed with a work opportunity about this time that would allow us to tackle the consumer debt and with some diligence we’d be back on top of things soon. If you’ve read many stories, you know this is the point where the curve ball comes. And sure enough it did, Blake got recruited for an amazing job opportunity in a different state. The point of this share is unforeseeable consequences can come from circumstances and factors beyond your control and vision.

So let’s recap the history:

• I believe in the theory that home ownership is a wise investment and will provide a return for monthly money spent on housing.
• I experience this ‘return on investment’.
• I gain experience with the process of buying and selling, am able to see the value of home equity, made a high return on our home sale and followed the upgrading pattern.
• Unforeseeable and uncontrollable events generate substantial consequences on the home buying decision.

I’d keep writing, but I’m exhausted so I’ll break this post out into two parts. I’ll tackle the wealth of knowledge gained and my personal thoughts as a result in Part 2.

I can’t resist posting on this. I was just catching up on a million blog posts and news feeds and came across this article about San Francisco taking a stand against McDonald’s Happy Meal. As we now live in the San Francisco area I thought it an appropriate introduction! *giggle, snort*

Here’s the skinny:

So the city of San Francisco has taken a stand.

“In an effort to curb the swelling rates of kids who are overweight or obese, the city’s Board of Supervisors voted in favor of a law that would require any meals that package a free toy to include fruits and vegetables and contain no more than 600 calories or 35 percent of its calories from fat (about 210 calories or 23 grams of fat). The meals would also have to contain a beverage that’s not loaded with sugar or fat.

At a time when an estimated 17 percent of young people aged 2-19 years are obese and about an equal number are overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control, the restriction on the popular Happy Meal is a worthy effort.”

Welcome to San Francisco.

These are pictures of Redwood City, California - the place where Blake has accepted a job offer and where we’ll be moving to the end of next month.

I’m still reeling - excited, but reeling.

A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. First, we got a call that Blake’s grandma Faye wasn’t expected to live beyond a few days to a few weeks. This is a picture of her (front row, third from the left) in 2003, when Taylor’s adoption was finalized.

Last summer, we visited her at the nursing home where she’s been living for the past 2 years. Time and dementia have taken their toll on her. Time has given my little Taylor several more feet of height too, but note that the platinum blonde hair remains as true as when he was one. Personally, I’m just grateful that the pacifier isn’t still affixed to his mouth, there were days when I wondered if we’d ever successfully lose it. But I digress.

The point is, you think you understand what it means to endure, or what the phrase “Endure to the end” means, and then you reflect on the aging/exit process of this life and realize you don’t know anything about it all. This wonderful woman who has lived a full life and always been so vibrant and strong is powerless against the powers of death. I hate this reality, I really do.

So for the past two weeks we’ve waited for the call that would initiate the drive to Idaho. We’re still waiting. I’m not sure what to think about that. On the one hand I’m utterly amazed at the human spirit and ability to cling to life when it seems impossible. On the other, I’m saddened that relief can’t be delivered for this loved one. And so I find myself thinking it’s too much to process and must think on other things.

So on we go to my second arena of thought: Madrid, Spain.

Last week I left a closing line on my post of wondering what I’d be thinking this week. Well, I’m still thinking…a lot. You know how the hourglass works; tiny beads of sand stream through a tiny opening to fill the bottom of the jar - you know eventually it will get down there, but sometimes the process feels impossibly slow. That’s this process in a nutshell. The long and short is that this possibility is still on the docket and gaining momentum every day. Six months from now I could be living in Madrid. This is about the time I feel my eyes going blurry from input overload and I’m back to the same point of needing to think on other things.

So right now I’m distracting myself with blogging. It’s a good distraction and one that I’ve not had much time for lately (nor my garden or yard by the looks of things.) As I look at this picture from 2003 my mind is flooded with thoughts and memories. Where does the time go? It wasn’t that long ago that he was small enough to cradle in my arms, not that long since he wrapped his little fingers around mine moments after birth. My cute little Cidderbug is younger in this photo than Taylor is today. That adorable little spirit is just as vibrant, only now it’s blossoming into a beautiful young woman. It’s a lot to process.

Admittedly, I tend to spend more than a fair share of my time and energies on preventative activities. I’m a big believer in the “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” girl. I absolutely loathe panic and stress, and I’ve found that spending an adequate time planning and thinking ahead push panic and stress into near extinction.

Here’s a good rule of thumb: If you really don’t want to do it, it’s a priority.

Procrastination is the killer of productivity, and the reverse is true. If you become productive, you kill procrastination. It’s amazing how the snowball affect works for either side; whichever one you put first grows. I’ve found that if I’m continually putting off a task two things happen: 1) I do the stink’n job in my head several times - this is like unto worrying/stressing about it, which is utterly stupid and frustrating as it only needs done once, and 2) I feel like my to do list is larger than it really is, again utterly stupid and frustrating as it adds to the feeling of burden and worry. It’s why there is an overwhelming feeling of relief when you finally get that task or project done that’s been haunting you. So here’s my personal tip on recognizing this blackhole trap: if it feels small enough to be put on the back burner, and more importantly STAY on the back burner, it’s time to move to the front.

Here’s another one: If you think the small things don’t matter, you’re wrong.

This is one of the greatest illusions of all time. There’s some logic to it, I mean after all if you can easily see or identify something action is sure to follow. However, most fail to recognize that without foundational “small things” in place there would be no hope of anything growing to a size you’d readily identify. No matter how great or big the final product is, trace it back to its origins and you’ll have the proof that small things matter… a lot.

The moral of the post: Take a few minutes to identify the things you’ve been pushing off. Throw out the mentality that only the big things matter. Just do it, no matter how small, how menial, how unpleasant. If you want to make a big directional impact to the sway of your gate, you’ve got to make some corrections at the hinge.

So you know you need to eat healthy. You know that so much of what’s out there is not healthy. You know that you need to take care of your health while you still can - before your body starts cashing in all its receipts of years worth of decisions. I know all these things, or at least I think I do. I’m still not as good about being as disciplined as I should be about my daily diet and exercise decisions, even with that knowledge. However, tonight I finally watched Food Inc. and I’m finding more motivation to be proactive and informed. And not just about the food itself but about the government and economic gears behind the production of it.

I procrastinated watching this because I was expecting something like “Super Size Me” extremes. I’m glad I watched it, and if anyone else had the same concerns I can put them to rest for you. The documentary is well done, well rounded and purely information based. I highly recommend watching it. In fact, as I sat down to write this I went to find some clips or information to share and loved seeing how much good stuff is happening on their blog. I was super encouraged with just the most recent half dozen posts, all sharing enlightenment and positive action spurred by the film. So much of what’s out there is so big, daunting and down right ugly that knowledge can sometimes be little more than a heavy and weighty downer. I appreciate it so much when someone can tackle the ugly without losing the ability to have a positive influence.

I am saddened by how many people in our world are victimized by industry. Watching the family choose crappy fast food hamburgers they know are bad for them simply because they could get more food for less money was truly disheartening. Learning that this trend of diet is leading to numbers of 1 in 2 children of those families acquiring diabetes at a young age was equally sad. Too often we can’t see the consequences of our decisions and actions until it’s too late. I’ve watched first hand the devastating effects of diabetes. I know how ugly it is.

On the upside, watching this coincided nicely with some of our recent decisions in the past year. We’ve cut back eating much meat, especially red meat and we’ve noticed a lot of positives health wise as a direct result. The garden fruits and veggies coupled with our new grain mill have been really fun bonuses. It’s not as hard as I originally thought to do these things. It doesn’t take hours, it’s not hard and the benefits are totally worth it. The real investment I’ve found is the desire to learn and try new things and the determination to keep learning. For example, I found a great recipe for “Wonder Flour” that I use in place of store bought white flour for everything except yeast breads. It takes less than 2 minutes to take six cups of grains and rice and turn it into a wonderful flour. I put it in a gallon ziplock back and store it right inside my flour container and it will last me several months - not much effort for an awful lot of gain. There’s a lot of truth in the statement that small and simple means can bring about great things.

So tonight I know a little more than I thought I knew. I think that’s a good thing.