Livin' on A Prayer

And our food storage. This afternoon the bishopric announced that there had been an imaginary earthquake yesterday and the Stake Presidency has challenged us to live off of our food storage for 6 days.

I. Am. So. In!

Here are the rules I am setting for myself. If it is in the house we can eat it. If it grows in the yard, we can eat it (too bad I haven't planted a garden this year.) We will be drinking water from the faucet. The milkman comes on Wednesday, I am still going to get milk but I will not open the new bottles until Saturday night - that means from Thursday to Saturday I will have to use my wits and my freezer. Electricity and all of my appliances and kitchen gadgets are approved. Seriously, there is no reason to be extreme.

I am so glad that my bomb shelter food storage room looks like this:(Hey, I just moved in)

And that I adhere to the food storage maxim "Store what you eat, eat what you store." Trader Joe's I love you!
And that I have plenty of sweeteners.
Challenges I foresee:

I tried to get to the Farmer's market yesterday for fresh veggies but I kept getting sidetracked by garage sales and I never made it. We have very little fresh veggies right now.

Trader Joe's did NOT have any flour tortillas last night so I will have to make my own. Not the same.

When I went to get eggs at the farm this week, they only had 1 dozen so I have 10 eggs for a week of living off of food storage. Maybe my friends that have chickens will bring me a housewarming gift of eggs? Gifts totally count.

I only have 1 bag of chocolate chips.

I have kinda been dipping into the food storage since we put the old house on the market to save money as well as to make more room so some of the things I THOUGHT we had we may have eaten.

Let the games begin.

P.S. The Bishopric is glad that we all survived the earthquake.

Urban Legend Revealed

Monday I found a large envelope in my mailbox. It was from the Neilsen Ratings Company. I have of course heard about these people but I thought they were an urban legend made up by the TV people so that they could tell us how popular their terrible shows are. I had certainly never been polled by them, nor has anyone I know.

Well, now I believe in them because they sent me CASH MONEY! I opened the envelope and there were the Benjamins (I know they aren't really Benjamins but it isn't cool to say one Lincoln and five Washingtons now it is?) and a tiny one side of one page survey to find out if we were white and if we spoke Spanish.

I don't really feel represented though, because they didn't ask much about the shows I watch and I don't think that they care that I am a married white woman.

I really hate when people in surveys are so concerned about race. WHO CARES??? If we really want to eliminate racism in this country than we need to stop obsessing about what demographic we fit into and just take people as they are.

They also promised to send me $20 more once they received the survey. I think that is aces and even if it is a scam I still have the $10 and they can't take it away from me. I am totally going to but something awesome with it like sushi, or chocolate, or yarn. Way to stimulate the economy Neilsen Ratings!

Q & A with Samurai Mom

Q. Samurai Mom, why are you so insistent on remaining anonymous?

A. I don't want to be held accountable in my personal life for what I say here. If
my readers know my real identity I will not be able to say what is in my heart for fear of causing offense. For example I have a friend who doesn't breastfeed, she doesn't even try, she had a baby that died, and still she refuses to breastfeed. How will she feel if she reads my rants on how bottle feeding kills 4,000 babies in the US per year and THOUSANDS more worldwide?

Q. Why did you choose Samurai Mom for you Screen Name?

A. I love the Samurai Legends and Culture. I admire the dedication and skill the Japanese put in to EVERY aspect of their lives. I like the ritual and the simplicity. Samurai are also fearless warriors loyal to their master. Like wise I feel that I must be a fearless warrior and loyal to the standards, causes, and values that are important to me. I am a mother. I LOVE being a mother and most of the things I believe in pretain to motherhood directly or indirectly.

Q. What can you tell us about yourself without giving away your identity?

A. Well, I am a mother, a wife, a scholar, a mentor, an artist, designer, and seamstress. I am LDS, a Diaper Free Baby mentor, a baby wearing expert, an avid reader and a budding archer. I am about as Attachment Parerenting as you can get and believe in positive parenting not punitive. I homeschool, breastfeed, homebirth and try to eat healthfuly. I have 2 young sons and a fabulous husband, all my boys are much better than I deserve.

Q. Samurai Mom, do you like chocolate?

A. Are you kidding???? I love it, the darker the better! I used to be a fan of chocolate but since becoming a mother I have formed a very unhealthy attachment to chocolate. My friend gave me a box of Godiva Truffles for my birthday....oh, YUM!