Pumpkin Obsession

I’m a little crazy over pumpkins.  I have to work really hard to resist buying anything and everything pumpkin related. Stoneware, embroidery patterns, pumpkin flavored pasta, that evil pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks.

You guys, I buy one of those lattes every year and I think they are gross.  To me they taste like bologna and Play-Doh.  And I still buy one every year.  I have a problem.

So, I was very proud of myself when I came home from the Farm to Family market with only four pumpkins.  It took me 15 minutes to decide which ones to take home.  I wanted them all!

In the end I chose three pumpkins that could be used for cooking, and only one that was purely decorative and more traditional.  That one was for T.  I pick the crazy knobby, warty, veined, weirdo ones over the traditional orange every time.

In the coming months I look forward to enjoying my pumpkins in a couple of ways.

1. Just staring at them.  It makes me happy to enjoy them sitting around my house looking pretty.
2. Cooking them. I’m excited to try some new recipes and see what kind of results I get.  You’ll get to see if I totally wreck them, or actually make something tasty!

So, yeah.  My name is Julie, and I’m obsessed with pumpkins.  At least it is a seasonal love affair.

Support your local food economy

Supporting your local food economy is an easy way to reduce the use of oil, support local business, and eat some really tasty food!  Each step in the right direction helps realize the change in your community.  Small but meaningful steps in supporting you local food economy include:

• Shopping at farmer’s markets
• Growing some of your own food
• Shopping at grocery stores that stock local food
• Asking your grocery where the food comes from, and let them know you want to buy locally produced veggies, fruits, dairy and meats.

What are you doing to support your local food economy?  I would love to hear your ideas!

How the world eats

Check out this article by Roger Doiron.  It has some awesome stats on how the world eats.  Some great info in this one.

On World Food Day: Crunching the Numbers

One Week ’til Winter

My thanks to all of you who shared you interests in this post. The feedback was very inspiring! I have been working on big, life-changing projects and sorting out my values and interests over the past few weeks. It has been fantastic having a touch point to come back to when I’m feeling freaked out or like I’m full of stale ideas.  So, again, thank you!

My Autumn LoA has been on my mind. With a special event to run for work, dealing with the sinus funk for almost a month and the hospitalization of one of our kitties, it’s no wonder time has moved very quickly for me this season.  With a week left to focus, I’ll report on what I’ve done and debut the ’08 Winter List of Awesome. I’ll also do a little holiday decorating, attempt to make something festive with some of the greenery in our yard, and take one last stomp in the leaves before I mulch them for the season.

I hope you all enjoy your last week of Autumn!

Julie and Sagan

Julie and Sagan, originally uploaded by yelahneb.

I’m not the kind of girl who goes crazy over babies. Mr. Sagan here really tested that part of my personality when I met him back in October. I did not want to put that little dude down!

Do it: Register to vote

No matter who you plan to vote for in November, please take the time to register to vote.  Each state has its own voter registration deadline.  Check your State Board of Elections website for the specifics.  The deadline for Virginia is October 6 (29 days before the election).

VoteforChange.com is the easiest way I have found to check on your voter registration status and update any outdated information.  It only took two or three minutes, and I had all of my paperwork filled out and ready to send to the Board of Elections.  So, what are you waiting for?  Do it!  Register to vote!

(Full disclosure: VoteforChange.com is paid for by Obama for America.  At posting time, I could not find a similar feature on johnmccain.com.  You could Google your State Board of Elections for a non-partisian registration outlet.)

New Page: Library Love

I’m so pumped about my library exploits I’ve made a page dedicated to my check-in/check-out habits.  Feel free to make some book suggestions in the comments!

The Unexpected Awesomeness of the Library

Wednesday I did something I haven’t done in years.  Something that I haven’t even thought about doing since the early 90s.  I went to the library and had fun.

Now, the key here is the fun factor.  Of course I went to the library in high school and college, but it was just for research purposes.  I spent hours in the Mississippi State University library.  Maybe hundreds of hours (okay, tens) spent researching, checking out books for research or working with a group researching a project.  Not once did I get anything I just wanted to read.  I hadn’t stepped foot in a library since December 2001.

Also, I love books.  I don’t always love the reading part (sometimes the book is just crappy), but books smell good, feel good and look awesome.  I just like holding on to them, flipping through the pages while watching an episode of something I’ve seen too many times.  I would buy books just to have them around.  Then I bought a book I thought I would love.  I was so excited about this book.  I even when to the release party in a dorky shirt with my good friend and we had a fantastic time. I went home ready to devour that book, and it sucked.  UGH!  Why did I spend my money on this piece of crap!?  I was pissed.  If I could just return the book it wouldn’t be so bad…

That’s when I decided going to the library was the best idea ever.  And let me just tell you that it totally was the best idea ever.  The library is awesome!  There was a great selection, happy librarians and a self-checkout that blew my mind.  I can also request books online and the library will hold that book for me until I come and pick it up!  Plus I get to keep the book for 4 weeks! And it’s all free!!

So I’m happily reading Dead Until Dark and enjoying the heck out of it.  I’m not adding clutter to my home.  I’m utilizing local resources.  And if I get another crap book, I’ll just dump it off and never have to look at its stupid cover again.  That makes me smile.