Hey! I made it through my 20 min run for the (second) first time!

I was doing the c25k* (couch to 5k: program for training couch potatoes so they can run a 5k race –around 30 minutes nonstop) again, because I had finished it, but then stopped exercising for like 3 and a half months, so I had to start over, and I just ran my first 20 min run (which is a very important day… when you are walking through the program it feels… well, impossible), so I’m very happy about that! yay!

Have fun during your vacations! go for a 300, k?

*anyone interested in this program, hit
c25k.com
and google ulrey’s c25k podcasts

Unplug sister! It is very refreshing to take a break from the daily grind. Enjoy!

I LOVE the raw recipes!

Oh, and you look marvelous in your picnic pictures. Mommyhood suits you well.

Have a great vacation! We’ll miss u but u deserve it completely!

I JUST WATCHED that movie a few nights ago with my SO and her parents! Do you ever stop being awesome? I think not. Have a lovely holiday, Sayward!

Hi, a friend gave me a link to your site for your awesome diy deodorant (which I use dialy and looove – I put in tea tree oil, rosemary oil, calendula oil and vanilla oil for girly-ness)
I thought I would let you know about Soap Nuts/Soap berries. You can use them to wash your clothes (a few times each batch) and then compost them. You can also use them to make dishwashing detergent (machine and hand-wash), body wash, shampoo (without the need of conditioner), a mild natural pest deterent for the veggie patch and household cleaner.
Email me for recipes, if you like.
You can get them pretty cheaply, especially in bulk, online. They are just a plant; non-toxic and totally biodegradable. They are also hypo-allergenic and sensitive skin and baby skin friendly.
I was a little sceptical about their strength, but I washed a load of clothes containing my boyfriend’s smelly socks and they came out clean as the proverbial whistle.
… I love them so much, I tend to ramble. Just sharing the eco-thrifty love!

I bought a very sweet man in San Diego breakfast this last weekend. I was sitting at starbucks with a friend and my dogs, and he was digging in the trash for food. I see bums all the time in San Diego, but something about this man struck me. I thought “I should buy him breakfast” and then I thought “Sayward would LOVE that” and then I chased him down and said “Hey man, you lookin for some breakfast?” and he smiled at me ear to ear with one tooth, long gray wavy untamed hair framing his wrinkly eyed face and said ‘oh YEAH!’ like a 5 year old who’d been asked if he’d like a new trike. I laughed and asked him if he’d like a bacon or sausage sandwich, and he decidedly said ‘Bacon!’ with a childish toothy grin.

I chatted with him for a bit while my friend went into Starbucks to buy him breakfast (I was outside with Jim and my dogs). It really opens your eyes to how people who live like that really are. He was 53, but communicated with me like a 5 year old. Very simple words, sentences, and questions. He has a daughter, but has no idea where she is. He lives on disability (for what I assume would be a mental handicap) in a hotel in San Diego. He couldn’t really tell me about how he spends his days, but he did like my dogs, and he told me about the poodle, collie and lab he had when he was younger.

And despite his handicaps, state of mind, or other assumptions I could make, this man was still incredibly happy, and from what I could tell, content in the moment after a warm breakfast. It puts things in perspective when the fortunate ‘us’ are all doing so well. THANK YOU Sayward for this awesome idea….I just wish that I could keep sharing stories like this when new missions come up!

I used to work at an organic, mostly vegan small cafe in the city where I live. The mall (as in outdoor mall) was in between the store and my bus stop to get home. I would hgather up all the food that I was supposed to put in the trash, and approach anyone I could and ask them if they were hungry. I always felt like it was something I should be doing, not something extraordinary. But one day I gave an indigenous family a bunch of bread rolls, some take-out containers full of (still warm) cannelloni and some bottles of juice that were going to expire in a few days. The mother was so thankful, saying that she can send the juice in her kids lunchboxes (we don’t have school-provided lunches in Australia) and that it will save her heaps that she normally can’t spare. Just how thankful she was, and how surprised she was by someone doing something decent made me feel pretty awesome.

@rachel: can’t think of things for lunch ideas (namely food), but I thought of this:

http://lunchbagart.tumblr.com/

which I’m sure any kid would appreciate. ^_^

@Kate & @Annie: Way to go!

I found you via MDC and your extremely helpful posts in the veg*n threads. I read one of your posts and thought “this girl should blog!” then noticed your siggy and was psyched. I spent the past couple days reading through your posts (from the most recent to your oldest – confusing at times, but it’s sort of interesting to do it that way too) and I’ve saved a bunch of links that I want to go back to. Thanks so much for keeping up with such a beautiful blog!

I’ll be picking up my SCOBY next week I can’t believe how helpful this guy is at my local store, he’s arranging the thing with the lady who has it and keeping it for me till I can get there, obviously he’s hoping i’ll bug something in the shop as well but still :P

Oh and I tried your deodorant recipe out as well, seems to work better then other things ive tried but it doesnt get solid (probably just the cheep ass coconut oil i used) but it also seems to seperate into a creamy white part and any oily yellow liquid when left.
I just stir it back together but is that something you experienced?

I’m also “ber” at MDC :) I don’t post much – I’ve been a member for 6 years and only have 800ish posts, but I love reading/lurking for the likemindedness and inspiration (and ok, the drama too sometimes).

Because of you, I had wakame for the first time ever today. :) It was really good BUT the texture took some getting used to. I ordered more (yay for amazon.com) and I’m looking forward to experimenting with it.

OMG OMG OMG I just noticed you changed your nav and tagging a little bit. YOU ARE AWESOME!