A Poem

It is not yet a respectable hour
Outside, the clouds pour down the usual suspect
Dim, oblong windows flit across the ceiling
Occasional headlights swimming in Peardonville Road
The Advil-filled furnace on my chest breathes quickly
Time to carry him back to bed.

Simple Meal Day

See previous post for a description of my "refugee meal." Today was the day.

7am Ate 3/4 cup of cooked rice with a little bit of oil for breakfast.
7:30 Started cooking rest of rice and beans. Feel hungry already.
9am 1/2 cup of rice for snack. Feel good. Beans almost cooked. Deterred Kate from eating my rice.
11:10am Lunch: about 1 cup of rice and half of the precious beans with some oil and salt. Lots of rice left. I gave 1/2 cup of my rice to an insistent Kate. She mixed it with mustard and ranch dressing, then barely ate 3 bites.
1:30 snack: rice and oil; have been feeling fine, though a bit hungry/weak.
3:30 snack: a little bit of rice
5pm Supper: rice and the rest of the beans and oil. Fairly filling.
7pm snacked on the last of the rice. It went fast when there was nothing left to eat!

The day went fine. Other than feeling a little bit hungry, I felt good. I also felt a bit sleepy/tired around 3:00pm, likely from not having the protein that I'm used to (it's a bit of a familiar feeling from my regular eating troubles). I stayed home all day except for a good walk to Safeway and back, pushing both kids in the double stroller--it was decent exercise. The day was not too stressful other than dealing with some whiny kids.

I cooked the rice for about 25 minutes; the beans had soaked overnight so were boiled for 10 minutes and then simmered for an hour. The proportion of rice to beans is what surprised me the most. There is enough food for someone to live on, no question there. It seemed like too much rice, but when I saw how few beans there were to eat, and how quickly the oil disappeared, I was glad to eat the extra rice. While I felt a bit hungry all day, I'm sure after a few days my stomach would adjust.

I missed eating fruits and vegetables (nutrients). I missed snacking on things--I drank water instead. What must it be like for a refugee who has travelled for days or months from their home, lost everything (including, perhaps, some family members), and is malnourished, to receive a ration of rice and beans and oil from an organization such as Canadian Foodgrains Bank? I think it must be excellent. But I will gratefully continue to eat my many nutritious foods. I will eat rice and beans once or twice a month to remember what a good portion of the world eats every day.

Andy's Refugee Camp

Welcome to Andy's Refugee Camp. Here you are safe from the unrest of your own country. You can stay here as long as you need. Thanks to some generous donors you will be given some daily rations to cook and consume at your leisure. You will also be provided with potable water for cooking and drinking. (It is Clearbrook Waterworks water: one of the best!)



The Winter 2012 issue of a Common Place has a sidebar in their piece about the famine in East Africa that was very interesting to me. There is a picture of an average daily ration at a refugee camp. It is the same picture as shown above and is provided by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. See www.foodgrainsbank.ca/ration_meal.aspx for the original piece.
I wanted to try their suggestion of eating a similar meal for a day in solidarity of those suffering from drought and hunger. However, I don't have a scale so I had to use Google to find some conversion sites, in order to figure out how much 50 grams of beans is, etc. I put 1 1/2 cups of dry brown rice in a bag and weighed it on my bathroom scale and it was approximately 1 pound (450 grams). 2 cups may be more accurate, but I'll pretend I got shafted in the daily provisions. 50 grams of dry beans is about 1/4 cup, so you see some kidney beans in a measuring cup, and 50 grams of canola oil is 3 3/4 tablespoons. I decided to salt to taste but I doubt I'll use 5 grams of salt.

As I figured out the measure-ments, I snacked on frozen berries and chocolate chips. I think I am going to try this tomorrow. Too bad I just baked rye bread today! (I used to fast on occasion before my hypoglycemia issues; I found that I was always offered free food at the most inconvenient times!) Complicating this is the fact that we are going to Arizona the next day so I'll be furiously attempting to pack myself and otherwise prepare for our early morning departure including 2 munchkins. I'm already wondering how I will fare with my regular diet while traveling...but anyway, this is just for a day, and I am home from work so won't need too much extra energy. I soaked the beans tonight and will cook them tomorrow. It looks like there will be plenty of rice for me, but the beans and oil will have to be spread out a bit. Why don't they give the refugees a bit more protein and a bit less carbs? Maybe I'll find out tomorrow!!!

Stay posted for the results of my refugee-ing. If I don't post ever again, you'll know that it...didn't work out.

Winter Come and Gone

Last week the snow came. Boy, did it come! I didn't even ride my bike to work all week; it was too cold. But, then the arctic outflow or whatever it was ended, and we are back to our four degree rainy weather. The snowman is melting, the grass is starting to show in spots...

It's been a little stir crazy around here with the kids cooped up inside. It didn't help that Malachi has been getting some molars and they are taking a month to finally cut through. It all started to get to me today--just needed a break--but then we visited some friends for the day and I felt like someone hit the 'reset' button and am back to normal. I suspect part of the problem was eating too much sugar yesterday. I think if I eat too much sugar I feel a bit angry. I read somewhere that this can happen with diabetes, as well.

Now that winter is over, bring on Spring!

We Gave Jesus some Pears

Life's been full lately. Not full as in "my tummy hurts", but a pleasant after-dinner burp full. We've settled into our new work/stay home routine a bit, despite the change that Christmas Holidays brought for a week. Malachi keeps growing and changing, so that keeps us on our toes (though mostly it keeps Kate on her toes!).

For Christmas, we had Christmas at my parents' place, then the second one later that night/next day at Michelle's aunt and uncle's house in Edmonton. Then we stayed with her parents for the remainder of the week. It was a good break from our life at home, although with two munchkins zooming around the house, it was restful in a relative manner. We also saw some friends in Red Deer and the lights of Airdrie--gotta love the outdoor skating pond in the park, it's so romantically Canadian!

Malachi seemed to get rid of his fear of strange people over the holidays. He doesn't mind being held by other people now. However, we're still having trouble getting away and leaving him with babysitters--somehow he senses we're gone and screams until we come back. It could also be that he's teething a bunch of molars right now...poor little fellow!

I enjoyed leading worship at church today. The band was full--great musicians and worshippers. There was lots of positive feedback. It's nice to be able to serve my church with my gifts--and lots of fun too!

On our way to Care Group today we did a quick shopping stop. As we returned to our car in the parking lot, a lady asked us for some change to buy soup. She said she was pregnant. We had no change, but parted with some pears. While it felt good to help out, it also felt like we didn't do nearly enough. We continued on our merry way to Care Group to study the Bible. :-|

A @ Home

On December 1 we did our annual switch up at home: Michelle went back to work 2 days a week, and I cut back to 3 days a week. Now I am home on Thursdays and Fridays again with the munchkins--er, kids. This is my third week of the madness and it's going pretty well. Although it feels pretty busy, I've been managing! My main task is to take Kate to dance class on Thursday mornings. So I cut Malachi's nap short and me and him play for an hour in an adjoining room while Kate hops around in her pink ballet outfit (she's really good at 'sa-shay'ing). Getting Kate to dance also requires the car (or 3 hours and the city bus) so we've all been getting up a bit early to drive Michelle to work. I cut Malachi's sleep short. Today I am going to cut his second nap short to take him to get his shots. So, the poor guy just can't sleep! But he will be okay. He turned One yesterday!!!

Fridays are a bit easier since we don't need the car for anything. We all sleep in (a little), and stay home and play all day! I like staying home from work a few extra days--although it makes going into work a bit harder on Monday, too! (I think when you work full time, 5 days a week anyway, you get into a groove and you get used to working so much)

Stay at home Dads unite! Sugar Mommas rule! ;)

N is for Normal

Andrew and team leading worship at church. (Photo by Custom Concepts Photography)

For a few months I have been wondering if I am officially 'normal' (healthwise) or not. It's hard to decide when to declare Normal to be. Both my MD and my Naturopath say my blood tests and other tests show good, solid levels. But, to be able to function each day with a decent level of energy is a tremendous blessing that just a few years ago I had little hope of reaching. So, thank you God, and doctors, and everybody and everything that helped me get back to enjoying life again. While I still have tired days and the odd 'off' moment, I feel like I am interacting with life in a way that is true (not always thinking about just myself and how I'm doing). I'm able to focus on others, on tasks, to ponder ideas. I hope to be able to give back to those who need my help; that my experience will not be forgotten but will spur me on to good deeds. Not to mention good eating habits. ;)