Monthly Archives: August 2008

3 Year Anniversary

Well, three years ago today (actually on a Saturday), Britton and I got married. It is amazing how fast time flies. We have known each other for a total of 8 1/2! We still use a lot of the gifts we received from our friends and family. Thank you to those who helped to celebrate this important day in our lives.

I don’t think we are going to do anything fun tonight, and I had to work today, but we may go out with Matt and Jamie this weekend since it is their 10 year this week too. We usually like to go to Bisetti’s in Fort Collins since that was where Britton and I went for our first date. Maybe we could go out dancing at a club or bar after…

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Pollo Frito

Puerto Rico is not known much for its food, although if it stuck to the more traditional fare, it could be. The staple dish is rice and beans, there is sofrito (flavorful sauce), piraguas (shaved ice), pasteles (kind of like tamales but with yucca root -casava- instead of corn meal), mofongo (we ate at a restaurant called Mr. Mofongo and thought that was great!) and pinchos (chicken on a stick with a piece of french bread on the end). They also have tacos and burritos and other foods you would think would be like Mexican food, but they are all deep-fat fried. And of course, pollo frito! I have never seen so many fried chicken fast food restaurants! They are everywhere. And then we noticed what it did to many of the people. Most of the teenagers were in pretty good shape, but after about 20-25 years old, a LOT of them ballooned big time. So Britton (and my) code phrase for an extremely overweight person is pollo frito. Anyway, now you know the code, so its not so much of a secret.

The reason I get off on to this subject is that I want to raise chickens in Puerto Rico for their eggs, and maybe their meat. I do not think I could kill a chicken, so Britton would have to do that part. But I am sure the chickens would live better than most of the chickens in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). They would be free-range and eat all the grains, bugs (big, yucky bugs I hope!) and fallen fruits. But I don’t want to wait…After going to the county fair this weekend with Britton and our niece, I think I may have Britton convinced to let me have a laying hen/chicken or two in our backyard! I think it would be good practice. Plus Schnoodle needs help eating all these grasshoppers! I just hope that there aren’t foxes, skunks, weasels, etc that will eat them here or in PR. I am still worried about Callie for that same reason. Still no sign of her. Maybe she’s on summer vacay….

Here’s a video of Noodle trying to help rid us of the grasshopper take-over, but I think she is playing more than working!

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Super Hot

I like it hot, but this is crazy hot. Here in Colorado we have the extremes of either super hot or super cold and snowy. The spring and fall are just the transition to those extremes.
From the Greeley Tribune’s Website:
“Greeley averaged a high temperature of 95.65 degrees in July, well above the historic average high temperature of 90 degrees. In that month, seven days were at least 100 degrees, while only four were below 90.”
“Further south on Thursday, Denver recorded its 19th straight day with temperatures of at least 90 degrees, breaking a record that stood since 1901. It is the third-hottest — and driest — July in Denver in 134 years, according to Chris Tomer, meteorologist for FOX 31.”
I did read recently, however, that vitamin D (which is actually a hormone) is tremendously good for us and our bodies actually create it from sunlight (which we have known for some time). This version of vitamin D is impossible to overdose on because our body makes it for us. Vitamin D helps prevent and even cure nearly every chronic condition (cancer, heart disease etc) and helps acute conditions as well. 
We only need about 15-20 minutes of sunlight on our skin a day, but, incredibly, many people don’t get even that much. That is partially why we have vitamin A and D added to (pasteurized/homogenized) milk. Without these, we can’t process the calcium. Many people don’t get enough sun because of many reasons: not going outside (direct from house to work to house), not exercising or working outside (many jobs and all rec centers are inside), and then of course the crusade against sun for the parts that may actually see a peek of it (sun screen, sun glasses, sun block, layers of clothing). So don’t be afraid of the sun, just be careful not to get burned or too much sun. It is good for you! Go out and photosynthesize some Vitamin D for the health of it! Plus it’s FREE and especially plentiful right now. 
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