a hippie with a minivan

New Computer!!

Simon and I both got new computers!

Simon’s computer was about 6 years old and he was needing to manually start the fan on it often and my laptop, though newer has had a few accidents and was holding on by a thread… or a usb… with tape…

So after searching quite a bit Simon found a great refurb HP m8300f on sale at Future Shop… we sat on that for a few weeks until we finally decided to go for it… plus a screen for me… Ordered them on Tuesday and yesterday morning three boxes arrived at our door step!

OMG! I love it!!

First, it looks sleek… Really nice.. and it is fast, has tons of storage, built in card reader and is really nice to use…

We are trying Vista and knock on wood… everything is pretty good with it…

Looking at pics on my new screen is great also… I can’t wait to do some editing and be able to see the pics that much better…

I love getting a new toy!

Food Dyes in the news..

FDA urged to ban some food colorings

WASHINGTON — A consumer advocacy group called on the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday to ban the use of eight artificial colourings in food because the additives may cause hyperactivity and behaviour problems in some children.

Controlled studies conducted over three decades have shown that children’s behaviour can be worsened by some artificial dyes, the Center for Science in the Public Interest said. The group noted that the British government is successfully pressing food manufacturers to switch to safer colorings.

Over the years, the FDA has consistently disputed the centre’s assertion. The agency’s Web site contains a 2004 brochure that asks the question: “Do additives cause childhood hyperactivity?”

“No. Although this hypothesis was popularized in the 1970s, well-controlled studies conducted since then have produced no evidence that food additives cause hyperactivity or learning disabilities in children,” the agency said.

Julie Zawisza, an FDA spokeswoman, said Tuesday that colour additives undergo safety reviews before approval for marketing and that samples of each artificial colouring are tested. She said the agency reviewed one of the studies that the centre cites in calling for a ban.

“(We) didn’t find a reason to change our conclusions that the ingredients are safe for the general population,” Ms. Zawisza said. “Also note that the European Food Safety Agency has a similar view as FDA’s.”

Dyes are used in countless foods and are sometimes used to simulate the colour of fruits or vegetables. The additives are particularly prevalent in the cereals, candies, sodas, and snack foods pitched to kids.

“The purpose of these chemicals is often to mask the absence of real food, to increase the appeal of a low-nutrition product to children, or both,” said the center’s executive director, Michael Jacobson. “Who can tell the parents of kids with behavioural problems that this is truly worth the risk?”

The center’s petition asks the FDA to require a warning label on foods with artificial dyes while it mulls the group’s request to ban the dyes outright.

The colorings the centre wants banned are: Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Orange B, Red 3, and Yellow 6.

Link

Blueberry Muffins

These are perfect!!

Everytime I have made muffins they have a springy texture to them that I don’t like… I rather them be light and fluffy and a bit cake like… and these are it!!!
1/2 cup Coconut oil (or butter… or a bit of both)
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups blueberries
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk

– Heat oven to 375°.
– Grease or line 12 large size muffin cups
– In bowl, mix butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat until pale and fluffy.
– Add eggs one at a time, beating after each.
– Beat in vanilla, baking powder and salt.
– With wooden spoon, fold in half of flour then half of milk into batter; repeat.
– Fold in blueberries
– Spoon into muffin cups
– Bake 20 to 30 minutes

Of course you could make any kind of muffin with this base… I am going to make some strawberry ones next….

if you… you won't…

I was at the pool last night and I happened to get out at about the same time as a mom with a little girl… she couldn’t have been more than 2 1/2… she wanted to sit in the shower area while they were taking a shower and the mom started to get upset telling the little girl to get up and stand at the exact place that the mom wanted her to and to not move from that spot… at one point she mentioned she feared her slipping but didn’t mention it again…

I finished my shower and went to get dressed and could hear her start with the threats…

“If you don’t stay there, you won’t get ice cream…”

and then the little girl cried, and then she probably moved again, because then the threats got more hurtful…

“If you don’t stay here, you won’t get ice cream, I will get one and you won’t”

and it just kept on getting worse, and worse, when the spot in the shower, became a spot in the changing area.

now the mom is almost screaming “If you stay there, we are not going to get ice cream, but we are going to go home and you are going straight to bed and I am going to tell your daddy how bad you were”

I left just after that…

The threats really bother me…

I remember being a kid and having those threats uddered to me…

If my mom would have kept her word, I would have never been out in public, had any gifts, watched TV or have eaten anything I liked ever again. Did I stop in the moment? maybe… maybe not… Did I start again the next time? Probably, but I don’t think I ever knew why I wasn’t supposed to do something.

The thing is, threats don’t work.

Does that mom really think that her little girl is thinking about not moving, or is questioning why she shouldn’t move or learning not to move? or is she thinking about the ice cream, or getting hurt by her mom’s words, or about her dad not being happy with her?

She might stop moving in the moment. And threats often will get short term compliance, but in the long run, nothing real is learned besides not getting caught and that love is conditional. And at one point threats just won’t work anymore and then punishments just get worse.

The problem though, is that when you are raised in an environment that love is conditional, which most of us were raised in. Punishments, time-outs, rewards etc., then it is so hard to break the cycle…

and really so many people don’t even think about it.