Nature vs Nutrisse: B.O.W With Bows In My Hair.

I have a vision of myself. I'm wearing jeans that fit me perfectly. My behind looks neither too large nor too small but as Goldilocks would say... just right. My hair isn't coiffed in the fanciest new doo, but it is perfect. My nails while not brightly colored are well manicured. My footwear is practical for a hike in the woods, but also exceedingly stylish. My camo t-shirt is composed of the perfect colors to bring out my eyes. AND I'm packin' heat. I'm on a hunting trip and damn I look good!




I want to bring home the venison, fry it up in a pan, and never let him forget he's a man.

Right now I'm a woman who is caught between two visions of herself.

1. In January I decided that as my New Year's resolution I was going to learn to clean the fish that I catch and that I was going to learn all about hunting. If possible I want to hunt, clean, and cook something totally hands on. This isn't going to be easy for me... I'm not a squeamish person, but I spent 15 years as a vegetarian and I don't take the life of animals lightly. I think that that is the main reason that I want to do it... and if I can't maybe I need to rethink my diet again.

2. The other vision of myself is part of my vow for lent to give up negativity. A big part of that is getting rid of the negative self image that has been creeping in. I am banishing the sweatpants , holey t-shirts, and sloppy doo-rags (the stay at home mom uniform) to the back of the closet and getting back to a more girly me. I went through my closet and ruthlessly threw away the stained, the out of fashion, and the just plain ugly.

I'm sprucing up my clothing, taking care of my skin, reintroducing exercise and just trying to make the best use of this 40 year old body that I can.


So this weekend I'm off on a BOW retreat. There I will be taking classes on astronomy, nature photography, geo-caching... and yes HUNTING. And I will be doing all this with a bunch of women. Perhaps we can trade make up secrets while we hike through the woods looking for game...

So any fashion or hunting tips anyone?

Exorcising Dust Bunnies for the Easter Bunny

I was planning on posting about Crepes today... But now for something completely different.


I haven't been a practicing Christian for a long time. In fact I haven't seen the inside of a church since I lived in Mexico and that was just for sight seeing purposes. My kids have never been church goers and until this past year my older daughter thought that Christmas was Santa's birthday and that the angle on top of the tree was a fairy. This year we decided that it was time to start sharing the stories and holidays of our Christian background... and after last nights discussion about lent and Easter she is a bit confused about the old Easter Bunnies connection with the crucifixion of Christ. I assured her that he had nothing to do with it, but she still thinks it's all a little strange and certainly WON'T be giving up her favorite food (spaghetti and meatballs) for lent. This is why I've sheltered my kids from religion for so long... Look at how things turn out when I try to have the BIG talks with the kids. Suddenly Santa is being ushered into heaven by a chorus of Tinkerbells, and the Easter bunny is putting 30 pieces of silver in pastel colored baskets.

But just because I don't go to church doesn't mean that I'm without a moral code. I don't consider myself an atheist. My facebook profile says I'm Druid, but I've always been with Jed Clampet on this one, and I consider myself a golden ruler. I also haven't given up giving stuff up for lent. I've always loved holidays like New Year's and Lent. I love making resolutions and contracts with myself to make changes. Mental and spiritual makeovers rock! In fact I am one of the few people I know who makes New Year's resolutions that I stick to. One year I decided to acquire a green thumb... I've been growing a garden ever since... I learned to knit as a New Year's resolution... and this year I have already cleaned a fish, started researching bread baking, and signed up for a hunting class for my resolution to get closer to the source of my food. I've also been writing songs and preparing myself for my musical resolution. I plan to preform a set of my original music sometime this year. I hope to see you there.

But enough about New Years... let's get on to lent. I've decided that I'm going to give up negativity for lent. And that means that I can't give up anything for lent. Instead I have to do something positive... So let's rephrase... instead of giving up negativity I plan on embracing my positive side. I'm not going to shed extra pounds before summer... I'm going to sculpt a leaner body, eat healthier foods and start doing yoga again. I'm not going to get rid of dust bunnies... I'm going to open up the windows and create a cleaner environment in my home. In essence I plan on looking at the bright side of life.