Some Questions Answered

Thank you for reading the blog. I have a story to tell, and this blog is the way I tell it these days. I have a lot to say about motherhood and about my cancer journey (a phrase I hate, but that's another story). I like that I have an audience of people who care about me and/or are interested in what I am going to say next. :) Makes me feel special.

Here are the answers to a couple of questions I was recently asked. As far as eating habits, well, I am a vegetarian, not a vegan. Vegans consume no animal products whatsoever. I use leather and beeswax and I eat eggs and dairy. I am not a vegan. If you want to get technical, I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian. I did give up eggs for about 5 years at one point, but I could never give up dairy. I love cheese! It was also difficult to go without eggs. They are in everything. I do try to eat organic/local as much as possible. Firstly, eating local food and eating organic food (unless farmed in China) really is significantly better for the planet. Secondly, it tastes so much better. Have you ever eaten an organic strawberry? It tastes like a burst of strawberriness. Not like conventionally grown strawberries, which taste nice-ish, but not necessarily very strawberryish. And don't get me started about organic tomatoes! I do not buy 100% organic, but I do follow the Dirty Dozen. (I also eat organic carrots, because I have read that non-organic carrots are often sprayed with sewage as fertilizer and carrots are known for their absorbency powers, even sometimes being used to clean fields for other crops. I do not want sewage carrots, thank you!) The Captains are not vegetarians, as you've read in the blog. When considering the issue of whether or not to raise my child vegetarian, I decided that Capt. Adorable is the child of two parents, only one of whom is vegetarian, and it would be much easier on Captain Adorable in the long run to be omnivorous, not vegetarian. Of course he eats lots of vegetarian food, but he loves the delicious items that Daddy cooks on the grill, too! (Yes, I am aware of the environmental impact of eating meat, not interested in getting into a debate, just writing this to share my particular views.) I enjoy cooking and experimenting and trying new techniques and new dishes, plus since the little one came along we've almost completely stopped eating out. (Which is a good thing.)

Sometimes people tell me that it just isn't fair that I have cancer or that I shouldn't have cancer, or that I am too young for cancer. Well, I suppose those people are right. However, I do have cancer and I have to live with this somehow. It is very easy for me to end up under a huge pile of sadness--one sad thing on top of another on top of me. I do not like to cry in front of my son (although sometimes I do) because it worries him, so I prefer to think about the good things in life and to use those thoughts to motivate myself. I did not want to go to the swimming lesson yesterday, but when I thought about how much he would enjoy it, there was no way I could skip! Do I want to be sick mama? Do I want to go to swim lessons and gymnastics lessons, and for walks, and make apple pie, and bake bread? The answer is easy, for me. I think that if you've been reading this blog for even a short period of time you will know which road I have chosen. For me it is easier and more fun to be happy and hopeful than to get under a pile of sorrow. Don't get me wrong--I am often sad and tired, but not always. See the difference? I also choose not to think about certain questions, like fairness, because there is nothing positive to be gained from asking myself that question.

By the way, I enjoy writing in my blog, which many people read, but hardly any one sends me back communication about themselves! I am not always good about answering long emails in kind, partly because I write in the blog, but I love getting and reading them. I kind of feel like the blog is a parcel of letters and you uys all get to read it, but I never get any letters back...I know, I am contradicting my earlier statement that this blog is mostly for me, but hey I'm a human being. Sometimes I hold two ideas in my head which contradict each other and yet are both true for me.

One sad piece of news: John Cephas, of the blues duo Cephas and Wiggins, died recently. I have plenty of his work on my iPod, and I mourn his passing.