Author Archives: juliebyers

Meet Kelly

Posted on August 5, 2008 by juliebyers

If you’ve been around my blog much, you know I try to practice positive discipline.  It has been difficult finding mommy mentors.  I began with online friends and now I’m steadily building my real life community of families who practice pd. 

Then I discovered Kelly!  Turns out Kelly has been doing this positive discipline thing for years (her kiddos are teens now) and she even teaches pd…in Upstate SC!  So I roped her into meeting me one day.  I had planned our meeting on a morning I wouldn’t have Norah with me; I didn’t want to, um, mess up.  And of course…that backfired and I found myself with Norah in tow.  I remember Norah was carrying some star stickers and one of the first things I blurted to Kelly:  “The stars are not for a reward chart.”  But I needn’t have worried!  Kelly was so inviting, complimentary, and well, positive! 

Go check out her blog and her website.  Take one of her classes.  The ones I saw posted were only 10.00/person!  For those of you waiting for the rumored Positive Discipline group to form, Kelly has promised to be available to hold our hands.

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You say “foca(y)ccia” I say “foca(h)ccia”

Posted on August 3, 2008 by juliebyers

I’m not the best meal planner.  I’m more of a oh-shoot-it-is-4:30-what-will-we-eat-for-dinner kinda gal.  So, this flatbread recipe suits me nicely.  As you’ll see, the recipe makes two focaccia loaves; one of which you can dress for dessert.  Perfect.

In a typical evening (yes, tonight), at 6:15, I start to wonder about dinner.  I decide on pesto spaghetti  and tossed salad.  My trusty flatbread recipe complements my procrastination perfectly.

Throw 2 1/2 cups of flour in the mixer bowl (I have a dough hook attachment with my mixer; you can go the hard route and mix and knead by hand)

Add 1 packet of rapid rise yeast, 1 tbsp sugar, and 3/4 tsp of salt. 

Mix 1 cup hot water with 2 tbsp EVOO.  Gradually pour into the dry ingredients while mixing.  Add up to 1/2 cup more flour until dough seems soft and elastic.  I mix about 5 minutes.  Then cover with a towel for 12 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 425.  Divide dough in half and place side-by-side on greased baking sheet.  Press into 8″ circles, cover sheet for 15 minutes.  Press fingertips into dough to make some indentions.  Brush one with EVOO.  Brush the other with butter, maple syrup, agave nectar, honey, whatever sweet is your fancy. 

Add toppings and bake 15-17 minutes.  Tonight I used fresh garlic, basil, greek oregano, rosemary, and chives (thanks Helen!).  Then sprinkled some parm cheese.  I consider focaccia a dipping bread so I serve it with a saucer of oil and ground peppercorn.   

On the sweet bread, you could top with sliced grapes, sugar, cinnamon, or whatever you’re craving.

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I Love ACOGV!

Posted on July 31, 2008 by juliebyers

I love ACOGV.  I do.  I found so many answers to my questions regarding women’s health.  And such warmth! 

Oh wait, you thought I meant ACOG as in American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists!  Um, no way–not ever. 

No, I love Acupuncture Center of Greenville!  Today I had my first experience with acupuncture.  Cassandra Nelson spent time answering my questions about how acupuncture can help women during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.  She looked at my tongue and drew a picture of it; which I promptly demanded to see.  My hubby and child (long tonguers) make fun of my short tongue and have thereby created a tongue “issue.”  

I was nervous.  I didn’t even feel the first two needles.  I felt a few but it wasn’t painful.  The two in my ear were unpleasant but not unbearable.  Then the best part:  she left me in the dark room with relaxing music.  I felt warm and heavy.  I left feeling as great as when I get a massage. 

Cassandra was professional and knowledgeable.  Now, does anyone know what a pale tongue indicates?

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Three Cheers for Laura

Posted on July 31, 2008 by juliebyers

Happy Day of your birth, Laura Clay! 

You work harder and play harder than anyone!  You taught me “you’ll never know until you ask” with all your bold ways.  And I’ve watched in awe at your ability to “get things” (well, expect that one thing).  You have listened to me rant and soapbox.  We’ve cried while sharing so many plates of bacon and eggs.  You are Nanoo to my child.  You supported all my mothering choices with such enthusiasm; even the choice to quit working which meant to quit working with you.  Oh great maker of cardboard playhouses and spoiler of children, enjoy your day!

Hip Hip Hurray to the only woman I know who consistently gets free chips and salsa from Chili’s!  Here’s hoping you’re not on call tonight.  Happy Birthday!     

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Ode to Tomatoes

Posted on July 30, 2008 by juliebyers

Salsa and salads and sandwiches and sauces and soups.  And biting into them right off the vine; warm from the sun with a basil leaf from the plant nearby.  I want admiration for my tomatoes.  I held them up to my husband and demanded he note their perfection.  “Yeah, they are tomatoes.”  (Though he bragged later to my mother about how beautiful they were–he did notice!).  Secretly, what impresses me most:  I put plants in the ground and added water.  No other effort expended.  Grace. 

The street filled with tomatoes, midday, summer, light is halved like a tomato, its juice runs through the streets…Unfortunately, we must murder it: the knife sinks into living flesh, red viscera a cool sun, profound, inexhaustible, populates the salads…happily, it is wed to the clear onion, and to celebrate the union we pour oil, essential child of the olive, onto its halved hemispheres, pepper adds its fragrance, salt, its magnetism;

it is the wedding of the day, parsley hoists its flag, potatoes bubble vigorously, the aroma of the roast knocks at the door, it’s time! come on! and, on the table, at the midpoint of summer, the tomato, star of earth, recurrent and fertile star, displays its convolutions, its canals, its remarkable amplitude and abundance, no pit, no husk, no leaves or thorns, the tomato offers its gift of fiery color and cool completeness.  –Pablo Neruda

 

Yes, Scott–we’re having roast for dinner.  Don’t work late.

   

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And now a word from our sponsor

Posted on July 26, 2008 by juliebyers

Well, not quite–although if any companies out there would like to sponsor a family vaca…  

Really, I wanted to give kudos to our carefully selected chemical-free sunscreen.  I am super impressed by the way it performed on this vacation.  We spent full days on the beach; Norah rolling in the sand and laying in the surf.  We only applied sunscreen once before leaving our room and not an inch of ourskin was sunburned (except the parts we forgot to put sunscreen on–oops.  Don’t worry, mom, Norah was slathered head to toe; I’m talking about her parents).  I researched many sunscreen brands.  I cross-checked EWG’s report and Safe Mama’s cheatsheet.  I narrowed it down to a product I could buy locally.  I had no expectations of it performing this well!  It doesn’t even claim to be water-resistant.  Cue the music. 

Thank you Jason’s Natural for your amazing Sunbrella Mineral Sunscreen which is PABA-free and UVA/UVB-blocking.  A little went a long way.  And my test toddler put it to one heck of a test.  You have won a loyal customer.

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Hydromedusae

Posted on July 25, 2008 by juliebyers

What, you may ask, is a hydromedusae?

Yeah, so in a nutshell–it is a jellyfish–but not the stinging kind.  In the evening, this part of the beach is invaded by them.  Norah calls them “lily-pads” and was terrified by them until Scott coaxed her into poking them and then began a discus throwing contest.  The water is clogged with them.   

Since I was looking down into the ocean to avoid the rather unpleasant bumps against my legs and squishes beneath my toes of these drifting jellies, I found treasures! 

Ah, I don’t want our family time and vacation living to end.   

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Oregano’s First Cousin

Posted on July 21, 2008 by juliebyers

On vacation.  My child is trying to return all the sand to the sea.  My husband is playing.  I’m thoroughly salted, languorous, and sun-dazzled.  And thankful I finagled a friend to chop my hair before the ocean tangled with me.     

 

May whatever breaks be reconstructed by the sea with the long labors of its tides.  –Pablo Neruda

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It is here.

Posted on July 16, 2008 by juliebyers

We’ve heard whispers about it.  We’ve cringed at the very thought of it.  And it is now on the market.  The super-dooper do-it-all gadget that will revolutionize birth (and malpractice) has arrived.  Duh-duh-duh-dummmmmmb:  BirthTrack–a monitor that clips to the mom’s cervix providing constant monitoring of every move and every inch of progress.   

Check out this post that sums up all of BirthTrack’s fancy features and glaring problems.  As my friend, Carey, so cleverly noted–too bad they didn’t think to design it with an MP3 player for mom’s and baby’s listening pleasure.   

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Charlotte Church and Ricki Lake?

Posted on July 15, 2008 by juliebyers

What do they have in common?  They have both been singled out by the medical community as influencing women to have homebirths.  The difference?  While Ricki Lake was raked across the coals by the AMA and ACOG, Charlotte Church is being upheld as a role model.  In fact, the Welsh Assembly Government had a goal to INCREASE home births by 10%.  Welsh homebirths have, in fact, increased 25%! 

Isn’t it interesting that while American medical groups are making resolutions to outlaw homebirths, their peer group across the Atlantic are trying to increase homebirths?  And isn’t it interesting which countries have the best outcomes?  Did you know a mom or baby is more likely to die in childbirth in the US than in Europe (or even Havana!)?  

Doesn’t the AMA have bigger issues than the 1% of US babies born at home?

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