So it’s back to school time for everyone around here.  Our school year began with a delay created by the havoc Hurricane Irene wreaked.  She left so many trees down across roads and power lines which in turn left 98% of our town without power —and running water (we have wells that are powered by electricity).  The sound of generators running throughout the day and night got to me, maybe partly out of jealousy for those who wouldn’t be throwing the contents of their freezers out.  Then just into the new school year my middle son had his tonsils and adenoids removed (we’d made the appointment in May and didn’t know he’d only have 2 days of school, but thought it better to do it then instead of when the curriculum really kicked in.) He will be better for it as his tonsils were disgusting.  He was off from school for a week and needed much TLC.  The day he went back to school I pulled my other 2 out for a dentist visit. 

So today, Monday, I finally feel like school has begun.  I will get things done!  Yeah right.  So much to do.  Laundry, of course.  Sorting clothes to donate, cleaning cluttered office, regular household chores, continue working on potential new clients’ portfolio, begin marketing new business, getting Cooking Club labels printed, start grilling vegetables for ratatouille, finalizing Cooking Club dates, write a pitch & bio… Hmm, what am I missing.  I’m sure there’s something!  Oh, reply to all the emails that are piling up.

Most importantly I have finished the list of snacks here for parents at our school to counter the one our school nurse sent out.  It gave me shivers that so much junk was on the suggested snack list.  It is not easy to convince people that foods labeled with health claims are not actually healthful. 

My list is not faultless, it has better alternatives.  The brightly colored yogurts that I see in the stores targeted toward kids are full of artificial colors, sugar and may contain growth hormones.  So, while I do give a suggested contrast with other yogurts, I realized they aren’t perfect but this is the world we live in. 

I hope to get part of my To Do List done now. Funny, how I get joy from things like shopping on my own and accomplishing some order in my house.

My list was adapted from 100daysofrealfood.com a wonderful site for living without processed foods.