August 1, 2012

Well today would have been Erin's 35th birthday. There isn't a night that goes by that I don't dream of her. I know I'm not the only one, she meant so much to so many people. 

Spring Update

Well it has been a nice Spring and Summer seems to be closing in on us with highs in the mid nineties. I had a nice Jazzfest and I got to spend a long weekend with Kelley, Kay, and Patrick for the Hangout Fest in Gulf Shores. We were lucky to have some awesome weather for all the great music that weekend. I recently met some of the board of Trustees as well as Dr. Eichberger over at St. George's Episcopal Church and they filled me in on their plans to memorialize Erin with a bench, plaque, and tree planted in her honor in the recess area. They said that everyone that has worked with her or were fortunate to be taught by her will never forget her, and they are going to make sure that she is never forgotten. They are also setting up a fund to award a need based scholarship for at least one student a year for their annual Washington D.C. trip that Erin used to organize. They are also setting up a Professional Development Fund for continuing education for the faculty. Here is a link to the info they have up so far. Erin Grenon Memorial Fund
 It is so touching that Erin was and is so loved. I never imagined that I could miss her so much...

Best Red Sauce Ever.

Well I'm home alone for dinner tonight. I pulled out the last thing that I had that Erin had cooked. She didn't cook all the time, but when she did she rocked it out. Hate to be "Debbie Downer" but I wanted to share..

Saturday Morning

Erin was able to breath on her own all night last night. No CT scan last night so hopefully she is rested up for today. They also weened her off one of the blood pressure meds last night.













Here's a picture of Erin with one of her babies. I'm sure Eli can't wait to jump back in her lap.


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Fantasy Football Weekend

Well this is a big weekend, I'm going to have to draft two teams this weekend. But even cooler than that my brother and his wife are coming into town. We will most surely have too much fun and act like the school kids we are in our own minds. We always have a blast when we get together. I am sure Kay is looking forward to a weekend of relative sanity with only her husband to look after, as they dropped off the little man at her parent's house on the way over. Here is a picture of little Henry Grenon from last weekend, I had a good time filling him in on some of his dad's wild antics.

Many people in America abuse themselves daily by not thinking about what they are eating on a daily basis. This blog post isn't about how I want to save the world from itself, it's only purpose is to possibly spark some thought on conversation as to the different ways we think about what we eat.

What did you have for your last meal? According to some recent studies it was probably corn. Corn on the cob? No most likely a corn by product or meat from an animal that was fed corn almost exclusively. A study done by Hope Jahren examined fast food meals and found a majority were linked to corn. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1859018,00.html

So what's the matter with corn? Corn is natural right? Yes it is but the government subsidizes so many farmers that we are growing more than we can even use right now. We as a nation are spending huge amounts that will keep farmers planting corn no matter what. Why would they plant anything else? Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t want farmers to go hungry. But I don’t feel that we should continue to fund programs that don’t make the same sense they did 20 or 30 years ago.

In an article on the website Wired makes the connection between these subsidies and obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/11/fast-food-anoth/ With the corn industry at the government’s “feed trough” (pun intended) what can we do to daily limit our risks involved with the practice. Fast food is cheap and accessible. Heck it’s cheaper to feed a family on fast food than it is to feed them a home cooked meal.

According to sustainable food guru, Michael Pollan author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma , “We have a national eating disorder”. Pollan has written some interesting observations on the connections between corn and our diets. Not just corn fed animals, but products containing high fructose corn syrup. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/opinion/04pollan.html

So what do we do? Well we can eat more plants, eat less fast food, and we can start really thinking about where our food comes from. By questioning our food’s origins we can truly begin to understand what and where the food we are eating comes from. I enjoy a greasy burger just as much as the next guy, but that burger may just taste a little better coming from a local grass fed cow that roams a field from birth to harvest, than a burger that was from a cow that was force fed corn to facilitate growth at an accelerated rate in a high density feed lot standing in his own waste. Doesn’t sound too appetizing does it? My intent wasn’t to scare you into converting into a bean sprout eating, vegan. We all make choices in how we choose to live. Armed with this new information I will try and choose a healthier option for my meals, and my family’s meals.

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