life lately

Posted in let me let me update ya by ElaineMarie

i don’t really feel like i have much to contribute to society these days. i’m really worried about what all of you are going to do without my words of wisdom pouring forth to guide your daily lives. i just don’t know…

because currently i’m watching color me badd videos on youtube and having some 90s moments. my biggest ambition for the day is to get up to the library to see if they have 90210 in the dvd box set section. so you can see i’m reaching tall and setting goals high these days.

honestly, i’ve just really enjoyed a slower paced week. i’ve been sleeping a lot. i mean A LOT and it’s been good. and also there’s been bacon. and tacos. so, yeah, good stuff.

bits of our week and weekend:

picnic dinners in our new special place, darla painting some rocks for our garden and a little girl who asserts her right to wear fairy wings to school.

12May2013

motherz day!

Posted in familyness, i dig music, love and happiness by ElaineMarie

happy mother’s day to me! may you fly like an eagle on this holiest of days, mommas. xoxo.

10May2013

the cesarean thing

Posted in doula work by ElaineMarie

i wish i had something really eloquent to say in regards to the cesarean thing. i’m afraid i don’t. i know i’ve read a good deal of very good, honest & earnest writings in the past month that dig into what i feel is real about c-sections for women. i know my own views on cesarean birth have evolved and i couldn’t be more thankful. what i think we’ve gotten right about the whole situation is letting women have their own voices. women are sharing. whether it’s to process, validate, heal, inform or advocate doesn’t really matter. what matters is we are involved in a big way.

so i have a couple shirts that can help you tell your story. maybe you want to warn other women not to fall prey to the pressure of the medical machine. maybe you want women to know their options. or maybe you want to tell the natural birth cult to stop making you feel like a villain for your surgical birth because some births legitimately require a cesarean for a healthy baby to be placed in your arms. in the end, the best thing we can do for one another is honor birth. we can inform, support, care and assist and most importantly we can honor one another.

so if you feel like voicing yourself and advocating in the passive aggressive form of donning a t-shirt* to speak your message here you go. you’re welcome:

i also wanted to mention the sale of these t-shirts helps make it possible for me to lower my fees for couples/mothers who want a supported birth but might not be able to afford the full fee. so thank you for supporting me and for supporting them.

basically, buying one of these t-shirts makes you a really good person. bye!

*i actually think t-shirts such as these can be great conversation starters. i am being a bit facetious above.

10May2013

family field trip: native americans and tacos

Posted in advantageous adventures, familyness, Travels by ElaineMarie

Look! we do cool things! we visited the eiteljorg while in indianapolis again and it might be my most favorite museum ever because all of these things are there right now: western art, beaded headdresses, bedazzled babywearing, george harrison’s guitar, dreamcatchers, history, and tacos. really, really boss tacos. i was once again inspired by the western color scheme. and the beads. and the feathers. ohhh the beads and feathers.

^^^ jim irsay’s guitar collection on display ^^^

and…

beaded babywearing!!!

giving ourselves experiences and not items. and tacos. giving ourselves tacos.

ok. disclosure: i didn’t actually get the tacos this time. their tacos are extremely delicious but i got the nachos. the nachos were equally as good. Family Field Trip Tip: get the nachos. For $9 you can feed 3 members of your family {if one member of your family chooses to eat about only 4 bites and then use the remainder of lunch time to whine about not being on the patio}. you’re welcome.

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9May2013

overwhelmed

Posted in Momma Needs a minute... by ElaineMarie

friends! the wruckers have a lot of opportunities and projects looming in the near future!

this means i’ve been feeling really, really overwhelmed lately. i don’t know if you know this BUT… life is hard.

fortunately i’ve learned to deal with this feeling in a new way. i’ve learned that feeling overwhelmed is infinitely better than feeling underwhelmed. i’ve learned to try to think of this overwhelming rush as growing pains. when i feel like this, it’s most often because i’ve a fair amount of opportunities and projects on the horizon and i’m trying to will myself to somehow mentally solve the time crunch instead of taking it as it comes. i’ve learned to ask myself a grounding question such as “where are my feet right now?” and focus on the task that is at hand. this works really well when you find yourself staring into a sink of soapy water having gotten lost in a mental wonderland {wanderland?} and had all but forgotten what it was you were doing.

that being said, proper enthusiasm can now be applied. i look forward to sharing when the time is right.

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7May2013

what is my message?

Posted in let me let me update ya, Momma Needs a minute... by ElaineMarie

hi friends,

i’m fresh back from a really wonderful and beautiful celebration of life for my cousin. seriously, nobody does a wake like my family. i kept thinking to myself “is it irreverent how much i’m looking forward to this funeral?” maybe. maybe not. but i can tell you that at the family dinner after the services i kept waiting for the dj to show up and everyone to start dancing. and i think my cousin would have wanted it to be EXACTLY like that. birth and death are sacred and it’s an honor to take place in a celebration of life the likes of this past weekend.

but, as i mentioned before it is now time to move forward with purpose.

and as to be expected the passing of my cousin has left questions and emotions floating around in various spaces of my body and i’m examining life a little more. part of that examination involves these writings, this blog.

what is my message? what do i want to accomplish with this space?

i can’t even recall why i started this blog. it might have been to have an outlet during my single-parenting days. it might have been a creative exercise. it might have been in hopes to become successful and make a small amount of money {cough yeah right cough} and help support my family. it was most likely because i think myself hilarious and all-knowing and thought the world NEEDED to hear my wit and wisdom. and maybe, just maybe, it was because i was lonely. maybe it’s because becoming a mother and a wife have been the hardest things i’ve ever had to do and i had to work on it through writing about it. i had to make it look pretty for myself so i didn’t feel like a failure at the two biggest roles of my life.

whatever the reasons for starting, i’m in it. 2 years in it and i’m reexamining my message and purpose. i think i’ve never had a clear idea of what i want this space to be. i’ve dabbled in lots of directions. it’s time to focus and make sure what i’m putting out there is a reflection of my life and message. i’ve fallen prey to watching to see what draws readers to my page. i think i’ve put stuff out there that might have betrayed my inner self, my organic inner self that is. my superficial self likes to shop and posts about buying stuff. but my organic inner self knows that i have all that i need. i hope i’ve become more of a reflection of that in this space.

so what will this space be about?:

my family. earthy and birthy inspiration. love. spiritual connection. giving my child experiences instead of material items. my parenting evolution. supporting and sharing that which i believe in. wild and crazy things my girl does and says. hopefully more travel and music. my efforts to live environmentally conscious. and stuff that i think might make you think i’m cool….really.

i ask you to help me keep this space authentic. if i write something that strikes a chord {or a discord} please voice yourself in my comments and make yourself a part of my space. if i write something you like, please share with others. if i write something that seems like i’m being a big tool bag, call me on it. if i write something that leads you to judge me and makes you shake your head at my far out thinking then I invite you to do just that. for some reason you need room to do that in your life and just possibly through reading my heartfelt words we’ll all become a little more open in the head and the heart. if i write something that sounds like i’m trying to sell you a t-shirt…buy a t-shirt. seriously, i need some of you to buy some t-shirts.

in closing i would like to thank those of you who read regularly, or even occasionally. really, anyone who’s ever stopped by this site EVER. weeeeee! oh except for the people from serbia that arrive here from googling “naked little girl.” i do not thank you. no, i don’t. but the rest of you are gems. i appreciate your reading and being a part of this project of mine. and it’s ok that you read it. it’s so funny to me the teensy amount of embarrassment folks have when they admit to me they read my blog. rest assured one thing that has always been and will always be true of elaine tucker: i love attention. you will never have to apologize for paying attention to me and my life doings. you may not even have a choice. i will not go away until you do.

it’s become clear to me it’s time to end this post. thank you. i love you. and…i love myself. bye!

3May2013

zero waste home: rotisserie chicken

Posted in yum yum eat good, zero waste home by ElaineMarie

i’ve successfully avoided meat with bones in it for most of the 30 years of my life. i’ve had exactly two chicken wings and that was for my 12th grade lit project when i had to construct a diorama of grendel’s lair for beowulf. real bones got me that extra half a grade point, i’m sure of it.

anyway, i’ve been putting off the fact that if i’m not going to go vegetarian then getting a whole rotisserie chicken and putting that to use in our household makes the most economical and ecological sense. i had a coupon this week and thought “if you’re scared of it then that’s how you know you should do it.” so i got it and now know that i find a great deal of delight from picking chicken meat off the bone.

economical sense: this sucker cost me $3.99. so far i’ve made chicken salad, a dumbed down version of chicken schwarma on hummus, and chicken tacos. there is still plenty of meat left so i think i’ll be trying a chicken + bacon pizza and of course using the ‘pickins’ for making my own broth. this is good. literally and figuratively.

ecological sense: well, i think buying chicken breasts 2 at a time at the deli counter is about the worst packaging waste wise so i often opt for a trader joe’s frozen bag with a number of breasts that last us a couple months. this is an ok option but the plastic bag doesn’t normally get recycled because i’m too lazy to wash it out. with the rotisserie chicken it’s fresh and i’m in control of getting the most use possible out of the remains. the packaging of this chicken will be much easier to rinse out and will definitely make it into recycling, or possibly repurposed into a small green house for seedlings.

the long & short of it is that i think i’ll definitely opt for this approach again. i’ve found that i always enjoy being more involved with our food and this helped foster that. or…i might just go vegetarian and cut out the meat budget all together.

now, some taco pics:

^^^ i always sneak some veggie goodness into our taco meat: carrots, kale and onions get added. ^^^

^^^ real yum yum ^^^

^^^darla’s pickle taco ^^^

^^^ and just for grins, a shot of darla shotgunning milk from a travel cosmetic bottle because that was THE ONLY option for beverage conveyance that she was going to entertain. whatevs dude. ^^^

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i’ll be posting a few more eco-friendly posts this week in honor of being in the running for Circle of Moms Top 25 Most Eco-Friendly Mom Blogs. If you would be so kind as to vote for me, click on through to the badge below. Thanks!

2May2013

may braid

Posted in love and happiness by ElaineMarie

oh boy. i forgot to include this princess may day braid in my earlier post so now it gets a post of its own.

a pretty braid for a pretty girl.

love.

2May2013

a day in may

Posted in advantageous adventures, kiddie-do, Run Da House by ElaineMarie

the first day of may was very picturesque here in columbus. today is starting off pretty grand as well. i like what you’re offering so far, may:

our day included picnic in the park, my first load of laundry out on the line for the year, a prenatal meeting for my june clients, and popsicles and nail painting on the porch. that’s a lot of P activities and it wasn’t on purpose. can you tell darla talked me into letting her paint mine too? i just had such a good time with her yesterday. it’s during these days that i say in my head “can we just always be this way? can she just stay with me and we’ll read books in the park and go on adventures and she won’t need school, we’ll learn together along the way?” i guess we’ll find out the answers to those questions in their own time.

actually now that i’ve looked at it longer, sorry about that picture. it’s pretty gross. outdoor feet = funky feet.

may, i give you permission to let all days be just like may day.

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1May2013

you make da popsicles!: a recipe

Posted in Run Da House, yum yum eat good by ElaineMarie

it’s officially may and it’s 80 here today so that means i’m making more popsicles. I just threw these together and i thought i would share for any of you who are making your own.

I am not a recipe follower by nature so popsicles and smoothies are right up my alley. I basically threw all this into the blender:

2 small handfuls of spinach

3 big organic strawberries

1 handful of blueberries

1/2 a bag of frozen organic raspberries

sprinkled in a bit of flax-seed meal and a 3 count pour of all natural ohio maple syrup {because it has one of the lowest caloric counts of the natural sweeteners but any natural sweetener of your choice would do}

then i added some cherry juice until the juice reached about the halfway point of the rest of the ingredients.

blend until smooth and pour into your reusable popsicle molds and if you’re lucky you’ll have some left over as a smoothie. if you don’t have popsicle molds you can just do what i did as a kid and freeze them in ice-cube trays then eat them with a spoon out of a tumbler. this requires letting them freeze them putting them in the tumbler and leaving it to sit for about 5-10 minutes. You can see that you need a lot more patience for that method but it will do until you order your popsicle molds.

and if you are too impatient for that then…just enjoy it as a bodaciously excellent smoothie. you’re welcome.

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