More Reason to Not Eat Meat. (I Hope.)

Being a vegetarian, I can't tell you how many times I've gotten into discussions where people feel the need to justify to me why they eat meat. Becoming a vegetarian was a personal decision I (well, we), made. I have never given unsolicited reasons as to why I made this decision. I have never preached to others that they are morally and ethically wrong for eating meat. I never get defensive. I never ask people to not bring meat into my home, or to not eat meat around me. I never expect people to go out of their way to create a entirely vegetarian meal when they have us over for dinner.

So why do some people feel it necessary to explain to me why they choose to eat meat? Do I think it is morally and ethically wrong? Yes. Do I think the "excuses" are pretty lame? Yes. Do I wish more people would really stop to think about how eating meat is affecting the world we live in? Yes.

Do I say that? No.

Like I said, it is a choice. A very personal choice.

I came across this op-ed today, and I wish I was as eloquent and educated as Jonathan Safran Foer. He says so many things that I wish I would have said during one of my I-eat-meat-because-humans-were-made-to-look-at-our-teeth discussions. It's intelligent, informative, and just... real. (Please read the comments, too. Some interesting -- and annoying -- discussions going on.)

I'm very excited for his book, Eating Animals, that's due out on Monday. At first I didn't think I would read it -- I don't think I can bare to read another horror story about factory farming. But after reading the synopsis on barnesandnoble.com, I can't wait to read about this very personal decision he made, and why (and am particularly interested in how his child affected his decisions).

Jonathan Safran Foer spent much of his teenage and college years oscillating between omnivore and vegetarian. But on the brink of fatherhood -- facing the prospect of having to make dietary choices on a child's behalf -- his casual questioning took on an urgency. His quest for answers ultimately required him to visit factory farms in the middle of the night, dissect the emotional ingredients of meals from his childhood, and probe some of his most primal instincts about right and wrong. Brilliantly synthesizing philosophy, literature, science, memoir and his own detective work, Eating Animals explores the many fictions we use to justify our eating habits-from folklore to pop culture to family traditions and national myth-and how such tales can lull us into a brutal forgetting. Marked by Foer's profound moral ferocity and unvarying generosity, as well as the vibrant style and creativity that made his previous books, Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, widely loved, Eating Animals is a celebration and a reckoning, a story about the stories we've told-and the stories we now need to tell.

A celebration and a reckoning. A CELEBRATION AND A RECKONING!

I'm hoping -- praying -- that because he is such a known and respected writer, this book will peak the masses interest, and the overwhelming evidence as to why a vegetarian diet is so positive will change some lives. One can only hope, right?

I read a quote from Toby Maguire (I know, right?) the other day that really resonated with me:

“I’ve never had any desire to eat meat. In fact, when I was a kid I would have a really difficult time eating meat at all. It had to be the perfect bite, with no fat or gristle or bone or anything like that…. I don’t judge people who eat meat—that’s not for me to say—but the whole thing just sort of bums me out.”

Totally and completely bums me out.

Autumn is Here! Kind Of! Not Really!

This past Sunday we took The Peanut to his first pumpkin patch. It was a perfectly overcast Autumn day. And then the sun peaked out. And then is was 80° out. Whatever.

We got some great shots of him that you can see on his blog, but I also got some Autumn-y shots. Let's just pretend the air is crisp and we don't need sunglasses, k?

Oh My Goodness! A New Post!

June 2nd was the last time I posted here. Over four months ago. Wow. To be honest, I kind of forgot all about infectious joy. It's been hard enough finding the time update Kieran's blog once a month.

But I went on one of my lame rants the other day, and it reminded me that I do have a forum for such rants! Where people don't judge (okay, let's just pretend), and I can say whatever I want (kind of)! Dur.

The rant itself was stupid (Why am I constantly seeing commercials for dark chocolate Reese's peanut butter cups but have yet to see them available ANYWHERE!), but I realized how much I've missed blabbing to you, my peeps of the interweb.

Obviously with a soon to be 7 month old (on SUNDAY! Why The Face!), my life has been a juggling act. Now that he is in daycare full time, though, I actually have a tiny bit of time to myself. Which I didn't realize was so important. My son -- our little family -- is my life now. How could I not want to spend every minute with him. I find myself missing him while I'm at work, knowing that smiling face will always make me forget how stressful my day was.

But let me tell you, being able to run to Target at lunch without a stroller, Ergo baby, or car seat is kind of amazing. Like, the highlight of my day. Grocery shopping -- almost too good to be true.

So it's taken almost 7 months, but we're in a routine now and have pretty much figured this whole baby raising thing out (I just laughed out loud as I typed that). The first three month were rough. Not awful, just rough. If we knew then what we know now, we probably would have done a few things differently, like, accept help and not insist on taking care of the baby by ourselves. So ya, having someone watch Keiran for 7 hours a day is a huge help. Balance is key. We all need family time, work time (debatable), and "me" time. It's so nice to... breath.

But the Johnson household wouldn't be complete without some kind of life changing thing going on. That's just so not us. Thus our decision to remodel our kitchen. By ourselves. (Okay, not really by ourselves since Brother will be doing most of the work, but we're not paying anyone we can yell at. Only each other.) So, taking advantage of Grandpa and Grandma visiting and being able to watch the baby, we began demo on Sunday... and life is crazy again! Hooray!

Kieran could care less, thank goodness, even taking an hour and a half nap through Daddy taking a crow bar to the counter tile. Mommy is slightly stressed, though. Being in a house of chaos and no stove kind of makes me break out in a rash. But it's temporary, right? The goal is to get it done by Thanksgiving. I mean, our kitchen is the size of a walk-in closet. This can be done, right? Or are we completely delusional?

Anywho, I'm back and can't wait to share with you how the kitchen remodel goes. I promise to post pics of the progress, and to give public praise to my brother, who we are the mercy of for the next few months. (Insert eyelash batting and big smiles here.)

Oh, and if someone can tell me where I can get those dark chocolate peanut butter cups, I'd be forever grateful.