I spit, you spit, we all spit for pomegranate

Many of you may have heard my questioning of the sudden abundance of pomegranates in our society. What the heck is up with all the Pomegranates!?!?! Where did they come from!?! Why does everything suddenly come in "pomegranate"?!?! My inquiry began a couple of summers ago when my favorite lotion from B&BW came out in a "Pomegranate Martini". I realized then that I had no clue what a pomegranate was. I have therefore decided to embark on a quest to uncover the truth about pomegranates and to dedicate a blog post to my investigation on the famous fruit and its rise to stardom.

In searching the internet for information on the pomegranate, I found that I am not alone in my observation of the newness of its popularity. One online source cites that 190 new pomegranate flavors have been introduced in the US since 2005 - to include the Pomegranate Frappuccino from Starbucks. The US company of POM Wonderful fully launched it's campaign in 2003 and has continued to be the top distributer of pomegranates in the US.

I love useless facts so here are a few of the more interesting facts on pomegranates that you may not have known:

• Pomegranates were displayed in Solomon's temple (1 Kings 7:17-20).
• Some even suggest that is was a pomegranate, not an apple, that was consumed in the Garden of Eden.
• Historical evidence also suggests that pomegranates were one of the first five domesticated crops, along with olives, grapes, figs, and dates. The first evidence of them was around 3000 B.C. in Jericho.
• Romeo and Juliet:
  "Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree.
  Believe me, love, it was the nightingale" Act 3 Scene 5
• A pomegranate is found in the coat of arms of Catharine of Aragon, first wife to Henry VIII.
• Pomegranates are known for many symbols: health, fertility, eternal life, and rebirth; with references in mythology, various legends, literature, and works of art.
• (this one is my favorite)
  The pomegranate gave its name to the hand grenade from its shape and size (and the resemblance of a pomegranate's seeds to a grenade's fragments). In many languages (including Belarusian, Spanish, French, Polish, Russian and Hebrew) the words are exactly the same.
• In China, the pomegranate symbolizes abundance, prosperity, and numerous offspring, making it a popular wedding gift. They also opted for covering the floor around the wedding bed with pomegranates instead of the typical rose petals.

And some of its medicinal benefits:

• The antioxidants found in pomegranate juice reduce low-density lipoprotein oxidation and lower blood pressure in hypertensive humans.
• Pomegranate juice has more polyphenol antioxidants than red wine, green tea, blueberry juice, cranberry juice, and orange juice.
• Pomegranate juice may be effective against prostate cancer and osteoarthritis.
• Ancient uses include: treatment of inflammation and aid in digestion, bronchitis, and dysentery.

Though I doubt that my luscious lotion has any medicinal value or makes me immortal or more fertile, I am still appreciative of the influx of pomegrantes in our society. It's a very yummy smelling lotion. So it seems that we Americans were late to jump on the band wagon in figuring out just how cool the pomegranate really is. If all the US ends up making out of the pomegranate craze is a new flavor at Starbucks and yummy lotion for Kelley, then I say the jump on the band wagon was worth the wait... for thousands of years... Now that I know how great the pomegranate really is, maybe my next goal will be to try the pomegranate option wherever possible.

mobius strips of our lives

This was my Daily Dilbert today. Every now and then I get one that really fits the office life in my world. Pretty much anyone who has to work with and rely on others to complete tasks or that has anything remotely complicated in their job can relate to this feeling. There's nothing like getting jazzed and rolling on a project only to have it derailed because you're waiting on a phone call or document in the mail. Unfortunately, not all individuals in our lives understand our lack of completion - in whatever applicable area of life - due to circumstances out of our control. I often feel that life is very much like a Mobius strip - one aspect is influencing another, that's influencing another. Ok, now I feel like I'm talking in a Mobius strip.

Client case study number 257:

"can we see a paper trail of the phone calls you've made regarding our case?" "No. They were phone calls." "How do we know you've been working on our case?" "B/c we were" "We didn't see that" "That's b/c we file at the courthouse" "Could you have updated us?" "We did." "That wasn't the whole truth. We didn't know there were problems with our case." "There weren't" "Then how come our case isn't done." "B/c it's not time yet" "but you haven't done anything yet" "Yes we have" "Why didn't we know? Could you have sent us updates?" We did" "What did you do to fix the problems?" "There weren't any problems. We called to ask questions to move it along in it's proper time" "What time was that?" "Six months" "What were the problems to make it take so long?" "Six months isn't long" "Why was the case in a holding stage and incomplete at the courthouse then?" "Because all cases go there until they are finished" "How come ours isnt' finished then?" "Because it's incomplete" "Then what is the problem" "There is no problem" "Why didn't you tell us you needed more paperwork?" "Because it wasn't paperwork from you" "But why didn't you tell us?" "Because we had it taken care of" "What did you do about it" "We called the courthouse" "Why didn't they call you back, but they called us back and that's when things finally started getting fixed." "I thank you for making that call b/c it got things taken care of for us." "Why did'nt you make the call" "We did" "Do you have a paper trail showing that" "No." "Why not" "Because they were phone calls" "Why didn't our case get done in 2 days?" "Because that's not possible" "Why didn't you let us know there was something wrong" "There wasn't anything wrong" We've been here before... I recognize that tree.

Thanksgiving

I've finally gotten around to posting updates from Thanksgiving, etc.

I finally got a trip planned out west to see my brother and his family for Thanksgiving. I flew out with my parents for about a week. We ate an awesome dinner and enjoyed the leftovers for days after!! My mom, Elisa, and I along with the kiddies were swallowed up by IKEA for a couple of hours. I love IKEA. I always feel inadequate about all of my housewares when I go there.

We went to a family night Christmas celebration for the town of Riverton. It was sooooo cold and I was reminded why I don't want to have 200 children. It snowed one day! Probably the most snow I'll see all winter since it's 70 degrees in Raleigh. It was so great to hang out with my family and play games and chat. Too bad it only happens about once a year... :(

For more pictures and info, see Scotty's blog.

Here a few of my favorite pics from the week:

Fireless Camping

A group of friends and I went camping at Umstead Park last weekend. Because North Carolina is under a state-wide fire ban, we couldn't have open flame. We were restricted to using only charcoal as well as covering the hot charcoal with aluminum foil. So no traditional s'mores sadly.

Friday night we cooked up a couple dutch oven cobblers: apple and cherry around the fireless fire-ring. Before that, we ran around the woods for a while playing capture the flag. It was pretty uneventful for a time because it really didn't seem like anyone was moving, then we had to stop about 3 times in order to reposition the flags. It finally ended with Christian climbing trees and stealing my team's flag while I sat helpless in jail.

For breakfast I made us a dutch oven breakfast of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, and cheese. It took a while to cook because the charcoal doesn't heat up as much as a real fire. Good thing the planes flying over the park at all hours of the morning woke me up early enough to get started on it. Oh the joys of being able to camp five minutes from my house.

We made it absolutely clear that the boys and the girls were camping at separate camp sites. We even separated the sites with a "chastity rope". The boys had one small tent and all the rest slept outside in little Coleman cocoons. It was a toasty 40 degrees that night. The girls had two giant tents but somehow Mary still ended up sleeping on the table.

Me in six splendid bullet points:

I got tagged a while ago so I figure it's about time I come up with six tagable things about me:

1) I hate shoes. I know... how can any woman HATE shoes?!?! I feel so cramped and icky when I wear shoes. People in my office think I'm crazy when I show up to work in flip flops when it's 50 degrees outside. Is there snow? Alright then, bring on the sandals. I never feel in style enough with the shoes I do own and anything in style is clearly never made to be walked in. Also, I hate nylons. I'll add that to this one just for fun. I don't own any. I think they are of the devil. For these two reasons I could never be an attorney. Who was the last attorney you saw with sparkly flip flops and bare legs in a courtroom?

2) I want to live in a foreign country for at least two years at some point in my life, preferably with my children/family. I've always wanted to see the world but not as a tourist. I want my children to see a world beyond the United States. I love the US, don't get me wrong. I think acquiring appreciation for other people and cultures is a very valuable attribute that not enough Americans have.

3) I look horrible in the color pink. Which is fine by me because I hate the color anyway. People in the past have disagreed with me and proceded to dress me in something pink, then back off when they see it is true. I'm not sure if this hatred started as a result of my Tomboy-ness at a young age or when I got old enough to associate pink with giggly, lip-glossy girls, but nevertheless, I have yet to own pink clothing.

4) I fear being just like everyone else. I hate bandwagons or feeling like I'm blindly following a popular notion. I'm not trying to make myself into a human billboard of opposition and independence... I'm more just focused on the awareness that I do what I do because I made the decision all by myself. I started out my adolesent life feeling that the only way to be accepted was to be just like everyone else. I realized how annoying and boring that was about the time I got to college and thus sprung the Kelley 2000... a new, improved and slightly more tanned version avaliable as of 2007. (*I am aware that this statement is a contradiction since I'm writing on my blog-one of the more popular trends today. oh well, can't win them all*)

5) I have a mental list of sporting events to see in my lifetime. I won't name them all but the list includes: a Duke-Carolina basketball game, the Super Bowl, a baseball game at Wrigley Field, a futbol game in Europe. If anyone has any suggestions to add to my list, feel free to let me know.

6) I am, and always will be, a night owl. Though I guess I can't say "always" because that may very well change when a family starts. There's something about doing normal things late at night as opposed to during the day light that is much more interesting. Eating chocolate cake at 2 am is so much more exciting than at 8:00pm immediately following dinner. Or who can deny the midnight Wendy's run? In college (in the thriving metropolis of Rexburg) there were only about 40 stations on cable, and only about 2 of those played something other than informercials after midnight, that something other was often dating shows like "Blind Date" or "Elimidate". No self-respecting person would watch them during the normal hours of the day, but at midnight, much more acceptable. Plus, I just hate going to bed. Call me a 9 year old but I really do stay up for the sake of staying up.

So there's a little bit of me. If you want more, the expanded version will be avaliable for an additional $3.98 per blog page. A total of $14,635.32... I have a lot of thoughts and a lot of journals.

Now I get to "tag" others!! I hereby tag Erica, Lydia, Kristy, and Jessica. That means when yall read my post... you post 6(ish) interesting facts about you on your page. Yay!