TWENTY TEN

Hard to believe we are approaching a new year and a new decade. I love writing out TWENTY TEN instead of 2010. It looks graphic and more fun than the numerical. And so much more official, just as if I was announcing the new year on some kind of authentic new year's letterhead belonging to Dick Clark. I dig making resolutions and over the past few years Jaren and I have had fun coming up with a yearly mantra, of sorts. Last year was Just Be Better and I think we pretty much rocked it. We have some loose strings, of course, that can always use tightening, but it has been a killer year for buckling down and setting new priorities for simplicity, family, home, and productivity. We haven't decided on this year's mantra yet but I'm gunning for KEEP YOUR HEAD ON STRAIGHT since I think if we keep going down this path we're on without getting all disorientated looking over to the weeds, I think we will be in good shape. But I will have to wait for Jaren's vote before this mantra becomes cross stitch material.

I haven't set down a full list of resolutions for the new year yet but I took a step toward one this weekend that I'm excited about. In TWENTY TEN I am hoping to feed my family only locally raised, sustainably produced meat. Through the wonderful local chapter of Slow Food International, I learned about a small family farm that raises hogs and allows people to purchase as little as 1/4 of the pig which is a lot of meat, but isn't so much that you need a full meat locker in your basement. I have a second fridge in the garage and the meat is packed tight in there, but it is manageable. So the farm is Christiansens Hog Heaven and I had the pleasure of meeting Christian and his wife, Hollie, this Saturday when I picked up my 1/4 pork from the back of their white Ford Superduty 150 in the parking lot of Home Depot. I loved the gritty fact of picking this meat up in a random parking lot, straight from them and their truck with their 3 kids watching a movie in the cab. It was fun and it felt good to support them so directly. There was a line of other people waiting for their meat (they had 44 orders!) and it was heartening to see this and to know that other people out there are looking outside the grocery store case to find a more natural order in the food chain. I made a couple rashers (look at me and my new butcher talk!) of bacon this weekend and it was delicious--thick and chewy and not too salty. I love the look of all those wrapped freezer paper bundles stamped with the cut of meat. I am now the proud owner of a ham hock! Wow! Beginning this February, the Christiansens' are going to be adding grass fed beef to their offerings--all pasture fed, free range, and humanely treated. And they will be offering it in small 1/8 sizes too which is lovely for small families and small freezers. I think you still may even get some choices about what cuts you want. They may have pasture raised chicken and turkeys ready by spring too, which means they may just become my one stop local meat shop. If you live in Utah, eat meat, and have concerns about where your food comes from, check out their blog via the above link and consider supporting them. All you need is a freezer and the will to help change a broken system!

Another resolution I have for the new year is to move to a cash only spending situation. I have to face facts. I am not responsible enough to have a credit card in my wallet. It is just that simple. I am a flibbertigibbet and so full of impulse and attraction to beautiful, shiny things that I might as well be a magpie. I just don't do well without parameters. If I am to ever stick to a budget it has to be one that I can relate to in a tactile way. I've tried spreadsheets and mint.com and setting goals. I've had a piggy bank and a high interest cd. But somehow it is never real to me if I only see the balance on the screen. It is real to me, however, when I see the thread bare lining of my wallet. It's that simple. I'm 5 when it comes to money. If I see it, I have it. If I don't see but have a debit or credit card handy, I just pretend to see it. But if I don't have an alternate form of payment and I don't see it...well, you get the idea.....it's gone! I have no more money to spend. I'm done. Again, so simple my kid can do it. So maybe I can finally do it too and stick to a hard and fast budget in TWENTY TEN? If I keep the old head on straight, I don't see why not.