And on the 7th Day, I'll Rest
Quite a busy day on Friday! In addition to it being our one-year wedding anniversary, it was also my office's holiday team builder.
Suiting the spirit of the holidays, and the year's economic challenges, we volunteered for half a day at the Northern Illinois Food Bank.
They share the story of the foodbank with you beforehand, setting the tone for the importance of what you'll spend the day doing: 1 in 11 people in Illinois is 'food insecure' not having regular access to enough safe, nutritious food; reduced quality and variety of meals; and irregular food intake. 60% of the families served by the food pantry are below the federal poverty level - $20,000 year for a family of four.
It reminded me of my high school's community service requirement for graduation, and how it's been a long time since I made community service a regular part of my year... besides the charity 5k's and monetary donations.
I worked the poultry line, stickering and packing boxes full of chicken. An ironic placement since my grandmother's first job coming to this country was cutting up chickens on a poultry line herself. We've come a long way, despite the continuing role of chicken.
And Jason and I have come to one year, so we celebrated our first wedding anniversary at Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse, where gaucho waiters bring you sticks of meat until you surrender by flipping the coaster on your table up to the red 'stop' side. We were rapidly stuffed. I also enjoyed the recommended caipirinha cocktail which tasted much like a combination of my two favorite cocktails: margaritas and mojitos.
Jason surprised me with a anniversary gift, aided by a little helper, a female coworker (Good advice, Rachelle & Tara!) Nancy, Jason's mom, also surprised us with a bottle of champagne, with a custom label wishing us congratulations on our first anniversary. 
It was one of those gifts where you exclaim with surprise at the gift, then look more closely and repeat the exclamation when you see the detail. Add champagne to my list of favorite drinks too, by the way. I didn't get Jason anything, except the gift of his being able to hold it over my head how generous he is, and how stingy I am. (We had *agreed* that dinner was our gift to each other.)
I tempered the celebrations since I feel a cold coming on, and my grocery bag Saturday showed it.
I am enjoying the Yogi Tea Cold Season Sampler, since I was standing in the supermarket aisle trying to decide if I needed Echinacea Immune Support tea more than Throat Coat...or was it too late for echinacea since I already had the sniffles? And then my eyes rested upon the sampler pack. Breathe Deep is so far my favorite. They have free samples!
Suiting the spirit of the holidays, and the year's economic challenges, we volunteered for half a day at the Northern Illinois Food Bank.
They share the story of the foodbank with you beforehand, setting the tone for the importance of what you'll spend the day doing: 1 in 11 people in Illinois is 'food insecure' not having regular access to enough safe, nutritious food; reduced quality and variety of meals; and irregular food intake. 60% of the families served by the food pantry are below the federal poverty level - $20,000 year for a family of four. It reminded me of my high school's community service requirement for graduation, and how it's been a long time since I made community service a regular part of my year... besides the charity 5k's and monetary donations.
I worked the poultry line, stickering and packing boxes full of chicken. An ironic placement since my grandmother's first job coming to this country was cutting up chickens on a poultry line herself. We've come a long way, despite the continuing role of chicken.And Jason and I have come to one year, so we celebrated our first wedding anniversary at Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse, where gaucho waiters bring you sticks of meat until you surrender by flipping the coaster on your table up to the red 'stop' side. We were rapidly stuffed. I also enjoyed the recommended caipirinha cocktail which tasted much like a combination of my two favorite cocktails: margaritas and mojitos.
Jason surprised me with a anniversary gift, aided by a little helper, a female coworker (Good advice, Rachelle & Tara!) Nancy, Jason's mom, also surprised us with a bottle of champagne, with a custom label wishing us congratulations on our first anniversary. 
It was one of those gifts where you exclaim with surprise at the gift, then look more closely and repeat the exclamation when you see the detail. Add champagne to my list of favorite drinks too, by the way. I didn't get Jason anything, except the gift of his being able to hold it over my head how generous he is, and how stingy I am. (We had *agreed* that dinner was our gift to each other.) I tempered the celebrations since I feel a cold coming on, and my grocery bag Saturday showed it.
I am enjoying the Yogi Tea Cold Season Sampler, since I was standing in the supermarket aisle trying to decide if I needed Echinacea Immune Support tea more than Throat Coat...or was it too late for echinacea since I already had the sniffles? And then my eyes rested upon the sampler pack. Breathe Deep is so far my favorite. They have free samples!
Comments
...and I hope you are feeling better. I love Yogi tea. I'm never sure if it's really helping when I'm sick, but it makes me feel better emotionally, if nothing else, when I drink it... very nurturing and soothing.