I swear, I just keep getting crunchier every day. Do all you moms know about natural suncare products? I think I have been of the mindset that we have government regulations on things to keep us safe, and all the people who spend the extra money on organic, natural, etc. products are not hurting anything, but the products probably doesn't make that much of a difference. Call me a conspiracy theorist if you will, but I am starting to think that the government doesn't always tell us the whole truth about things. I have been reading in my book Real Food, about the industrialization of agriculture in America and I am realizing how unaware I really am about the things I put in to (or on to) my body. Like for instance, the difference between grass-fed and grain fed beef. I just assumed that if meat is available in the store it must be good for you. But, what I didn't think about was the fact that everything is big-business these days. Even "fattening" cows. Grain-fed beef actually have a higher fat percentage than what is healthy, and several health benefits are lost in the name of speed--that is getting the cow onto your plate as a steak. Maybe I am just getting old enough now to realize that some products haven't been around long enough for us to know what kind of long term effects they will have. So the great debate in my mind ensues: to stay in town or move to the country. I keep thinking that if we lived in a more rural setting we could raise a few chickens for our own eggs, maybe keep 1 cow and grow lots more of our own veggies. Then I wonder if that is a romanticized idea in my mind. Would I hate having to muck stalls and collect eggs? Probably. Would it be worth it for higher quality food products? I was just coming to terms with staying in our house. I love walking to church every Sunday. I love riding my bike to Marsh. I love that our house is on the way to so many things that people often drop by and there is rarely a day we don't have visitors. I love that when I have to have my kids to a birthday party in less than an hour I can zip to Target to pick up a birthday present and be back in time to nurse the baby and get everyone dressed and out the door with minutes to spare. I just wish I could have it all. Isn't that an "American" thought? That I even could have it all.

P.S. I did check the city ordinances. There is a specific one that says you can't have livestock in town. Rats.