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Click here for the link to get started.

This is great!!!

 

Fall...

So happy for vegan veggie soup!

 

A benefit of having wisdom teeth extracted...

 

Its not too late to get started...

 

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Cito, Longe, Tarde...

Leave quickly, go far away, and come back slowly!  This famous Latin phrase coined by Hippocrates and Galen in the mid-1300s during the Black Death.  Lets talk quarantine!

Did you know that the concept of a quarantine (quaranta giorni-40 days/Italian) can be traced back to medieval Italy?  The general idea was to protect coastal cities from epidemics.

From Eyewitness History

Ships arriving in Milan and Venice were require to sit at anchor for 40 days before landing.  This concept has been the cornerstone of disease-control and came about in an effort to avoid a second bubonic plaque epidemic with the first being in 1348.

New York Public Library

Genoese merchant ships going around Europe with supplies also held many, many rats which carried fleas and in turn the bacteria yersinia pestis ran rampant through the people, animals, and goods on the ships.  

At this point, not much was understood about what bacteria or a virus was, they just understood they had to do something to stop the spread.  

The initial quarantine time was 30 days but was soon extended to 40 days because they figured out the life cycle of a plaque was about 37 days with the carrier becoming contagious around the 12th day and showing symptoms around the 33rd day.  Ultimately, an additional 20 days would be added to any crew member who showed signs of continuation of infection.

While the measures they took were a step in the right direction, they had to improve on things a bit.  

By the time the second bubonic plaque hit Naples, Italy, in 1656, the death toll was nearly half of the residents.  This is when the concept of the "hazmat suit" of the bubonic plague doctors was fashioned. 

The Halloween costume-looking suit consisted of long waxed coats, gloves, goggles, a top hat, a long stick, and the ever famous bird-shaped beak face mask.  The beak was lined with cleansing herbs to clear the air of toxins but still allow for plenty of room to breath while wearing it.  

An interesting thing to note is that these "plague doctors" were either new graduates, shady doctors, or knowledge-deficient doctors but no one seemed to care.  Another problem was that these doctors were sent out by the government to basically take notes, keep details, witness will signings, and attend autopsies.  They were not sent out to cure anyone.

Another innovative idea from Italy was the introduction of a quarantine station-lazaretto.  The first was in Venice in 1468 and was on a small island around the harbor.  Ships could anchor for 40 days to ensure there were no contagions.

Wiki

The ideas of quarantine safety measures and lazarettos were eventually implemented across Europe, Australia, Philadelphia, the Delaware River, and New York harbor-Liberty Island home of the Statue of Liberty.  Times change but it is fun to look back on history and see what we have learned, where we are, and where can we improve from here.  

This current pandemic has really kicked all of our butts.  We have obviously learned a lot of new techniques and prevention measures.  We don't know exactly when the next pandemic will hit but we certainly know as long as there are viruses and bacteria, there will be another pandemic at some point in the future.

If you are not worried....

about the Coronavirus, then you are a complete F***ING IDIOT!  My family and I are staying home to protect others like my kids' amazing Papa and Nana, other peoples' Papas and Nanas, young children, and people who are compromised by health issues.  I literally come unglued when I see or hear people being complete jerks and not caring.  There was a woman who went into a store and started fake coughing and was swiftly arrested, and I think she 100% deserved it.  What kind of person just willingly puts others at risk?  STOP!  It is not about YOU, it is about OTHERS!

Literally sick of the Coronavirus....

But I will say this.  People seriously need to worry about more than this virus and the grocery stores are proof of that. It says a lot when we go to the store and easily get everything we need and want because we are vegan/vegetarian.  It is sad that all the disgusting meats, dairy, eggs, white flour, and white sugar are completely nonexistent, which all that crap should be nonexistent anyway.  Maybe people can take a minute and re-evaluate their diets during this time.

When I hear someone say...

the Coronavirus is no big deal!

Black history month....

I try to do at least one post during black history month and this time I decided to shout out a few celebrity vegan/vegetarians that you probably did not know vegan/vegetarian.  Pretty impressive list.

DJ Khaled
Waka Flocka
Drake
Prince
Jay Z
Beyonce
Taraji P. Henson
Stevie Wonder
Common
Angela Bassette
Will.i.am
Omar Epps
Chaka Khan
Serena and Venus Williams
Coretta Scott King
Russell Simmons

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Check it out..........

My insanely beautiful fellow ecobabe, Monica Richards, crowned me ecobabe of the week.

No matter what meat-eaters tell themselves....

these two pictures are the same thing.

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Every day should be vegan day..........

Green, my favorite color........

I found a few great resources for Zero Waste and going green so I wanted to share them.

Litterless

Mama Eats Plants

United By Blue

Greek pasta salad..........

We are making this along with veggie cutlets.  You really cannot mess up pasta salad.  We usually do not like cold pasta but it would be almost impossible not to like this.

Just cook the pasta, rinse, and cool.  Then add anything you like.  We add feta (I usually leave feta out of mine but it is seriously delicious if you do not think about where it comes from), green olives, black olives, organic tomatoes (anything other than organic is offensive), cucumber, carrots, and organic chickpeas.  You can also add onion if you like raw onions.

Then add vinaigrette dressing either store bought or make your own.  All you need is olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, and oregano.  Mix it all up in a jar and pour it own.  If you go for premade, we like Annie's Organic Green Goddess.  It will be the best $2 you will ever spend.

So mix it all up, chill it, and throw you chopped, grill pan-heated veggie cutlets on top.  Seriously delicious, fast, and good for you.

Curriculum for our final year of homeschooling...

Finally had a minute to get this 12th curriculum post out.  I am more than just a little busy even with grown kids.

A17 is in 12th grade ((GASP))!

Its awesomely fantastic and fantastically awesome!

Apologia Physics 
Hewitt Lightening Lit 
Hewitt Speech
Spanish II-Mango and Duolingo
Writer's Inc.
Teaching Textbooks PreCalculus 3.0
Economics
Magruder's American Government
Khan Academy
ACT Prep various resources
There will also be a mix of acting jobs, volunteering, book clubs, a little traveling, babysitting, pet sitting, and whatever else she decides to do along the way.

Happy homeschooling......