Tree Huggers July 14, 2008

I know I’m writing a lot on here. It’s because I have lots of things I need to complete, and all I can do is think about those things I need to complete.

Before my student arrived today, I made a list of what I should do to promote The Green Honeybee. It’s true that business endeavors cost money, and it’s true that money is something I do not have much of. I wonder how people start businesses. They get loans. Yeah, but what if you have college to pay for as a first priority? Then what?

I want to do a lot during my lifetime and at 19 feel like the clock’s already ticking. In the newspaper I read about this young entrepreneur or that young entrepreneur and I think, “What the heck? How’d they get off their bum?”

So I am getting off my bum. I am writing editorials to newspapers in my area. I am attending my community environmental meeting. I’m handing out business cards wherever the heck I go. Join my parade if you like, leave if you must. But I have a show to put on!

My dad asks, “If you like bees so much, why isn’t your major Entomology or something?” Because I really do not like any other insect except honeybees. Yep, you heard me right. I am not a bug person, nor will I ever be. But I have never been afraid of honeybees. I love them and everything they do, and I dream of having a hobby hive in my backyard. I once got my mother so hyped up about the environment that she almost let me get myself a hobby hive. Keyword: almost. I suspect that the neighbors would be a tad disgruntled if they had too many bees pillaging their BBQ parties.

My mother has noticed I have taken an interest in raw dieting, and invited me to go with her Sunday to the yoga studio where they’re doing a huge talk on raw foods. I said yes. You know why I said yes? Yoga = tree huggers = potential Green Honeybee customers! That’s why. So I’m ordering a pack of business cards and having them super-shipped to my door before Sunday.

Did I eat raw today? Not really. I tried. I had Wheaties for breakfast, lettuce wraps for lunch, and an apple with peanut butter for dinner. It’s amazing how incredibly full I feel.

Will be adding more recipes to this site soon!

The Love Buzz July 14, 2008

You know, there are so many people who think true love is an instant deal. Like the movies. You see one another, there is an irresistible attraction, and you fall in love. But love is simply not like that. I mean, I suppose it is for some people, and that’s just great for them. But for the rest of us who aren’t so lucky, love takes time, effort, tears and laughter. It takes strength and courage, and more than a dash of humility.

I have always identified with that Fisher song, “Different Kind of Wonderful.” She sings;

“I didn’t see anything in you when we first met

When I believed I would fall in love at first sight

Night after night we bared our souls over coffee

Now I know I love you.”

I have been thinking about this because, a more than a year and a half later into our relationship, I get more butterflies than I did when we first met. I feel more emotion, more love and affection for him. I feel like the spark has only grown, until it’s a steady burning candle. I get excited when he calls me, smile when I hear his voice. And I think, “man, did I get it backwards? Did I not like him at first and then grow to love him, or what?”

By the way,TheGreenHoneybee.com now officially has a blog! Please visit, browse through products and make a donation. Thanks!

The Princess and the Poor Boy. July 14, 2008

When I met David, I really had no idea how fortunate I was to have a father who is a doctor. I never took anything for granted, but I never truly realized the extent of how much our family was “better off” than others. When he told me we were rich, I laughed it off. I lead such a normal life, I told him. It was then that I began to see things that I had not seen before.

We have a cleaning service, a lawn mowing service. We have our groceries driven to us by Peapod, an organic vegetable and fruit service that delivers to our door, and I could not apply for financial aid for college. I didn’t need to. My mother hardly ever goes shopping – she gets everything online. I used to get everything (soap, shampoo, etc.) online, too. I didn’t really know it was considerably more expensive than just going out and buying stuff.

Inevitably the first fights encountered in my relationship with David were disagreements about money and how to spend it. At times he became so frustrated that he outright criticized my parents and sister for being so spoiled. Now that I have an idea of where I stand, I really don’t blame him. Our family is incredibly wasteful. It was only when David came into my life that I began finding ways to save money and learned how to spot a bargain. Even my mother has learned from him.

My boyfriend comes from a poor family. He was born and raised in California, and spent his summers in Mexico, where the majority of his family lived. His father was murdered by drug dealers when he was three years old, and his mother raised him with an iron fist. She emotionally and verbally, and sometimes even physically, abused him. When he was still living with her, I was witness to her loathing anger toward her son. She said things to him like, “I wish you’d never been born. Your father left me with a bastard son, etc.” He has always had it difficult and spent a good amount of his life living in a trailer. He grew up in the ghetto, witnessed shootings and drive-by’s, heavy drug dealing and pedophiles. When he met me, he knew I was a “good girl from a rich family.” And though he was considerably low on money, he never let me pay once for dinner or a movie. He took me to an expensive hotel the first time we had sex; he wanted it to be a momentous and special occasion. As his life story unfolded through the months of knowing one another, I was amazed that a man subject to such harsh ways of life had grown up so polite, so loving and respectful. It made me fall in love with him even more.

My parents have never really taken our relationship seriously. When I first introduced David to my family, things were not so great. My father did not respect David like he respected my sister’s boyfriend, who has a P.H.d. and is completing med school. I know my parents keep hoping that I’ll find someone better off, someone with more intelligence and wealth, someone more handsome. I know my family only entertains his presence because they are secretly wishing I’ll move on. And they think I will. More than a year and a half later, my father warns me out of the blue that break-ups happen, that I should be my own woman and not become so attached to one man. I explained to him that David supports me in pursuing my interests, is loving enough to let me have time to myself when I need it, and he is willing to let me focus completely on school.

When David announced he was studying to become a nurse, my father got a bit more cheerful with him, but that cheeriness has waned. After explaining our sexual issues to my father (who is also my doctor), I realize that I have just given him evidence to think this relationship isn’t real, nor will it continue for very long.

I just wish my family could look past everything material and see how good his heart is. David is there for me every minute of every day. It is 5 AM. If I called him now and needed him to be with me, he’d be over within five minutes. No, he doesn’t have much. But if you can believe it, he is working his ass off to take me to Cancun this summer. He says I’m his princess and he’s the poor boy. That may be so, but I am ever grateful to him for loving me and teaching me to become a better person.