30-Day Throw Down!

BULLETIN UPDATE! How great to see so many coming in and wanting to do the healthy dance! Please don't forget if you've commented "I'm in," you need to click the "FOLLOW" button to be entered into the drawing for the $100 Amazon Gift Card (unless you already follow). If you're not sure, just click the follow button and it will let you know. THANK YOU!

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So, I told you we were working on something. Here it comes. And I'm SO hoping you'll help me spread the word.

What Is It?

A challenge. And a chance at a $100 Amazon Gift Card.

Is It Complicated?

No, it’s simple and it’s free. It’s SO simple it’ll drive you crazy and you’ll want to add all kinds of rules and complicated information. I think simplicity is so simple it’s hard. Is that perfectly clear now?

This is a challenge for 30 Days – only 30 Days - to THROW DOWN FAST FOOD.

Launch Date: September 1, 2009.

(An “appetizing” example of the Not-So-Great American Diet.)

Are You Nuts?

Yes. Thanks for asking.

But we’ll eat healthier food, undoubtedly feel better, maybe increase our energy, or quit giving our scales a nervous breakdown every time they see us coming. Personally, mine is in therapy. It’s the least I could do after all the trauma I’ve caused it. I’ve also been known to avoid the doctor because people there insist on weighing me. Lately, I refuse unless they let me strip down to my underwear in the middle of the office. I didn’t eat my jeans. Why should I have to weigh them? Try it. They will never ask to weigh you again.

But I do realize I have a few issues. (See the answer to the question, “Are You Nuts?”)

Uh, How Do You Define “FAST FOOD?”

It isn’t only our favorite burger or taco place. It’s processed foods, too. Not swinging through “Big and Beefy – And That’s Just YOU!” doesn’t really work if we go home, throw a frozen dinner covered in plastic into the microwave, and slam a soda. That’s fast food from the grocery store.

My family and I wanted to see if we could MAKE ourselves, if only for 30 Days, know WHAT we’re eating and try to eat whole foods as much as possible. We already shop at Farmers’ Markets, buy locally grown most of the time, look for organic sources, and like to think we care about what’s going in our guts. Because trust me, when we look down, we realize…..they hold a LOT, so that’s important.

Okay, You Sound Holy. So, What’s Your Problem, Man?

We’re lying to ourselves. We are converts in our heads and total heathens in our guts. We still fast food it way too much. A pizza here, a cheeseburger there, a taco or burrito anywhere. And of course, my 14-year-old son’s favorite - imitation processed cheese product look-a-like that you pour over GMO (genetically modified organism) corn chips. (Any real relation to actual food is completely coincidental. Product restrictions may apply. Void where prohibited.)

And the reality is, when we do this, we don’t feel good. I mean, we REALLY don’t feel good. And why would we? What God put on this earth to feed us has been so adulterated, it’s hardly recognizable anymore.

Who Elected YOU The Big Food Sheriff?

I’m not challenging you because I have already arrived. I’m fat. I’m barreling down life’s highway seriously over the legal cheeseburger limit. I’m operating heavy machinery while in a pizza induced state. I’m driving while indoctrinated. I have allowed myself to believe that fast food and processed food can stand in as a decent substitute in a pinch. Well, I actually haven’t believed that for years but denial is a gift and it allows you to skip meal preparation or grocery shopping. And busyness and health issues offer yet more opportunities to fall by the wayside.

But this isn’t a beat-you-up, guilt inducing 30-day trek. This is a wake-up call. This is a belief that most of us can do almost anything for 30 days to improve our lives. Unless you don’t need to.

Maybe you live remotely and NEVER eat fast or processed foods. You are so far removed from this nonsense you can’t even identify with me. Maybe you grow your own food. If so, I’m in love with you and you have my undying admiration. May I stay with you for six months while I detox? It could get ugly. When do you want me?

But if your more like me than you want to admit publicly (and I am not offended if you prefer to act as though you’ve never even heard my name, not once in your whole life........including today), then you might want to do something about it.

The rules are amazingly simple.

Rules:

DO THE BEST YOU CAN. (But no, REALLY do the best you can.) And if no one will do it with you, do the best you can. See? Simple.

How Do We Pull THIS off?

The first question my son asked was, “What if I’m with somebody else and their parents take us to a fast food place?” We believe, for the most part, unless the meal is laced with out-an-out e-coli, mad cow disease, a known allergen, or arsenic, one meal probably isn’t going to derail you. However, we advised him to make as healthy a choice as possible. Choose a salad, see if they have fruit, opt for grilled cheese, reach for water, try the yogurt.

And we aren’t saying don’t eat out at all. But choose a real-food restaurant if you do. Opt for salads with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. Utilize real cheeses, not processed cheese products. Get whole cuts of meat instead of ground (at least it comes from only one source unless you know they grind their own on the premises). Go for the baked potato or wild rice instead of french fries. Avoid “farmed” fish and ask for wild caught. Share a fruit dessert or something dark chocolate. Or, in the interest of cutting down on sugar (another highly processed food), forego it altogether.

Daily, plan ahead with the old brown bag. Fill it with healthy, whole choices the night before. Include raw veggies and fruits. Choose organic and local, if at all possible. Say NO to soda, including diet. Drink filtered water or, if you just HAVE to, top it off with a little bit of fruit juice while you adjust to foregoing the soda. Cruise through your favorite coffee place and enjoy your daily cup-of-the-Joe, Americano, or tea, but blow off the cafe-latte-dahs and froo-froo drinks packed with sweeteners of all kinds.

Now, this is where it can get harder but, if at all possible, avoid factory-farmed meats and look to local growers, or those who farm sustainably and who have grazing cattle eating grasses and herbs, pigs that can forage and root, or chickens that are free-range. That’s how animals are designed to eat.

I realize this isn’t always possible with meat, due to costs. It isn’t for us either, believe me, but we try to eat meat like this if we find good bargains and sometimes we absolutely do. Every little change, and every meal, adds up – for your health…..or not.

THE KEY – ALSO KNOWN AS “THE MAIN THING”

Meal plan with fresh, whole foods as much as possible. Buy organic IF you can – buy local IF you can. The End. Keep it simple. If you can’t, make your best selections and say, “Yahoo!” because you’re still FAR AHEAD of the fast food game and your consistently moving toward better and better eating.

We can do this. It’s only 30 DAYS. Quit on September 30th if you’re suffering and feel miserable. (I’m betting you won’t be, on either count.) By the way, this isn’t a political idea. I have no hidden agendas. All my agendas are available for public viewing and parades, as well as limited soapbox and high-horse engagements. I am not a vegetarian and will not become one. You’ll go insane trying to convert me and I would hate that for you. I KNOW all the choices. This one is mine. But if you are a vegetarian, you are highly esteemed. Please send me recipes to make my veggies all that they can be and help them realize their full potential.

Contingencies

Now, if life happens, and it does, here’s your contingency plan: know in advance where you can find quick, healthier food vs. fast food. In some areas of California, Pizza Fusion offers organic pizza and sandwiches. Chipotle dishes up super fast service and healthy choices including offering meat from animals raised humanely and sustainably. (You’ll be AMAZED at their philosophy and their food when I post about it.) You might want to forego the white rice in their burritos and get more beans, peppers, onions, salsa, lettuce, and lean meat. And these burritos are huge. You can easily share one and cut your costs in half, though they are already extremely reasonable. Whole Foods has a salad bar with EVERYthing, though the prices can be a little steeper. Trader Joe’s has a salad-in-a-box for $3.00 or so. Look for organic any time you can. And these recommendations aren’t even the tip of the iceberg. Options are regional. Your thoughts are needed and welcome about what’s available in your area. Share what you find in the comments section or email me. I’ll post it here and we’ll help each other.

And if you’re concerned that you might find yourself caught between a rock and a cheeseburger, reference the advice to my 14-year-old son and then go one step farther: Plan ahead. Pull up the websites of the fast food restaurants you normally frequent and look at the calorie and nutrition content of their foods, ask where their meat is coming from, and find out how it’s prepared. Based on that, make healthier choices ahead of time.

These ideas will freak out the purists among us who won’t think this goes nearly far enough. But I believe in keeping the MAIN THING the MAIN THING. And this IS our main thing – for 30 DAYS. Nearly everything you read about healthier eating changes everything about your life almost immediately. Personally, that hasn’t worked for me. It’s often an “all or nothing” or “pass and fail.” But most of us can’t eat, won’t eat, or DON’T eat perfectly every day. This is a nod to real life. IT happens. If you fall off the wagon, RUN (you’ll burn a calorie), and get back on. Don’t let it leave without you. And if you fall off, you haven’t failed so DON’T give up. This is about the process. This is about 30-Day increments.

What Gave You THIS Hare-brained Idea?

One thing, among many others, was watching the movie “Food, Inc.” I highly recommend it and if it’s not already, it should be out on DVD very shortly. Through the years we’ve watched similar movies or documentaries and felt they were eye-opening. But in Food, Inc. I heard things I already knew, found out things I needed to know, and heard my own food beliefs echoed. I did chafe at an example they used which I felt was not well thought out. (I’ll talk about it and give them the FIX in my next 30-Day Throwdown! post.)

It got us talking and debating, and tickled our cerebellums, or amygdalas, or pre-frontal cortexes. Whatever it was, we found our brains still working and decided to utilize them. I required my kids to watch it as part of their school curriculum. I’ve been proselytizing about many of the ideas for years. But sometimes they (read I) need to see it and hear it from an outside source. It worked.

So, Is This a Food Blog?

Nope. Not even close. This is usually a humor blog, if I’m lucky. It’s about everything, and will continue to be. But every day of our lives includes food that fuels us, or not, so it seems relevant. And anytime we join together and support one another, it’s easier, more fun, and we’re accountable.

What’s In It For Me?

A healthier lifestyle. Being in touch with what you’re eating. Maybe losing some weight. Maybe not. You can still get fat on too much good, healthy food even though your body is better nourished. Trust me. I’ve gotten fat any way possible. (Considering portions is a good idea whatever you’re eating. And I’ve considered them. I just haven’t considered limiting them nearly often enough.) But this isn’t about changing EVERYthing. This is about changing a couple of things, making it doable, and taking first steps. When we end up evaluating ourselves at the end of 30 Days, we, our family, will continue on, adding more healthy habits in the aforementioned 30 Day increments.

You can come with us. In a year, we’ll be more aware, healthier, leaner, and we’ll even save a BOAT LOAD of garbage. (Think of how much we throw away with every fast food visit.) So it’s even a green idea.

Where Does The $100 Amazon Gift Card Come In?

If we do it, I truly believe we’ll all win. But one person, on October 1st, 2009, will win a $100 Amazon gift card. How you might ask? So glad you did.

1. Sign up to follow AND leave a comment saying you did. That’s a must. I’ll collect names everyday during our 30 Day Throw Down! and add them to the drawing. All you have to write is: “I’m following and I’ll do it!” Feel free to write more if you’re inspired. (The follow button is to the right – over the photos of other followers, and the comment button appears at the end of this post. Just click on it to comment. Sorry if that’s highly detailed but I’ve had people who truly didn’t realize how they CAN comment and I don’t want anyone left out.)

2. If you already follow, THANK YOU!! But you still need to leave a comment letting me know, “I’ll do it!”

3. If you BLOG about it on your site and link your readers back to this article by using this code http://robynnsravings.blogspot.com/2009/08/30-day-throw-down.html - leave me a comment with a link to your post and, I'll enter you again! (I hope you deem this worthy of sharing with your readers.)

THE WINNER OF THE GIFT CARD WILL BE INTERVIEWED HERE ON THEIR MONTH-LONG JOURNEY AND HAVE A POST DEDICATED TO THEM. (Privacy and identifying details will be respected unless you love the limelight! Then, I’ll link everyone to your blog, if you have one.)

That’s it. Let’s THROWDOWN!! For 30-DAYS!

Copyright 2009 - 30-Day Throw Down! Copyright 2009

$100 Amazon Gift Card Is Coming.....

We here at Robynn's Ravings (that would be me and my vast staff of one husband, two teens, two dogs, and a seriously curmudgeon-y cat who hates everyone but Bo), have been working together on a project. And I'm getting ready to roll it out in the next day or two while finalizing a few touches. It has kept me a tad preoccupied so I apologize for my invisibility on your blogs over the last few days. I am continually amazed to find that you don't come here only because I visit your blogs, but because you WANT to come here. And I THANK YOU!! Your comments and encouragement keep me going. And my family knows they can count on quiet when I stare into the blogosphere portal and work or create. They CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH for this and want to bathe your dogs, scrub your toilets, and spend the weekend with your most difficult relative so you don't have to.

They WANT to, I TOLD them they want to, but I'm willing to bet, they won't.

However, we'll be doing something almost as good. And I'll tell you about it soon!

Ukraine's Got Talent - Spellbinding

I found this video clip through my sweet friend, Kelly, at The Glass Dragonfly, who finds the best videos in the world and shares them with us. I hope you will do yourself a favor and take the time to see this. If you do, you won't forget it. I clicked, watched it for five seconds, stopped, and knew I had to call the kids in to watch with me. We we're all spellbound. For me, art must be shared.

Fun, Fluent, Fabulous - The JOY of Women

I LOVE to laugh and connect. And I LOVE to hang out with women friends. But as I wrote this morning, I was analyzing friend types.

Do you have low maintenance or high maintenance friends?

In my book, low maintenance doesn’t mean you don’t have problems. We ALL have problems. It simply means you’re honest, upfront, and trustworthy. You don’t continually look for offense or the worst in others. If you have to talk about someone or just need to vent, it’s because you’re looking for solutions and trying to move through to a better spot. And you don’t “sow discord.” I know a few people who are discord FARMERS. They grow so much they could go public with their stock and trade on the open market. But, happily for me, I know FAR more who are purveyors of JOY.

And that’s what I got last night with some dear women friends.

If you interviewed any one of us today, I believe you’d get the same review. We had FUN. We LIKED each other – even though some of us were new to the others. We talked about the frivolous and we soap-boxed about healthy food, our families, our woman-ness. We shared struggles or frustrations but didn’t judge each other. We LAUGHED a LOT. There was no gossip. No one got bashed. This was NOT the “winter of our discontent.” We WANTED to like each other, enjoy each other, and…..we did. And this?

I love.

Here we are, out on the town:

We’re actually more beautiful than this, of COURSE, but I can NEVER remember to take my camera so this look-alike montage of some famous familiar faces will have to do. Here we are – Kim, Kendra, Karla, Kim (the quadruple “K” threat), Linda, Becky, Kendra’s mom, and Me. Ladies, we got it goin’ ON. Some of us are so good lookin’ we needed TWO pictures to catch all of our awesomeness and that’s why I had to use 14 faces.

We went here:

And saw this:

Then stood in the lobby and talked about it for half-an-hour before we could decide we should walk over here:

And eat this:

Well, at least that’s what I ate.

(Thank you stock photos from the internet. You never let me down. I so appreciate YOU bringing a camera. I’ll try to do better. The End.)

So, however you roll, or however many rolls you have, or don’t have, gather some of your gal pals and have fun. It doesn’t matter how many friends are around. What matters is the quality of the friendship and the heart of the friend. And if your friend group is lacking, do what I did: Invite yourself over. Butt in. Insist on being loved. Don’t take “no” for an answer. Act like you belong. Try to get them to feed you. Refuse to run off when they stamp their foot. They’ll weaken from sheer exhaustion, and then, you’re IN! Yahoo!

Copyright 2009

I LOVED This....!

And now I'm headed to see it for the second time with a girlfriend group this afternoon. Saw it last Saturday. Must take Grizzly, too, so that will make three times. Meryl Streep is bound to receive an Academy Award for her portrayal of Julia Child.

But a feature of the film I did not go in expecting was the truth about blogging.

If you're ANYthing like me, and I'm desperately afraid for you that you are or you wouldn't be here, most of your friends and family do NOT get this blogging obsession - the whys and wherefores and whatnots. And the thing is, we all have different reasons but it's born in creating. It's born in sharing, in connecting, in helping, in receiving. It's a mission field, it's a counselor's office, it's a shoulder, it's a rolling-on-the-floor laugh fest, it's a cry of desperation for some and we, you and I, might be the person God is using to say, "I see you. And I care." It's a WILLING listening ear because nobody is putting a gun to anyone's head and forcing them to show up or keep reading. Or to follow. They say, "Here I am. I came here because you need me, or I need you, or both, but whatever it is, we're connecting."

And this movie addresses and looks at, even stares at, the heart of a blogger. It's a relationship we have. Some of us feel an immense responsibility to each other and maybe, to ourselves. Others are casual daters. But whatever it is, I saw it unfold and bloom on the silver screen.

And now, I have to go see it again.

I also love that the flirting and more sensual scenes - not that anything is hugely graphic - only takes place between two couples married to each other and madly in love. Thanks, Hollywood. This is a feel-good movie.

Copyright 2009

Looking Through The Slats

Yes, Virginia, I do remember looking through the slats, or bars, of my crib. But I never saw Santa Claus.

One of my dear friends and readers, BZ at The Mosquitoes Buzz, asked me, after my Meme post recalling the horrific clown doll that gave me phobias, if I could truly remember looking at it through my crib slats. The answer is, “Yes.” The answer why though is, “I'm clueless.” But detailed, strong memory is as much a part of me as this computer chair which has now grown attached to my posterior.

For example, if you're as old as I am (first of all, be gentle with yourself and then rush to the doctor for a check up - there’s probably something wrong with you) you may recall a contraption like this from the late 1950's (old people use the word "contraption" a lot):

I found this photo on the internet. It’s not me or my mother. We weren’t nearly this photogenic or pink. But the chair the baby is in gives you the idea. It was the early car seat. It put the baby right up front and in the middle of all the action. We babies were front and center in case anything crashed into the windshield. We had a birds-eye view. Babies hate to miss anything. And mom could be dutifully distracted looking at baby, like this mother, instead of actually driving the car. Which greatly increased the chances of items crashing through the windshield.

My little seat was equipped with a steering wheel. It was the beginning of my power madness. I was sure it was me, I TELL YOU IT WAS ME!, driving the car. But at the same time, I had a distinct memory of having a horse’s head mounted where the steering wheel was, with a little rein that I could hold and make my dandy automobile giddyap and go. So, which memory was right?

Both felt right and I was comfortable, if confused, in my resolve. It didn’t make sense but that has rarely influenced my opinions. My mother insisted I never had any such seat and was zonko. But every dog has its day and mine was coming, even if it had fleas.

Disclaimer:

The next few paragraphs involve depressing facts. Feel free to skip to the upshot at the end.

In a prior post, I mentioned being given up for adoption or placed in foster care, depending on who’s telling the story. How that came to be was a tragic turn of events. My mother and father married very young and both came from highly defective backgrounds, though vastly different. (Dysfunctional just doesn’t quite cover it.) Neither brought emotional health or stability into the relationship, but my father brought a level of anger and volatility right out of a Steven King novel. One Sunday afternoon he took us all for a ride in the hills and severely beat my mother. (He was known to beat the kids, too, but she was the target this day.) He broke her jaw and knocked out several teeth. She had a violently ill reaction – what other kind of reaction could you have? – as my brother and sister endured the trauma of watching from the car. I have no idea what I saw. This is one memory gone to me and I’m grateful. Somehow, my mother’s sickness snapped him out of his raging fury and he took her to the hospital where they wired her jaw shut so it could heal. The doctor told him it was jail or therapy. He chose therapy. He went once.

But my mother grew terrified at his menacing and began to stay awake not sure what he might do. She had already found him once with a pillow over my face when I was crying. She began to fear for all our safety. And in those days of sleeplessness and injury, she began to unravel. Shortly thereafter, she was admitted to the hospital for five months. (I remember a trip to see her once. I dream about it sometimes. Everything is huge – the elevator, the doors, the halls.) And being the father of the year that he was, he didn’t want any of us. His parents agreed to take my brother and sister, though they weren’t thrilled with getting my sister. She had been sickly and was the scapegoat of the family. And they weren’t willing to add the work and effort a baby would bring.

So, according to my adoptive/foster father, R.Q. – his real name based on the Royal Queen’s Highway in Texas – my biological father walked next door to their house and offered me to them saying my mother was hospitalized and would never come home (which was certainly not true) and he didn’t want me (which certainly was true).

Now, Mary, R.Q.’s wife, had three boys and had always wanted a girl. I guess she fussed over me regularly and when I showed up on the doorstep, they accepted immediately. R.Q. said, when I found him shortly before my 40th birthday (Mary had passed away), they always regretted not starting adoption proceedings, not that they necessarily could have under the circumstances but, it made me feel warm and fuzzy.

They were ecstatic. Their beloved boxer dog threatened me and, believing I was there for good, they rehomed it. They invested in a nursery and decorated it for me. The boys thought I was a fun novelty and regularly tied my shoes to table legs to keep me from getting into their toys (very fun grown up guys when I met them). I had five months of baby bliss in which normalcy reigned. The family was happy and the parents were doting. While I look unhealthy and a little forlorn in some of the pictures, I sincerely believe the time there may have saved my life – physically and emotionally - because I bear far fewer scars from this time period than my brother and sister (who eventually took her life).

Happy Part Continues:

But in those pictures which R.Q. gave me and I will scan in and show you if I EVER get a scanner, there I am, sitting on their couch in a car seat.

With a horse’s head and reins.

They bought it for me for THEIR car. I was right. I had two car seats. And I was in charge in both of them, I’m sure. I also saw pictures of myself in a high chair (most of our family photos were stolen when I was about nine though some remain.) The wallpaper in their home so closely matches the wallpaper in my own home, right now, and which was put up a few years before R.Q. and I found each other, that it knocked my socks off. I recreated my own happy little haven and didn’t even know it. I don’t know if I can ever take it down. I remember seeing it on display in Wallpapers-To-Go and loving it instantaneously in a “must have it” kind of way. Now I know why.

My mother did recover and I would celebrate my first birthday back in my own home. And I remember the dress I wore. Light lavender soft cotton with tiny smocking and a little delicate flower. I loved that dress.

My parents divorced three years later and there are definitely people who wish I couldn’t remember all I do from my childhood, but I am grateful. It has made me who I am, has given me the courage of my convictions, and, if I’m not mistaken, a keen memory and powers of observation help if you ever want to become a writer.

I do. Maybe, I am.

Copyright 2009

Rent a Planted Tree (or) College Help

As you know, I usually try to write about subjects most of my readers can relate to, or at least understand on some basic level, as they consider my highfalutin histrionics, my enigma of experience, and my profundity of complete poppycock. However, today, I diverge.

Today I speak as the mother of a young adult bound for college. I speak as one who has taken a 2x4 to the pre-frontal cortex in the area of college textbooks. I am speechless about how much they cost. I'm sure you didn't notice. Let me go on.

I have decided to forego the current book I'm writing and write a textbook instead. It will be about something completely insipid and basically irrelevant to the human race and will be a requirement for a college class. This will drive the cost up exorbitantly and I will publish it myself. I will charge $300 per book. Very shortly, I will be living large and inviting you all to come visit me at my beach home in the Cayman Islands. But until that time we need these:

Now, I am NOT ungrateful that our dear Bo has received a college scholarship. This includes her tuition for four years, housing, parking, and office privileges. So what are you whining about, you might opine? Whatever I can find, I might say. In fact, do say.

We are Suburban Survivalists. We have existed on one income for sixteen years so I could be with the kids and homeschool them. It was our choice. I have zero regrets. But it did not leave us at the front of the line for financial resources. I looked both my children in the eye in sixth grade and said, "You will go to college. Here's how: scholarship. Get busy." Obviously, nothing is a sure thing and I am open to God trimming our sails for a different direction. But if all things are equal, and they never are, then that was and is the plan. However, I seemed to forget about that little part not covered: Textbooks.

Apparently, I fell into a deep slumber about this financial blow until three days ago when I woke up screaming, "We've got to order all your textbooks!" Bo started shopping online and hunting for every deal. And boy, did we get deals. We took our costs down from about $800 to $325.00. That's worth telling SOMEbody about. Maybe you. Most of us probably aren't living the high-life right now with the economy and if you can save a little bread, you just might have some to eat. So here's what we did: we bought as few books as we could and we rented the rest.

You're probably all brilliant and already know this can be done but we didn't. It's PERFECT. You use the books for four months and ship them back. Do ANY of us EVER look at old college textbooks we got stuck with because they changed editions and the bookstore wouldn't buy them back? They become paperweights, dust collectors, and thrift shop donations. And here's a huge bonus: one of the companies, Chegg, plants a tree for every book you rent. We are tree LOVERS so this was a big, green yahoo from us.

So here are your links if you're looking for less expensive options than the college bookstore.

To buy, check out:

Half.Com at www.half.ebay.com/

TextbooksRUs at http://www.textbooksrus.com/

We have used both these companies with good results when Bo took college classes in high school.

Others are:

http://www.textbooks.com/

http://www.campusbooks.com/

http://www.campusbookrentals.com/

But for RENTING, you can't beat Chegg at www.chegg.com/ and remember, they plant a tree for each book rented. You probably need to know that their prices go up as the start of school draws closer so you don't want to wait. We waited one day and the price went up $3.00 per book. We placed the order last Friday.

Happy shopping to you or someone you know who might need this info.

Copyright 2009