Bloom Where You're Planted

[Book Review] Sleeping Naked is Green

2011-10-06T09:20:00.003-04:00

I finished Vanessa Farquharson's book Sleeping Naked is Green.

The book is a light-hearted, cute read. I'm thinking it would appeal more to women. In the book, Vanessa writes about her 366 day challenge of greening her life a little more each day. It isn't just her blog posts reprinted, but rather a commentary on some of the changes she makes with feedback from her blog. I really enjoyed this book.

I emailed Vanessa and asked her a few questions that I could share...

If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

It's funny -- I don't think anyone has ever asked me this before! Let's see... If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably try to build up a network of green experts before getting into it, so I'd be better prepared to cope with each change. At the time, I was just coming up with stuff on the fly, without really thinking of any practical consequences, and some things (like unplugging the fridge) were a bit harder than anticipated.

If you had to do it all over again, what would you do the same?

I'd probably make sure that I kept writing about my experiences. Having the support of bloggers was really amazing; a challenge like this is not something you want to endure on your own.

What are your future green/eco-plans, if any (such as another type of challenge, other books you would like to write, etc)?

There are plenty of things I'd love to write about, but it's a tough time for green books right now -- most publishers aren't making money on them! So I write about environmental issues in whatever newspapers or magazines will take these types of stories, and I've been giving lectures on green living at universities across North America. And, of course, I still live as conscientiously as possible; I'm maintaining about 270 of my 366 changes.

Anything else you would like to share?

Nope! Just to thank everyone for reading Sleeping Naked is Green, of course. :)

All the best,
Vanessa

For more information about Vanessa, check out her blog at http://greenasathistle.com

The Never Ending Bathroom Project

2011-10-03T10:13:00.000-04:00

It's been busy around our household. Between running CAFE, getting back into the school routine and working on some other volunteer and client projects there are just not enough hours in the day.

About a month ago I replaced the bathtub faucet to fix a leak. Dad and I couldn't get to the innards easily, so I tried the retrofit option first. It didn't really work. It sounded like water was always running. So a little over a week ago I got Dad over here to replace the entire faucet unit.

The hole started kind of small.

Then it got bigger... it took 3 attempts to get
everything right and not leak.

Thinking everything was finished I got a new
tub surround and was going to just remove the
topper tile so I could finish with molding.

The topper tile was pretty easy to remove, but
made a mess to my painted over wallpaper.

Now to get my original plan to work I needed to sand off the finish of the tile so that the adhesive would bond the surround to the tile. I sanded... it just polished. I guess I didn't have course enough grit. The amount of sanding I would of had to do would have been insane... so I decided just to remove the tiles... just around the tub area. Well... you can't remove tile from the backer/cement board very well. So I ended up removing that as well... going down to the sheet rock.

My next issue was where the tub surround and the rest of the room join together on one wall... There was going to be an inch or so difference :-0 !!! So I decided to take out the tile from the rest of that one wall. Well, by the time I got to the corner (where the toilet lives) I had trouble removing the stuff. I planned on removing the toilet anyway so I could put down a new floor. By the time I got that wall cleared of tile I decided to just do the rest since there wasn't a lot of wall with tile anyway by that time.

ALL tile is removed and my first beadboard
panel is in place (to make me feel better). The
room is pretty trashed. More damage around the
tub (I wound up removing half way up the wall
around the tub faucet and replacing the sheet
rock with some moisture resistant stuff).

The boys helped me remove all the tile on Thursday evening so I could haul it to the recycling center Friday morning. What a great help! After emptying the truck I headed to (about my 6th trip) Lowes for the moisture resistant sheet rock.

The new floor looks great! I learned to get dirty looking floor
tiles to cover dog hair, etc. There is a bit of brown/clay color
in it that blends with the tub quite well.

I had some leftover green bathroom paint from
our previous house. I added some white to
lighten it up a bit. I figure we can always paint
over it if we can't stand it.

The white "artwork" on the wall is spackling. I
tried painting over (after I sanded) the area where
the wallpaper was removed... it didn't work. So I
have to resort to mudding the seams.

The frp tub surround is up, caulked and waiting
on finishing trim. I haven't decided if I want to
polyurethane the trim to match my wood
toilet seat or to paint it white.

I was running low on adhesive and need to add the top panel
to the bath area. But you can see the result.

I'll share finished pictures. I caulked last night. Today I've got to sand and see if I need another coat of mud. That will determine if I paint the second coat of green. I want all the green done before I work on painting the white and finishing the trim.

[Book Review] Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon

2011-07-25T08:46:00.000-04:00

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Mitford series books by Jan Karon. I had NO idea she was semi continuing the stories with The Father Tim Novels - whoo hoo. I ran across her most recent book (book 2) so I had to find book 1 at our local library... Home to Holly Springs.

Father Tim decides to go home to a small town of Holly Springs, Mississippi. The perspective jumps from current events to remembering back to when he was a kid. There were lots of things he didn't understand or misunderstood as a kid, and they were the basis to many of his major life decisions. By the end of the book he had a better understanding of things while reconnecting with lots of people from his past.

The entire series is a wonderful, light-hearted southern based (North Carolina and now Mississippi) selection of books that I highly recommend.

[Recipe] Blueberry Zucchini Muffins

2011-07-24T07:52:00.000-04:00

I took this recipe to a potluck over the weekend and everyone RAVED about it. I'll list how I made it and in parentheses I list what I'll do next time. It was WAY too sweet. You could not tell there was zucchini in it at all. I want to try it without it and see how it does for non-zucchini time.

This makes a very large batch. I made a standard loaf pan plus 6 muffins (and I could have made 9 muffins if I remove some of the loaf pan batter). The loaf pan really was too full.

3 eggs
1 cup oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar (I'll cut in half next time)
2 cups zucchini, shredded
3 cups flour (next time I'll use half whole wheat and half white)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil your pan(s).

Mix all ingredients in order except for the blueberries and zucchini. After that is mixed add zucchini and mix. Fold in your blueberries. Pour in pan and bake 35 minutes for muffins, 50 minutes for small bread loaves or 110 minutes for a large bread pan (or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean).

My large loaf took forever and got really browned, but it was still very good. Just keep checking with your knife. It can't look jiggly on top.

[Recipe] Homemade Pizza

2011-07-20T12:38:00.000-04:00

About the only thing I use our machine for is pizza dough.

One of our almost weekly meals is pizza (can you tell I have two young boys at home?).

I make the dough from scratch using my bread machine and it is super easy.

Basic Pizza Dough

My recipe has the break down for small, medium and large. I always make the medium amount and freeze half for the following week. To freeze, I wrap the dough in saranwrap and put in a freezer bag. It defrosts pretty quick. If you are in a hurry you can use the defrost setting in your microwave if you turn and check it frequently.

Half of this recipe will yield one large, thin crust pizza.

1 cup water
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour (I like to use half whole wheat and half unbleached all-purpose)
2 tsp active dry yeast

Place all the ingredients in the order listed in your machine and set on the dough cycle. (My machine takes about 90 minutes to complete this.)

Pizza

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Roll your dough on a large pizza stone. (If using the recipe above, only use half of the dough!) Take a fork and prick holes about 10 times to help prevent the crust from bubbling. Bake it for 10 minutes.

While baking get your other ingredients ready. Each of my family members like different things on their pizza so about a quarter goes to each person.

My oldest son likes just pepperoni and cheese. My youngest likes just cheese. Hubby and I like mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes. I like to add feta or goat cheese and some times olives or pepperoni. Sometimes hubby and I will add fresh spinach or fresh basil or ricotta cheese as well.

We had two friends over so I made two pizza's.
They were a hit! You can see an infrequent bread
made from my machine in back: Cinnamon Raisin.

So cut up your veggies according to what you like. One note about tomatoes. If using fresh (sun dried soaked or packed in oil are good too) squeeze out the juice. Otherwise it makes your pizza watery.

With regards to sauce... use what you like. My boys are picky, so I just use the same organic canned stuff we use for spaghetti. I don't recommend buy the higher per ounce priced "pizza sauce."

I like to grate my mozzarella fresh. I've used both fresh mozzarella and regular blocks. Usually we use the block cheese because my boys prefer that. If I have the fresh mozzarella, I'll usually just put it on the adult side of the pizza.

So after your crust has prebaked. Top with your sauce, then your cheese followed by your toppings. If using fresh spinach and/or fresh basil I'd recommend adding it after your pizza has cooked. The heat will wilt them enough.

Bake for 10-12 more minutes.

Weekend Weather Work

2011-07-18T09:38:00.000-04:00

Thursday through Saturday we had VERY untypically cool weather.

Saturday I decided I shouldn't waste that time to work outside.

I have many projects on my to do list waiting for cooler temps.

I decided to work on straightening the garage.

(Now that I'm a garage owner, I see this as at least a twice a year task.)

Last fall I installed shelving and a work bench.

First I had to clear out the space.

Here is the before construction of the work bench space.

I can't find a before for where our shelves are.

One thing that was VERY challenging... a sloping floor!

It wasn't an issue on the work bench area because it ran parallel with the slope.

Finished work bench.

I added above shelves and some high up storage for some

extra long molding that I was tired of worrying about damage.

I bulk purchased storage containers in three different sizes

and used my printer and packing tape to label in large type.

The finished shelves.

It holds a LOT of stuff and we can find everything.

Now here is what I tackled this weekend.

The floors had lost of leaves around the edges.

We leave the garage open during the day and during the fall

they just blow right in.

In addition, the kids toys and our outdoor chairs just get dumped.

Here is the (too dark, sorry) before shot:

And then the after shot:

It still looks busy on camera. But it is SOOOO much better.

I moved things we don't use very much to a separate building.

I added a few hooks to get the skateboard ramp

and a few other things off the ground.

I threw out some stuff.

I consolidated the toys to a bin.

I added a shelf in between some shelves for smaller car items.

Here is a close up of that:

The wooden shelves have been up since shortly after we moved in.

But the smaller items are all "car maintenance things"

and were getting lost/jumbled up/hard to find.

(I love keeping things in zones by task.)

I repurposed some wire shelving to make a little in between shelf.

Since our studs in the garage are open,

I screwed a long narrow piece of wood behind so things won't fall off in the back.

(Another idea would be to use cardboard, chicken wire or leftover fencing).

One other area of the garage that I didn't photograph is the other side wall.

It has a lot of wood for building projects.

It is kind of sorted (a lot better than in the past).

I have all the skinny molding/wood/curtain rods separated.

I decided to pull the curtain rods/non wood items and corral them.

Here is what I used.

I've used this technique before to corral garden stakes.

I used an old juice can that I found in the garage.

I cut off the bottom with my can opener

and then screwed it into the wood shelf. Viola!

THE list

2011-07-12T13:23:00.000-04:00

Here is a list of all the things I want completed before the end of the year (most before Thanksgiving).

House related:
- paint den
- paint hall
- weed/add to yard landscaping
- steps installed off the breezeway
- declutter the garage
- paint the kitchen counter tops
- fill the trim holes and paint

Family related:
- get scrapbooks up to date (by setting one day a month minimum I should achieve this)
- zoo trip
- aquarium trip
- attend the Lake Eden Arts Festival in October
- get together with friends for dinner (at minimum once per month)
- hiking day trip/geocashing

Business related:
- get 2 website projects completed (passive income)
- finish existing client work and add two new clients per month
- review a book per month
- build online "raving fans" network to 1000

Physical:
- release 15 pounds
- maintain a 50% raw diet
- build #MovementMoment to 4 per day, 5 days per week

Community:
- continue to grow CAFE
- work with community to establish/grow Rivera
- continue involvement with the Co-op

What would you like to accomplish before the holidays get here?

My Big Rocks

2011-07-11T09:35:00.000-04:00

Last week at #commenthour, one of the chosen blogs was http://www.disciplineproject.com. Her tag line is "Taking Care of My Big Rocks First". The design, topics and tag line really clicked for me.

I started working with a personal/business development coach a few years ago. One of the first activities she has me do was list my goals in 8 primary areas:

Spiritual
Family life
Professional
Financial
Physical
Personal development
Community
Social

In addition, I rated my satisfaction level in each of these areas. This gave me great insight into what areas I wanted to target immediate improvements.

My "big rocks" are family, a couple of key community projects, and my business. These are the primary areas of my life. All the rest fit in and around.

Recently I did add in physical. Although I'm basically healthy, I'm no where near my ideal weight. (I probably haven't been since high school.) I'm now working with a trainer to get into the habit of exercising and I've also started the #MovementMoment.

Another recent addition is Morgan. He is a one year old Lab-Springer mix who has fit right in with the family. He is definitely getting us up off the couch.

So, what are your big rocks and what are you doing to improve them?

#MovementMoment

2011-07-07T11:38:00.000-04:00

#MovementMoment is a new Twitter topic I plan to use almost every day. I've been working with a trainer and one of my goals is out of every hour I'm at the computer, I need to exercise/move for 10 minutes. I'm actually upping it to 15 minutes... so I only have to do it 4 times a day. Not to mention, some days I have appointments and am out-and-about.

So, I'll try to mention my progress here. If you Tweet, use Facebook or Google+, watch out for #MovementMoment posts.

A Pretty Sight

2011-07-07T11:33:00.000-04:00

I know my neighbors hate to see this (thank goodness we only have one neighbor) but it is so pretty...

Book Review: Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt

2011-07-05T09:12:00.001-04:00

I picked this book up at my library. I was drawn to the cover. I like historical fiction... I didn't know how real the events actually were until I finished the book and read the afterward.

This book is set in England back in 1612 and is about a family of "blessers" who were in the end tried for witchcraft.

The book is broken up into three sections. The first section is told from the grandmother's point of view and the last two are from the granddaughter. All of the sections are in chronological order for easy reading.

Most men won't like this book (I imagine). There is just enough action to satisfy me. It's just easier to relate to women. I can relate to some of their struggles.

She provides some glimpses into life as a pheasant. It would be hard for us to live in their conditions. We are so pampered. I'm sure Mary Sharratt didn't want to overshadow the story with too many details. I felt she gave just enough for us to get the gist.

So, if you like historical fiction, especially during the 1500-1700. Then you should like this book.

Blogger, I'm back

2011-07-02T21:00:00.001-04:00

After participating in the #commenthour last Wednesday, I got inspired to revive this blog. Someone asked how long I'd been blogging. I couldn't quite remember. But after I did some research, I found out that I began this blog in 2005. I stopped blogging here about 3 years ago. My plan was to move my updates to Facebook. I did, but not quite as frequently as planned.

So to give readers a run down over the last 3 years.

Brandon is now 11 and is active in Boy Scouts, and Lego Robotics League. Last school year he went to the local pubic school and did real well. He participated in the Young Appalachian Musician (YAM) program learning how to play the guitar (he's also taking lessons over the summer). He also tried out for the school's musical and made the part of head elf... a major speaking part.

Rowan will be 4 at the end of August. We are just now getting him potty trained. He loves his Legos, trains, puzzles and 4 wheeler. He will begin the Montessori school in the fall.

Last fall I officially started my new Elian Evans Marketing business. I have been providing marketing services for many years now. But last fall I made it official. I continued to work part time two days a week until the end of February this year.

Also, last fall I started working with a group of farmers to put together some sort of network. In January I co-founded the Clemson Area Food Exchange. Basically it is an online farmers' market where customers shop online and then meet at a central location to pickup their order. It is going very well and DEFINITELY takes the two of us to run it. I provide most of the business manager and technical support functions.

About 2 years ago we moved to Liberty (the town where I went to school in). I've never lived in this town and it has taken some getting used to. It was very strange at first to run across so many folks that I went to school with. While we didn't live very far away from here (about 8 miles), it pulled us in a totally different direction for shopping, etc.

Our house required a lot of cosmetic work before we moved in. We ripped up carpet and refinished the floors. We painted just about every room in the house. We were thankful to get as much of all those things done before moving in. There were a couple of other major things we did after moving in (added hardwoods to the dining room and replaced the kitchen floor with tile) that I wish we would have done before. Oh well. Things that still need doing include painting the hall (it's hard to do with a toddler), grout along the parameter of the kitchen tile, redo the bathrooms, paint the den and replace its carpet with flooring. We also need to work a bunch more with the landscaping. What would we do without projects, right?

So that's what I've been up to. I hope to add more interesting posts as time goes on. Now to finish watching Smallville's season finale (I love Netflix).

Follow us on Facebook

2008-08-18T13:06:00.003-04:00

Please follow us at Facebook. Search my name and become my friend. This is where I'll be posting updates for awhile.

My he's 11 months already!

2008-07-31T12:25:00.001-04:00

It’s hard to believe my little man is 11 months old. It does seem like a long time that he’s been here. Last summer being pregnant seems eons ago. It was such a hard summer. Now to plan his birthday present… it will be something with purple balloons since I found a large stash of them the other day cleaning out my office.

As for his stats… he has 4 teeth on top (2 aren’t that far down yet) and 2 on bottom. He doesn’t bite too much. I think he only does it when I’m out of milk. I’m SO happy that he’s still nursing. (Brandon was done at 5 months.) He sits wonderfully, but isn’t crawling, cruising or walking yet. Yesterday I sat him down and he scooted himself around 360 degrees in one spot. It was funny to watch. His first word is Daddy… but we are working on Mommy, Brandon and cat.

We’ve been busy this summer. I’m working 2 days a week at Fibertch. The boys go to Mom’s. Between my businesses and Brandon’s activity schedule it keeps us hopping.

Brandon attended a comic camp at the Arts Center (http:// www.explorearts.org). The first day he didn’t like it too much. But he made friends and had a really great time before it was all over with. We go to a viewing at the gallery on Sunday.

Brandon has also been taking gymnastics once a week. (http:// upstate-gymnastics.com) He took it last summer and really enjoys it. We’ve also been homeschooling. We made a deal with his Daddy to get through second grade reading during the summer to get him on grade level in that area. In a few weeks (when Mom returns to school) the boys will be going to a friends house who homeschool too so they can do school together two days a week. Two other days a week he will take a science class through a local co-operative. I’m excited for him. One thing about him being in public school last spring was that I missed him!

Business wise I’ve shifted gears a bit. I’ve decided to make Pampered Chef primary and Mary Kay secondary. I took a few months off (other than servicing customers) to really decide what I wanted to do. I love helping people and just believe that PC is a much better fit for me. I hate to disappoint the MK leaders that I worked so hard with, but this is the decision I’ve made. I believe the mission of both companies is wonderful. To build a successful (non-hobby) business you’ve got to align yourself with leaders who have done what you want to do… and that’s what I’m doing. I’m very excited.

Until next time!

This n that

2008-06-18T15:40:00.003-04:00

Rowan's growin! He is starting to pull up if you stick out your fingers or if you have him down on the floor he will try and grab your legs to pull up. At least it means I don't have to have the house spotless yet. Last Thursday he came down with pink eye. His eyes were matting up bad Th afternoon. Thank goodness it stopped. Then Friday they were gunky... but not producing as much crud. We took him to the dr for a check out. Unfortunately he HATES the eye drops. I'm lucky if anything gets in them. Other than that he is doing great. He went to bed early last night and was up bright and bushy tailed this morning. (BTW I did finish making all of his diapers the other day. I'm so happy that I won't have to make more! My favorites are made out of baby blankets.)

B man is attending vacation bible school this week. He has spent a lot of time with his buddies Riley and Thames. We got together Sunday afternoon for their dad's birthday and a cookout. We were supposed to go to the lake, but their boat was messed up. We ate in the A/C and watched a movie (B & Riley played outside for the longest).

I believe Grammy is going to stay in SC. She is going with us to TX in 2 weeks, but will return with us. So I'm driving my car and dad is taking his. I don't look forward to the drive, but I'm anxious to be "on vacation."

Summer's here

2008-06-12T10:48:00.002-04:00

School’s OUT…
…now what?
 
Actually, we are bring Brandon back home to homeschool. I am working to “do” second grade reading over the summer so he will be “on track” for a 3rd grade science class that he will be taking at Team Classes. Plus we will continue with 3rd grade stuff in the fall. B kind of wants to return to school, but it’s only for social reasons. So I will try and make life more social (I’m the kind of person who could stay home all the time… especially with high gas prices). I’m also going to get better at doing projects with him. I just don’t like hearing that he’s bored… plus he has his Scout stuff to work on.
R-man is doing well. He is recovering from Thrush on his bottom. I’m almost finished with making all of his diapers. This should be the last time I have to make them… then I can get on to other fun projects. Making 30+ diapers gets boring. At least I’m using different fabrics to keep it interesting.
 
He still isn’t crawling or pulling up. He will sit in the floor and play though. Thank goodness. He’ll roll around a bit sometimes… but prefers to sit up. I’m sure it won’t be too much longer.
Next month July 2nd-9th we (me and the boys) will join mom, dad, and Grammy on a trip to Texas. Mimi and Granddad haven’t met R-man yet. They came out last summer before he was born. I’m not sure if we are dropping Grammy off or if she will return with us… which makes a difference in what vehicles we take. It shall be interesting.
 
I’m working on a new web project. I’ll keep you posted. I’m still working 2 days a week. Mom is keeping the boys most of the time. I have a PC show to do tonight. I only do one every few months as requested. I didn’t think it would come together… but it has. I’ll work for a little money.
The weather has been hot, hot, hot… like August in June. Hopefully we’ll start to see a reprieve. I don’t blame the earth for fighting back with all the pollution we keep dumping into it. I bought the 11th Hour and it’s good.

9 Months

2008-05-29T17:00:00.002-04:00

I can't believe you are now 9 months old. You've just about spent the same amount of time outside as you did inside.

Right now you are so fun. You laugh, you giggle. You love your big brother to pieces. Just the other day you figured out how to blow your tongue (not sure what it's really called). When you are in the mood you make a lot of noises.

You love to eat. You are about to turn into a graham cracker. You really love them at the moment. I'm trying to feed you all raw food... except for those darn crackers. You like being in control. But boy do you make a mess.

You aren't able to get into a sitting position on your own yet... you aren't crawling either. But you will sit up for awhile. You just have to have cushions or someone nearby.

Your hair is finally starting to grow out a bit. A lot of the early stuff broke off.

You HATE baths and sometimes hate to have your diaper changed.

You LOVE sleeping/nursing with mommy. Since Christmas you sleep the first part of the night in your bed and then I move you to your double bed and we sleep together almost every night for the rest of the night together.

You still love the sling. You also like to ride around in the stroller... but don't stop moving or you want out. You like car rides too.

You don't fall asleep anywhere like you used to when you were younger. That makes it hard to go to church.

You are a blessing and a wonderful baby boy. I'm so glad you are with us. I love you. - Mom

Polycarbonate plastics

2008-05-01T12:44:00.003-04:00

Just in case you missed this in the national news... polycarbonate plastic is bad... especially for babies and children because it leaches BPA (especially when heated). If you have a recycling number on your item, most #7's are this type of plastic. The plastic is the hard stuff that is translucent.

I'm a bit upset, but not surprised, when I found out yesterday that some of my items I have at home are polycarbonate. Particularly my Rock 'n Serve dishes from Tupperware and (probably, I'm waiting on confirmation) my Quick Stir Pitcher from Pampered Chef. I'm not worried too much on the measuring cups, etc. because they get used quickly. I'm not keeping food in them for long term storage or heating them. I contacted TW yesterday and their and independent tests showed that they don't exceed the governments allowed daily amounts. I guess that is their legalease... but I will not have them in my house. Especially the TW pieces because they get heated! You can go here to read more from TW.

So Rachel, dearest cousin, when you read this hopefully all the BPA bottles will be removed from the baby shelves. But I recommend glass bottles for your new one. That is what we use with Rowan. I breastfeed, but I store what milk I do pump in glass and if he gets a little formula, he gets it in glass. Here are the ones I use. I ordered mine last year when they were harder to come by.

Here is also another great resource that I found yesterday. It is a chart that tells what common brand name items to avoid and what they are made from. Thank you healthychild.org!

2008-04-28T10:23:00.002-04:00

It has been raining almost all morning thank goodness. It started yesterday. We put a tarp up for Dad's birthday party last weekend and it was nice being outside and not getting wet. There isn't an overhang at the back door and usually I have to balance an umbrella while unloading the kids and unlocking the door... so it was nice to have the extra cover.

I'm uploading more pictures to flickr as I type this. So go check them out.

Yesterday was adventurous. We skipped church thanks to Rowan keeping me up so much Saturday night. Noelle had her dance recital at 2 so I arranged for Brandon to go to a friend's house. (Noelle did great at what were able to see.) Anyway, Brandon got hit in the head with a piece of PVC pipe and so last night Stephen took him to the ER to get stitches. Thank goodness for technology because they have this wonderful skin glue that they used instead. They were out so late last night that I let him stay home. What an event!

Rowan got his second tooth Friday. He is growing up and developing so quickly. He's still not crawling yet. Last night I was reading that he might not ever crawl. Some babies don't. He does roll though. I'm also working (finally) on ECing him. That is elimination communication... trying to get him to signal to me when he needs to go. I did catch one pee. We'll see how well it works for us. Thank goodness it isn't an all or nothing since my schedule is all over the place. I'll keep you posted.

Spring is here!

2008-04-23T10:34:00.001-04:00

I’m so very thankful spring is here. While I’m at it… happy Earth Day!

We’ve been very busy the last few weeks. We have baseball with B atleast twice a week. Then we went camping in the RV two weekends ago. Last weekend we held a surprise 60^th birthday party for Dad at our house. Things won’t let up until June!!!

Dad’s party was a hit. Amy and I spent two days getting ready foodwise. We served BBQ with veggies, etc. I won’t ever BBQ again. I haven’t been eating a lot of meat lately. I cooked the meat slowly and it was good. But unseasoned pork smells yucky to me. It was good though with sauce. Thank goodness we had great help with clean up. Stephen spent a record amount of time in the yard getting it ready. He had to mow (he only used our new mower 3 or 4 times last year due to the drought), he finally used the weed-eater (it needed to be done 8 months ago), unforunately he put down fire ant killer (I hate to use poisons of any kind, but the ants are everywhere), he and our friend Jamie moved/blew the leaves, and he put up a tarp over the back porch (as well as cleaned off both porches). Chris and I installed to posts on the end of the patio to attach the tarp to it. I’m only concerned about when it rains a lot. I think we will leave it up all summer. (Now I’m thinking to put up a permanent roof with our tax return next year.)

Brandon is doing great at baseball… but he is an outfielder and is bored. He hasn’t played in 2 or 3 years. I’m not sure if he’ll play again. School is going well too. I’m hoping we will return to homeschooling. There is a great team teaching group in Clemson that I’d like to get him envolved with mainly because he likes the social aspect.

Rowan is getting his second tooth. I can’t believe he is almost 8 months now. He loves his raw food… especially his smoothies. We share those. He likes all kinds of fruit. Our smoothies have atleast 3 different fruits and something green like lettuce or spinach. Today I actually added half a cucumber with the lettuce. I need to add sesame seeds.

I’m trying to get back to eating mostly raw. I don’t fret over too much about when I don’t eat raw. But I’m noticing a difference. I’m listening to my body and my tastebuds more. I’m trying to be more of a concious eater.

Time to work!!!

No Impact Man

2008-04-09T13:55:00.000-04:00

If you aren't familiar... is a very good blog. Lots to think about.

No Impact Man

LV GRN: Why recycling is nowhere near enough

Posted: 09 Apr 2008 02:00 AM CDT

People used to to ask me, essentially, why I was making such a big dig about not making trash during the No Impact project. They'd say, "I mean, it's recyclable, right?"

As Annie Leonard says in Story of Stuff, "Recycling reduces the garbage at [the landfill and incinerator] end and it reduces the pressure to mine and harvest new stuff at [the production] end. Yes, yes, yes, we should all recycle. But recycling isn't enough."

Annie goes on to point out that for every garbage can of waste we put on the curb, industry created 70 garbage cans of waste to manufacture it. Even if we recycled every garbage can's worth coming out of our house, it wouldn't make a scratch in the 70 cans created upstream.

Besides, as writer Dan Rademacher points out in his article "Manufacturing a Myth: The Plastic Recycling Ploy," plastic bottles, for example, are not recycled to make more plastic bottles. They are "downcycled" into, say, fleece jackets or a park benches or toothbrush handles, all of which eventually ends up in the trash.

That means that new plastic is required to make every bottle and every bit of plastic used to make that bottle--even if you end up wearing it or brushing your teeth with it for a while--ends up in a landfill or an incinerator. That's not true recycling.

Even the rates of what passes for recycling are often abysmally low. PET water bottles only get recycled at the rate of 14%. The rest ends up in the landfills and incinerators, according to the Container Recycling Institute.

Meanwhile, producers who advertise their products as "recyclable," even if their products do not end up actually getting recycled, may get a boost in demand. The paradox? That this can cause an increase in the use of resources consumers expect recyclability to prevent (and if that's not green-washing, I don't know what is).

In my view, true recycling between producer and consumer occurs, for example, when a glass milk bottle is returned to the dairy, washed and refilled. Even then, using it is not free of environmental impact. There remain the environmental costs and carbon emissions associated with washing it, refilling it, and transporting it.

This is why, during the No Impact project, the object was to produce no trash at all, not even so-called recyclable trash (not newspapers, milk cartons, magazines, junk mail, not packaging of any sort, not really much of anything that would end up getting tossed).

LV GRN Tip #2: As the saying goes, "Reduce, reuse, recycle." Recycling is at the very end of the list. That doesn't mean it isn't worth recycling. It does mean that recycling is not without environmental cost, though it has less cost than just throwing stuff away.

Top of the pyramid is reduce. That means, even in our post-No-Impact life, we still work hard at not consuming what we don't need to. Then comes reuse, which means once we have it, use it as often as you can before we get another. And finally comes recycle, which we've talked about enough.

PS For those of you who don't dig the LV GRN posts, never fear! "Big issue" tomorrow.

New Pictures Added

2008-03-06T13:44:00.001-05:00

Please note that I’ve finally added new pictures to my flicker account. To view them larger, just click anywhere on the flicker box on the right of this screen. Enjoy!

6 Months I can't believe it

2008-03-05T10:07:00.001-05:00

I have just a moment to write… but I can’t believe Rowan is 6 months old!!! It does feel like he has been here quite awhile. Maybe it’s that I’m so sleep deprived… He is a lot of fun at this point. He will roll over from his stomach to his back (he HATES to be on his stomach). He is what I like to call rolly-polly right now. Laying on his back he’ll bring his legs up and his arms up and twist and squirm sometimes. I expect any day now for him to roll from front to back.

Monday he had his check up and shots… he just cried for a few seconds and then forgot about it. He really didn’t want to nurse. He had a good disposition the rest of the afternoon… but that night, when he tends to get fussy anyway, he cried for a LONG time with Stephen (I was out for the evening).

I promise to post some pictures soon (hopefully tomorrow). His hair is still red, but thin… due probably to his growing head which is in the 75% percentile still.

Brandon is doing GREAT at school. We moved him down to 1^st so he could get caught up with his reading and grammer and he is doing fantastic. He rides the bus and Monday Stephen got to see him for the first time get on the bus. He had tears in his eyes.

Last weekend we spent it at Kanuga for our Parish Family Weekend. It is always tiring, but relaxing at the same time. It was nice to take my mind of things for a few days. Our program was really interesting too. It was a look at the Muslim faith compared to Judisim and Christianity.

This n that

2008-02-07T09:10:00.001-05:00

Who-hoo! Rowan slept 6 hours last night. Of course at 3:30 I couldn’t get back to sleep too well. Over the last week he has upped that first sleep to 5 hours (from 4 or less). I’m excited. However, I need to be able to go back to sleep.

Some exciting things… Rowan is 5 ½ months and likes to sit in a chair to play. I’ve got a little bouncy type seat that has a tray and no toys attached. The problem is the toys hit the floor pretty quick. Brandon used to use this. Sometimes I also sit him in his high chair with the tray.

Rowan is also eating food. He likes to eat. Around 4 months we tried food more for practice than anything. Now he WANTS to eat. He loves his cereal with banana. He doesn’t care for avacado… which is a shame because it’s soooooo good for him.

Brandon is doing well. A few weeks ago we all three agreed that he could start public school if he wished. He needed more discipline and structure. The first two weeks were very hard. Now we have him in a different class and it is much less stressful. We moved him down to 1^st instead of keeping him in 2^nd due to his reading level. He is getting EXACTLY what he needs now and I love the teacher and her approach (we started at the beginning of the reading program for his grade). He blew through the first (of four) books last weekend and we are moving a little slower (but not much) through the second. He should be right on the mark in a couple of weeks. I think he will be a top student now where as we were struggling VERY much to be average in 2^nd.

Business is booming. I was asked to join the top 2% of our company Monday. This means that I’m committed and have to be VERY consistent over the next 4 ½ months. I know I can do it. I just need to take my best week and do that weekly. My goal isn’t so much to make a lot of sales (although that’s nice) but to get in front of as many people as possible. So far, so good. I should get my first free car by the end of the summer as well as a MAJOR pay raise.

Time gets away

2008-01-03T10:01:00.001-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. I hope you did too. December was very busy.

We started off the month with Brandon developing a “car” to wear with the scouts in the Six Mile Chirstmas parade (that I hadn’t been too since high school due to our church’s annual bazaar being held the same day). The parade was long for someone so small carrying such a big load. I had to help with one hand. Rowan slept the entire time in his sling on my chest. Being in the parade did let you see a lot of folks you haven’t in awhile… but no time for catching up. Afterwards we walked home and waited to get picked up to be taken to our car so we could get into Clemson for the church’s bazaar.

Decorating the house went a little slow. Between my business, work, a new born, etc there just wasn’t a lot of time. I never did get the yard lights up. I didn’t have time until 2 weeks before Christmas and by then I said it was too late. I did get up a few outside decorations, just not all the lights.

Then Grammy scared us all by having to go to the hospital. Aparently she was taking too much arthritis medicine which caused ulcers in her stomach. One ruptured and she had to have surgery. Right before she went into surgery, she had a mild heart attack! She spent two weeks in the hospital and came home the Thursday before Christmas (the day mom didn’t have school). She still is weak, but getting stronger every day. I guess she won’t be returning to Texas for awhile! We like having her around though, so we don’t mind.

Christmas day was wonderful with the boys. (We didn’t make our annual Christmas eve service at St Paul’s because I was WAY too tired.) I cooked, decorated and cleaned all day and was worn out. Stephen worked, so I didn’t get a lot of breaks until he came home (then I ran to take a relaxing bubble bath). Christmas day is always hectic. Most years we have the Evans’ extended family at our house for brunch. I prepped some casseroles the night before but insisted on making biscuits from sratch that morning. I had helpers come to cook everything else. Afterwards we headed to the chaos at Mom’s house to exchange gifts and have dinner. I told them we would be there in the afternoon. It seemed at 12:01 my brother was calling to see where we were. It was almost 1 before we got there.

Last weekend Stephen, Rowan and I spent our time in Savannah, GA. I surprised Stephen on the location for our anniversary trip. It was nice having him off so much over the holidays… of course his paycheck will reflect that. He worked so much at the Christmas Tree Farm that we were thankful when that ended.

Savannah was great. We stayed about 5 miles from downtown. Friday night and most of the day Saturday we were downtown. That afternoon we visited some ruins and then had the best meal of the trip. The next morning we detoured to Beaufort, Lady Island and Hunting Island before heading home.

Now all but Stephen is recooperating from a head cold. I’ve got the worst of it now.

Until next time… love and blessings!