Mmmmmmm Local Lunch!!

Found an organic bread from Alpicella Bakery, a local Boise bakery. The Golden Flax bread makes awesome tasting toast. Tried the oat and whole grain on a pepper-cheese and veggie sandwich, all ingredients (except the mayo and pickle-which are organic) and even the apple on the side came from our local co-op. Delicious!!

What's Your Pledge?

Yes We Can......

What a historic event in our history! When I was just a little one, black people didn't even have the right to vote and didn't have the freedoms as everyone else. My parents took me on a civil rights march when I was just 2 years old. Now we are celebrating the inauguration of the first African-American President.

For the first time in a long time, I have something to believe in. Change, real change for our nation. For the economy, education, for the environment, for our troops, healthcare, peace.

And for the second best thing to happen today...........Bye, Bye, Bush!

I Have A Dream........

How appropriate that Martin Luther King's birthday should fall on the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration. Rev. King helped to pave the way for this historical event in our history. To see the first black man become President of the United States.

"I have a dream...."

What ever happend to the "thrift" in thrift store?

Okay, so my DH and I are checking out the local thrift stores.....I love thrift stores, not only in the hopes to find that great one-of-a-kind item, or maybe the exact thing you were looking for and trying to save some money by doing it, doing your part to help the environment by keeping something out of the landfill and by being non-consumeristic (if that is a word) by not running out and buying new......anyway......so we are out looking around for a pair of boots for myself and my kids and OMG!!!!!! I am getting sticker shock left and right!! I am finding things more expensive than I could buy new!

What the H*LL is going on? Has thrift store shopping become the "in" thing among the rich and the smug that now every day average people can't afford to shop there anymore? Who sets their prices anyway?

My 14 year old daughter's birthday is the day after Valentine's Day and I was going to take her on a shopping spree for her birthday at the thrift store to pick out some clothes and fill in with a few things she can't find there. Now, I am almost thinking of going to the......dare I say it?.......M,M,M,MALL??!!! Unfortunately, with the way the thrift stores are now, I can probably find better deals at JC Penney clearance, for instance. Not very happy. I hope this trend changes soon. How are thrift stores faring in your neck of the woods. Just curious to know if ya'll are experiencing the same thing.

I shouldn't have to keep telling you.........

WE DO NOT GNAW ON OUR PUPPIES!!!!!!Sorry, just had to post this, I thought it was hilarious!

Need to do this more often........

Decided to take the Doggies for a walk the other day. We really need to do this more often. We only live a block and a half away from the greenbelt, so we really don't have any excuse except for maybe pure old fashioned laziness. And Lord know, we both need to lose a few. Did see a few interesting sites though.

There is a thin sheet of ice on Quinn's Pond.

Don't know if you can see it, but there is a blue heron in the tree over yonder.

And this is a giant wasp nest we found hanging from a tree. Couldn't see it with all the foliage. But sure can now. That thing is HUGE!

Here's to trying to be more active in 2009. Who's with me? Well, I'll give it a good try anyway, how's that?

Home Haircutting

Hubby in process

In order to save a little extra money each month, I cut all the boys hair in our family. I also cut my youngest daughter's hair, but my 14 year old daughter wants such a particular style, she waits until Grandma takes her. My 17 year old son and the 14 year old daughter want certain colors and I can do that. I also cut and color my own hair. Going to try a more natural hair color next time (from the co-op)-try to cut down on all the nasty chemicals-and see what kind of results I get.Now, I'm not an expert by any means, but do an okay job. They don't have to hide their hair in shame. All you need is a clipper (even Walmart sells these) and a good set of scissors. You tube has many videos on haircutting. If the boys in your family like a short, military style, even better. Just give them the 'ol buzz cut. So, give it a try, you may become an expert in no time.

Product happiness....

I found all-natural soaps at the grocery outlet for $1.49 ea.


And the great thing is........all packaged in cardboard, NO PLASTIC!


Haven't tried the Sonoma Soap, but it smells really good. I love the "Save Your Skin" soap. It smells great and makes your skin feel really nice and moisturized without feeling heavy or greasy. DH says his eczema hasn't bothered him as much since using this soap and a portion of the proceeds from the purchase is helping to preserve 200,000 acres of pristine rainforest located along the upper reaches of Guyana's largest river, the Essequibo. One product equals one acre of rainforest saved for a year.



To learn more about their products visit http://www.saveyourworld.com/

Greening Your Video Games?

Found this report at Planet Green

The NRDC came out with a report on video game systems recently. Their findings were astounding. Did you know that video game systems consume 16 billion kilowatt-hours annually, about the same amount of electricity used to power San Diego for a year. More than 40 percent of homes have video game systems and many of those video game systems remain on all the time.

Turn Off the Console When Not in Use By simply turning off the video game console, you can save gobs of energy. An Xbox or a Playstation 3 left on 24/7/365 uses as much energy as two modern fridges.

Buy a Wii The Wii uses only 16 watts of energy while in Active Mode. The Xbox uses 119 and the Playstation uses 150. If you're deciding on which system to buy and want to pick one with energy-efficiency in mind, the Wii may be for you.

Use the Power Saver Mode If you have a Playstation or Xbox, you can reduce the energy use of these consoles by digging around the menus and finding the auto-power down option. Playstation 3 didn't add this option until fall 2008.

Don't Watch Movies on Your Game System Watching a Blu-Ray movie on the Playstation 3 uses 5 times more power than watching it on a standard Blu-Ray player.

Dispose of Mangled Systems Properly If your system breaks or gets stepped on and cannot be repaired, never throw the system into the garbage. Most modern video game systems contain toxic chemicals, such as beryllium, bromine and phthalates. Make sure to dispose of it with other hazardous materials. Local used video game stores or fix-it shops may be able to take the broken machine off your hands and cannibalize materials from it.

Most video game companies are in the process of making their systems without or with less of these chemicals or have plans to do so.

So happy I found...

Just found this at Fred Meyer today and am so excited to share.....

Eco-friendly CFL lights packaged in 100% recycled cardboard.

NO PLASTIC!!!

Happy New Year! Albeit a little late

Okay, I know it's been a while and Christmas didn't quite go as planned this year. My daughter and I were both sick and I am finally starting to feel much better. Some of our usual traditions didn't quite go as planned. We usually read "'T'was the Night Before Christmas" and the story of the first Christmas before bed on Christmas Eve, put out milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, but mom was sick in bed and Dad had to do a mad dash marathon wrapping, so a lot of things fell by the wayside. The kids wanted to do a more natural tree this year, so they strung popcorn and painted wooden ornaments with Dad. They also hung candy canes and pinecones on the tree. Looked real nice. I was going to do dough art ornaments with the kids, but between working, shopping and being sick, we will have to look forward to that next year.
Kids and Dad painting wooden ornaments.

I was also sick New Year's Eve. I had to work that day and started feeling so bad that I had to have another server take over a few of my tables. By the time I got home I just wanted to crawl into bed. Dad went to the store and got some supplies for me and some fried chicken at the deli for dinner and they watched movies until count down. The kids got to have some sparkling cider. I stayed in bed all night and watched episodes of the "Ghost Whisperer" on the laptop.

I have been almost continuously sick since the end of August. I had that nasty cold flu thing twice and each time it lasted about 3-4 weeks. This time was migraines (almost continuously now since Dec. 23), stomach cramps, nausea, chills and fever (my daughter had the stomach flu...unfortunatley for Dad). Went to the doc on Friday and am going to have major blood tests done. Thyroid (have Graves Disease), liver function, anemia, blood sugar, leukemia, and auto-immune disorders. He said that since I already have an immune disorder (the Graves) it is not uncommon to get another. Hopefully, tests will be back next week.

I have also decided that I am going to try to use more natural products (health and beauty). I already eat pretty well, but going to try even more. A lot more local and organic (money permitting). Unfortunately, it is more expensive to eat healthier. Went to the co-op after my doctor's appointment to stock up. Had oatmeal for breakfast with craisins, walnuts, ground flax, wheat grass powder, spirulina, raw sugar, cinnamon and soymilk. Lunch was half a veggie sandwich on multi-grain bread and a broccollini veggie salad with an unrefined sugar halvah for dessert (all from the co-op).

Dinner was brown rice topped with a stir-fry of red onion and organic baby bok choy and carrots with seasoned tofu and a soy-sesame sauce.

The worst thing I had was a mexican mango ice cream bar that my son and his girlfriend got. Not so good because it had corn-syrup in it. Everything else was pretty natural, so why did they have to go and ruin it with corn-syrup, yuck.

Also got me, DH, and the kids stainless steel water bottles. Good-bye plastic. That is except for the caps. They say that they are made with polypropelene. How safe is that? I get the stainless steel so that chemicals are not leaching from plastic water bottles into my water, but how many am I ingesting each time I drink through the pop-top cap?

Anyway, sorry so long, but since it has been a while, I decided to catch you all up since the holidays. Hope yours was a good one. And here's to more greening throughout the new year. Baby steps, baby steps.