Green Holiday Guilt

(Our crabapples withering away in the cold.)

I feel so guilty this morning. Every post I read on my favorite green blogs is about how they are greening the holidays. I have not. Well, I have made an effort to buy less, recycle and upcycle anything I can but when I have been buying gifts I haven't been buying green. I take that back I bought recycle cotton socks at Target, yes Target. I bought some great palm oil candles from my mom. She is a seller for Aloha Bay Candles and these candles and salt products are great! Some of their items are organic and/or fair trade. The scent coming from the candles is far superior than petroleum based candles and they last 3 times as long. And I am going to try and find some java logs to burn in our fireplace.

Other than that not much greeny going on with me. So you see my green guilt. I can admit much of the non greening going on is from my husband the light and fire guy. He bought all new lights for the house and loves to have a fire every night. I don't blame him, he loves this time of the year and so do I but I should have found greener alternatives for him.

I can say I tried some. I did look for recycled wrapping paper and found it more expensive. I am cold right now because of the thermostat being turned down. I do walk around in the dark to save energy. But I feel I have strayed from my green goals.

Next year: bake mostly organic cookies, find organic turkey and trimmings, and replace broken and burnt out lights with LED lights.

I am going to start in spring and look for greener alternatives to our favorite holiday traditions. I will set a date on my calendar so I can remember. (That's how I remember most of my life, ha ha.)

Recycle Christmas Lights?

Wow! This week is going to be crazy! It is the last week before my kids get out of school for winter break so my shopping needs to be done by Thursday. I will be going into their classrooms on Friday for parties. I am almost done with my gift shopping. I wish I could go greener but try explaining that to my family. The greenist I can go is bringing my own bag, buying quality gifts and not wasting anything from food to goods for the holidays. Actually this is what I do year round. I wish I could get it all done for $200 or less like Beth.


I did go to the Goodwill last week to look for a used blender for paper making but had no luck. I also went to see if I could find blankets or sweaters I could unravel to make something new from them. No luck there also. I live in a small town so maybe if I headed to a larger city to shop the thrift stores I would find more. I only scored 2 frames for my paper making and they were only .99 each! If I have time this week I will make some paper tags.


I do have a huge dilemma!! We have a ton of Christmas lights that don't work and I really don't want to throw them out but it is looking like I have to. Should I give them to the Salvation Army? Would they really want mostly burnt out lights? They are the little lights that are hard to replace if they are broken or burnt out. I looked online and found no way to recycle them and my husband is being very adamant about getting rid of them to make room for the new ones he bought this year. (I can't control his buying.) What should I do?

Greener Seasons!

Plastic Bags and Crochet

I am trying this soon. Maybe after the holidays!

Day Without a Gay?

I love that it rhymes. But, really, could the organizers of this could have picked a worse time for gay people to do this? I mean how many gay people need to go to work everyday? Hello? It's the holiday season, does anyone want to miss out on pay today? Gay or straight? Ok, if you are on salary you can take the day off and go rally; take your sick day. But what about the homosexual that gets paid on commission or hourly? Many times he or she cannot take the day off, especially right now! I am not gay and I am a stay-at-home mom but this even pisses me off. If I were gay and worked on commission I wouldn't be able to take the day off and support a cause I feel strongly about. And did I mention people are being laid off by the thousands every week because of the economy? Do you think a gay mom wants to play with fate and take a day off and possibly lose her job?

I don't normally rally for gay rights, I let gay people do that. I support them with a "way to go" or "good for you". My money, time and heart are with animal and children's rights. But, hey, this should have been done at a better time, seasonally and economically. Can gay people just wear rainbow bows like the ones for breast cancer and still go to work?

I hope it plays out ok today.

http://www.daywithoutagay.org/

Paper

What? A Saturday post? Yes, I am so unpredictable these days. Ha ha!

As if I don't have enough going on in my life I decided I am going to try and make my own recycled paper. Yesterday I was looking around Etsy and I noticed recycled notecards and I thought, "Hey! How do you make homemade paper?" I watched some videos here. And now I am on a mission to make homemade paper tags for my Christmas gifts. And I want to find all my "tools" used, like a blender and picture frames, at a thrift store. (Hey, maybe while I am there I will look for yarn!) This seems like a fun and easy craft I can do with my kids so I thought I would give it a try.

My crocheting is coming along. I crochet everyday, but usually end up taking apart the project because I don't like what I've done. I also crochet samples of stiches and yarns for future reference. Below is what started out as a double stitch sample and ended up a scarf for my daughter in her school colors.

I want to make scarves for my kids' teachers this year. So yesterday I started on a simple black scarf for my son's teacher and I have already taken it apart 4 times. Once or twice because I didn't like the stitches and a few more times because the stitches were uneven and off count. Here is what I have so far but I am going to unravel this one also.

Have a green weekend.

Ready for a Green Winter?

(At my in-laws in Michigan-BURR!)

I have found that I was not ready to be green in the winter months. Robin mentioned that she is having a hard time with being green in the winter and I agree. But I am still trying. Things you can still do:

• Turn down the thermostat- wear a sweater and slippers in the house and drink hot tea
• Turn on lights a little later
• Combine trips for errands
• Take short showers and turn down the hot water (hot water dries your skin anyway)
• Find drafts and cover them, even with a towel
• Cook double and freeze leftovers-this saves in energy on your stove and time for you later
• Use all your leftovers for soup, wraps or burritos
• Close vents in rooms you don't use
• Put an extra blanket on your bed at night
• Use your oven's heat after it is off by opening it to share it with rest of house
• Use clothes dryer (if you need to) at night (if in house) to share the heat (mine is next to kitchen so I get heat)
  

I can't remember anything else right now. And I live where it does not snow so feel free to add to my list in regards to freezing weather and being green.

Stay green and warm.

Aaahhh! The Holiday Season

Ah! I love the holiday season. Time to gain 10 pounds, sit on your butt and snuggle. This is usually the only time of the year I can get through a book. Any other time I can't sit down long enough. So this season I have chosen my books: Marley and Me and Generation Me.

I have been wanting to read Marley and Me for a while now but like I wrote I have to wait for the holiday season. I just adore dog stories. And since the movie will be out soon I have a goal to read it sooner than later.

I found out about Generation Me from a radio morning show out of Sacramento called Armstrong and Getty. The author, Jean M. Twenge, was featured on their show recently. I am always intrigued by people's behavior as a group. This book is based upon my generation, well, barely, I was born in the early 70's (damn, I have to disclose my age!) and that is when she says "Generation Me" started. The premise is that people born to the "free love" generation that experienced a new openness with themselves in the 60's have created a generation that thinks they have no boundaries and are all individually great because mom and dad and society told them so. That is all grand until you get into the "real" world where you are no longer perfect at everything and you no longer get a trophy for just showing up. Interesting?

Anyway, if I feel inclined I will spoil the books for you when I finish them. Ha ha!

I still have my eco books waiting on the shelf like Omnivore's Dilemma and Silent Spring but I tend to read those in the springtime.

Oh! I am looking for a good Christmas themed book to read. One with a good message to it. A real feel good book. If you have read any let me know.

Happy holiday season!

I Won!

I really shouldn't be on my blog right now, I am suppose to be in the shower. But I have to tell you I won a contest!!!!
New Green Mama has a new Etsy shop. Well, to celebrate opening her shop she had a comment raffle sort of contest giveaway going on. And I won!!! I get a personalized magnet, handcrafted by New Green Mama.
Thanks!! I am so happy.

Now I can go take a shower...

Attention Mommy and Daddy Photographers

Do you constantly take photos of your family but they never turn out that great? Or do you think they are great and they really aren't? Well, DesignHerMomma is hosting her first bloggy carnival and it stars you, the wanna-be photographer. Well, it includes me too. You can be a great photographer also, I guess you can put us all to shame. Go ahead, destroy our moment in blogosphere glory.

Here is what it's about:

1. Click here or the banner above or the banner to the right. Which will take you to DesignHerMomma's blog.
2. Her blog describes what to do. I'm not in the mood to describe it to you right now, sorry.
3. Basically you take funny, cute or just horrible holiday pix of you family, dog, hubby or whatever and you post it to her blog for the world to see. Sound great?

So get going. Take a cutesy picture of your cat or hamster or niece.

I just loved her picture of her darling little girls. Don't you just love little girls?

Is it me or is there more advertisement for "green" products? I have been seeing more commercials for hybrids, green carpet cleaning, green landscaping, anti-water bottle (from Brita) and just more environmentally friendly business all around. With the economy taking a downturn I thought for sure "green" would be put on the back burning. I guess I was wrong.

My home page is MSN. Just about everyday they have a green feature story. Today is "What are Heritage Turkeys". Don't know? Go see or read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and you will find out.

MSN and Yahoo both have a green sections. There is a green channel on cable and it features well-known personalities like Emeril and Adrian Grenier (hello? Entourage) and Tommy Lee (like him or not). There is an awesome story on what to do with that pizza box there today and so many more useful articles. Or you can watch Bill Nye tell you how things happen. I love Bill Nye. I remember his show "Bill Nye, the Science Guy".

I am ecstatic over the fact that we seem to be moving to greener lifestyles. The only problem is much of it is driven by money, of course. Right now being green makes money. (Us greenies know it can save money too!) Let's hope this movement results in new ways of life and more break throughs in green technology.

New Green Mama's New Green Shop

(Felted Wool Upcycled Sweater Sleeve-Owl Perching)

New Green Mama has her Etsy shop up and running and I have already bought 2 of her coffee cozies. Her artwork is very nice and earth friendly. She makes beautiful glass pendants and great felted pieces. She also thinks of mother earth when shipping the items to you by reusing and reducing. Check out her goods here.

Happy Friday

I want to write today but I don't know what about. It is a beautiful day outside with just a bit of a nip of cold in the air. It is quiet yet there is hustle and bustle in town. I need to clean my house but I really just want to take pictures outside and read blogs. What to do?

I found a flickr group that posts photos of their journey through the book How to be an Explorer of the World. Remember I posted about it? I love it! It combines my love for photography with my love for viewing my life as a journey. My first photo is boring. But I was suppose to sit down and find 10 things I didn't notice when I first sat down. Hmm? I am sitting at my desk so I know every little detail. It was hard to find things I have never noticed before. Anyway, many of the photos and posts are so imaginative. I want to be like that.

I am also so giddy today. I am going out with my husband for dinner and a movie. It has been so long since we have been alone outside the house. I am very excited!

Have a happy Friday.

Green Lately?

(Our local pumkins carved into Jack O Lanterns.)

I haven't been writing much lately, I guess I go through spurts. And I definitely haven't been writing about my green adventures. Well, that could be because there isn't much to report on that subject. I still try to buy local but the farms have closed for the season. I try to buy organic when it doesn't damage my checkbook too much. I still recycle and print on both sides of the paper. I turn off lights. I wash with vinegar and baking soda. I even got really angry when all the junk mail from the "green" politicians came in the mail. I do all my usual green works.

I can step it up a notch and ban more plastics but my family is already rebelling and wants me to buy plastic water bottles. I have not given in. If they want plastic water bottles they will have to buy them. I still need to switch to cast iron pans and stainless steel but maybe Santa can bring those.

I did buy local pumkins. It was nice to have a local farm open for fall. And I was able to buy some butternut squash there also. So yummy roasted!! But I have to tell ya. Those local pumkins molded and fell apart within one day of carving! I couldn't believe it. We were lucky to have carved them on October 30th, we usually carve the weekend before Halloween. Unfortunately, I will not be buying pumpkins from that farm again. But then again carving pumpins is not green.

So when I do something green or find out something great about the environment I will post about it. But for now I may just write about my crochet, my kids or just life.

Simba in Box

My blog is turning into a "family" blog. My daughter joined me this morning to read blogs and she brought her stuffed animals along. The above picture is Simba in a box. The story is that she crawled into Sugar Pie's box and got stuck. My daughter loves stuffed animals and loves to turn "trash" into treasure, she learned that from Girl Scouts. I love the concept but I don't like all the "treasure" in my house. When she looses interest the "treasure" gets recycled.

(Sugar Pie)

Snapshot of Me

This is my desk. My life. My day and night. My world. My family. My junk. ME.

If you want to know who I am and how I tick, it is all here...

Look in the top left corner. There are pictures of family in Yosemite. And under my desk mat are more. Mostly candid pix of my kids but me, my husband and the dog are there also.

My computer, where I communicate, work, and have fun.

My photography notebook where I take basic notes like what a ISO. (I tried to take this picture without a flash but the details would be missing.)

The pizza I ate and the soda I drank. (Not so green everyday.)

My yarn for my crochet projects.

My scouting clip boards where I stay up-to-date with my Cub Scout den and Girl Scout troop.

Even my coffee warming pad ( AKA a candle warmer) is empty at night but in the morning will have a cup of Jo with soy creamer in my favorite clear mug.

The box in the top right holds all those pesky bills. I hide those until the first of every month.

Under the pizza plate is even my son's Narnia book and his rough drafts of his book report due earlier today.

The phone that I never answer-I hate phones.

This is my life, all on my desk. It represents me. It tells you a little about my days and my nights.

It's Friday, Take It Down A Notch

I LOVE Friday. I take it down a notch on Friday. I sit down a little more and try not to think very hard. I mean even on simple subjects like what is for dinner. (Am I spoiled or what?)

I finished my first scarf and it is my design; not from a pattern. I used a basic single stitch for the body of the scarf and then a combo of single stitch and treble for the fringe.



Tomorrow is Scouting for Food. As I was walking around the neighborhhood yesterday distibuting the door hangers I felt a little guilty for killing trees to spread the word for this event. But it is one of those catch 22's where you think that it is for a great cause, to feed the hungry. My guilt deminished just a little. And then tomorrow we pick up the food left on the front porches. This food will most likely placed in plastic bags. I hate plastic bags, as much as I hate polluting. But, again, FEEDING THE HUNGRY. The door hanger does say "place food in recycled bag." I thought about that. "Recycled bag"? Don't they mean "recyclable"? Anyway, I will go about my merry way tomorrow with my scouts and know that we are helping to feed a person or family down on their luck.

Have a great weekend. Be Green.

Mari

(Photo stolen from Cocktail Party Physics.)

I think I am finally finding Allison. I feel I have found a place in me where my heart and mind agree. I know what I want for me.

Yes, I know I am a wife and mother. I do those relatively well. I would never give up those roles I hold most dear. But for years I didn't know what I was inside. I mean what I truly love in life. I have always known I love nature and children but I never knew how to harness that love into something concrete. Are you following me here?

I always envied those people who knew, "I am a writer or policeman or attorney or whatever" and I loved to hear stories of people blossoming a talent or love like a sewing or cake decorating business. They had a PASSION and followed it.

I never had that. I was once going to be a biologist, then an anthropologist, then a writer, then a clerk, then a librarian, then a park ranger, then a real estate agent. I enjoyed studying and pursuing all these fields but never had that passion. If for the exception of park ranger. I would still pursue that life goal if my age didn't get in the way.

I never had a concrete hobby. I volunteer for scouts, parents club, ski, hike, go the gym, write my blog, go to the movies, cook, bake, garden etc. But nothing was satisfying enough to feel I needed it in my life. I do love hiking, camping and scouts (park ranger ring a bell?) but that really revolves around my children and when they someday leave the house I probably won't be involved like I am now.

Now in my mid-30's I think I have found what a need in my life. I love photography. I feel it. I have come full circle. I almost need it. I feel the need to take my camera on some days and take 300 pictures of one tree or my children or birds or my cooking. It feels natural to me. I don't need to pursue it; it came to me.

I feel this way about crocheting also. It sounds so weird! My mom taught me as a little girl how to crochet and didn't pick it up again until just a few weeks ago. And now I can't stop. The beautiful and intricate designs created are so fun to make.

I have the luxury of being able to pursue and explore my passions because of my husband. He has worked very hard since we married and had children to make it possible for me to have a great life at home. He has given his time and patience so I can find myself. He made it feasible for me to stay home with the kids and care for our household and nurture me. He has always been encouraging if I stayed home or decided to work outside the home. He always gives me time. We manage, in Northern California, to have one income. He has made it possible for me to find Allison.

My dad always had a nickname for me: Mari. (Roll the "r"). I never questioned him until about a year ago. "Why do you call me Mari?" I asked. He very simple stated, "Because I like it, it is short for mariposa." Mariposa is Spanish for butterfly. That is what I am today, a butterfly. Finally coming out of my Chrysalis to be ME.

Scouting for Food

Clean out those pantries and gather some non-perishable food because the Boy Scouts are coming. This Saturday morning, November 15th, Boy Scouts of America will be visiting many homes across the country to collect food for shelters, churches and food banks. My son as a Cub Scout will participate in this annual drive. Please don't forget to put food on your front porch to have these great boys pick up your donation.

Not sure there will be a pick up in your neighborhood? You can enter your zip code here and call your local council to find out if the scouts will be in your neighborhood November 15th. You can also keep an eye out in your local newspaper for information. And some troops place reminder cards on your front door.

Please give if you can this year to any food collection participants. This year is proving to be especially hard on people who have lost jobs and/or have experienced natural disasters in their areas. I spoke to a representative from a local food bank last week and she stated that the need for food donations is up 20% this season.

Scouting for Food

Crochet and Funny Kitties

I apologize for my absence lately. Hell, I haven't been around at all. If you were my spouse you would threaten divorce by now. Well, I have a good excuse. Umm, I am busy. My kids, those life sucking creatures that live with me that I love dearly, have been keeping me on my toes. And when they are not I have taken up crocheting. Yes, that great folk art form used to make great scarves, beanies and the infamous afghan blanket. When I finish a project worth showing I will post it. But so far I have been making little blankets for my daughter's stuffed animals to practice my stitches. And you know, crocheting can be green. I heard that people go to thrift stores and pick up blankets, unravel them and then rework the yarn into a new project.

I am still pursuing photography, it's just that the weather has been too gloomy to go out and practice my photo taking.

I did, however, have time to sit with my kids and watch some really funny cat videos that had us laughing Friday night. If you need a simple laugh just watch these:

Modern Day Noah

My friend, Cindy, sent this link to be this morning. It is funny. You don't need to be religious to read it just have a sense of humor.

A Modern Day Noah

Be Green.