Who's In The Pockets of Big Oil Now?

I don't follow politics much but a little more than the average person. This morning I find out the Pres. Obama is opening up drilling for oil along many of our U.S. coasts again after decades of no drilling in those areas. He claims it is for energy independence. I am no Bush fan but when he dealt with Big Oil he was ripped apart by media. They said he was in the pocket of Big Oil. Helloooooo? What is our glorified President Obama doing? Let's see how our liberal media views this story? I know, we aren't going to war for oil. All I am saying is that it seems to me that many/most politicians are in it for money and thus BIG OIL. Pres. Obama is not the saint this country voted for.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-dc-obama-energy31,0,7404837.story

I'm just saying....

I'm Here

I left for a while...facebook took me. I love facebook. I have found long, lost friends, keep in touch with everyone I love and get to post silly pictures of my kids. But I really miss my blog. I miss posting how I feel about trying to be green and actually, mostly failing, but trying and learning.

I am going to take my blog in a slightly different direction. I will still post about trying to be green but I have other aspects to my life. I love photography! And I have taken up crochet. Yes, crochet. I love it. You don't have to think real hard and on those days when thinking is a challenge, I find peace in my crochet work. I have many scarves to prove it. Ha ha!

So stick around.

My Dad Is Green and Doesn't Know It

My dad is 70 years old today. He could care less about polar bears or what's in his drinking water but he is one of the greenest person's you will ever meet. Why? He is cheap.

Part of being green is about buying only what you need. And that is what my dad does. Growing up with him was a pain, he rarely splurged and there had to be a coupon involved. He is still this way.

I remember my mother getting angry with him for not turning on the heater in the winter. And god forbid he bought a car with air conditioning. Our house was always black at night because he would walk behind you and turn off the lights. He owns a very small, very fuel efficient car. He loves to walk and will if he can. He rarely eats out. And never wastes food. Only drinks water from the tap. He rarely shops and when he does it is for necessities. His shoes last him years. His couch is going on 35 years old and I'm sure his bed and dressers are also. He owns one TV, that he has had for 20 years. He doesn't own gadgets like a computer or PDA or iPod. He never travels. I would bet his carbon footprint is neutral.

I look back and disliked living with him as a child. He was so annoying! And so cheap! I froze my butt off every winter. But now in my adult years I look to him and I am proud. He does not even realize it but he is an eco-warrior. I know, he isn't an advocate for fighting global warming or ridding harmful chemicals in what we eat and drink but I still consider him very eco-friendly.

My dad one of a kind. And doesn't even know it.

I love my dad. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Hey, where did the week go?

Sorry for not being around lately, I have been quite busy. Life and school have taken over my time and the last thing I ever get to is my blog.

My photography classes are going great! I am learning so much! The above work is mine! It is my "pop art". I did it in Photoshop and I can't tell you how fun it is to learn Photoshop and all it has to offer! I've learned what a palette is and a filter and a Photoshop Bridge and a magic wand and so much more. I am also learning how to take photos better like which settings are best for different situations and all about cameras and famous photographers. I have not been this excited about learning since my early days at UCSD!

I just wanted to make contact with my blog and let my readers know I have not dropped off the face of the earth. Although I have been thinking that I may change my blog a little and not focus just on being green but my life instead. I will always try to be green but I don't always have something to write so nothing gets posted.

Anyway, I am feeling a little sick today so I may just head to bed for a while.

Be Green.

Today is a magical day. We get to say President Barrack Obama. As many of you know I lean more conservative when I vote but I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to have Barrack Obama as our new leader. I think he brings with him such hope and excitement. I admire him immensely for overcoming numerous and various obstacles in his life and I hope he can be a hero to not just African Americans but everyone. I hope he becomes an example to anyone who must get through boundaries to achieve what they want or need.

Good luck President Obama.

I Can See Clearly Now

Back in August I complained about streaks when I clean my windows and mirrors. I have been going about my cleaning, streaks or no streaks, but I found the answer. The problem seems to stem from the commercial cleaners. The cleaners, over time, leave a waxy build up on your windows and mirrors. The vinegar/water solution is not sufficient in cleaning this. The solution: a little bit of liquid soap in the vinegar/water solution will take those streaks away. I tried yesterday! It works! No streaks.

http://www.vinegartips.com/

Have a green day.

Uh Oh! Water Shortages?

Yesterday I wrote about the beautiful weather we are having but it could be detrimental to our water supply. Well, this morning on the news there is talk about Sonoma County (just north of San Francisco and north-west of me) is considering water rationing. The article states that water levels in their local lake, Lake Mendocino, is at its lowest in 20 years. I bet all lakes and reservoirs in California are low. Are other counties rationing this year? We'll find out come spring.

In the mean time, cut those showers short, don't run the water when you brush your teeth and run around town in a dirty vehicle. Read some of my resources below:

Robin Shreeves: 10 Easy Ways to be More Sustainable with Your Water

100 Ways to Conserve Water

Be Green

Are You Jealous?

I am going to now make some readers angry. Ready? I wore my flip-flops today! It is that warm! 63 degrees. In my house it feels like 80 degrees. I honestly don't like it this warm in January. I prefer our local seasonal weather during the correct season. I'm sure if this weather persists it could throw off the farming industry. That would not be good. It should go back to our regularly schedule cold weather next week.

Now all of you living where you get plenty of precipitation-snow, rain, etc-will scoff me in the summer when we here in California have to ration our water (we should be even if get record rains). I remember summers in Southern California as a kid when residents could get citations for hosing driveways or washing your car. I have not witness that since those early days. Is California stealing water for somewhere else? Because I know there is no more rain than when I was a kid. As a matter of fact in recent years I know we barely reach the 100% mark for precipitation if we reach it at all.

http://www.water.ca.gov/drought/

Well, we can't control the weather, at least to my knowledge, so I will wear my flip flops for now.

Have green day.

Crimes Against Nature-EPA's Most Wanted

These guys could care less about our beautiful earth and its inhabitants. The Environmental Protection Agency has released a list of men and women who are "accused of assaulting nature." From smuggling freon to dumping chemicals illegally, the law breakers are hideous people. Take a gander, do you recognize anyone?

http://www.epa.gov/fugitives/

Organics in 2009

Yesterday I went to Target. I hadn't been there in a couple of weeks when I needed to buy Christmas necessities. I was very surprised to see BATHING SUITS! What is wrong with that picture? Since when did we go from Christmas to bathing suits? Last year I was surprised and almost offended to see Valentine's items at this time of year but, come on, bathing suits. What is the reasoning behind this? Did they not make any money over the holidays so they bring out the bikini? "Hey, people don't have money to spend on the holidays so let's depress them even more and bring out the bathing suits!" "Let's remind all those women that they gained weight in the last couple of weeks." This almost offended me. WHATEVER! Commercialism feels no empathy.

If that was not enough, prices rose. My deodorant cost me $5.39! It's a natural deodorant. At that price nobody is going to buy it and then Target will stop carrying it and then I won't have my favorite deodorant. Oh, my pits will have poison!

And did anyone notice your ice cream container got smaller but stayed the same price? Cereal boxes are shrinking. And don't get me started on eggs.

The year 2009 will definitely be a monetary struggle for so many. Organic food, which is usually a slightly higher price than it's non-organic counterpart, is going to take a negative hit in sales. I can even admit that I have been choosing regular vegetables and fruits over organic. This is so disturbing to me because natural and organic were just starting to go main stream. Now it seems they will take a few steps back. People are not going to care if something is organic when the family struggles to put eggs and milk on their table. So many will choose inexpensive over quality and safety.

I was honestly thinking of not growing a garden again this year and just supporting the local farmers all spring and summer. But now I may change my mind. But ultimately it is my husband's decision, he's the green thumb.

I hope I didn't depress anyone. I just feel this is my wake up call. I need to make sure I make the most of my money and time this year.

But we greenies know that being green actually saves you money in the long run. What we need is someone with popularity to teach that concept. I wonder how green President Obama will be?

Tough Year Ahead For Organic Farmer

Have a green day.

Two Photo Classes and My Camera

Last Christmas my husband bought me a fancy, schmancy camera that I thought for sure I would eventually drop and break. Well, I still have that camera after one whole year but still have no clue to what most of the controls do. I read the manual and followed blogs, like Pioneer Woman, and I still have no clue. So I decided to take a class to teach me. I found a local community college that offers a great photography course of study and I can take the class online. So here I am taking a photography class online. What do you care? Well, I may not be around my blog as much. Did I mention I am also taking a digital photography class with emphasis on Photoshop CS4. I am completely and totally excited about these courses!

Let's break this down. One husband, two kids, a dog, a house, a job search (yes, maybe gonna work this year), a green goal, a life, friends, sleep (sometime), scouts, sports, gym, crochet, facebook, email AND 2 classes and my camera. I know there are people out there more busy than me and frankly if you are out there please comment below and tell me your secret to not becoming a sleep deprived, cranky monster to the people around you.

I'll be around, especially in spring when the green blogs just burst with excitement for their gardens and local foods. And as always I love reading blogs that I have there in my right margin. I love all my green reads, you have become my green rocks. (Hey, that's a great name for a blog!)

Oh, who am I kidding, I won't be able to not blog. I love it. See you tomorrow!

New Year Promises

(Local field in the winter with Mt. Diablo in the background.)

Everyone else does them so I will too. This will be the first time in my life, really, that I have New Year's resolutions. I guess in the past I thought I was perfect and now, in my later 30's, I have finally realized that my thighs really are chubby and I do need to work on being greener. Wow! I have flaws. Ha ha. I think I was always avoiding goals. If I don't have goals I can't be let down. Well, let's see how I do.

2009 Promises to myself:

1. Lose weight. (This is my first time pledging this for a new year, really.)
2. Use less plastic.
3. Prepare for winter by preparing more local foods in the summer.
4. Eat the local frozen foods I prepared.
5. Ride my bike or walk more.
6. Get a job.
7. Be less cranky with my husband. (I can be a real b*tch at times-monthly. lol)

There they are. I may need someone to ride a bit in these throughout the year because I can get pretty distracted.

Be Green '09!

Happy Belated New Year

Happy 2009! My family spent New Years Eve week in San Simeon along the California Coast. Above is a picture of the beautiful sunset that greeted us the first night. It was a wonderful break and the weather couldn't have been any better. We visited Hearst Castle, Morro Bay and elephant seals. I have lived in California all my life and I never get tired of our beautiful state and all it has to offer.
(Hearst Castle)

(Elephant Seal in San Simeon)

(CA coastline on Highway 1)

These are the reasons I try to be green. What would life be without natural beauty?

Merry Christmas-Be Kind

Why can't everyone be this nice year round? Yesterday, everywhere I went people where into saying "excuse me" or "thank you" or any other kind gesture you can imagine. Yes, imagine that. Here where I live people lost there way and think it is not ok to be kind anytime of the year except the holidays. They are being nice enough to start conversations with me! Why does the human race find it necessary to be so horrible any other time of the year? That is why I love the holiday season. People are nice.

My dog got out of the yard yesterday. A neighbor I don't know caught her and called my house. (Our number is on her tag.) I didn't know the woman but she was being nice. Who knows maybe she would have helped me any other time of the year, but then, maybe not.

I went to get take-out food and while in line a slightly older couple just started up a pleasant conversation about how short the line was and thought it would be much longer. It didn't take much to smile and say something pleasant, we're all stuck in line together. No where to go so might as well talk to the person standing next to you. I thought maybe they were from another state where people are nice.

I was also in line at another store for 40 minutes, I looked around and people were smiling. SMILING! In the Bay Area! Did we all win the lottery, no! I think they are not stressed. They don't have to work for the next couple of days AND, believe this, they are happy about GIVING to others! Imagine that, giving gifts to family and friends can make you happy! And at this time of year they also give smiles and kind gestures to strangers and, wow, that makes them feel good inside.

This seems like the only time of the year-between Thanksgiving and New Year-that we are thankful for what we have. Why can't we be thankful every day?

I just don't understand. Actually, I do. Most of the time people are running around trying to work and get as much as they can done and don't think about other people much, even family. If everyone stopped for 2 minutes and thought about how lucky most of us are in the "modern" world to be free of common diseases, to be free of war on our soil and to be free of starvation, maybe then we would think we were luckier than some in this world and then we would SMILE! If everyone stopped and became thankful for their health and their loved ones health. Thankful for their wealth-home, warmth, food, and clothes. Maybe more people would smile and be kind to strangers all year round.

So if you are one that is nice year round thank you so much. You make the world a better place. All the others need to work on it!

Merry Christmas!

The Richest Man in Town

"No man is a failure as long as he has friends."

I think this may be my favorite movie. And I cry every time I watch it!

Happy Holidays!

Birds

Meadow Turf has a simple post about the Cedar Waxwings in her neck of the woods. I love birds. They seem to be the life that persists in winter when everything else is silent. The other day while trying to catch a photo of Mount Diablo with snow I caught a flock of pigeons feasting on seeds left behind after crops had been harvested. Humans tend to not like pigeons, calling them flying rats at times, but to see them in more of a semi-natural setting I can see that they are just birds. I captured a flock which is a rare sight near any cities.

(Mt Diablo, Northern CA, East Contra Costa County)

Let your greatest fear be that there is no PMS and this is just your personality.

My Jeans

(That's not me, but those are my jeans.)

How many more days until the Big "C"? I think I am done shopping now. I can finally rest and just wrap gifts and bake cookies. This is when I start to put on the pounds, when I stop. I was just thinking yesterday that my jeans still fit me. I guess I better break out the sweats. Ha ha. Anyway, my green goal for this season is to not gain weight. Why is that green? First, I don't consume as much so less product is bought and less product needs to be grown and less travel to the supermarket and less pollution. Secondly, if I gain weight I will need to buy new pants in a larger size which is more product made and placed into society. The basic premise here is to comsume less-food and items- and the world will be greener. We'll see, that chocolate chip cookie dough calls to me every night after the kids are in bed...

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!