Yup, I'm crazy

I got me some random opinions I want to share and you know since it's my blog, you are forced to read them. Ha. Actually if you do read my ramblings I am honoured. I threw in some random photos because I am in a zone with my camera right now (manual mode only thankyouvermuch) and having so much fun developing my hobby 'cause that's all I ever intend it to be. I know that is stating the obvious given my skill level - just call me Captain Obvious - thanks for that one Lori, it's a keeper.

building a pull up bar - dude is buff

First it's time to refill my coffee. Ah, that's better. So I didn't give it up, in case you were wondering. I had a migraine one day last week (also a symptom of my lovely menopause because they only began about a year ago) and thought whatever. I feel like a piece of dog poop stuck to the bottom of someones shoe anyway, I am making a pot of coffee. And that's all it takes. One pot and I am brewing a pot daily.

Life is short. Time is precious. Coffee is good. End of story.

You will remind me of that next week when I swear I am quitting again, won't you? Great, thanks, I knew I could count on you.

Brothers at work - sandbox, best investment ever

I haven't talked Mother Earth crusade forever. Here's my latest and greatest. If I can smell laundry soap on you, you are using too much soap. I have a pretty keen sense of smell, just like my mom, and lately I have been noticing that a few people reek like Tide. Or Cheer. Or whatever. Here's the thing people, you only need a quarter of the amount they recommend on the bottle. That's right, a quarter. Unless you regularly douse yourself, fully clothed, in mud. I am guessing you don't which means your clothes are not dirty enough to warrant that much soap.

The manufacturer of the soap, see, they want to sell lots of soap. If you use lots, you buy more. See where I am going with this?

I should do an experiment because the thing is, if you can smell the soap that strongly on your clothes I am willing to bet you could put them in the washer with no soap next time and there would be suds. There is no way there isn't a tonne of soap left in the fabric of your clothes after the rinse when they smell that strongly. And then people use fabric softener in the rinse yet. Oy. It gives me a headache. I have two words for you. Dryer Balls. I have been using mine for years. There is no static and our clothes are very soft thanks.

Think of the money you will save on laundry soap and fabric softener.

Okay off my soap box (ha!) now. Oh wait, I have another one. iPhones. Apps for iPhones. Blackberry's. Blackberry pearls.

So. Sick. Of. Hearing. About. Them.

I am sure they are great but here's the thing. I don't, I repeat, I don't need one. On any level. I live in small city, Saskatchewan. I can drive 15 min and be anywhere in my fair city. That means I know my city - no maps required. I am, at any time 15 min away from my computer in case, you know, there is a crisis or something. We all know how often it is life or death if I can't get on the internet.

They have their place for business people especially those in big centers. But for everyday Mom like me, it's just another gadget that they are trying to trick me into buying because it's going to make my life so much better. Sorry I am not that gullible.

Oh and if you have one and are just like me, ignore me, like I said, my opinion, for me, about me. Friends?

could he be any cuter?

That reminds me of a ziplock commercial that I saw the other day. It was all about how much food people waste and that if you just bought ziplock bags to store them in well by golly gee, end of waste. I call bullsh!t. Sorry. Who doesn't store their food in some kind of bag or container already? If you answered yes, the for the love of Pete, please get some ziplock bags already. What are you waiting for?

I sometimes wonder about the marketers. I do. They have a very low opinion of average joe's intelligence. It's discrimination I tell you.

I mean, just because I regularly dump my spagetti and meatball leftovers on the fridge shelf, that makes you think I am an idiot? C'mon, work with me here.

I kind of love how much they love each other

And that concludes my submission for admission to the looney bin. I am thinking there's a pretty good chance I qualify. Just think of the blog fodder I'll accumulate there.

Something is Everything

“I am only one. I cannot do everything but I can still do something. I will not let the fact that I can’t do everything stop me from doing the something that I can.”

- unknown author

These words are so powerful to me and sum up how I feel about my Mother Earth Crusade. Honestly, I do get overwhelmed with the futility of it all. Sometimes I feel like whatever I do is so overshadowed by what I see so many people around me doing. I won’t lie, I get angry and have been tempted, on more than one occasion to pick up the cigarette butt tossed out the car window at a red light and return it to the owner who “lost” it. But in the essence of safety (can you say road rage?), I haven’t. Yet. Only the good Lord knows what the hormones might make me capable of in the future though.

If it happens, I’ll try to alert the media, you know, so I can link the footage of my arrest here for your entertainment pleasure.

In all seriousness, it’s been awhile since we made any changes to the cause, the clothes line has been working out really well except for the lack of, you know, SUMMER weather. Not that I am bitter or anything. Turns out clothes dry on the line in fall like temperatures even in August, in case you were sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for the verdict on that.

It’s time to get some composting going around here because about 60% of our trash is compostable materials. Throwing that into this pile is just wrong.

Photo courtesty of 123RF

On so many levels.


PS the votes have been tabulated:
stay long - 8 votes
something in between - 4 votes
buzz it - 4

And because yesterday was a stellar hair day, I think I am in agreement. We'll see what I tell the stylist to do when I get there later today.

Too Much Stuff Syndrome

Today, over at Canada Moms Blog I am pondering a new philosophy. I am continuing (click here for CMB post) my thoughts about the consequences of the idea that more stuff equals happiness. I also talk about vodka (shocking, I know). Hmm, got you thinking didn't I?

Take a look at this picture and tell me, if this was in your house, how happy would you be?


This is the result of having too much stuff. Yes, I could purge it into the garbage but that's the easy way out. I think you know me too well by now to know that I don't take the easy way on things like this. Instead, this all needs to be reused where possible or given to someone/someplace to be reused or recyled. That takes work. I am human, I don't particulary jump up and down with excitement at the prospect.

And this is just the stuff that we are deeming no longer necessary (except my excercise ball, that is staying). In the storage space, closets and drawers is a whole lot of other stuff. It makes me dizzy just thinking about it.

The new philosophy, should be, buy LESS stuff. Because if I can avoid the need to sort, haul and disperse my crap for others to resuse, won't I be a little bit happier?

I would like to think so.

Don't get me wrong, I think giving to those less fortunate is essential however, does someone less fortunate than a cheap radio that lasted 1 year and no longer works. Probably not. Maybe it not just about not buying stuff but also if you do need to buy something, let it be something that isn't totally useless in 5.2 months. Have you driven by your local landfill lately? Personally, the mountain of trash I see when I do is morbidly depressing.

But then again I do hit the vodka every now and then (and by "hit" I mean I have one drink and I am dancing on the table with a lampshade). So tell me, what do you think? Not of me (that would be opening a whole can of worms - I don't have thick enough skin) but of this whole idea.

Let's get talking about this!

How to become a tree hugger, like me

I have to say following up the last post was, well hard. But after thinking about it for a week, I have decided that I am going to share with you all how I have become a tree hugger. Or as my friend likes to call me, a crunchy granola.

Since some of you may be beginners at this, I decided to start small. You know, as if you were, say, one of my kids.

This is how we teach our kids to be tree huggers. After all, kids learn by doing.

First step. Find a tree. Second step. Hug it.

The first couple of times it might feel weird, I know. The bark is not exactly soft and cuddly but I assure you, if you try it a few times, you will get used to it.

Ps. Any donations for my therapy are welcome.

Hanging around

This week we finally, after years of talking about it, put up a clothesline. We were not sure where to put it in the yard so that it didn't block the entire yard off hence the eight year decision period.

Finally, we realized that the best place wasn't in the yard at all but instead in our screened in deck. During the cold part of the year we cover the screens so in the early spring and late fall it gets smokin' hot in there thereby extending the use of the line. Because during that season that begins with W that is considered a four letter word in our house, we won't be using it. Unless we want our clothes to shatter into a billion pieces. Wait, I see the way to a whole new wardrobe....


This weekend was beautiful. Inside the deck it was lovely. I do believe the clothes took less than 2 hours to dry. And I felt a bit pioneer woman like hanging them out to dry. Trust me, I didn't look like one in my yoga pants and hoodie.

And you know what? It wasn't as much work or as inconvenient as I thought it would be. Sure I have to plan ahead because I can only fit one or two loads out there at time. But in the grand scheme of things, that is no big deal. And I have always ranted and raved to my mom (she's nodding vigourously right now) about the smell of clothes dried outside. They smell dirtly to me. Like I do when I come in all sweaty and in need of a shower. Now don't you all run out out an set up clothes lines at once based on that comment.

But I didn't notice the smell. Maybe there is no sweat in the deck? Or the wind with all the sweat in it didn't get at the clothes. Okay, okay, I'll stop now.

One more step towards lessening our impact. Next up is composting. To get worms or not to get worms, that is the question. Better yet, why does our city not have a composting program set up? WHY?

As an added bonus I got to play with my camera because what better subject is there than socks, underwear and swimming trunks? You all are welcome!

I gotta be green

A long, long time ago, when the earth was green (ha!) I went and listened to David Suzuki speak about global warming and what we, as everyday people, can do to help. To say I was inspired would be a slight understatement.

Since that day, we have made many changes around here to try and lower our impact on our dear earth.

Since them have I gotten disenchanted by the lack of compassion by others around me?

I have to be honest. Yes, very much so. At some points I have thought why to I spend so much time caring when no one else seems to give a rat’s @ss? I might as well just do whatever the hell I please too. What’s the point in caring when I might be one of only a handful that do?

But I am re-inspired and re-motivated when I talk to others who care too.

Yesterday, I did a post on Canada Moms Blog about why I think teaching our children to care is so important. About why caring about the environment and our impact on it goes well beyond global warming.

The comments I received lifted my heart up again. There are others out there who do care. My neighbors, with their lofty loads of weekly trash, probably not so much. But them I cannot control nor influence.

What I can do is keep doing what I know to be right, because I don’t know how to stop caring. My parents taught me well.

Here is a laundry list of some of the many things that we do around here that we hope lessens our impact on this great planet. Do they feel like a sacrifice? Not even a little bit. What they are is a way of life and once you start, it’s like riding a bike, there is no turning back.

- laundry – wash in cold water only
- laundry soap – use less than half of what the bottle recommends, your clothes are equally as clean and don’t smell like artificial chemical fragrances, score! ($$ saved)
- turn off the lights when you are not in the room ($$ saved)
- switched to cfc bulbs wherever we can ($$ saved)
- laptop is closed on standby when not in use (when you might ask? Well sometimes!)
- cloth shopping bags and not just for groceries – keep them in your vehicle on the front seat and grab and go
- no individual serving for yogurt etc, buy bulk and use Tupperware
- refill shampoo and condition bottles (believe it or not the salon lady tried to sell me new bottles rather than refilling mine because it would save me $10 – she was shocked when I said no, trying to save plastic here! Held my tongue on saying what I really thought of that policy!)
- save cereal box liner bags – it’s wax paper people!
- Buy organic locally produced meat (going vegetarian is not an option for us, we just can’t do it and since beans can’t grow within a 1,000 mile radius I don’t think that will really help anyway)
- When we eat fast food, I try to take home and recycle whatever I can, makes up a little for how annoying all the waste that is produced from take out
- re-usable veggie bags (oh how I hate those silly thin plastic bags that the grocery store and I just heard about these – thanks Anna. Just ordered them up, I’ll let you know how they work out)
- we try to avoid use of the A/C in the summer (I know, you might find it hard to believe that, we, who live in the Arctic need A/C but most people have it here)
- recycle whatever we can

Do I feel like this is enough? No. Do I do things that contradict my philosophy on trying to be more green? All the time. Does it bother me? Yes. My internal conflicts are fodder for another post. But I think this also highlights that I don’t claim to have all the answers or know the right thing to do. What matters is that we care. And in caring, change will happen.

That is my dream. And world peace, who doesn’t wish for that?

Give me your tips! I am always looking for new ways to reduce our impact!

Shameless Plug

*Photo shamelessly "borrowed" from Anna's blog. Hey, it's me! I can borrow it if I'm in it can't I? Yeah so don't go all legal on me, I know that's not true*

That there bag? Anna made it for me. From what you might be wondering? Where did she get that chic tweed?

From furniture upholstery samples that's where. Which means that the bag is not only perfect for replacing any need for plastic shopping bags but also made from reclaimed materials that would otherwise be useless.

And not to rub it in or anything but all I had to do is help her tackle Mount Laundry. 'Cause I am nice like that.

However, since not everyone gets the pleasure of hanging with Anna at her house, she has them available from her Etsy Shop.

They rock! I highly recommend them. Not only are they big enough to fit that new pair of boots in including the box but you can also fit some new jeans and a few new snazzy tops in them too.

Okay so is it obvious I have a shopping addiction that is entirely in conflict with my Mother Earth campaign?

I am in no means adovating a shopping addiction, however, I do advocate the use of reusable shopping bags and the ones available out there are no where as chic as the ones Anna makes.

Let's start a new trend, chic reusable shopping bags! And stop the spread of the The plastic blob .

'Cause this blob is going to take over the world. And this new scare over BPA will also not help but that's another post.

Our World

There should be big things happening over here very soon thanks to a lovely Texan girl who I am privileged to have met on this here internet. I am bursting at the seams and I can't wait, stay tuned!

But today's post is in honour of Earth day. I think a Mother Earth update is long over due. I went on a big green kick about this time last year I listened to a talk by David Suzuki and I decided that we would take the Earth Challenge. Don’t know who David Sukuki is? He’s Canadian eh! And he rocks.

I made a few changes around here and every few months I try to add a little more green.

Lately the new additions have been using reusable shopping bags for everything. I used to just use them for groceries but now I have one with me no matter what store I go into. And if it’s full, I am DONE shopping. A little reminder that excess is not the way to happiness…now I know my shopping of late may seem a bit hypocritical. However, the white shoes, returned. The brown ones, returned. I am being much, much more discerning about what I buy and what I keep. I used to keep everything only to get rid of it 4 months later having never even worn the thing. I am a work in progress.

I also never spluge on a Starbucks without using my own reusable mug. I just can’t justify the treat for myself by using the disposable cup. I even cart it along with me when I go out of town for work. It’s my handy travel companion and Starbucks, well, it’s also a big part of my trips. I mean Vancouver has one on every corner after all.

And the latest ingenious thing we have started doing is to use our grocery store receipts that are 8 miles long by the way, for lists. I turn them over, fold them up and put them in the drawer in the kitchen where we keep our grocery lists. Voila! A nice long piece of paper for all that we need for the next trip to StupidStore.

And lastly, all paper that is only printed on one side goes back into the printer tray for another use. I only print things for my own use so I don’t mind that the other side has something else on it.

It’s about baby steps and we at the Khlopchyk house are trying but often I feel like we aren’t doing near enough. Going green is a journey, not a destination to use an old cliché.

Happy Earth day!

It's that time again...

For another Mother Earth update. If you are new to the Khlopchyk madness, you may not know that I double as a tree hugger. At least a wannabe tree hugger. I am not green by any stretch but I try do a little here and there to protect our beautiful planet for my dudes....

One thing that I am NOT good at it buying second hand. But I gave it go.

I hit the local consignment store the other day since Kamden had outgrown his ski pants. His jacket still fits perfect but he needed the pants for sledding and well to keep from freezing to death on our daily treks back and forth to drop Jack off at school (we walk.. around the corner... driving would be ridiculous) in the Artic temperatures that we experience here regularly.

Guess what?

We found some in 2 minutes for a whopping price of $7.99. AND they were on sale! Who knew consignment stores had sales? So for $6.39 we got a perfectly good pair of pants that are like new.

And upon zipping them up, Kamden declared, "They are perfect!"

And of course, being the shopaholic that I am, I had to check out the rest of the clothing for the dudes. Alas, look what I scored for Jack for a grand total of $10 (for the pants and shirt!):

A nice GAP sweater and Please Mum pants. That fit. It's quite the challenge finding pants for the kid who resembles a fence post.

Oh, and also, 6 year olds do NOT stand still for photo ops. And if they do they smile like this:

Awesome. At least it shows his adorable toothless grin.

And look what my other two boys surprised me with:

I found this photo just last night while flippping through the pics on the camera.

Love you guys too!

Remedial Baking 101

Again I am reminded that we live in a climate of extremes. It wasn’t so long ago that you heard me complaining about the heat and the humidity. Well, the expression, if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes holds true.

It’s about 10 degrees Celsius here today and the forecast for next week is for high teens.

While this is excellent for the A/C goal, we may need to turn on the bloody furnace but whatever!

However, the cooler weather has motivated me to actually cook again. We’ve been surviving on BBQ only for the last month and I can’t remember the last time I baked anything. So yesterday I got the urge to bake some buns, the delectable homemade buns that Mom made weekly when I was a kid. The recipe requires that the buns rise overnight which means breakfast the next day consists of fresh, hot from the oven buns. Mmmmm, with butter that gets all melty and warm honey….

I could taste them as I started the yeast a‘risin in the bowl. The yeast did as it should, it multiplied like only yeast can, I added the eggs, some salt and then began the process of kneading 10 cups of flour in. After about 4 cups, the dough, well it was done. It was dry, and not wanting any more of that there flour, no way, no how.

Now, I am notorious for not reading recipes carefully enough. In my youth there was an angel food cake debacle that haunts me to this day. You would think I would have learned, but NO, once again, I missed something key. Um, like about 3 cups of warm water.

Right, so you do realize that you can’t actually add that much liquid to a mass of dough? Yeah, so I found out. There’s a reason you add ingredients in a certain order. I knew that but the part of me that didn’t feel right about wasting all those eggs, sugar and flour thought, what the heck, we’ll give ‘er a go.

Round two. After dumping the lump of useless dough in the trash we tried again, with the addition of 3 cups of warm water things were going great. I set the dough to rise and came back later to form the knots that would be the buns.

I wake up this morning and the buns, well, they look a bit flat and smell a bit like fermenting yeast. Hmmm, not what I remember Mom’s buns looking and smelling like.

Yeah, guess what? I am fairly certain I forgot the salt, which is key to the whole rising process and I may or may not have doubled the yeast amount.

Right, on to round three… I am stubborn, I can do this. In fact, I have done it before.

Three tries for a quarter?

I sign up for remedial baking classes first thing Monday morning. Or maybe I need Hooked on Phonics?

Those happy golden days...

Today, I rediscovered how much I love new school supplies. Oh the pens! And the crayons! The pencil cases! I was like a kid in a candy store.

First off, it’s what, like August 6th… why have I already done Jack’s back to school shopping you might ask? Um, well, er…. I’m a geek. Plain and simple.

I wanted to make sure we got the good stuff. If you wait until the week before school starts you might be stuck with non-Crayola crayons. I don’t want my son to start off Grade 1 as the geek with cheap crayons. Oh the shame. The inhumanity.

Off we went with our list, which by the way, is VERY specific. No pencils from Czechoslovakia, apparently they make cruddy pencils there or something. And by the way, I was so disappointed that he didn’t need the big red thick pencils. Remember those? To me that IS Grade 1. But no, just not Czechoslovakian pencils.

We had fun picking out all the items but we did have to go to two different stores. I try really hard to avoid Wal-Mart but sometimes, Zellers just doesn’t cut it.

We even found shoes which brings me to a rant that I’ve been meaning to have. The running shoes, with the Velcro (can I just say, thank goodness for Velcro or I would still be putting on Jack’s shoes for him) well it gets me on another of my Mother Earth rants.

Brace yourself.

Last year, before Jack entered Kindergarten, we purchased two pairs of Velcro running shoes, one for indoors and one for out. By June, both pairs were in great condition… EXCEPTING that the Velcro didn’t stick anymore. GRRRRRR. So now, despite the fact that the sole is fine and his toes aren’t coming through the top, we needed new shoes. Plus I can’t hand them down to Kamden.

Disposable shoes. I mean REALLY.

So I stuck it to the man. We bought pull on running shoes.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it Corporate America!

Kay, done now.

Back to the new pencil crayons, unbroken crayons and the pungent smell of new easers. Almost makes me want to go back to school.

Well no, but I have about 15 more years of living vicariously through my kids!

Here's the loot:

Notice the Lightening McQueen theme....

and Kamden's toes :-)

Mother Earth Crusade Update

Notice that my Mother Earth Crusade side bar disappeared a few days ago?

No?

That’s okay, I am aware that I am not cool, no need to rub it in.

It disappeared because it needed to be updated but I have been far to busy sweating to do that. Do you have any idea what that amount of sweat will do to a laptop? Neither do I but I once spilled an entire cup of tea on a keyboard and it wasn’t pretty so I’m guessing smoke and other stuff might happen.

Today it is 36 degrees. Basically you could fry an egg on my forehead. So my list, you know the one that used to be on the sidebar that you didn’t notice disappeared, it is revised.

I have to admit defeat. I could not make it through the summer with “no air conditioning at all this summer”. We have definitely cut down, WAY down, on its use so some good still came of my crusade. I have come to conclude that air conditioning is required when it heats up to cookie baking temperature outside. I just can’t take that kind of heat. I’m sweaty, I’m red, and I’m GRUMPY. Really, turning on the A/C is necessary for Jay’s sanity. After all he has to put up with me, really the least I can do is make it so that I’m tolerable.

You see, he isn’t bothered by the heat. He was wearing jeans today. Not shorts, JEANS people. AND he had no sweat on him. AT ALL.

Me, I immediately form drops of sweat all over my sorry self in this kind of heat.

Yes, I am jealous of my husband but that's another story entirely.

So, here’s my new list.

Things we do to reduce our impact:

- laundry in cold water only
- recycling
- mulching lawn mower (no bags of grass going into the landfill)
- no chemicals on lawn and garden
- no driving at least 2 days per week (more walking and biking)
- reusable bags for all shopping
- vegetarian suppers 2 or 3 times per week
- keeping the heat lower in the winter
- Method soap products
- minimal air conditioning (only when it’s freaking hot!)


And soon we will sell our souls to the devil for new energy efficient windows. Damn those things are expensive but maybe then house won’t heat up like a hot tamale.

Confessions of a tree hugger

First off, oy with the spelling mistakes and typos in the last post. Apparently I am unaware of the modern day conveniences of spell checker. I think I fixed them. Or I need Hooked on Phonics.

Secondly, I have to confess that I broke one of my green rules. The one about the A/C that I have been commenting on lately.

Yeah, a 40 degree day with no hint of a breeze will cause me to break down. I came home Friday night from girls night out (Whee!) at midnight and the house was like a sauna even with the windows OPEN. I think it was still about 30 degrees out. This is SO uncommon for here.

I went to check on the boys and Kamden's head was soaked in sweat.

I closed the windows and turned on the A/C.

It ran all. night. long.

We turned it off in the morning and have been back to using windows to enjoy the wonderful cool breezes that have arrived since.

*Hangs head in shame*

Summer in SK

We have been having the most phenomenal summer. Since I was complaining endlessly about the rain, I thought I better put a good word in here lest the weather man turn vengeful.

We spent the weekend enjoying the sun filled days and today we will hit another spray park and soak up some more of those harmful UV rays.

And some of you (okay well Candace anyway) were wondering how we have been doing on the A/C ... well so far we have yet to crank ‘er up. And I haven’t melted yet so all is good. It’s been hot too. 27 – 30 Celcius for that last week and half.

Maybe I have adapted?

Perhaps. That’s what Jay claims he does when he comes home from work in pants, a long sleeve shirt AND a jacket on these days. He’s a crazy man, my hubby. He gets home and I am wearing as little as is publicly decent. ‘Course he isn’t complaining about that now is he?

Happy Summer Everyone!

In other news...

I am fighting the urge to turn on the A/C....

after 3 days of 30 plus weather with little to no breeze.


However, I have found that I for the most part, I enjoy not having the A/C going. The fresh air... it's nice especially first thing in the morning. No Impact Man talks often on his blog about how simplifying you life is actually more satisfying than it is depriving and I have to agree. Having made the declaration to not turn on the A/C this summer, I have noticed just that.


We have been spending more time outside in the shade enjoying our yard or running through the sprinklers, yes, all 4 of us, it's great fun and boy do the kids love when we do things like that with them. And I get to show off the grace I developed while figure skating as a teen:

Yeah, well.

I guess the grace still hasn't quite got there but I sure know how to have fun! So I'll keep fighting the urge and turn up the sprinklers.

I also like that I don't have to go outside to warm up. Isn't it weird how in the winter we crank the heat up so it's like summer inside and then in the summer, we crank the A/C till we are a freezin' inside?

One of the great mysteries of life me thinks.

This and That

Okay, so I made the promise that we would eat vegetarian for a few nights a week (see sidebar). Today was a veggie day, I have been doing every other day for about a week now.

Well today, I ran out of ideas. My whole method of meal planning resolves around meat. As in we'll have chicken and rice or ribs and potatoes, or sweet and sour spare ribs (one of my favourite suppers as a kid), spaghetti and meat balls... You see my problem? I can't very well go and change that to chicken and squash or ribs and zucchini. The kids wouldn't be fooled for a nanosecond nor would they touch either squash or zucchini with a ten foot pole. And don't suggest spaghetti squash, I’ve made it, it’s nothing at all like spaghetti and all together exactly like squash.

So today, we had hot dogs. I am really stretching the rules here because we all know that hot dogs are not real meat. I am borrowing tomorrow’s meat for today. I know this will catch up with me but hey, I was out of ideas!

They were really good and so was the yummy potato salad that accompanied them.

So, I guess my point is that going green is a journey and not a destination. When I read about what other people are doing I am embarrassed at how little we do. And then when I look around our neighborhood on garbage day, I feel a bit better. Cardboard people? IT DOESN’T GO IN THE TRASH! And the 6 bags of garbage you have a week….. yeesh! Ever heard of recycling?

Okay, sorry, I’ll stop. Regardless this going green thing hurts. Let’s face it. The reason we are in this mess to begin with is that people are two things:

lazy and greedy.

And I am including myself in the definition of people. I could argue that all the modern conveniences we have were created in response to either of those characteristics.

Disposable anything…. Lazy. Who wants to wash things and reuse them? So passé people. And the people who make them, well, they saw an opportunity to make some green stuff and I don’t mean grass… greedy.

Okay so maybe I am being cynical but some days it gets to me. We are trying really hard and are making gradual changes. It’s really all we can do. Preaching will do no good although maybe that’s exactly what I am doing here but no one has to read this. It’s a choice.

Anywho, enough with that topic. Next on the list. My back that seems to belong to an 85 year old woman with osteoporosis. I mean really, why do you have to scream at me with pain first thing in the morning and all the day through. I exercise. I even took up Pilates. What more do you want???

But on a good note, we spent the entire afternoon at the park playing. It was wonderful and I think I may have sunburned my arms slightly. Oops. The sunscreen doesn’t just go the kids! But that means that it was sunny. AND hot.

Halleluiah!

Dumps

I am kinda down in the dumps today…..

It stems from two things,

The first is that the alarm woke me up this morning and I now have reason #456 for why I stay home rather than working a “real” job. I am a grumpy person when I get awoken by the award winning radio station of our fair city (THAT was sarcasm regarding the radio station). I much prefer to be awoken by one of my sweet little boys. But alas, the sweet little boys have gymnastics at 9:30 am on Thursdays and if we sleep until our regular after 8, it would take several small miracles to get us there on time. And given that a 5 year old and a two year old and being in a rush are a BAD combination, I must suck it up and use ye ol’ alarm clock.

The second is that I went to listen to David Suzuki last night. In the flesh although I didn’t actually get to see his flesh personally (not like that you people in the gutters… Jay!). That’s because the auditorium was full so I had to sit outside and watch him speak on TV. It was no less moving, believe me. He is a smart, smart man, way ahead of his time and not afraid to speak the truth. I have watched his program “The Nature of Things” since I was a little girl and his knowledge and ability to seamlessly discuss any topic in such a manner that you “get” it has always grabbed my attention.

He has always been an environmentalist and last night he noted that the beginning of his environmental plight began way back in 1962. This, ironically enough, is before the disposable philosophy we all seem to have adopted today took root.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not up on a soapbox here. I am not one to talk. I sometimes drive around the block to take Jack to school – in the extreme cold granted but still, not exactly helping the problem of green house gases.

But what he said really hit home. We are ruining this place we call home. And most of us don’t care because we ourselves won’t see the impact. How SELFISH are we?

Although you could argue we have already seen the impact of our ways. When I was a kid, we did lots of camping in the mountains. And we never hesitated to fill up a bottle of water from a mountainside stream.

Would we do that today?

Not likely.

Isn’t that an impact of our ways?

Ever drive by a garbage dump?
It’s beyond ridiculous to see the large mountains of crap we throw out daily. Crap that will remain in those mountains of stinking rot for 50 years or more…..

In Northern BC, you can see the effects of the pine beetle (apparently – I’ve not been there but I have read articles about this topic). At one time, they were controlled by the winter. When the cold weather hit, they died off. No more, this is called global warming folks. The beetles have now proliferated to the point that they have crossed the Rockies into Alberta. They will kill off the entire boreal forest of Canada. And nothing will stop them.

In fact, we aid them every time we start up our gas guzzling SUV’s, vans and cars and drive around the corner to the store.

THAT’s the pivotal issue. We are changing our home.

I have heard many a person say, why would I not want the earth to be warmer? (I may have even said it in a moment of weakness on a -80 kind of day).

Here’s why….

Earth is the only planet that can sustain life. It can because of the atmosphere. It’s the perfect thickness. However, we are making it thicker with our rampant burning of fossil fuels. Within the next 100 years, the earth’s average temperature will increase by 2 degrees Celsuis.

Doesn’t sound like much?

The last ice age, the average temperature was 5 degrees lower than today.

Only 5 degrees folks, and our whole country was covered in a sheet of ice a mile thick.

What will 2 degrees warmer mean?

Fried plants and animals not to mention the displacement of land with water. Those ice caps at the North and South poles gotta go somewhere.

Politicians (don’t EVEN get me started on that bunch of hot air) keep saying it’s too expensive, it will ruin the economy if we try to lower the emissions of green house gases.

PARDON ME?

The alternative is that my grandkids won’t have a world to live in.

HOW CAN WE AFFORD NOT TO?

That kinda put a damper on my mood - go figure!

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/ is promoting a Nature Challenge. The challenge is to undertake 3 of the 10 things on the list to start the move toward change.

I hope we will do it.

Will you?