Whimspiration

I Made This For You

2008-07-20T06:19:00.000-05:00

Waaaaah sniffle

2008-07-18T18:14:00.002-05:00

I've been pushing full speed ahead for a while now, working, having fun, volunteering and more, and I think it has finally caught up with me.

I'm sick.

Of course this would have to happen when I'm half-finished with weeding The Radish's community garden patch, planning a visit to some friends, arranging to pick up some fruiting bushes from a Freecycle(tm) member, planning to host a cooking class, cleaning the house, and setting appointments for people to come get their dreadlocks formed or maintained (along with all the other stuff we do regularly). And right after I develop a burning desire to visit St. Louis for two very special Geocaches too! *sigh*

It always works out that way, it seems.

But I'm on all sorts of treatments to make this ick move along faster, and hopefully with enough supplements, juices, and sleep, I'll be over it quick, and we can all get back to our regularly scheduled programming. *smile*

Unfortunately, this illness means that the trip may have to be delayed indefinitely to avoid overcrowding and grumpy children on the long trip.

Bonus, up to the minute news; The girls are over at a friend's house, and I just got a call telling me there has been an accident. Littlebit just bashed her nose on a bicycle because some adult picked her up and didn't watch his surroundings. She had a nosebleed, and may get two black eyes. Isn't that lovely? They're on their way home right now.

Building Community

2008-07-16T22:48:00.000-05:00

There was a concert and a playgroup at The Radish last week, and both were a lot of fun. Nora & Gnoll were even better than I remembered them, and I tried to take video, but, alas, I have children who just HAD to come up to me and chat while I was filming, so that didn't work out quite as I had planned.

The new garden beds are coming along quite nicely, and we're scheduled to deliver more used coffee grounds to the urban gardening project on Friday, when we will likely be able to finish and plant the newest bed and finish weeding the urban garden patch. The Radish could really use some clean, rock-free soil, so if you have some you want rid of, please let me know. If you can't deliver it to the garden, I bet I could find a way to get it picked up if you're in Springfield. *smile*

Other than that, things are going well on the home front, our personal garden is growing rather nicely, albeit slowly, and I should soon have some free time to spend on getting a proposal written up for buying the property for the educational farm and community center we want to create.

Catching Caches

2008-07-14T19:08:00.000-05:00

Geocaching is fun!

So much fun, that we've been so busy,(and trying to catch up on my neglected emails), that not only have I not taken Keeb to his little weekly get together, but also I haven't been blogging again.

Of course you already probably noticed this, but still. *chuckle*

Tonight's caches were especially fun and educational, with an Osage Orange tree nearby for a short botany lesson, and short healthy walks, punctuated, of course, with sticking our heads in bushes, walking into spiderwebs, and looking lost. *laugh*

The house is coming along nicely, thanks to hard work from Keebler, and we have an appointment for more caching on Tuesday, just us adults, while Z-man is away at camp! This is going to be fun!

Contest Pimping

2008-07-12T19:04:00.000-05:00

Blondemomblog is giving away an Ultreo ultrasound toothbrush. This thing is an uber-cool power toothbrush with all sorts of useful bells and whistles.

Okay, I admit it, I'm pimping my blog out for an extra chance to win this little beauty, but, really, wouldn't you?

After all, it's all about the linklove, and I really enjoy her other blog (there's a link on her site), despite the fact that it's a review blog. I'm not a huge fan of review blogs as regular reading, though I relish their usefulness, and rely on them more often than consumer reports when researching a product. Chicky's got personality, and I like that in a blogger. Too many review bloggers are dry and unemotional about their opinions, so reading her reviews is like a breath of fresh air.

Click here to enter.

Good Luck!

She Likes To Ride Her Bicycle

2008-07-09T02:34:00.003-05:00

Littlebit learned to ride a bicycle today!

It was just a couple rounds on a borrowed bike in a parking lot near The Radish while we were visiting to help build a raised gardening bed and drop off some used coffee grounds, but like reading, she's got it now, and isn't letting go any time soon. *grin* We didn't manage to get any pictures, but I'll try for some later.

I'm sure she'll be riding her bike all over the driveway now that she has the hang of it.

Looks like it's time to teach her the rules of the road, as she'll be wanting to ride in the street with the rest of us in no time at all.

Our littlest munchkin is growing up!

In Suport of Creativity

2008-07-07T21:53:00.004-05:00

A group of college girls got together and decided to make a calendar of themselves (geek girls), and sell it to raise some extra money for college. I love the fact that they thought of this, and that they've added geek holidays like pi day and sci-fi conventions to the calendar itself.

Please click on the image for an enlarged view, and go to their website to buy yourself a copy.

I have a sneaking suspicion that one of the girls is a homeschool graduate as well, due to the fact that I heard about the calendar from one of the home education groups I'm a member of.

I must admit that I used the images from the site so I could advertise their calendar without permission, but since I'm advertising for them to get more sales, (and thus more money towards their education), I don't think they'd really mind. I started out making a one-page flier to take to a group of gamers I know, and it turned out so well that I had to share it with you too. Just to make sure it's okay that I've used their images this way, I've alerted one of the folks who helped to create the calendar. *smile*

You know you want a copy!

UPDATE: Two of the lovely women involved in creating the calendar. The producer, and Librarian Geek were both homeschool graduates!

Weekly Weight Report

2008-07-06T23:57:00.005-05:00

I've decided to change the word "loss" to "drop" in honor of a great little shirt I saw a while back. It said "Loosing weight infers that I want to find it again." Since I have no intent whatsoever of "finding" all these excess pounds, I've changed the wording of the weekly report.

Me:
Starting weight (August 2007): 245lbs
Last Week's Weight: 153lbs
Current Weight: 145lbs
Weight Drop: 8lbs
Total drop to date: 100lbs
Weight Goal: 135
Pounds to Loose: 10

Woohooo! I've hit the 100# drop mark in less than a year, with no conventional dieting techniques whatsoever!

Keebler:
Starting weight (August 2007): 179lbs
Final Week's Weight: 137lbs
Weight Goal: 145, Surpassed by 8lbs on 3/6/08
Additional Loss: 10lbs, 3/31/08
Total Loss: 52lbs

Feliz Cuatro de Julio Fiesta!

2008-07-04T03:59:00.002-05:00

My most memorable fourth of July celebration was in Douglas, Arizona, when I was visiting friends. It was a fun little festival with a comforting small town feel, and that was where I tasted my first churro, and saw the Mexican hat dance preformed by a ballet dancer on pointe! It was truly an unforgettable experience.

This year, we plan to spend a quiet day with family. A small BBQ with my mother in love and our small family, then the kids get to run off with Faith and her family to play on inflatables, ride ponies, and watch fireworks at an area church's yearly event.

May your Independence Day celebration be warm, sunny, joyous, and safe!

UnGuzzling

2008-07-03T03:05:00.004-05:00

With the rising cost of gas gouging holes in everyone's budget, and the 5 cent off per gallon Kum&Go gift cards no longer reloadable, I decided it was time to tackle some of the methods you can use to cut fuel costs.

Our family just moved closer to the majority of our daily activities so that we could walk or ride bikes more often to where we needed to go. This alone has cut our fuel consumption by 75% in the last month.

The first rule of driving to conserve fuel is to drive as if you were riding a bicycle. A lot of the ways I drive a vehicle, I learned when I was taught how to ride a ten-speed. Now, many years later, I am truly surprised to discover that a lot of the methods I have been doing since I bought my first car are now being suggested by the people who vehemently encourage fuel efficient driving.

Hooray for instinct! *grin*

Find out if your town is flat or slanted. We were happy to discover that our entire town slants down hill towards the southwest corner. This means that traveling to run certain errands or visit some of our friends takes less gas than going other places, as we can coast almost the whole way in one direction. We've begun to plan our trips so we can take advantage of the slant more effectively.

There's a lot more conservation methods on my advice & services blog; Earthereal Guidance.

Since we're talking about saving money, the freebies have started back up over at Products & Places as well. It's just a weekly thing until I get the time on my hands to do more, but with the prices going up all over, every little savings means a lot!

Houseless Home-Mates & More

2008-06-25T18:34:00.002-05:00

These last couple of weeks have been a doosey to say the least.

A friend of mine became homeless and is now sleeping on our living room floor with her husband while they await his next paycheck so they can move into an apartment of their own, and it's been a lot of fun staying up late at night after he gets off of work chatting, telling stories, and playing games, but it has cut my productivity down to nill.

Ladybug's birthday party went well, and we all had a lot of fun, even if the invitations to our homeschool groups didn't go through for some odd reason. Of course, this means that there are a LOT of party bags left over, but we'll be taking them to the free homeschool clothes, toys, & food exchange this weekend and they will all find nice new homes there, while we will hopefully find some new-to-them clothes and shoes for the girls.

The garden is growing well, and the cuttings we've taken are rooting nicely. As usual around this time of year, we are at a loss for planters, and have need of many more than we currently own. We've trimmed back some of the trees lining the parking area so that we can plant something there, and already begun beautifying the neighborhood with flowering edible plants. I'm sure the neighbors won't mind.

We still haven't gotten an answer from the landlord as to whether we can garden the back lot, but we decided we didn't need permission to put up a small retractable clothesline, so we went on ahead, and that's helping to save us a lot of money on at least drying the laundry, since my mother still refuses to give up our washing machine.

If we don't get an answer on the gardening thing by next week, we're going to set up a load of planters back there and garden that way. Nobody has ever said no to a container garden, only to digging up their precious (yet poorly-tended) grass. At least there are edibles in the yard. *grin*

One of the local coffee shops has agreed to save their used coffee grounds for us if we provide the container, so the pickle buckets will soon be on parade yet again, and our wait for garden soil, both for our own garden, and The Radish's many projects, will soon be over, or at least significantly reduced. Today, I deliver their first empty pickle bucket.

The Radish's community garden is coming along nicely, and we've donated a few plants over there, as well as continued to contribute to their compost heap with our un-wormable compostables.

I've taken lots and lots of photos of pretty much everything, but as the battery on the camera is now dead, and with me not knowing the charger's location, showing them off is kind of on hold for now.

The house continues to pull into shape, and we've decided that we need a lot of shelving all over the walls of the house to be able to have enough storage space. This place doesn't have nearly enough closets to store the things we need. Looks like it was made for college students, with three small closets, and only enough kitchen cabinets to store a couple of pots, some spices, random boxed foods, and a set of dishes. We really miss our old house.

There have been some pleasant dumpster scores as of late as well. Not that we've been out hunting, really, but when a shelving unit looms up out of the trash as you drive by, you just have to go pick it up, no matter if you have no place to put it back at the house. *chuckle* Of course, shelving is one of those things that not having space for isn't a problem, what with the average shelving unit itself being able to provide at least twice the space it takes up.

We've been requested to teach a class on sushi preparation, and two people want to come over and have me either create or upkeep their dreadlocks for them.

Now, I know where the time goes, but why the heck can't I somehow barter time from those that have extra lying around that they're not using?

Weekly Weight Report

2008-06-23T23:41:00.000-05:00

Or not so weekly, as it were.

Well, we've been trying to juggle getting moved into the new place, keeping up with the girls' activities and schooling, volunteering, work, and attempting to do it all while still not neglecting our friends.

It's been quite the performance, but something managed to fall by the wayside.

See, in the moving, we misplaced the scale for a bit. So I haven't weighed myself since my last report, back in April.

But we've found the scale again now, so I can start back up with the reporting until I achieve my goals.

So without further delay, here's the skinny on the fat.

Me:
Starting weight (August 2007): 245lbs
April's Weight: 150lbs
Current Weight: 153lbs
Recent Loss: -3lbs
Total loss to date: 92lbs
Weight Goal: 135
Pounds to Loose: 18

Looks like I gained a bit during the move. Yep, I admit it, eating on the run and quick-fix meals made me gain three pounds back in the last couple of months. Back on the healthy wagon for me!

Keebler:
Starting weight (August 2007): 179lbs
Final Week's Weight: 137lbs
Weight Goal: 145, Surpassed by 8lbs on 3/6/08
Additional Loss: 10lbs, 3/31/08
Total Loss: 52lbs

You're Invited!

2008-06-18T06:32:00.002-05:00

At The Round Table

2008-06-17T05:35:00.000-05:00

Well, it was called a round table, but it was really just an oblong sort-of deal with four panelists from some of the best and greenest community organizations and businesses in town.

And I was one of them!

A couple of months ago, I was approached by an associate of mine from one of the local homeschool groups, who asked me if I'd be interested in speaking and answering questions at her club's green and sustainability round table forum as a representative of the Springfield Metro Freecycle(tm) group.

I was honored, to say the least, and the big night was last week. I got all gussied up (as one is wont to do for such an occasion), brought my Freecycle(tm) fliers, the tri-fold display board, and my laptop. Well, not much of that was actually used, but since I wasn't sure what they'd want for display or whatnot, I figured it was best to be on the safe side. We ended up just having the fliers handed out to folks, and a magnificent discussion. *smile*

I've never been in a forum discussion as a panelist before, and it was a great honor to be seated among some of the most active citizens in the area who are pushing Springfield towards sustainability, community togetherness, and a green future.

I met several people who will be helpful to my goals (and the goals of others I've met). The great thing is that we can help them with their goals as well, and that's what sustainability is; helping one another out for the betterment and closeness of the community, decreasing waste, improving the local economy, and more. With my newfound associates, we will all be able to do more, together, hopefully building a more cohesive and active community, as well as great momentum in Springfield for the green, ecologically sound, sustainability movement.

For now, I have to go approve the new members of the Freecycle(tm) group, and get ready for bed.

'Cause team-building is THE way to go. *grin* Here's hoping!

Back From Whence They Came

2008-06-14T17:00:00.003-05:00

Well, I've been rather incommunicado these last few days. What with caring for the puppies, trying to find their rightful owners, and getting ready for Ladybug's birthday party, things have been really hectic.

Yesterday, after we gave them a bath, treated them for fleas again with our natural goodies, and fed them the last of the food I had cooked for them when they came here, the puppies left in the way they came, running off in a fit of glee, wrestling and playing. We wandered the neighborhood for a wile looking for them and they were nowhere to be found.

I can only hope they either found their way back home, or, as Keebler would say, found some poor sentimental sap who would take them in like I did. *chuckle* Well, they look really healthy now that we'd had them for a few days, and I'd like to think they have more going for them now than when they came to us, but I really wish I had tucked a piece of paper into their collars stating what breed they were (puggle), and their ages and personalities so that the next person who finds them can know the information without having to do all of the research I had to do.

It would also have been nice had I not left them in the care of Littlebit, who seemingly got so carried away playing bubbles with the neighbor kids, that she didn't notice when they frolicked, tumbled, and raced away down the alley from whence they came.

Now I have to go delete all of the listings I put out for them all over the internet when I was hoping to find their rightful people.

At least they know enough to stay out of the street for the most part, so that's not a big worry, and they're small, friendly, and cute, meaning that they will be able to sucker some other caring soul rather easily.

All we can do now is hope and pray for their safety and wellbeing.

Breaking News: Downtown Fire

2008-06-10T23:00:00.013-05:00

CAUTION: ADULT LANGUAGE FROM BYSTANDERS IN VIDEO

At roughly 10:30pm, at the corner of 7th and Mt. Vernon in Springfield, Missouri, a garage caught fire. By the time the fire department arrived, the fire had completely engulfed the building and spread to an adjacent utility pole, and the pole had begun to lean precariously towards the pole across from it on 7th street.

We arrived on the scene at about 10:45pm, when the flames were towering over 10 feet above the roof of the building. We never would have known about it when we did if it hadn't been for two untagged, but well cared for dogs with collars, who ran into our house through the open door for a bit of a visit and some love. We had gone out to see if we could find their owners before we turned in for the night, and that's when we saw the fire, a few blocks away. Thinking that the dogs may have escaped from what appeared to be a house fire, we went to find the residents and offer them their precious puppies back.

Here is the video Keebler took of the fire a couple of minutes after I called 911, and they told me that trucks were in route.

Luckily, the garage was a free standing building, so the fire didn't spread far before the fire department arrived, and quickly got the blaze under control.

Some photos of the firepersons hard at work on the remnants of the blaze (taken with my cell phone, Keeb still had the camera. Still, they came out surprisingly well.).

After a short investigation on my part, questioning the fire department and bystanders, I learned that the house was vacant, and for sale. It's good to know that nobody lost any possessions in the blaze, but the garage will need to be completely torn down, and the house is going to need new siding, due to heat damage (and the fire dept ripping some of it off to check for possible smoldering underneath).

Remember, you heard it here first, folks!

Here's a photo of the dogs.

Anyone know who their owners are? I'm sure these playful pups would love to get back to their rightful home(s).

Reviewing The Reviews

2008-06-09T22:42:00.000-05:00

Spent most of the day the other day writing reviews for products and places I swore I'd talk about when I had a bit more time. Well, I do have a bit more time, so I'm writing my little heart out in order to make sure you get all the opinionated blather you care to read over at Products & Places, my reviews and freebies blog. There's a new batch of freebies over there right now, and things are starting to pick up in my little corner of the blogosphere, so do pop in at the blogs linked on the right of the page and have a glance. *smile*

The time I didn't spend writing, I was cooking, driving Keeb's mom home from work, doing dishes, arranging the kitchen to my liking, and generally working around the house.

Crowded? Nah

2008-06-05T16:15:00.002-05:00

When Faith and her family dropped off my kids after a great day of fun at Silver Dollar City in celebration of Z-man's birthday (Happy Unbirthday Z!!!) the other day, we did what we usually do and stood around for a few minutes to share a quick rundown of the day and say our goodnights.

As they were getting ready to head home, however, the sirens went off.

Tornado sirens, that is.

In my family, we usually check the Doppler radar on the computer when we hear a siren, to check and see if the storm is anywhere near us when we take shelter, or slightly before (if there is no active t-storm activity outside, we'll check before huddling in our safe room.).

In Faith's family, they hear the sirens , grab the kitties and emergency kits, and head for their safe-room with their trusty weather radios to ride out the warning.

So out of respect for their family, we grabbed some folding chairs, a sheet for holding in front of the toilet in case someone had to potty with us all in there, a blanket, some pillows for the kids to sit on in the bathtub, our wind-up weather radio, and a couple of oil lanterns, before we all crammed into our bathroom.

I sat on the closed toilet, using the sink as a desk to check the weather, Keeb, Faith and her DH sat in folding chairs against the wall across from the bathtub, and the kids hung out in the tub, tickling, giggling, and generally making a happy nuisance of themselves. It was cozy, but not too tight, and we all would have been rather comfortable, but for Keeb's tendency to smoke in the bathroom. See, Faith's allergic to smoke, and the lingering chemicals in the air, as well as the smell, got to her, and she started to have an allergic reaction. I hope that convinced Keebler to not smoke in the bathroom anymore, as that room really holds in the scents, and old, stale smoke isn't an odor I want permeating any of the rooms in our home.

The kids had a blast, which is to be expected, and embraced during a tornado warning. Hiding from the storm should be something fun, with special storm-only games, songs, and the like, in order to make the hiding experience less frightening. We didn't get to do any of our regular silliness because most of our things are still packed away, but we did get to do a fun little meteorology lesson, and it was still a pretty good time.

Sink Different, SinkPositive

2008-06-02T23:30:00.001-05:00

I saw this article on one of my groups and just had to forward it to you. Now $99 isn't much to spend to save some water, and it's great to see some folks coming up with truly innovative ideas to save our swindling natural resources. The article might sound like an advert, but I think it's still worth a read, and the product sounds great to me as well, at least in practice.

(The theory and design could use a little work, but they're developing a wall-mount model right now, so my concerns may be invalidated rather shortly.)

~Water Conservation~

Simply SinkPositive to Maximize Water Use

Turn Your Toilet Tank Lid into a Fountain of Benefits
New Sink Makes Hand Washing Easy and Convenient

By Carlton Davis Brown

To most people the thought of a hand washing sink operating off a toilet seems to be a contradiction of common sense. To others, it’s a necessity and required course of action. “The irony of that concept is actually the sink’s strength,” says Carl Brown, the SinkPositive’s creator. “The skeptic’s furrowed brow quickly turns to wide eyed amazement after a single demonstration because it’s obvious that the water is fresh tap water coming directly from the “wall.” An excited shift in perception follows as the environmental and health benefits quickly become apparent.

SinkPositive is a multipurpose accessory sink that simply retrofits to an existing toilet in minutes without special tools or a plumber. Operating automatically after each flush, the sink immediately delivers many environmental and personal health benefits. The patented SinkPositive redirects new clean refill water through a convenient faucet into the hand wash basin before it drains to refill the bowl for the next flush. Brown points out, “It is the water you see trickling in the bowl after the flush during the refill cycle. It comes straight from the tap, not the tank or anywhere else, and ends up in the bowl.”

Maximized use of our fresh water supply is an essential aspect of building a sustainable and durable lifestyle. The average American uses about 80 gallons of fresh water per day for assorted indoor uses. The vast majority of that water - a whopping 75% - is used in the bathroom. Because that’s where we use the most water, it’s also where we can save the most water. SinkPositive is a constant reminder and positive reinforcement of sustainable living habits.

The sink also serves to provide a visual signal of a costly leak in the toilet tank. Leaky toilets are estimated by the American Water Works Association to be responsible for 5% of our nation’s total water use. “Conserved water is our most important source of freshwater,” says Mary Elfner, Executive Director, The Coastal Georgia Land Trust. Sinkpositive provides a functional and beneficial contribution to the ever increasingly important effort for each person to develop and practice efficient water use habits.

Having a small, automatic sink right on your toilet lid makes hand washing both easy and fun.

Washing hands has been shown to be the number one way to improve personal health and reduce disease transmission, according to the United States Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

When asked about the sink’s Return on Investment Brown responds, “With regular use; the water saved, the additional waste water reduction, and a single break in the transmission of a cold or other illness through the home, SinkPositive promises to pay for itself in a very short period of time.” Inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s vision that we must “think globally and act locally,” Brown adds, “We must move past having to put a price tag on our health and our fresh water to inspire taking action. The answer is simple. These things are priceless, take every opportunity to preserve and conserve as soon as you can.”

Living in Southern California in the mid-80’s brought the importance and impending urgency of water conservation to the forefront of inventor Carl Brown’s mind. “When I saw those devastating photos of Mono Lake and heard that Los Angeles’ contract for water rights to the Colorado River was “expiring”, I knew in that instant, my life’s work would be about conserving water. I did not know how, I just knew it was my calling.”

Years later while visiting Japan, Brown observed a toilet with a finger rinse basin built into the side of the tank which operated after each flush and automatically offered a convenient hygienic hand wash. Seeing the water conservation and hygienic benefits Mr. Brown began to investigate why this idea had not been introduced in the US. “It was obvious Japan, an island nation with limited and highly valued natural resources, was far ahead of us in matters of efficiency.”

It was not until the birth of his daughter did the project became personal as he realized all future generations faced issues of natural resource depletion. Therefore, he dedicated his career to designing and patenting a water conservation idea influenced by the Japanese sink, naming his, SinkPositive. “It’s critical,” says Brown. “As a planet, we just passed 6 billion people and are projected to be 9 billion by 2050. The next generation will experience water much different than any previous generation.”

The automatic handsfree operation eliminates the need to go the bathroom sink and thus, the use of faucet knobs. This not only removes the top documented source of germ and bacteria transmission but comes as a welcome relief to persons with arthritis or other dexterity concerns.

The new sink is a two piece adjustable tank replacement lid made to fit rectangular tanks between 17 – 22” wide and 8” front to back. Made in the USA, it comes with built in soap dish, optional aerator tip faucet, installation instructions, a 30 day money back guarantee, and sells for $99.00. Available on-line at: www.sinkpositive.com or call Environmental Designworks, (615)217-8066

Benefits:
Makes hand washing easy and more frequent
Maximizes water use; reduced demand and waste
Eliminates use of sink faucets
Reduces hand transmitted diseases
Helpful to persons with arthritis or other disabilities
Visual signal of costly toilet tank leak
Easy install with immediate benefits
Regular hand washing equals 100% return on Investment (ROI)
Automatic reminder for those who may otherwise forget to wash their hands, especially children

Too Much Pizza & Many Great Friends Makes For Much Sleepy-Time

2008-06-01T20:09:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was a lot of fun, but busier than all heck.

Well, it could have been busier if I hadn't stayed up late working again, as I ended up not going to two separate events aimed at kids celebrating spring, and sleeping in instead.

Lucky for the girls, Faith wanted to go to the events anyway, so she graciously invited our kids along with her family.

Afterwards, the real fun began. I had scheduled to host a pizza party at The Radish, invited a new homeschool group I just joined, Faith's family, and some dear (and nearby-ish) friends from one of the nationwide homeschool lists I participate in. There was much fun, lots of conversation, and by the end of the evening everyone had enjoyed a good time meeting new people, eating pizza and stuffed bread sticks, and more folks had discovered The Radish for the radical place it is. *smile* We ended up baking pizzas and bread sticks from 3pm to closing time, and friends brought chocolate breadsticks(YUM!) and beverages to share as well, making a very satisfying feast for all, if I do say so myself (and I do). *grin*

The Radish even gained a donation of some coffee creamers, sugar, and artificial sweetener for their free coffee and tea they offer to everyone who visits! It's a good thing, too, as they were out when we got there at 3. Hooray for serendipity!

Of course The Radish closes at about 9pm most evenings, so we went back home with some friends and got so caught up in conversation that we all stayed up until after midnight, sharing silly music with one another, and reminiscing over old times.

As I was cleaning up from the evening, the police knocked on our door looking for someone we had never met. Seems like the folks who lived here before us, might not have been the greatest of folks; especially considering that we got a letter addressed to a different person from the municipal courts system earlier in that same day. Now that the gov knows those folks moved, however, I don't think we'll have the police at our door anymore. *chuckle*

It was an amazingly great day, we got to see folks we don't get to very often, and I'm still tired today! *chuckle*

I have just a little bit more work to do tonight, then I'm turning in early.

Funny how good times wear a body out.

A Sinking Feeling

2008-05-31T04:18:00.003-05:00

The above photo is what greeted up in our new kitchen when we moved into our new house.

Gross, huh?

That's what we thought too, so we snapped a photo to show to the landlord as proof, and got to work.

45 minutes of hard labor with my favorite cheap & natural cleaning products* later, we had the image below.
Yep, that's right, there was so much grime on the sink, we couldn't see that the enamel had worn off the bottoms of the basins! *gag*

So we snapped another shot, and told the landlord we just plain needed a new sink. He said that he'd be happy to install whatever sink we managed to get, so a-hunting we did go.

With no written promise of reimbursement, however, and our tighter-than-tight budget, there weren't many places we could look. Freecycle(tm) to the rescue!

Within hours of my wanted post to our local group, a friend of mine messaged me to let me know he had just purchased a sink from a yard sale, meeting our size requirements, in order to get the faucets and stuff off of it for his home. He didn't need the sink itself, and we could have it.

*the crowd goes wild with cheering*

Even better, the sink is steel, so I can finally polish a sink again, after 4 years of being deprived of my precious shiny sink**!

Now to call the landlord and schedule the installation. *grin*

I may not have the best landlord in the world, but my friends and community are a true blessing!

*baking soda, vinegar, heavy-duty scrub sponge.

**Google "Flylady" for more information on the shiny sink obsession.

Ending The Day at 5am

2008-05-30T04:54:00.000-05:00

Not even sure I need to write anything after a title like that. It pretty much explains it all, doesn't it?

Today was exceedingly busy, and our family was spread out in all directions as we worked together, in our separate ways to get a massive list of things done.

Keebler spent hours doing laundry while I drove around running errands, and the girls stayed home and completed a list of household duties we had given them before we left, to aid the unpacking and tidying process.

Family and friends stopped by for visits, we lost Internet for a bit, and things were really hectic, but....

*dramatic pause*

We got it all done!

*GRIN*

What's Poisoning Your Family?

2008-05-29T00:59:00.001-05:00

Almost all the info that's fit to print on the subject.

What's in the stuff you use, what it does, why it's there, and why it is (or may be) bad for you or the environment. Great listing (the whole site is pretty good actually), and it will help you have the information you need to make truly informed decisions regarding whether you want to use a product with a certain ingredient or not. Really informative.

Ingredients to Avoid

and

Their front page

A funny aside; you don't want to use some of the stuff they're selling on their site, because many of the products contain some of the things they are preaching about not using! Example; They say not to use anything with chlorine or any of it's derivatives in it, even to the extent of not using anything with "chlor" in the name. However, the majority of their dental products have what they call "stabilized chlorine dioxide".

Without an ingredient listing to check for allergens, I wouldn't buy from them anyway, but that's just me. I always do what they suggest doing, and read the ingredients label before buying anything, and since there is no listing on their site, I won't buy from them, no matter how much they say their products are healthy and natural. Like they say themselves, "natural" is an unregulated word in the health care industry, so it technically means whatever the sellers and manufacturers want it to.

Browse, learn, and enjoy!

UPDATE: Since I moderate my comments, I was able to catch and not publish a rather rude comment from one of the members of the company. What a fabulous way to ensure I will never buy from them!

Great sales technique, that.

Action Alert: Make High Speed Internet Access a Reality for All Americans

2008-05-27T23:18:00.000-05:00

From Care2's Petition Site.

Access to the high-speed Internet opens up tremendous opportunities for improving the quality of our economic, civic and personal lives. Yet the United States is the only industrialized country without a national policy to promote high-speed Internet access. We spend less as a nation on Internet investment than many of our global neighbors, but as customers we pay higher prices. What's even worse, this technology is out of reach for millions of Americans living in rural areas!

In the 21st century, high-speed Internet should not be a luxury. It's a necessity. Click on "Begin Test" to see how YOUR connection speed stacks up.

Sign the Care2 petition here and tell the presidential candidates that you want every American to have affordable access to high-speed internet.

Water Works

2008-05-27T01:00:00.003-05:00

When we moved in here, I told the kids that there would be no more baths. Cutting down on costs and working to save the environment means that we conserve both water, and the gas to heat it. Absolutely no baths allowed, except as special treats.

Showers only!

So of course, the first thing Littlebit does when it's time to take her shower, is fill up the tub, then proceed to stand in the water and wash herself in the shower stream. *rolls eyes*

Yeah.

Danged loopholes.

I had no clue she had done this, as she's old enough to bathe herself (still needs help with her hair sometimes, but still), and doesn't need to be monitored in the tub. The whole house found her out, however, when she fell in the soap-slippery tub with a huge SPLOOSH!, and started crying.

She was a little pink in one spot, so we gave her owie kisses, and scolded her for breaking the rules. Little did I know, but while we were administering first aide, her sister had jumped to the rescue of a box I had set on the edge of the tub that had also taken the plunge. Quick as a wink, Ladybug fished everything out of the water, and set it on the floor, in the massive puddle that had escaped when Littlebit had created her accidental experiment with rapid water displacement.

So we spent most of the day strategically drying each and every bit of paper product that could be salvaged, each little sample bottle of lotion or shampoo, and everything else. What didn't dry properly with a towel, Ladybug put loosely into empty crates for maximum airflow, and we dried that way. Luckily for us, and thanks to Ladybug's quick thinking, everything was able to be salvaged.

As a consequence of her actions, however, Littlebit had to take everything out of the bathroom, and hand-mop the floor on her hands and knees. We don't do punishments in our house much, but that doesn't mean we can't exaggerate a natural consequence to make it more uncomfortable. *chuckle*

On a high note, we needed to mop the bathroom floor anyway, as that hadn't been done before we moved in, and we were planning on doing it ourselves as soon as we got things unpacked a little more.

I bet she won't try to take a bath again without express permission, though.

Whimspiration

I Made This For You

Waaaaah *sniffle*

Building Community

Catching Caches

Contest Pimping

She Likes To Ride Her Bicycle

In Suport of Creativity

Weekly Weight Report

Feliz Cuatro de Julio Fiesta!

UnGuzzling

Houseless Home-Mates & More

Weekly Weight Report

You're Invited!

At The Round Table

Back From Whence They Came

Breaking News: Downtown Fire

Reviewing The Reviews

Crowded? Nah

Sink Different, SinkPositive

Too Much Pizza & Many Great Friends Makes For Much Sleepy-Time

A Sinking Feeling

Ending The Day at 5am

What's Poisoning Your Family?

Action Alert: Make High Speed Internet Access a Reality for All Americans

Water Works

Waaaaah sniffle