Recycle your old cell phone!!

I've been meaning to do this for some time, but my old cell has been hibernating in a drawer in my kitchen for months....I finally just googled "recycle cell phone," and was looking for the easiest/quickest/closest way. Turns out my local Body Shop (you know the one, the retail/chain store where they sell the yummy bath/body/beauty stuff) does it. I just called to confirm. You don't need the box, the charger, or anything. I will post more after I drop it off this weekend.

In other news (I love this phrase, can you tell?), I officially joined my local CSA this morning. I took the girls to Hen House with my forms and paid the fee. I got two free cloth/reusable grocery bags, plus a t-shirt and a healthy cookbook. Woohoo! I love free stuff.

Also, I submitted a letter to the editor of our local paper yesterday about being green. They called me to verify authorship, so I am hopeful that this means I have a decent chance of being published. If I am, I will attempt to post the link here.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Whole Foods: BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag)

Whole Foods eliminated plastic grocery bags on Earth Day 2008 (last week)!!!!!!


“Paper or plastic?” is soon to be a question of the past at our stores. When you come to shop, bring any bags you have on hand. Really, any bag will do – old, new, paper, plastic, fabric, even backpacks or woven baskets! You’ll feel good about helping our environment and we’ll even give you a refund of at least 5 cents per bag.

We make it easy by offering a wide selection of reusable bags for sale at our stores — check out our “Better Bag” — only 99 cents and it’s made from recycled plastic bottles. Helping the environment in two ways!



Why Eliminate Plastic? Thousands of reasons!
It can take more than a thousand years for a disposable plastic bag to break down in a landfill.
Most reusable bags can be used thousands of times and there are so many reusable bag options!
Thousands of customers and Team Members support our Core Value to “care about our communities and the environment.”
So what about paper?
We aren’t trying to settle the "paper vs. plastic" debate. We say "reuse!" instead. But when you don't reuse, we provide 100% recycled (and recyclable) paper bags.

Learn more about your choices and our commitment.

addendum

so abby's latest phrase has been, "No talking, _______," filling in the blank with Daddy, Mommy, or Izzy.

this morning, there's a new addition to the phrase.

In its entirety, it goes, "No talking, Mommy. ABBY'S talking."

omg.

hanger frustration

so last night my husband deposited about 50 hangers in our garbage can. i promptly removed them and took them over to the dry cleaners this morning.

much to my chagrin, they only take back the plain wire hangers----not including the pants hangers w/ the white cardboard roll along the bottom. when i asked why they won't take those back, the cashier replied, "Because they've lost their stickiness." Somehow I don't think that's a good enough reason.

next i think i'll call around and see if any other cleaners will take these back. it's such a pointless waste.

at least i recycled the plain wire ones. still i am bothered by this.

i am also sad because while the girls and i were playing outside this morning, i found the prettiest pale blue robin's egg in the yard. one small section of it had broken (i assume it had fallen out of one of our trees), and i looked inside and could see embryo and membranes....made me want to cry.

then one of our neighbors walked by with his 4 dogs---2 of his own and 2 he's recently inherited from family members who have passed away. Spike, the smallest one, yakked up something nasty in our yard, and they continued on their way after Tom apologized profusely. I told him not to sweat it, that if dog vomit is the worst thing that winds up in our yard, I consider us very lucky indeed!!!

in other news, we went to Winstead's yesterday with our other twin friends, Maren & Mackenna Jones and their mom, Jen. As the girls were happily munching on french fries and grilled cheese sammies, Izzy pointed out the window and yelled, "Mommy! Big c*ck!" I gasped in horror and all I could do was laugh as I watched the big TRUCK go by. What a day.

CSA!!!

I am joining the local CSA!!!

For those of you who aren't familiar, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. You pay a membership fee, and then a weekly fee for fresh/local/organic produce/food/dairy items from a nearby farm. I will go to my local grocery store once a week to pick up our CSA groceries (starting in mid-May and ending in late September).

Doing this benefits the environment because locally grown foods require less packaging and transportation, which then means less waste and pollution. Participating in CSA's also supports our local economy (because we're supporting local farmers who provide jobs and therefore recirculate $$ throughout the local economy).

Doing this is also better for our health, the food tastes better, and it's so nutritious.

Local farms are disappearing at an alarming rate. We are losing land and a link to our ancestors. Farms are natural classrooms and provide education, recreation, and entertainment. Farms are our legacy. They keep the door open to the farms and farmers of tomorrow!

WOOHOO!!!!!

things i love

children
new books
the way my daughter abby says, "Yeah."
the way my daughter Izzy crosses her legs at the ankle.
getting to be in my friend's wedding.
being "green"
my friends and family
strawberries
pasta
loaded baked potatoes
natalie portman
justin timberlake
the sound of my kids' laughter
my husband's hugs
my husband's eyes, and the way he says my name, or when he refers to me as "Mommy"
Real Simple magazine
cooking something that turns out very well
being Jewish
sleeping
reading
writing
thinking
thunderstorms
fleur de lis
british accents
freckles
dogs
children
giggling
teaching my girls about life, love, and the letters of the alphabet
being a mom
being a wife
trying every day to be a better person
weddings
birthday parties
hanukkah
Jon & Kate Plus 8
Grey's Anatomy
poetry
pink
snow
spring
black and white photographs
animals of all kinds
bugs----ladybugs, doodlebugs, grasshoppers, dragonflies
saving worms on walks, putting them back in the grass
turtles
rain
puddles
jumping on trampolines
mary jane shoes
Juno
Ellen Page
the smell of gasoline
the smell of freshly cut grass
the smell of cupcakes baking
watching my girls devour said cupcakes
abby asking for PIE

how to make me happy

tell me you love me even when i make bad lasagna.

play with my hair.

tell me how thin i look in these pants.

be my friend regardless/in spite of the facts that i am OCD, overly-sensitive, easily overwhelmed by my children, and that i often remember lots of random, apparently insignificant things.

love me even when i am a horrible person and say horrible things.

try not to hate me for interrupting. frequently. ok, constantly.

IVF on television.....

So I'm watching a new episode of Brothers & Sisters right now.
Kitty is apparently starting IVF.
It should be very interesting----television tends to gloss over stuff and it never winds up being portrayed realistically. Chaps my hide.

Will keep you updated. Obviously I am only a few minutes into the episode. I predict she will wind up pregnant instantly. It will all work out happily and perfectly, etc. Although I do have to give them credit for showing her fertility struggle last season.....

We shall see!