Spring: Pros and Cons

Pro: Turning our carport back into a screened-in porch and sitting out there for HOURS

Con: On this 80+ degree day watching girls' butts and boobs hang out of their ridiculously short/skimpy clothing

Pro: My vegetables are sprouting! Pics to follow

Con: I have to go teach in an unconditioned classroom right now.


I think the pros outweigh the cons. I only have to deal with them for a few hours a day!

Happy Earth Day!

Well, I've tried to make my little changes, with the help of a lot of people and sites, including Green as a Thistle, 1BagataTime, Ecobags, ReusableBags, Gaiam, Fair Indigo, Crunchy Chicken, Freelance Farmers, a possible CSA near me, the local farmer's market, and numerous friends. I ranted a bit to my students today about getting water bottles like my Sigg (if any of them were to imitate me, they'd just need the water bottle and glasses) and reusable coffee mugs-- so many of them are Tim Hortons freaks. The company just had a "Roll up the Rim to Win" contest where you could win a prize (a free coffee, a gift certificate, a car) by rolling up the rim of your coffee mug to see what it revealed. This, to me, just generated tons of trash--the thousands of coffee cups that got thrown away in the mad dash to win a prize saddened me as a budding environmentalist.

Anyway. I'll stop ranting. A little. My sister C helped me create a great vegetable garden, and this summer I'll try to can what's left over so I don't waste anything. The compost pile's coming along, and I'll make more of an effort to ride my bike now that the weather's warm enough. I bring my own bags wherever I can, buy organic when it's not too pricey (I do have to think of my wallet, unfortunately), and have attempted to buy organic, fair trade, or local whenever I can.
Have not been able to break the husband of using paper towels, but if I buy the recycled kind, I'm pretty sure I can throw them into the compost pile. We rarely use the dryer, and I've switched to organic detergent.

I know I've made a few more changes and have lots to go, but I think if I and others can improve a bit every year, that will make a difference. Anything you've done to green things up? Policies you know of? Any suggestions? I always love to add to my list!

Celebrate Earth Day and make it last. Greenie, signing out.

Two Years and Counting

Yesterday was T's and my second wedding anniversary. On the one hand, that seems like such a drop in the bucket; on the other hand, I cannot believe it's already been two years. We've had our ups and downs, and we're coming to some important realizations in our relationship, like the fact that we need to be more straightforward with each other because 1) we share mutual respect and don't say things out of meanness and 2) we have committed to the other person and should be able to say what we feel without worrying that the other person will leave. Yes, somewhere in my head that ridiculous notion still creeps in on occasion. What can I say, I grew up with a lot of divorce, not just in my own family. Mom, you are a good role model and you have not "scarred me for life". At all. :-)

It's nice being married to my best friend. We've both done a lot of growing and still have more to do, but I like the fact that we get to do it together. Last night at a terrific dinner at Shango, a local restaurant that has fun cajun food, we made a list of what we wanted to accomplish as a couple during our third year of marriage. I think we can stick to it, partially because one of our goals is to follow through when we make plans, not just "Huh. Wouldn't it be fun if we did X?" We also agreed to take ourselves and each other a little less seriously, which I think will help me a LOT.

I'm with someone I trust completely, who encourages me to stand on my own two feet yet supports me tremendously. He is kind to a fault, loyal, friendly, loving, reliable, and just as goony as I am. Thank God. For gifts, I gave him a Buffalo Bills blanket and tie (cotton is traditional for year #2); he got me roses and a yoga shirt from one of my favorite stores, Gaiam. Boy, do we know each other.

Happy annversary, sweetie. I love you so much and I'm honored to be walking through life with you.

Consumer news

Why I like Fair Indigo:

Some food for thought & discussion from your friends at Fair Indigo.

Old Jeans Insulate a House

Last year, Fair Indigo’s jean recycling program provided enough recycled denim to insulate an entire house! The New Orleans chapter of Habitat For Humanity built a house using insulation made from the 550 jeans submitted to us by eco-conscious customers like you. Stay tuned. We'll be kicking off our second drive soon.

Think Outside the Box

Here's an amazing fact: In three years of business, Fair Indigo has yet to throw away one single receiving box from our warehouse. How is this possible? By partnering with another local eco-savvy business, Just Coffee (the supplier of our delicious fair trade coffee), we give them hundreds of our empty boxes every season and they reuse them to ship their coffee around the nation.

Joobles Make an Impact

Since their debut last year, our line of Joobles™ 100% organic cotton fair trade toys has been winning awards. The latest? An Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award – plus, iParenting chose them as a "Best Toy." While it’s fun to be noticed, the real winners here are the fine people who hand craft Pip and his friends in Peruvian fair trade cooperatives. Each purchase helps change lives by providing jobs, school supplies and hope to hundreds of impoverished families.

Spread the Word

People are talking. If you'd like to join the conversation, post a comment to our Facebook Page, message boards, or forward this email to a friend.

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Also, a local shoestore, Shoefly, got a nod in Oprah magazine! I know a lot of you aren't exactly in the area, but I wanted to give the store its due: I know the owner and she works incredibly hard. She makes it very easy for me to buy local! If you look at the other shoes, you'll also see it's one of two pairs featured that costs less than $100. The other seven go a little out of my price range.

Happy Friday!

I gave in to the 21st century

I got a Blackberry. I love it. I'm addicted.

I did it for the Internet and the calendar: I tend to forget appointments and the PalmPilot never did work for me because I always forgot I even had it. If it's attached to my phone, there's much less likelihood I'll forget it. At least, that is my plan, and at an extra $30 a month, you bet your sweet patootie I'll remember it. This also means I'll spend less elsewhere to make up the difference, so it's really a very economical move I've made, you see. I am not sending this entry from my Blackberry, but I'm sure I will later on, just because I can. Ah, toys.

On a totally different note, my friend H. is technically due today, so wish her luck on a smooth delivery and a happy baby!

My attempt at fiction

Well, I just haven't had a lot to write. I have no kids to write interesting stories about, I'm on spring break (no complaints!), and it's just sort of business as usual. My dad told me I should make up a totally fake post, so here it is:

While sitting in the local coffee house, a casting agent (in town to see Isabel Allende, coming to speak this Friday [true]) caught my eye. My winning smile made her walk over to chat with me. Her name was Molly Hamilton, and she said she'd been working on a pilot for a sitcom that involved a slightly wacky teacher and her life. What a stroke of luck that I, in real life, am a teacher and have been known for acts of wackitude. Tears actually filled her eyes that she had wandered into this particular coffee house on this particular day and caught my eye. This led to a somewhat lengthy sidebar discussion about fate. Well, we talked it over and I realized that I couldn't do the pilot because 1) I refused to move to the west coast and 2) I didn't want my life to be the crazy schedule of a working actress, no matter how much the salary was. Plus I wasn't sure if Penny would like it. However, Molly begged and pleaded with me to give her something to work with because she felt I was a major talent just waiting for discovery. I mentioned my love of cartoons and, to my delight, she told me that she had a voice tailor-made for my wackiness that I could do from home. Thus, I will now juggle doing a cartoon voice and teaching. It's one of those prime time cartoons like The Simpsons but with a different twist that will somehow differentiate it from the other cartoons out there. The show is called Binkie's World of Whimsy, and it has nothing to do with the actual premise of the show, which I cannot reveal to you because I'm now under contract. I do not play Binkie; I play Binkie's sister, Adelaide. Do not call me Addie--there will be an entire episode later on involving my dislike of this nickname. We're hoping to get an Emmy nomination. Thus I am living out my dream of teaching by day and, on the occasional afternoon and weekend, taping my voice as a cartoon character for a potentially ground-breaking show. Plus I get the perks of fame (salary, easy-to-get restaurant reservations, occasional fan mail) without the harrassment of paparazzi.

Look for it in September on ABC!

Quick rant

What in hell would possess Burger King advertisers to make the decision to combine a SpongeBob Squarepants Kids' Meal with women's posteriors? Why, why, WHY did a group of people think that was acceptable? While the ad does have its humor, I guess, I still found myself disgusted. Can we please stop throwing sex and promiscuity into the lives of children?

Just have to get through this week and hopefully I'll have more to report. Right now I can tell you that we have a WINTER STORM WATCH for this evening--not kidding. Oh, and if you're female and looking for nice basics made fairly, Fair Indigo still has a crazy sale going on, but I don't know how long it will last. Click on "women" and "best seller sale". Great stuff.