Prioritizing - The APLS post

If you're a regular reader, you've heard me talk about some of the 'green' or 'eco-friendly' things we do as a family, like not using shampoo, using cloth bags when shopping, hanging laundry indoors and out, composting, etc...a while back I joined a group of other bloggers in swapping stories, if you will, at a website called the APLS blog. APLS is an acronym for Affluent Persons Living Sustainably. Each month there is a topic posted and anyone can write in and share their own thoughts on their blog, as a sort of 'carnival' as we call it. This month I am hosting the topic here! For those of you that are 'tuning in' for this post, welcome! If you feel like looking around, you'll find I talk about all sorts of stuff ranging from foster care to my faith, from silly stuff to serious. Hope you enjoy getting to know more about me =) Moving on to business...

This month's topic is about the decisions we make, big or small, that affect our actions as self-proclaimed APLS. How do you decide what gets to be top priority in your green life? What types of activities are a MUST for you, and what gets left on the chopping block?

First and foremost, I should probably admit that 'going green' hasn't really been a priority in our house. We do our best to make God a priority in all things that we do. That being said, I hear people talk about their reasons for 'saving the earth' and things like that and I feel conflicted. On some levels I agree, but for us, we believe God created the Earth and we are merely stewards of what He has provided. This type of thinking drives our decision making on a base level but honestly, on the surface, there are other things affecting our decisions too....Steph at Greening Families wrote a great post about Deciding to Decide. Whatever your reasons for changing your lifestyle may be, it's good to get active and make a difference.

The title of my blog is "The Good Life", which it is, but there are plenty of tough decisions to be made to make this the best life. How do we decide what 'green' activities to spend our time on? I think when we started all this, I was looking for things that my hubby would get on board with...things he would participate in, like building us a barrel composter. I looked for things that were easy and convenient, like inexpensive cloth bags at the thrift stores, or even better - free ones! I wanted to find stuff that would be easy to do as a SAHM with an ever-changing number and age range of kids in the house. I took things slow and we found stuff that we didn't argue about! Well, truthfully we 'found' things that we did argue about, but those issues were tabled in favor of ones that we agreed upon.

As time wore on, I found myself pushing the envelope more...like when I didn't use the dryer for almost 2 years. I already loved to hang wash outside but then in winter it meant lots of clothes hanging in the basement and racks in the hallways. Dave wasn't always thrilled with that, but I made a commitment to myself to keep it going and find ways to keep it from bothering him and getting in the way. This past winter he didn't even seem to notice it! We also chose together to go almost 2 years with only one car. (That has since changed, but that's another story for another time!) I decided to try and bike 100 miles over the course of the year. It was a fun undertaking, but thus far has proved to be unsuccessful! As for Dave, at first he didn't like getting up much earlier to catch the bus, but it didn't take long before he enjoyed the time. How did these types of things become a priority? I think we do them now without thinking...we tried them, there really wasn't any large reason NOT to continue and we found many things benefitted our family in various ways.

As for what kind of things get left 'on the chopping block'? Well, we are trying to reduce our waste in this house, particularly plastic waste. Right now that doesn't seem feasible though! We have 4 kids in the house. I would rather spend my time making the baby giggle, building trust with the 2yo, reading, singing and dancing with the 5yo, and just being there for the 17yo than fussing over how much our garbage weighs or if someone brought a plastic container in the house! The Farmer's Daughter is beginning to understand this all too well as she gets ready to become a mother for the first time.

Another issue that just doesn't warrant the time right now is the car issue. It's nearly impossible for everyone to get to all their appointments, practices, schools and such with only one car. It's not worth the headache. I would rather have a million kids than try to curb our gas guzzling, exhaust polluting ways! I am not super mom! Going Green Mama talks about multi-tasking and just accepting that we can't do it all - yay someone gets me! =)

We are slowly working on changing our diet to eliminate genetically modified foods, crappy meat, sugar, HFCS and out of season produce that has traveled a long way, etc, but sometimes the kids just want a banana and I'm just happy they are eating fruit! We have found lots of local sources for food but we're still figuring out how these more expensive items will fit into our budget. It's becoming more of a priority, but I don't feel like we can just quit our old ways cold turkey without a little help. We're just not there yet, but I am happy w/the progress we have made! Jenn the GreenMom feels the same way because she suggested we form a splinter group off of the APLS group.

It has been such a pleasure to read this month's entries! I have been enjoying the chance to get to know more about my fellow APLS. Thank you ladies for participating and please, if you are reading and want to 'chime in', please leave a comment!

Diversion.

I don't want to talk about the feeding team right now. I know you are looking for a Fabi update but it's not here. I did want to say that I just joined a Ditch the Disposables challenge. We are doing extremely well (at least according to the Crunchy Domestic Goddess' list!) but I found some areas where we could improve. We throw away so many plastic straws after a smoothie!! I'm looking into stainless steel ones that can go into the dishwasher. Are there any disposables you can phase out of your life?? Take a look at CDG's list and if you are ready, take the challenge! Let me know too - I love hearing people's thoughts...thanks!

Things I've learned lately...

Things in the foster care system don't move quickly. You can buy pesto sauce in a jar at the grocery store. I miss my college dorm friends. Everyone needs new socks. We need new pots and pans. Not all Bed Bath and Beyonds are created equal. Fertilized eggs can remain at room temperature for a few hours (a day?) until you put them in an incubator. My son is good at bounce passes. The new/old gardening center has tons of kinds of compost and they really cater to people who want to do things in the organic way. I really don't like china buffets. I can actually make really good scrambled eggs. Cooking raw spinach does not require water. Piggly Wiggly has a scratch and dent produce section where packs of 6 zukes are 50 cents, 4 peppers are 75 cents, etc. There is a fruit market on the north side of downtown. My egg lady also sells wheat. There's wheat berries we could be eating. Pickles absolutely loves the English muffin egg sandwiches we make. I am addicted to LOST. I need to tighten my helmet before going for a bike ride. The Habitat Re-Store place has really cheap lumber. Three year old boys can wear the knees out of pants really quickly. After 3 or more boys have handed down a shirt, it really doesn't look good. They sell cow bells at Fleet Farm. When you have a family of 5 and you eliminate plastic from your kitchen you wind up running the dishwasher every day. After being married for 10 years, holding hands is still the best thing. There is a unseen force pulling small toys into the kitchen so they are lying in the exact spot where I am about to step. Rubber rain boots for adults are amazingly comfortable and fun but weird to drive in. If you haven't used your treadmill in a while it could be broken. I'm getting sick of the word bailout. There are times when I am incapable of making time to talk to my husband and get back to people, which means some things don't happen or get planned until the last minute. Vanilla Ice is still making music. Some of my former students are good people. They are growing into wonderful adults. There IS a way to get the photos off my phone but it may take a techy person to get it done. Pumpkin's ears are finally clear - no more fluid. There's a high maltose version of corn syrup, but it's not as bad as HFCS. Boston Store has clothes for $1.99. Blogging makes me a little bit more sane!

Are you eating local?

If you live in WI and are trying to eat local foods, I encourage you to sign up for the challenge taking place during the week of Sept 5. There are resources on the website if you need more ideas =) Most people I know are close to a Farmers' Market and try to get there every now and then...in our area I know of about 5! I could go to one almost every day of the week...anyway, I thought I'd pass this on. I'm signed up so I hope to post about our progress this coming week. Stay tuned!

Don't open that!!

I did it. I made a cake from scratch. I used real cocoa. DARK cocoa. I buttered and floured the pan. I used a knife when measuring ingredients. The recipe sounded so good I doubled it b/c when it's called Death-by-Chocolate-anything, there MUST be twice as much!! So now I wait. And sweat. And fret. Did it matter that I missed an ingredient and tossed it in towards the end? Did I flour the pan too much? Too little? Did I fold the zucchini in properly? It's not like paper after all. Did my substitutions ( sugar honey, oil applesauce) affect the way it would turn out? Since I doubled it, I half expect to open the oven and have this huge cake come creeping out like in that episode** of I Love Lucy (best show ever, btw!). ACK!!! This is why I avoid cooking at all costs! Too many variables, most of which are my fault!! All I can say is there had better be enough chocolate in there to cover all my mistakes!
(I know, it's Friday and I'm calling this a Make It Monday post, but I haven't made anything in a while and we'll be gone Monday, so...consider me early =)!)
**PS - it was season 1 episode 25 in case you were wondering!

Book review part 1

Last Child in the Woods: (Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder)

I wanted to read this book because I hoped it would challenge my mindset about the dangers of being outside. I thought of all the reasons I don’t want my kid(s) to go off and play outside. The book cites reasons like video games and TV, but since Moses is younger, I had a few others. For instance, sunburn or frostbite, strangers, traffic, injuries, neighbor dogs, mosquitoes, etc. I guess the book did that and more! It also brought up some other things I had begun to worry about lately…

In a chapter titled “The Best of Intentions”, the author Richard Louv points out that natural, free play is not valued in our culture. Parents are always scheduling their kids in soccer, gymnastics, Scouts, piano lessons and so on. Some things require a fair amount of travel time getting to games, concerts, and activities too. Add homework and chores into the mix and there just isn’t time for free play! The elementary students Louv interviewed didn’t consider soccer or piano ‘play’ even though many parents do. It’s been my experience that life only gets busier the older you get, so it was pretty sad to read what these kids were saying. If you’re a parent and your kid is all these activities, please remember to let them loose outside for natural play! I hope to do that for my kid(s), too. The chapter continues talking about teenagers and the pressure they feel when it comes to time management. Many students at this age are in college prep classes, working a job, volunteering and playing sports. They don’t think they can tell their parents or anyone when they are overwhelmed and struggling with managing time on their own. Maybe by letting students of all ages control some of their own time, we can help them learn self-discipline. Beyond that, if we offer them a chance for natural free play, maybe we can foster creativity and a sense of wonder about the world around us.

Overall, Louv recommends a nature-child reunion. He doesn’t label this an easy task, of course. The book talks about how great strides have been taken to set aside land in our state parks. That’s certainly nice to see, but many forested areas and waterways are protected and hunting and fishing practices are heavily regulated. I thought about this a lot while we were camping this week. We’re in this beautiful park, but I just couldn’t let Moses go exploring. We had to stay on the marked path. He couldn’t drag around a bunch of logs and sticks to build a fort or tree house. He couldn’t pick flowers and plants to take back to our camper and identify. He couldn’t go crashing off into the woods to chase a deer. It was like we were in an outdoor museum of sorts, look and don’t touch. Here is nature, now get back and watch from a distance. This disconnect worries Louv and it worries me too. Moses loves playing in the dirt, looking for animals and exploring, so I am glad he is able to do this at home. Louv wishes for more areas that are set aside for the free play of children. Nature preserves for adults, natural play areas for kids. Wouldn’t that be the best of both worlds?

I tried to remember if I had any of these natural free play experiences the author was talking about…I only came up w/2 things, both of which fall under the broad umbrella of camping. The first was swimming in lakes around the state. I remember seeing fish and plants, snails and frogs. I remember touching stuff and watching the way it responded to whatever we did to it. The only other thing I remember was digging a hole in the bike path behind our tents. We tried to dig this huge hole and cover it w/sticks or grass like they do in the movies to catch wild animals. I guess the bike path was not the best place to do that. Of course we got yelled at and our intentions were assumed to be malicious toward the bicyclists. Anyway, there were probably other nature experiences in my life, but I just remember these easily. If you asked my parents about my time spent outside as a kid, they would laugh! I used to read so much and I never wanted to go out. They’d come home and tell me to get out of the house and enjoy the day. I’d slink out and sit on the garage step, still technically inside, but just out of the house. There was enough light from the open door to read, but also enough protection from the sun, wind and annoying brother and friends. I hope I have been choosing differently these days. (No I haven’t given up reading, I’m just trying to find a balance!) Now that the weather is nice, I’ve been making an effort to spend a lot of the mornings outside w/Moses. We bike, play in the back yard and go up and down the block. Sometimes we meet friends at a park and go walking after school and on weekends at a nature preserve w/Dave. What do you do to re-connect w/nature? Even if you don’t have kids you can answer that one…Is it hard for you to find time? Do you have a favorite place to go? Do you have a favorite memory of natural play?

RAW

I was trying to think of a short post to give an update and all I could think of was the fact that I ate raw asparagus. Am I the only one who hasn't tried this? So I'm at the farmers' market and Dave lights up at the sight of asparagus. Believe me, when this guy lights up over a green vegetable, you buy some. Since we had the 'other' kids w/us, I hesitated slightly b/c I didn't think they'd eat it and all that. The farmer tells me, "He eats it raw!" and gestures to some other farmer in the truck, who then emerges and hands me a bit he snips off the end of one. I freeze, not really wanting to try it, not wanting to insult him. Really? Raw? Aren't they woody? Tough? I take it anyway and it's sooo good, like raw peas fresh from the shell. YUM. I buy a pound and immediately take out a stalk to test this. Could this one be as good as that bit? YES. The farmer told us that he has 'male' stems, which are thicker around. He says the 'female' ones are skinny and don't taste as good. Got it. I'll remember that. So if you are a farmer or asparagus patch owner and you hear me asking for raw male asparagus, don't look at me funny. I think I have already eaten almost 2/3s of the pound raw. Dave hasn't had much yet. Ok, gtg - the kids are all yelling. It makes me want some raw male asparagus....

Letter chain

Deborah over at Simply Thrifty talked about the Ingalls family and how they used to write letters to pass the time in the days before TV...which made me think of how we hardly ever get any mail anymore! I'm not complaining (much), especially since that means we don't get a lot of junk mail. But I do miss letters from people! Deborah also talked about letter chains, where one family would start it and mail it to the next. Each successive family would add an update and pass it on until it got back to the original family. Most of our families use email these days, so our communication is faster, but maybe we should go back to letter chains...it would be so cool to read up on a bunch of families! I'm thinking of those college friends that we talk to/get together w/ every couple of months or just at the holidays. We never seem to write emails...do you get many letters in the mail? Lately we've had a lot of shower/wedding invites and thank you notes, which are nice, but short. My best friend from high school emailed to say she sent me a letter! I thought that was funny, but definitely exciting. I should go wait by the mailbox =)

WOW and we're out

A teenager won a science fair by discovering a bacteria that eats plastic - at least that's my summary of the article. Go check it out! The kid sounds really smart for more reasons than one. For those of you that know me, you know I was really great at science. Of the 2 courses I almost failed in college, Bio was one of them. But hey, I'm glad smart young people are working on solving the problems that us not so smart, not so young people have been contributing to for a while.
On another note, we have all been getting over colds and we are almost out of tissues. We have 5 hankies (we can only find 4 though) and have been using them pretty regularly. They're not that soft. Actually I should say that 3 are bandanas, so that's probably why. I am thinking of buying some new ones b/c I only found 1 at a thrift store - it was really clean! It seems I won't find many more any time soon...Last time Moses had a cold I tried to get him to use one but he refused. This time he didn't bat an eye. I guess it helped that we all use them! So that's a new change. Promise you won't be too grossed out if you see us w/a hanky!
**EDIT - I just realized that I wrote "you know I was really great at science" and then proceeded to talk about almost failing Bio! So in case you didn't figure it out, it should say "you know I was NOT really great at science"!

No more sandwich bags?

So we are almost out and I have been thinking of how to replace them. I don't want to buy more. We have talked about using wax paper or saving liners from cereal boxes, but that just doesn't seem like they'd be good for multiple uses. Besides, that would mean buying wax paper. So I found these things - Wrap N Mats! (I am not being paid by them to advertise and don't worry, that's not my style.) Anyway - I just stumbled onto this, so I haven't decided if I'm getting any, but I thought I'd pass it on...

Updates

Many, many updates! I haven't been writing much lately. Life has been a slow blur lately.
1) Yesterday was Monday and we made a HUGE batch of burritos again. Rice, corn, beef, 2 kinds of beans, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, etc. Yummy! We freeze them individually for lunches. I think there were about 20. Today we made peanut butter oatmeal cookies! In the process I discovered we are out of honey, brown sugar and peanut butter. We're almost out of whole wheat flour. I can't remember the last time I ran out of baking supplies! No that doesn't mean I buy in bulk. It means I rarely bake! But that's been beginning to change. The last store bought cookies we had were from a certain group of girls who are famous for cookies. Before that, I don't even remember. So I think that's a good sign =)
2) The interviews w/the county social worker went well. Pretty basic. Checking to see if we are normal...which we are I guess. The SW was nice, young, like us. She explained things well and seemed to want to help us speed things along. We got fingerprinted and set a date for the home visit. FINALLY! That will be an exciting day...May 9. Please pray. I'm sure I'll be a nervous wreck that whole week...slightly distracted and anxious! I'll be scrubbing everything down and hiding junk! No hopefully I can try to relax and be myself a little. I'll still clean, don't worry, Mom, but she'll be making surprise visits in the future so she might as well see a little of how we are...
3) Once again a situation has come up where we know someone who might not want her baby. Again, I'm asking for your prayers. Every fiber of my being says "Yes! Yes, we'll take the baby! We'll figure out all that legal stuff later..." But common sense says to pray and seek God's will again. The circumstances are not the best. We don't know how to legally do this or if it will be worth the effort. Most likely we will continue gathering information, but at this point it seems the only one able to answer our questions would be an adoption lawyer. I'll keep you updated. Mostly I don't want to talk or think about it until it is for real. But then I get all control-freak again and I know I'd be so-o-o mad hurt if the baby went to someone else just b/c I wouldn't talk about it.
4) Dave visited his new job sites. He seems a little more upbeat about it. The one that worried him the most actually seems better than the other. People have been more friendly and helpful. I'm hoping that he will get a big surprise from the fact that he finds himself enjoying it =)
PHEW - what else...?
5) We're both teaching summer school. Dave will only be teaching half the summer b/c he is staying home the first 2 weeks to watch our friends' son and daughter. They're foster kids, but they hope to have successfully adopted them by that time. Anyway, Dave will be home w/3 kids under the age of 3! I teased and told him I expected the laundry and dishes done when I get home. That and lunch already on the table! Think he can do it? I do!
Well, that's all I can think of. Sorry I've been slacking on the posts. Now there's plenty to read!

So true...

Just flipping by a program on PBS and the guy said something like, "Here we have invented a material that lasts forever (plastic) and we're using it on products we use for seconds." He was holding up a small juice box that found it's way into a river. Stuff like that makes me think. It makes me think about avoiding plastic in our lives. We've already begun to do that but it's hard. For those of you doing the same, know that what you are doing makes a difference!

Consider it...

Do you really need a paper version of the phone book? We get 2 from diff companies!! I just signed us up to not get this one...I figure w/the Internet and the other one coming, do I really need a phone book? Click on the icon about, take a look at the site and decide for yourself.

Got receipts?

We were challenged. And so far the only thing I have bought were 2 soap holders. They were 20 cents each! That doesn't excuse them...but...I figure if you're going to break the buy nothing new challenge, at least make it cheap!!

Down w/the plastic bags part 2

(Read part 1 here.) So I took my homemade produce bags to the store today...

In this pic of veggie booty you can see a plastic store bag. I had only finished 2 at that point! I finished a 3rd last night and hope to polish off a 4th. All the netting for those bags came to less than a dollar and I already had the yarn. I plan on cruising the mega fabric store's clearance bin for some more netting tomorrow. I hope to make at least 2 more bags b/c sometimes I get a bunch of stuff and I know the checkout people hate it when you mix things. I personally like the green better than the pink. One says, foo-foo tu-tu while the other says I'm fresh and green!

Chemical Dependence part 2

If you are new around here or forgot about Chem. Dep. part one, you might want to read it. Today I am adding part 2! I bought a rosemary mint shampoo bar and used it for the first time today. I LOVED IT b/c: 1) all natural ingredients are good for my hair. 2) don't waste time w/shampoo and conditioner, rising both times. 3) my brain and eyeballs and scalp felt so alive! 4) the smooth texture was so fun...5) overall an easy experience! I had thought of making homemade shampoo, but um, yeah. I'm lazy. This bar cost me less than $5 and it's pretty big. We'll see how long it lasts. I wonder if I can make this soap...oh wait. I forgot. I'm lazy! I'll probably still investigate how to make it though. I might have more time in summer!

We've been challenged!

Over at another blog I read, the writer issued a challenge. (Read about it here.) The challenge is to buy nothing (new!) for all of April. That doesn't include food or anything of course, and you can buy used, which we try to mostly do anyway. But I have been known to see the killer sales of 90% off and splurge on stuff we don't absolutely need, so I accepted the challenge on our behalf. I'm adding the new rule to it that we can only eat out once a week. We've said that for like forever, but we break it all the time! So we'll see how we do...join in if you want!

Down w/the plastic produce bags!

I don't have a photo yet b/c my creation is a little embarrassing! I've tested it however and I've deemed it successful. The newest addition to my cloth bag entourage that I take to the grocery store is a re-usable produce bag made of netting! I was talking w/my cousin about how to sew up the edges...I found the netting at a crafts store in the clearance bin! I got 5 diff. pieces for less than $2!! Anyway, they were all the ends, so they were long strips. I didn't think sewing would work. I was originally wondering if I could fold a strip of fabric over the edge and hope the netting would 'stick'. But my cousin suggested threading some yarn or something through the edges - brilliant! My first attempt was using the pink netting and lavender yarn...um, yeah, it looks like something...um...a little too froo-froo-ey and girly!! So I think I will try using the green netting next time. I also wonder about using some fabric strips instead of yarn...might hold up better if I need to wash it. I'll post some pics next time. I laughed out loud after I put my apples in the pink sack! You'll see...

Prayer Request

We found out some info about Dave's job situation for next year. It's not ideal and it's not official, so I hesitate to explain it all right now, but please pray about it. God's will is going to be done in the end, but right now we are stuck thinking in terms of what we want and don't want. Our minds are swirling with ideas of how things might change and for me especially, that's hard. It's no secret that I get pretty anxious if things aren't planned, or go according to plan! How have I survived 30 years like this? Well, the first 20 were mostly spent getting zits and eating a lot of chocolate! The last 10-11 have been spent relying on God. Anyway - thanks for praying for us!

Could you do it?

$60 a week for 2 people on groceries. That's $240 a month! In our house we are easily spending upwards of $300 a month, but we eat a lot of meat. That and we're trying to ditch the convenience foods. As most of you know, I'm not really much of a cook. So the whole make it from scratch thing is new to me! But I'm trying. The article talks about eating a lot of fruits and veggies which is something we have been improving on. I'm not asking anyone to reveal their food budgets, but do you think you could change your diet to reflect the tips in the article? Could you live on less?