Tuesday, November 23, 2010

thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you...na na na na na na na! na na na na na na na!

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for:

1) Loved ones. Y'all drive me nuts but what in the world would I do without you?

2) Living in USA. It beats making iPhones at the FoxConn factory.

3) Having enough food to eat.

4) Having a home.

5) Health. Want to do more to keep it.

6) Salvino D'Armate, the inventor of eyeglasses.

Everything else is just gravy.


7) gravy.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

To Do List

PLAY OUTSIDE - not in a gym, keep active and enjoy being outdoors in the sun and the trees. Forget workout equipment. If you forgot how to play outside, find a kid to teach you but don't be creepy about it.

EAT - eat good and healthy food, but not too much of it. Cook it yourself but go out and eat sometime too. I like Papa John's pizza, Hardees thickburgers, Jimmy John's subs, Sushi, Thai and Chinese food. Cook with someone you love and try new recipes. Go to the farmers market and buy some fresh local veggies. Go to the grocery store and eat what's on sale today. I eat oatmeal for breakfast, bananas for snack and leftovers for lunch. I like to cook and eat fish and steak.

DRINK - water, lots of it, filtered from the tap. Don't buy bottled water - waste of money. Hot cider mix is nice in the winter. Ginger ale and other sodas once in awhile.

SPLIT WOOD - save the gym membership. go split wood by hand, haul it by hand, stack it by hand. you will get a workout and have wood to make a nice toasty fire later. You will get stronger.

DO IT YOURSELF - it's not too hard to change your own oil or fix your own faucets. You should know how the stuff you use works and be able to do basic maintenance. it will save you a few bucks and a lot of this how to is accessible on the internet. get basic tools, borrow or rent specialty tools you won't use often.

READ - don't have anytime to read? what's wrong with you? make some time. go to the library or Barnes and Noble...don't need to spend anything.

DRAW - it doesn't have to be good. it can help spark your creativity. don't place too much value on making a beautiful drawing. the act itself is enough.

NAP - not much better than being able to nap when you feel tired. Dogs, cats and kids are on to something.

PLAY WITH PETS - they will make you feel better. if you own them, pay more attention to them than just feeding them. If you don't own, go volunteer at a shelter or something. interact with wild animals at your own risk.

RECYCLE - it's easy to do and makes some kind of difference I hope. go through your stuff and figure out what you don't use and either throw away, give away, sell or recycle it.

DRIVE - enjoy driving around, whether it's to run errands or aimlessly. don't have to go fast or have an expensive car.

THINK - an unexamined life is not worth living.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Reusable Shopping Bags May Contain Lead

So, have you heard the news? Those non-woven polyester reusable shopping bags (Made in China...surprised?) that you use to be all environmental by saving paper and plastic bags may contain unacceptable levels of LEAD! Go do a search on the internet for more information, I'm not going to link it here, do it yourself.

So how do you know if your reusable shopping bag contains lead? Well I'm really not sure. I use the Harris Teeter shopping bags ($.99 ea) and some articles do mention Harris Teeter's bags among those in the study containing lead. Just the idea of this possibility makes me really mad. I contacted Harris Teeter about this issue but did not receive a reply before the deadline of this post.

So what is one to do? Well I don't really feel like continuing to use these bags. Maybe I'll store them somewhere and wait until I hear more. What are my options? I can go back to paper or plastic, I can utilize my cargo shorts which can carry one package of chicken breasts and one bunch of bananas (or a growing kitten). BUT, if you have $50+ to spend on grocery bags, I have a suggestion for you. Go to L.L. Bean's website and design and purchase their Boat and Tote canvas bags. These are actually still made in Maine of 24 oz canvas (from American-made cotton!) and one of VERY FEW things in the L.L. Bean catalog still made in the US. You can pick the bag size, main body color, handle length and color, bottom color, optional top zipper, optional side pocket, and monogram.

For example, order up a small tote with red handles and monogram "grass-fed beef" on the outside. Get a large tote with green handles and monogram "local organic veggies" on the outside. Get an extra large tote with a russet handle and monogram "non-gluten grains". Now quickly hop in your Subaru Forester with your totes. You will be the envy of all at Whole Foods. You're welcome...