Scrap A Holic

I love to scrapbook but I am not that good at it nor am I very successful at finding the time that I feel I need to sit down and do it. That said, I know what like when I see it.

As I was searching aimlessly this weekend I came across this blog that had the cutest tags at
Three Scrap Booking Ladies and I have to say that those tags made me want to pull out my scrapbook paraphernalia and start scrapping. Oh, and better yet, the have a store where you can by all these pre-made, handmade items, check them out!

Green is the New Black

I notice much more lately than ever before that reusing and recycling are being advertised with some force. I live in a community that has what they call mandatory recycling which is something other than what you probably think, let me explain: We throw all of our garbage into one bin and then garbage trucks deliver the garbage to a transfer station where all the garbage is dumped onto a conveyor belt. I know, ewwww! Then several people (I have no idea how many) stand on either side of this conveyor belt and pick out all of the recyclables. This process makes our community more than 99% compliant with recycling all recyclable materials.

Because we have this system though, the children are not encouraged at home to recycle so the local school district takes on the responsibility for teaching the children about being kind to Mother Earth. The schools tackle this in several different ways including having a recycling drive for each class room, recycling paper in the schools, and this year they are selling "green" baggies with which to enclose sandwiches, carrots, and other lunch items. I think they must also be using the sale of these green baggies to raise funds because they are charging $4 each.

Well, my daughter has bought into the no baggie rule which I think is fantastic! But the thought of multiple $4 baggies being thrown away on accident did not sit right with my pocketbook. So, last weekend when we were out and about we browsed into a store that had all kinds of interesting things and stumbled upon these containers:










As you can see they are made in different styles for appeal to children and for appeal to adults. I thought them less likely to be tossed into the garbage and easily stackable, washable, and economical. The best part, though, is that the children really, really wanted to get them and could not wait to use them for their lunch.

Now I feel we are doing more to be green in a time when we need to be concerned.

Give Thanks for A Make Ahead Thanksgiving Meal

I have not been focused on the upcoming holidays so when I received an email from Saving Dinner that has a Thanksgiving menu that you can make ahead and freeze, I did a double take. Then after processing how close Thanksgiving actually is, I thought, "Now isn't that a smart idea?" This menu provides the instructions to make everything well before the holiday bustle begins and then on the day before Thanks giving you can pull all your dinner items from the freezer which will free you up for more holiday fun.

If I were cooking at home for Thanksgiving this year I think I would invest in this menu that provides the shopping list and the recipes. Cooking is not a favorite past time for me and I find it stressful to put on an entire Thanksgiving spread. A menu that I can make ahead, freeze, then bake is exactly my speed. How did they know?

AIG Spa Endulgence

So, I awake this morning to the radio just like any other morning. As I lay there waking up and listening to the radio I think I hear the radio personalities talking about AIG personnel going to a resort and spending many of the tax payer dollars they received in the bailout. I think to myself no.... So when I get up and get the kids off to school I do a little research and this is what I find.

No more than a week after we, the taxpayers, bail out AIG in an attempt to stabilize the weakening economy (more on that later), AIG sends 70 of its "top performers" to a swanky resort where the seventy people rack up more than $440,000 in seven days. They spend about $200,000 for rooms, $150,000 for meals and, as if that were not enough, they spend $23,000 on spa treatments. That works out to be about $6300 per person and all paid for by us!

Furthermore, the CEO, who let the Company get into such dire straights, is taking a $5 million bonus and the man who was in charge of the troubled division that weighted AIG down is on a $1 million per month retainer. This is all after astronomic bonuses were paid last year after AIG announced a multi BILLION dollar loss. After the announcement, the CEO conned the board of directors into overlooking the loss for purposes of paying bonuses and all the executives received MILLIONS of dollars in bonuses. Of course, the company line is that the officers knew nothing about the impending demise of the company but PriceWaterhouseCoopers audit works proves otherwise.

Needlesstosay, I am livid that I am working hard to pay taxes that are funding windfalls to those who run public companies into the ground. Would we not all be better off to let these ginormous companies fail and let the executives take their due lumps? I'm not really suggesting that that would be good for the economy (such as it is) but don't you think that we as taxpayers should have some say or that any money given by the government to bail out these companies should be given with so many strings attached that these ludicrous deals cannot and would not happen? I think the executive behaviour was criminal to run the company into the ground but then to turn around in laugh in the taxpayers face, now that is felonious! I hope they all go to jail!

Now I'll get off my soapbox and in closing I'll say that I always thought I wanted to be a weather person because they made good money for being wrong most of the time. However, if these guys don't go to jail then I am changing my mind...

Good Reads

I'm not sure if "someone" was trying to expand my horizons however "someone" left this book at my home in my basket that I use to stage everything for exit with me each morning. So, after staring at it for several months and wondering who might have left it there I picked it up, stuck it in my bag and walked out the door.

As I settled onto the train one morning I pulled this book by Lolly Winston, Happiness Sold Separately, out of my bag and began to read. I have to say that although the topics covered in this book are quite serious to the point I sometimes found my eyes welling up with tears, and sometimes I found myself laughing out loud at times. In addition, I wanted to get back on the train to continue reading. In short, I was hooked.

The book covers the lives of a couple who are married and trying to conceive a child. Through the medical process they grow apart and are unable to get pregnant after multiple attempts. The husband ultimately has an affair which his wife discovers. From that point the book delves into the emotions, thoughts, and occurrences that follow. The book ends in a thought provoking manner leaving the ultimate outcome up to your imagination.

I have another book I am trying to read, more about that later, but after reading this book, Lolly Winston's book, Good Grief: A Novel, is definitely on my list.

The Value of Education

I sit here this morning at home after dropping my children off for school. On Fridays I volunteer to correct math timed tests in both of my children's classrooms but I cannot start until 8:30 which gives the children time to get settled and take the test, then I can sneak in and correct them while the children move onto their next activity.

Last year I tried to volunteer to do things from home but nothing ever was sent home and my children constantly reminded me that "so and so's mom came to the class today". So, this year I decided that even though I do work more than full time I would show my children that I think what they are doing at school is important, important enough, in fact, that I will go to work late on Fridays. Don't get me wrong, I have never missed a performance or an important school event, I just did not volunteer in the class before. I thought in being there for the important events I was showing my enthusiasm for their school achievements but I have to say I was wrong, at least in their eyes.

Each week when I show up in class my son beams, comes over and gives me a hug, and checks on me several times while I am there. My daughter is so happy that I come to her class, too. She checks with me each week to see when it is I am coming to her class. I have to say that if I had known that it meant so much to them I would have tried to swing it before now.

I think it also gives me a good perspective on what the children are actually learning. I sometimes forget that my children are only seven and they still have so much more to learn so actually going to their class and seeing first hand what they are working on brings me back to reality, sometimes.

In addition, I always tell the children how important education is to them which is probably a difficult concept to grasp as a child. But, now I feel like I am involved directly in showing how important I think it is and I think they can see it too.

Being a Member of the PTA: $23
School Spirit Wear: $86
Classroom Donation: $60
The Value of Education: Priceless

Dinner Decisions

I mentioned that I was home for a few days and one of the things that I really enjoyed while I was home was deciding on preparing dinner for my family. Since I was not working for those few days I had the luxury of scoping out the fridge to see what was in there and then plugging the ingredients into Epicurious to see what popped up. I had several successful meals, successful in the sense that the children and my husband all enjoyed the dinner. I have to admit that the best part for me was all sitting down together and chatting and eating which is something that I usually do not get to do since my working hours are quite long.

Even though I normally do not get to sit and eat with the rest of my family because I am a working mom working long hours, I have been in the habit of making meals that my husband can heat up or, better yet, I put something in the crock pot that is ready when they are ready to eat. I found this great website, Saving Dinner, where you can purchase menus for a week or a season or you can purchase one of their books but, I prefer the weekly version because, whether or not it's true, I feel like it offers a wider variety of selections. They offer weekly menus and not only give you the recipe for the main dish, it suggests all the sides to go with the main dish and provides a weekly shopping list. If you visit Saving Dinner you can print a sample menu for any of their many categories that include vegetarian menus, low carb menus, frugal menus, heart healthy menus, time saving menus (however I found that just receiving the menu and the shopping list was time saving in and of itself), my favorite, crock pot menus, and many others.

Happy and healthy eating.