Earth Day -sort of, and kind of late.

Thor had a business conference in D.C. last week, which meant I got to travel with him, and travel I did! The day we landed we went straight to the hotel and died! Such a long day! The following morning I got up and headed down to Durham to visit The Scholar!

It was an interesting drive to say the least (another post on that experience!). After 4 hours on the road I finally met up with her and we began to visit while she toured me around Duke, and of course, Durham (which is a fascinating place!).

As the day drew on we needed to stop a few places to pick up items we needed and I discovered that back east (at least D.C. and North Carolina) they charge 5 cents per bag they issue after your purchase. It was fun to watch The Scholar pile up her purchases in her arms and carry them out to the car. (Unexpected trip to the store mean she didn't have her bags with her at the time.) Granted they were few and a bag really wasn't that much of a help, but still, I loved it! (My inner hippy chick was so pleased to see that the hippy gene was trickling down the family tree.) Inside I kept thinking about the different bags I had at home, ready to pack away my groceries, I even have several to take with me for traveling...but with certain restrictions put on my suitcase this trip, I left all non essentials at home.

I made that trip from D.C. to Durham and back to D.C. twice! Then I also drove out to Rehoboth Beach (Delaware) so I could see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. Let's just say, I drove a lot, and every where I drove, they wanted a nickle for a sack! Good for them. I think if CA. charged for a sack we'd all figure out a way to remember to bring all those linen bags we have at home. "Save a fish or kill a tree?" Just bring your own bag.

Well, I decided that I would make a huge, gynormo purse that I could use as both carry on luggage (if need be) and also haul a good grocery bundle or Target run without having to look as if I was using store branded or company logo totes.

I found a piece of Hawaiian print bark cloth (my weakness) for .99! I also found gorgeous green dotted material that grabbed my eyes about two years ago (I have been pining a long time) which was on clearance for $2.00 yd., and lastly some pleather on sale for $3.00. After my $4.50 (total) purchase I went to work without a pattern.

8"wx27"lx16"d with a 40" twisted strap so that I can carry it over my shoulder or over my body - hands free, which is nice if I need my hands for other things. I put in 12 grommets and made a pull string to open and close the top. A small leaf button helps slide the string closed and kept in place or slide open. A few more buttons on the bottom of the strings to keep them from slipping all the way through the top, and I was done.

The result is a huge tote, and I love it. I think it will work out well for me. Large enough to carry a large laptop and probably and additional watermelon! Plus, it's reversible!

on the level

Here's that missing shot of the potty seat cover dispenser. If you know me at all you have got to know how much this drove me crazy. It was all I could do to get out of there without ripping it off the door and hot gluing it back on LEVEL!

If it weren't for the tissue roll flying over the door like a possessed demon, I probably would have gone to the nearest Target and grabbed the tools to fix it.

Oy. I need help.

Project Noah: Week 4 - Rice

Hey! Did any body know to day is Wednesday? Well, heck I thought yesterday was Monday -all day long and so today's Tuesday Tutorial is a day late! (ding! that would be the light going on in my head)

Week 4: 10 pounds Rice. (considering the situation this year in India...not a bad idea, this food storage)

Hint: Check that you have sufficient clothing (that fits) for one year (or fabric and necessities for sewing clothing).

Project Noah: week three! Milk Products

Week 3: 1 large box or ten envelopes of instant milk.

A friend of mine suggests adding a box or two of your favourite milk flavouring, like Ovaltine, because most folks aren't super fond of powdered milk. Adding chocolate to it will make it more palatable!

Also, remember that milk isn't just for drinking but also for cooking.

Plus, if you have or think you will have someone in need of formula or soy milk, better add those as well.

Ann Cooper

Another fabulous video. In this 49 minute speech Ann Cooper explains why she decided to leave the prestige of being a hoity toity chef and go into a hoity toity school to be their lunch lady. After seeing the possibilities for changing the eating habits in this school for privileged children she felt she could do more. She packed her bags and went to work at a public school and was able to change those children their as well. She remarks on how she has to teach parents as well, and how the way we eat has gone off track.

Are you aware that Monsanto and Dupont control the majority (like 60/70-some percent) of the seeds in the world? She explains why this isn't a great idea and why, perhaps, it would be better if we got back to eating a tad more local, or even better, home gardens.

Ann also has websites (below in the left side bar under "Galley" Chef Ann Cooper and also Lunch Lessons) where she freely gives her ideas to those who want them. I found this video to be very informative and a bit motivating. I hope you do too!

what's wrong with what we eat?

I guess you can call this Part Two, after Ann. Mark Bittman gave this talk at TED a while back. He refers to Ann in his talk, which is why I posted her video. I think they say much of the same thing, but each adds things the other leaves out. Ann is a bit more laid back, Mark a touch more acerbic; but not so much that it turns you off, he's just passionate about his food.

Please take some time to watch them both. Enjoy.

stroke of genius

I saw this on TED (lower left side bar under "looking off the port bow")when it first came out and loved it. Last week Jill Bolte Taylor was interviewed on NPR as the book she has written is being released. This is a fascinating true story of a brain scientist who falls victim to a stroke. She speaks of how at first she doesn't realize what is happening, only that it is beautiful. Eventually she figures out something is wrong and eight years later she is able to express her struggles and what she learned as a scientist who observe the stroke from the inside out.

This talk is well worth the 18 minutes it takes to view. I guarantee you willbe glad you listened to her. Awesome.

Awesome Information at "We Prepare"

We Prepare. Here in California we are aware of the different natural disasters that can happen just within the state! California's First Lady, Maria Shriver, has worked with others in designing a great web page to help guide you to lists, self evaluations, special needs links, guides, government agencies, and other preparedness sites!

This web site was designed for California, but it is useful to anyone, anywhere!

I'm going to walk through a couple of these with you. The first page is a ten point questionnaire (a great way to get you thinking), followed by a fact sheet about the site volunteers, and at the bottom of the page is one more link to a PDF emergency checklist (which is really cool also, but later...later!).

One of the first links takes you to California Volunteers (I love this page! Sooo many goodies!) After the click, open the page that says Get Ready! Holy Cow! That page will open up to even more pages!

Two of my favourite things on that page is the Determine Your Family's Risk and Customize Your Family Plan and Children's Book.

It would be a great idea for mom and dad to go to both of these pages, take the assessment, and then make a customized plan and download and print a personalized book for your children (for FREE!). Seriously, this is a great idea! They have a basic outline for the book with blank spaces for you to add your own information and names. Wouldn't this be a fun FHE?

Mom and dad could design a lesson activity to go over the assessment with the kids and then afterwards reinforce the new plan by reading a book with all the kids' names and important info! I love this idea.

I will explore some more pages next week and we'll continue to tackle that Elephant!

In the meantime, I was directed to this site and invited to review it. The folks back at headquarters are going to be peeking in on the blog and checking the comments, so comment away. There are only 50 blogs that are being selected to do this -so lucky us! Let them -and us- know what is effective, what could be improved, and if they have left anything pertinent out.

Disaster Elephant...Yum! Gimme a Bite!

These folks are gearing up for the Great California Shake Out! (in October). Our Stake is also encouraging everyone in our area to get prepared and self reliant. Our regional leader has set the pattern for us and given us the goal: Lead By Example!

With that in mind we are all supposed to have our own family 72 hour kit made and ready to go. We're supposed to Make a Plan then Test Our Preparedness and use as many Tips and Resources we can find to secure our own self reliance.

So I am once again taking inventory. What you see in the photo is just part of what we have done to prepare for a natural (or otherwise) disaster. Each of our vehicles have a 72 hour kit for two persons, along with a 72 hour kit for the house.

We also have an extensive first aide kit, meaning it could do a bit more than "first" aide.

We have been advised to be prepared for 72 hours, food, water, fuel, clothing, whatever! Whatever we would use in three days time we need to have in reserve, ready to go at a moments notice. Last year our area suffered pretty harshly with fires, some neighborhoods were given literally 5 minutes time to grab what they could and leave.

Do we know where all our important documents (all insurances, deeds, tax files, photos, etc) are? Could we grab them all if we needed to? How about our medications, pet supplies, or special needs? All in five minutes? What if we were not home when the evacuation took place? What could we do to recover all those items that may be lost forever? Are they copied and stored in another secure location? Do we have an out of state contact to call and a plan in place to contact family members if local phone lines go down? Are we aware that if we don't contact FEMA at the time of your disaster, that we miss out on any and all future help?

Whew! There is SO much to do! That's why we are encouraged to take the first few bites from the Disaster Elephant now! Click on those links and pick something, one project, to start on. Get started on that 72 hour kit. When we have that accomplished, go for the First Aide Kit. Store our documents in a secure way that is easily collected later on; make a copy to store off the premises. Make a contact list and a family plan. After we get those things accomplished, begin to store for a more prolonged disaster.

The families in the fires of SoCAL are still reeling and trying to cope. The families from the Katrina Storm are still trying to recover. It has been years! Time to prepare now!

I have gone through my storage and I have found that I have more than I thought (but enough for long term?), but could use more variety and a better system for rotation of goods so that I am constantly utilizing my stored items effectively. I want to extend my resources. With the economy what it is, why not prepare for a little relief if I need it in a few months?

In the next few weeks I will share with you what I am doing, and hopefully, together we can better prepare ourselves for total self reliance during an emergency.

Wow. Watch this:

Besides the intended message, what other ways can we apply this to our lives?