I pat myself on the back every time I rinse a glass jar of spaghetti and toss it in the yellow bin for recycling pick up on Tuesday. But lately I’ve been thinking more and more about this bumper sticker I’ve seen that reminds us, “Reuse BEFORE Recycle”. Perhaps its out of sheer poverty that I have given this more thought, as we have, along with the A’s downstairs, moved to Portland with not so much as drinking glasses for cups.

Originally I had thought I would love some trendy “Green” dining and glassware, such as pretty recycled glass cups or bamboo plates and bowls. And if my bank account would have supported such lofty dreams, my cabinets would surely house these pillars of “Green”dom. It would have been hard for me to bite my lip when having guests over to dine, wanting so badly to point out the nifty environmentally conscience salt shakers, (for Christ’s sake!)

But alas, no one at my address makes enough to spend 7-15 dollars per plate, so my brain started a thinkin’. It was Mstroxy’s (the Mrs. A., downstairs) who thought of collecting POM teas while we are out, slowly turning them into her very own assortment of drinking glasses (I believe this might be the one positive thing we got from the Hostile Situation!) Sure enough, just two months later and we’ve all got plenty of POM glasses to go around. I’m not sure if this is the perfect illustration of Precycling, or Reuse, but bear with me.

Today I took a look at some of the things we were about to toss out. The water jug. The plastic tub of cookie dough with a perfectly good lid. Rather than tossing them in with recycling, (a noble thing, perhaps, but still a use of energy and resources that may not always be necessary), I filled the water jug up with filtered water at Wild Oats for just 59 cents, and used the cookie dough tub for some food scrap compost. (I plan to get a much bigger and more permanent composting bin, but it worked for my apple peels today.)

We have also used this approach to furnishing our home, as best as we can (and again, the catalyst for all this reuse being lack of moolah). I’m sort of obsessed with Craigslist at the moment, especially for Portland, the stuff just rocks. Our couch, side table, tv stand/console, Lil’ E’s toddler bed and toy box, our entire bedroom set, even our Ikea spice jars, all were purchased from Craigslist, a resale store or a garage sale. I’m not even ashamed to admit that we look for FREE ads in Craigslist and have picked up off the road: bamboo blinds now hanging on the windows in the living room, old wooden fruit crates that I have used for office supply bins and pantry/closet organizer, and more. Sometimes there’s a little bit of dusting off to do, but more or less this stuff is in great condition, clean and even trendy. And just think how much garbage we have NOT created because these items do not come with boxes and plastic packaging and foam and all sorts of what nots. There was no shipping gas wasted to deliver it to our home, save the ten minute drive in our sedan. AND, when we turn around to sell these items, we are likely to get nearly what we paid for them, rather than crossing our fingers for a mere 30% of the price you paid for furniture when it was new, (and, most likely, financed!)

We’ve got an incredibly long way to go before we can toot our horn and be “no impact” or something. In fact, the true spirit of this movement (movement?) is perhaps NOT being proud, just simply realizing the impact of your footprints on this earth and doing your best to tread lightly.

At the moment we are still eating on paper plates and using chop sticks and a few random bamboo sporks as our utensils, but I plan to start looking for random dishes of the same style or hue, putting together an eclectic mix of plates and such, like our good ol’ grandparents used to do! Sometimes I’m amazed at that generation, one that sewed the holes in shirts and brought shoes to be refurbished. No wonder they could live without Super Wal-mart!!!

For tips on precycling, check out the following:
The ReUse People

Precycling

ReUSEit

Green Living Tips

The Three R’s

P.S. On another note, (and I have NO idea if this is supported by environmentalists at large), but when searching for a shower curtain this week (and my first choice, a natural hemp curtain, was a wopping 90 bucks!) I came across the same ol’ shower curtain vinyl. Tempted to get the extremely NO mildew version, I flipped over to see ingredients. 100% PVC. Not a huge expert on the subject, but I believe I’ve read that some countries are completely banning PVC from their plastics and I also think that children’s toys are not allowed to have PVC either. Nearly every single shower liner at target was vinyl and 100% PVC. Hmmm, I thought, that must be that really strong odor when you first shake out your new liner… nothing like a nice clean bathroom full of VOC’s! SO, this time I chose the fabric liner. I’m assuming these types build mildew faster, (just assuming) BUT, my gosh, they are machine washable! Throw them in with your linens and wa lah, it seems like a much better way to go. That’s not saying much for the water shortage, but on a strictly VOC issue, are fabric liner’s the cheap green girl’s best practice? Chime in with your thoughts if you’ve got em.

This morning, Hubby and I awoke to the sound of our son, half in dream world, singing a familiar tune… later, we captured the live show:

It seems like this year Earth Day is a little more than a day to make all elementary school students clean up the playground.

From Discovery’s high def series “Planet Earth”, to Oprah, to 20/20 and just about every where else you turn on with your tube this week, its all about environmental focus. When I woke up this morning, I said Happy Earth Day to Hubby with as much excitement as any other B-grade “holiday”. I truly am excited to see more and more Americans and other industrialized countries taking steps to preserve the planet- its resources and animals- in a less human/self-centered manner.

Western awareness of issues like global warming and other effects of the ME-attitude has been furthered by recent movies, such as “An Inconvenient Truth”, “Blood Diamond” and even “Happy Feet”. Those with the large public forum and the financial means are beginning to put their talent into something meaningful, beyond pure entertainment.

Still, the process is slow. Just when I think we’re really opening our eyes in America on the whole, I go to church and find myself in conversation with a number of people who have no idea that it is Earth Day, no idea what words like “organic” or “sustainable” mean. It’s sad that this happened to me at church, too, because the western Christian church has been one of the last groups to open themselves to the idea of environmental issues, when it should truly be the other way around. Why haven’t those who claim to be Believer’s had much impact on environmental causes? Why has the southern baptist convention sat on this idea that because humans are the highest of all created things, preservation efforts should be undertaken only so far as they “effect” humanity?! The logic doesn’t even make sense… humanity, being the sister creation to the trees and animals, etc, but one with the capacity to know and love the Creator, should be the first to hear His voice, the first to act on behalf of His will; to tend to our garden, so to speak, and to care about what kind of mess what we are leaving future generations to clean up after us.

If God built me a home, and I went in and trashed it to make myself as comfortable and profited as I could imagine, how would that reflect my respect and love for the Builder?

So for today, have a little “Faith Flection” about what it means to live like you aren’t the only living thing in the universe.

Check out this musical parody about companies like WalMart- I couldn’t stop laughing…

I know I say this a lot but… something to think about.

Also, another entertaining segment – watch The Meatrix films for some not so appetizing facts about America’s good friend, the Dairy Industry.

1. Wednesday night, (which means LOST, duh,) was purty cool- in a “what the heck?” sorta way. I was rebuked for talking too much by the other attendees of our little Lostie get-together… something I really must work on. But, hey, it made for a dramatic and memorable night, for better or worse. Sorry guys! Only human.

2. Anna Nicole’s death was quite the ironic surprise to see on the news… and then quite the annoying “beat a dead horse” after about a day. Take the damn DNA, bury the corpe, figure out who the daddy is (if you can), and make him pay child support. (I don’t care who the heck gets the dang money so long as the baby is taken care of!) Then pray that the baby grows up with the closest things to loving parents possible. What NOT to do: keep putting this on the news when there are truly more important things going on in the world, after all.

3. Freezing temperatures outside another thing that we could say ENOUGH! to. I love the cold and don’t wish for that 9 month summer any time soon, but this FL girl is not used to it for this long. Lil’ E doesn’t even own enough pants for this.

4. We went through a scare this week, thought we would be forced to move and freaked that we aren’t ready to buy but would also hate to rent due to various reasons. I didn’t even manage to get 30 hours of work in this week due to worry and research on preparing for moving— and all for not because our current landlord is now willing to sign us into a year lease so we have some security when the place sells. (We had only monthly security since our year lease was up over 2 years ago- so when they decided to sell and some buyers might be looking to move in, we realized we only truly had through whatever month we had paid on to stay!) SO-THANK GOD! (really.) We can stay on our current plan to try to get out of debt and save for a home and buy at the “right” time, … whatever that means.

5. Hubby finishing up school this semester- all signs point to graduation this April and possible MBA aspirations soon after. My own graduate school goals are up in the air– beginning to think I should go for a degree or grad certificate in Instructional Technology rather than Creative Writing. I know. I’m one big dichotomy, I swear. And I can’t even spell.

6. We participated in a community event this weekend, (not something we think outside ourselves enough to do often). And this community event wasn’t exactly something that would earn us charitable or neighborly partipation points any time soon- it was the Kiwana’s Pancake Festival. (noooo, I didn’t eat any pancakes and forgo my dietary restrictions- but I did take some pics of my “boys”)

7. Watching the news right now and, believe it or not, I’m much happier seeing news about Bill Murry being in Tampa for some golf game than more news about Anna Nicole.

8. Church was really good this morning. That Pastor Tim packs a mean sermon. Not that he’s mean. Quite the opposite.

9. Speaking of church, I’m reading more into my book, and thought this quote a good one to share:

“…unfortunately, so much of what we’re currently fighting against (’we’ meaning the church in America for starters) isn’t the real enemy, and so much of what we’re fighting for isn’t the real prize. Largely we’re fighting to get something back — a lost status as the civil religion of the West, control (political, too often) over things that are out of our control, a priviledged position as the favoured religion of the Empire, protection of the middle class from the lower and upper classes, and so on. These are futile fights. We’re also focused on fighting symptoms like abortion, promiscuity (hetero or homosexual), divorce, and profanity. We might add terrorism to the list. But these are not the disease. These are in many ways the symptoms of the very disease that we inadvertently tend to support, aid and abet, defend, protect, baptize, and fight for — a system sick with consumerism, greed, fear, violence, and misplaced faith (in the power of the Economy and the State and its weapons).”

10. I have no idea why I counted to ten in this blog except for the sheer backdoor it created so that I can now stop.

The Oscar nominations this year leave me with the feeling that I’ve been hiding out in no man’s land. I think I’ve seen one or two of the films mentioned. This is sad. I plan to take the day Sat or Sun this weekend to watch at least a few more that are out on DVD, (are any?) to fill myself in. I definitely liked In Pursuit of Happyness and Little Miss Sunshine was okay.

I’ve got a good LOST post cooking over in my draft area for tomorrow evening- stay tuned.

Also to come- Thursday hop on over for mama’s lesson on unrefined eating!

The attendance at the Polk Blogger Meet-up is probably a great sample cluster of the blogosphere; throw in some techies, a consultant, a reporter integrating blogging as a news forum, and an online operations director for the local paper- and then there’s me, representing the “mommy blog” genre rather humbly! Great conversation- what a wonderful way to collaborate, share ideas and knowledge, and just plain get to know other people who have a similar interest in blogging. As I’m sure there will be other mentions of this on their blogs, along with possible photos, I will link here when it becomes available.

If my blog starts to get a little better, you can all thank Chuck and Josh! Those guys are like a well of wisdom when it comes to that stuff, and to think, I got to sit in on it! You ever think, “Hey, I wonder what it would be like to be a fly on the wall for [such and such]“? That’s what tonight was for me. Like I got to hang out in the stall of the boys locker room and hear what they really talk about — except not exactly. Although I was the only girl!

No drinking games, and Chuck did not come in his tie-died skirt and colorful platform shoes. Good job, Chuck!

So thanks, guys! We gotta do it again sometime! Maybe even start a real meet-up?

UPDATE: Here is Chuck’s rendition. Gawd I hate candid photos- that’s me flinching oh so cooly. HERE is Billy’s “scoop”- at least there are no photos!

First of all, the evolution of MamaNeedJava: 

From the time I first got the advice from an employer at SEU to start my own blog to get writing, I waited two whole years. I gave blogging the NEVER BEFORE HEARD (sarcarsm) definition of an “online diary”. It wasn’t until I became a stay-at-home-mom that I stumbled across the infinite galaxy of the Momosphere – that’s the comprehensive term for blogs written by moms. What I found were some boring mom blogs – AND some great online content that was often witty, personable and even educating. Laced within some of the top mom blogs are lessons in child rearing, breastfeeding, nutrition, pop culture, marriage advice, tips for various careers and EVEN some good ol’ fashion hard news (however editorial). This was a whole new thing for me who, despite my young age, felt suddenly that I had been cut off from the culture all around me.

Piece by piece, one helpful techy after another, my first blog came to be. My gosh, the research involved for a website building-illiterate like myself! But when I get a goal in my head I run with it. I know better than you readers the limitations of my blog, and I’ve got high hopes for finding the time to create a more dynamic, focused, content-driven blog. At the moment, however, I’m simply amused, (and, yes, sometimes annoyed), at the large amount of people still out there who choose to point out their opinions about blogs or similar written word.

Ye who doth protest:

First, I’ve heard the complaint one too many times that blogs are nothing but self-indulgent, whiney, ego-maniac forums for those who feel the need to share their personal lives with the entire internet. Yes, that’s right, we MUST have all been too popular in high school to let it go and now we feel compelled to be the coolest kids on the block. Though I’ve got a lot to learn about mass communications and journalism, those courses towards my degree do come in handy when taking these comments into perspective. Media is the gate-keeper of information to today’s society, and no matter what is written in newspapers, magazines, television and radio news script writing, and on and on- it is ALL some one’s opinion. Yes, facts too, of course; but opinions are everywhere, however subtle they come. The new generation has come into media thinking- what the hell, might as well come right out with it! Maybe us twenty-something writer’s need a grammer lesson or two, but we can write with passion and intention and we aren’t afraid to be vulnerable. I address the mommy genre in particular. It’s too bad that things happen to great column’s in print like they did to Mamalogue’s (who, by the way, has some great posts about woman/mom topic articles that I am so glad I stumbled on while mulling over this myself!) I guess I’m lucky to get away with mommy topics in Polk Voice because I “contribute” them! Even then, I have to drastically tone down my wit at times to accomodate the fragile nature of some older generations.

Oops, I keep stepping on toes:

Which leads me to the title of this post (at last!). The other day my friend and I were talking about Jennifer Aniston being like 37 or something and how we can’t believe how old she is. Ok, I’m sorry, but for a “young Hollywood actress” she ain’t so young anymore. Ok, she isn’t OLD either, but older. I’ve been bumping into this little balancing act of the words a lot lately. I take it that if you are even reading this blog then you are at least somewhat privy to the internet, media, pop culture, that kind of thang. GOOD FOR YOU! REALLY! I was talking to my mother-in-law about this a few days ago, as she is some one who I use as a great example of an “oldER” woman who stays up to date on technology and internet fades and such. I cannot tell you how many moms in the various circles I find myself in each week laugh at “me and my internet”, (I even heard it compared to a VCR- my GAWD! Get a small clue, pleeease!) The mother-in-law brought up a great point: She stays on top of all this to relate to her kids as well as her older grandkids (my children, since my husband is an only child!) in the future. She said, “When [Lil' E] comes to visit and he’s been on the computer, I can go in there after he’s done and look up the cookies and know where the hell he’s been!” That a girl! (If you are looking at that and wondering what the heck cookies has to do with anything, you can rest assure you are one of the ones I’m talking about!) Like I said, if nothing else about my defense of blogs and such sticks, her point is a good one. Parent’s have no earthly clue what kids can get their hands on in the form of chats, MySpace, even downloads to their phones and iPods. They are too busy comparing the internet fad to the VCR!

Another perspective that has really opened my eyes in the last year is the career demand for those who are internet culture savvy. So many moms feel “forced” back to the office rather than going out there to find a telecommuting job. Why? When people are collaborating on projects from across the world in virtual conferences where they share desktops and drop files in real time while chatting live- who needs the hassle of the “daily grind” when this is being done by millions. The younger generation of workforce, even younger than me- yes, there is such a thing, are going to be doing things with software that the software designing Baby Boomers or even Gen Xer’s didn’t even create it for! It’s crazy that it would take an employer 45 minutes to show a clerical assistant to cut and paste when any average 13 year old could run circles around her. These things aren’t going to go away, they will continue to evolve, and though we can’t all be experts (and BOY am I FAR from one), I strongly believe that paying attention to the times is essential.

You almost got me to share my thoughts on memoir and other personal writing, which is coming in alongside this shrinking global community and internet culture quite nicely, I think. Maybe tomorrow.

I’ve abandoned the Saturday confessions for awhile but I will be cherry picking them back up again.

Today’s confessional:

I have officially seen every episode in season 1,2,3,4,5 and 7 of Gilmore Girls. Must.Get.Season.Six. … OR Must.See.Therapist.

It’s so bad that my son draws in a sharp breath of enthusiasm when he hears, “Where you lead, I will follow, anywhere, that you tell me to…” theme song. Evil season dvd’s.

Wonderful season dvd’s.

Ya’ll, I am so exausted! (and YES I say ya’ll- unlike some other Floridians I am ACTUALLY southern!)

After working about 11-12 hours total on Wednesday, I barely touched the first item on my “to-do” list for today before the hours zipped by without warning and before I knew it I was hauling off to downtown Lakeland’s annual Christmas parade. It was great weather and lots of fun, but I kept wishing I had just gotten work done instead. I am some what of a perfectionist, especially when it comes to hard work. If I feel like things are hanging over my head it is really hard to enjoy myself. This is yet another facet of “work at home” life: your work ALWAYS goes home with you! It squeezes into the five minutes Lil’ E is engrossed in “Dora the Explorer”, follows me into the bathroom while I oversee him taking a bath, and stays up late with me until wee hours of the morning while my dog snores at my feet. It is very rare to find “stopping points” or to take a breath in between projects, so there’s that constant tick in the back of my mind, always telling me to steal away another hour for some work.

There are many reasons why I put up with this, reasons which are not uncommon to any one who holds a job. First of all, I need the income. When I say that, I mean it. My money doesn’t support eating out or excessive car payments, it supports electricity! I also know that my work wanes in and out in volume. If I get no projects in January, I will be kicking myself for not taking all I could get in December to hold us over the lull. (This is why there’s no point bragging about all the hours/money I get this week, for they might be split three ways to spread into lagging weeks.) Secondly, I put up with the nagging feeling of always having more work to do because it is my job. There are a few things in life which deserve your attention. I miss lunch dates, I forget a conversation I had yesterday, I admit that. When it comes to commitments to family its a whole different matter, and to me, the same goes for work. If I say I want the work, and I tell my boss or a client I will get it done by a certain time, then gosh darn it, that’s my word on the line. I wish I were better at this in all areas of life, but some things gotta give in order to keep priorities straight. I feel badly when I have to put a friend off for hang out plans or re-schedule a million times, but then again if I hung out each week with every person who asked, I would literally be out of hours in which to do work. Lastly, I enjoy working to an extent. I would love to soley focus on personal writing, but of course THAT doesn’t pay bills, so who am I to complain that I get to keep one small foot in the door to the corporate world, to own a pair of closed toe shoes and wheel around a laptop from time to time while hoping for a small raise or promotion within the companies I do, basically, virtual or out-sourced administrative/clerical work for? All this while almost exclusively telecommuting from home, I mean, it is exactly what I desire: to be able to wake up and cuddle with my son, to be the one to prepare his meals and put him to sleep allllll day loooooong. I always felt like it was the most ridiculous thing in the world to have a child but not raise that child – ridiculous as in unnatural – to not have a parent or close family member be the sole providor for the child the family brought into the world. (Disclaimer: Of course, this is a personal conviction and one I DO NOT wish to impose on any one else!)

Long story shorter, to “squeeze” hours into my life in which I have honest to goodness “work” to do (aside from the full-time job of child rearing and home keeping) is a blessing and I have nothing to complain about. I simply wish there were more hours in the day, is that so much to ask for? Sheesh.

I know so many people feel like this. I hear every day people say how busy they are, and I can imagine! Between family, friends, holidays, work, church activities, physical exercise, meal planning, house cleaning, bill paying, pet responsibilities, travel plans, college classes – how are we even meant to have time for it all? I recall a time when, after just having the baby, my to-do list for the day was literally one or two points long: “Sweep and check the mail.” Seriously. The rest of my brain was taken up with memorizing when to nurse, when to diaper, when to bathe (MYSELF!), and how in hades to get myself and the baby dressed and ready to get out of the house on time for a doctor’s appointment!!!

It’s amazing how quickly we fill up our schedules again and complicate life with more DOING after brief pauses such as births, wedding, deaths, natural disasters or vacations.

Currently, my alarm clock is scheduled for 6 hours from now, so I can go meet up with some great ladies in my church and get “discipled by grace” (aka bible study, which I actually am “leading” tomorrow so I can’t skip this time!). I plan to stop at Starbucks on the way and suck down a triple tall cap for liquid energy. I have spent 15 minutes trying to work and re-work my agenda for the day to include all that needs to be done, but I finally gave up and will just have to trust that I will do my best and if things don’t get finished the sun will still come up on Saturday.

G’night!