Bag Talk

I had a Zola party at my house the other day, and the best part about these gatherings is the discussions that we have regarding ideas on how to make our lives more eco-friendly. One of the talking points came up as we were discussing using cloth/reuseable bags for our purchases. Some people want to keep getting paper bags from the grocery store because they then reuse them for their dog's poo or their cat's litter. Having cats myself, I completely understand.

There are a couple of things here... with some help from a friend, I found out that paper bags thrown into landfills are the #1 source of methane pollution. Yuck!! On the other hand, my Dad informed me that there is at least one landfill (in Corvallis, Oregon) that is using that methane to produce usable energy (so cool). However, since not all landfills are utilizing this yet, it is best to minimize the quantity of paper bags thrown into landfills.

Zola does sell biodegradable doggie doo bags made from corn. The good news is that they biodegrade fast and don't sit in the landfill for ages. The bad news is that this country relies on corn for too many things (food, ethanol, corn products, and the worst, HFCS (high frutcose corn syrup)).

So there is no easy solution but to do the best you can. My solution? Whenever I get small paper bags, like from buying bread, bringing home potatoes or other fruits and vegetables, etc., I save them to reuse for cleaning my cat's litter box. So yes, I am using paper which goes into the landfill, but these particular paper bags are MUCH smaller than using a big paper grocery bag. So I continue to use my awesome cloth bags for groceries and other purchases, and reuse the paper bags that end up coming home with me, anyway.


Psst... Zola parties are fun! We have lots of discussions of this type. Let me know if you want to have one... :)

This here is my FAVORITE bag. I keep 2 of these in my purse at all times and whip them out whenever I need a bag (shopping, library, instant diaper bag, place to put unwanted coats, hats, etc.) Since these have been in my purse, I don't think I have brought any plastic or paper bags home...

Fingerpaint

I came back from Boise last night, and Jake gave me the stinkeye. He was really glad to have me back, though, but was not at all happy that I had to work again today, even though I was working from home. Luckily, I recently brought a secret weapon some fingerpaint, so he was occupied with that on and off today with Kayla.
He wore one of Daddy's work shirts.


Yay, some artwork for my refrigerator!

Obama!!!!!

Can I just say how thrilled I was to wake up and turn on the TV and get confirmation that Obama is the President-Elect?

Sure makes being in (Republican) Boise much easier!

Truly a historic day.

The Vote!!

I hope everyone had a chance to vote today or prior to today. So important, especially for women. We have been casting our votes for less than 100 years!

I'm in Boise today. Flew in early this morning to work at a site all day and am staying overnight. This is my very first time being away from Jake overnight, and it is a very bittersweet feeling. I will be glad to get home.

So I'm in Boise for election night. The weird thing is that I have seen NO Obama or McCain signs/stickers anywhere in Boise. None. I even took an evening walk around the University of Boise campus and there was nothing. So strange, especially coming from Portland where there are Obama signs everywhere, and very rarely, McCain signs. Here in Boise I've seen a few signs for the local politicians, but none for the presidental race. You would think there wasn't even an election happening.

Anyway, so I'm alone in my hotel room with CNN on and just keeping an eye on the election. I have a chocolate-covered almond biscotti from the nice Italian restaurant that I went to, to soothe my tired and missing-Jake self.

Am looking forward to waking up tomorrow and knowing who is our new President.

Jake and Skylar

Every Wednesday morning since August, and every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning since October, Jake has been going over to Skylar's house where Kayla, their awesome nanny, takes care of both of them for a few hours. They've become good friends. Thanks to Kayla for taking these photos!

(Damn) Time Change

Pardon my French. This morning I woke up reminding myself of the time change -- fall back! Dammit, I thought to myself, while fervently hoping that Jake would sleep in until at least 7:30, because that would mean it was technically 6:30 and much more decent than 5:30. We got up at 7:20, errr 6:20. Not bad.

Seriously? The person who invented the time change did not have young children who do not understand the concept of time changes (because it is a totally unnatural thing, of course!) I woke up this morning feeling like I wanted to yell at the person who did invent it.

So Arizona and Hawaii don't bother with the time change. Why not Oregon? How do I go about starting up an initiative, gathering signatures, and getting a measure on next year's ballot to do away with the time change in Oregon? I'm only half joking...

So we got out of bed and first got on the computer to check out email, etc. Even though it was lighter outside for 6:20am *rolling my eyes*, the computer was still very bright. We keep Jake's sunglasses by the computer for this reason (this was his idea in the first place!) and put them on when we first turn on the computer. He keeps them on until his eyes have adjusted sufficiently.

Nablopomo

First, it is Nablopomo! I am going to attempt it this year for the first time. Wish me luck :)

Secondly, it is the end of the Ditch the Disposables two-month challenge.
I am really pleased with how well my family met this challenge. We used up the last of our tissues, then started using the cloth handkerchiefs that I brought. Both Mike and Jake used them through a week of a runny nose, and neither of them got sore noses, hooray! Now that we've gotten into the habit of using them, I finally brought a couple boxes of tissues to keep around for guests since I think we'll now reach for the cloth first.

And lastly, more about our Halloween. Once we got home from trick-or-treating, Jake put his pumpkin full of candy in front of the fireplace for the Halloween ghost. Then while he was elsewhere, the ghost came and left this basket of goodies. I think next year I'll have him leave the candy overnight before it gets replaced, sort of a cross combination of Christmas and Easter.

Read here about Mama Nomad's Sugar Fairy... I just might have to change Halloween Ghost to Sugar Fairy for subsequent years, sounds much nicer and more plausible!
A small pumpkin (which, strangely, he was the most delighted with), a dinosaur coloring book, and a panda mug that had lollipops, chocolates, and honey sticks.

Okay, he doesn't look totally thrilled with his honey sticks in this picture, but he really does like them. He's been making that face for a lot of his photos lately. I'm hoping it is a (short-lived) phase.

The reason I have photos of him with his Halloween basket the next day is because after getting home from trick or treating in the Village and carving pumpkins, he was falling asleep in his dinner! And it wasn't even 7pm yet. I was looking forward to having him help me answer the door and also take him trick or treating at a few houses on our street. But it was not to be! He was in bed and asleep by 7pm, which is super early for him. And yes, he slept until almost 7am. Wow.