Pixel Posybytes of life

I had a sewing machine mishap (who knew you can’t take the entire bobbin holder out when replacing the bobbin?), that stalled my work… and now that the wedding photos are here, I’ve been working more on designing pages for the album, than working on the blanket… but I hope to have both done someday…

To the extremely rude woman at the craft store who loudly guffawed into her cell phone about how tacky it would be to have little plastic feathered doves at one’s wedding. This is why I was holding them. So there! Thank you K&E Productions for this wonderful little detail shot.

Check out Cracked.com’s article with its unique spin on why the following 5 things aren’t as eco friendly as most people think:

1. Buying Organically Grown Food:
   I think the better option is to start your own garden, even if it’s as simple as just one tomato plant in a pot. I’ve done this with herbs for some time, as I can’t stand cooking with withered ”fresh” herbs from the grocery.  My dad has always kept a bountiful garden and shares the excess with neighbors, family and friends. When I was little we had several apple trees and strangers would walk into our yard and ask if it would be okay to pick apples. My parents always said yes. Gardens do take a lot of work and aren’t for everyone, but I love hearing about community gardening where people share the labor and rewards. Farmers’ markets with locally grown produce is also a wonderful thing.
2. Rejecting Vaccinations:
   I don’t blame parents for wanting to protect their kids, but I think it’s been proven over and over that vaccinations are beneficial to the overall health of the population, versus the slim risk of an individual’s reaction. The autism issue is whole other bucket of worms. And I haven’t bought into the flu vac’s yet.
3. Recycling:
   I’ve often pondered the recycling question as two separate trucks amble loudly through my neighborhood collecting from two separate bins. We seem to have doubled our efforts and is the energy and resources put in to recycling truly offsetting the benefits of doing so?  I have doubts. I do know I enjoy our recently purchased shopping totes as having dozens of those flimsy plastic bags that rip while trying to carry groceries have always annoyed me. The economy’s state has forced us to be more conscientious of new purchases vs. making due with what we have. Buying less doesn’t help the economy much, but it certainly generates less packaging to toss in the garbage. Perhaps efforts need to focus on biodegradable packaging to limit and reduce the goods that remain in our landfills for hundreds of decades.
4. Antibacterial Soap:
   I make our own body and hand soaps, but I will admit I usually grab the antibacterial dish soap. I have read about sterile environments generating more allergies in children theory, but oh is it hard not to stop a toddler from grabbing their pacifier off the ground and sticking it back into their mouth.
5. Buying Carbon Offsets:
   This one is just silly.

Caught this amusing posting by April Winchell featuring some choice audio clips from Obama’s  Dreams From My Father.

Someone finally captured the end of the rainbow.  Way cool!

Week 4 was a pretty good week. Only coworker B to my knowledge cheated with a coffee and a scone one morning.

I’ll spare you the full menu, but we started the week with sticking to leftovers for breakfasts and 1 lunch (we froze leftover spaghetti from last week) and splurged on hamburger meat for sloppy joes. We also had lunchmeat sandwiches, chicken & rice, and bean and rice burritos to round out the week.

The challenge has really gone well, although for week 5 I’ve decided to drop out. I found myself eating more than I typically would at lunch time, if you can believe that. We also started buying more junk food like chips, cookies and pop to compliment our meals. It’ll be more expensive to eat solo again, but I need to eat healthier as well.

The biggest annoyances to the challenge are shopping for groceries, hauling them in, and having to take items home to cook and bring back for the group. We also have run into some conflicts of taste when developing the menus.

I’m still sticking with my no buying food items at work as it was a New Year’s resolution. That alone will still save me money and keep me from going out for fast food.

Hubby has been bringing crackers, tuna and soup at hand’s to work and it has been working out well for him. I’m headed to Target after work to find some things for myself to bring.