Friday, March 28, 2008

Earth Hour - March 29 @ 8pm

Turn the lights off for a full hour tomorrow starting at 8 p.m. your time, and you'll join millions of people around the planet coming together for a cause: global warming.

Last year's Earth Hour, which happened only in Sydney, Australia, had the effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for an hour. This year's event is global, so savings will be even bigger.

Get together with friends, and make a night of it.

Turn 'em off at 8 p.m. your local time, Mar. 29.

Earth Hour - pledge to turn off your lights here, and receive Earth Hour updates and tips.

http://www4.earthhourus.org/

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Community Culinary School of Charlotte

Have you heard of Community Culinary School of Charlotte? Their motto is: “Training in the culinary arts for the chronically underemployed adults.” In addition to several weeks of training in culinary arts, they also provide their students with the ServSafe food handling certification.

The CCSC works with Friendship Trays, the largest meals-on-wheels program in Mecklenburg County and with the Society of St. Andrew gleaning network. Click here for a definition of gleaning. CCSC students pay their "tuition" by volunteering with Friendship Trays and the Society of St. Andrew.

I just heard about this organization on the radio yesterday -- sounds like they are providing some valuable training and services.

Monday, March 24, 2008

The Little Girl Who Cried:

Random Thoughts On Easter Weekend

What a busy weekend.

Debi & Aunt Penny took the girls to Bristol for their cousin’s birthday party. It was a whirlwind trip… there on Friday, back on Saturday & interrupted only by an extended rest area stop because someone locked her keys in the car. AAA was summoned and they were on the road again.

Tiffany came home for a short visit with Jon, a Marine buddy. Their bus arrived in Charlotte early Saturday. Apparently the bus doesn’t go all the way to York, and there was a 3-hour layover in Charlotte before their connection to Rock Hill. They opted to take a cab from Charlotte to York ($70).

We converged on the old Kloniger place on Saturday for an evening of food, wine and coloring Easter eggs (definitely not in that order). Bummer that Val & Steve couldn’t join us but they went to the mountains, where reportedly Valerie slept like a log.

We had Tiffany’s famous spaghetti (her best batch yet) – she made enough to feed a Marine Corps. Good thing, because at the last minute she invited a friend who came with an entourage. It looked like we were filming a soap opera or maybe an iPod commercial.

So there we were; young and old – having spaghetti, swapping stories and having a fine time. There was a cute baby who slept through most of the evening and my kids, who enjoyed the chaos immensely.

After dinner we mingled around the fire pit for the traditional roasting of marshmallows. Amelia & I were having a conversation about the finer points of roasting, when one of the guys said to the baby’s dad: “Can you imagine? One day your son is going to be talking with you that way.” I am in constant awe at each new stage of the development of these little people, but I sometimes forget the wonder at the stages passed and mastered. Now that I think about it, I vividly remember holding Isabel as a baby, thinking “I can’t wait till she can talk to me someday.”

Eventually, the cast of The Young & the Restless went home and we put the kids to bed, leaving the rest of us to play a game. We chose Cranium. Well, Penny & Debi chose it - they were still bitter over the guys’ brief but decisive victory last weekend. Once we FINALLY decided who was going to be on which team, we had a blast. It’s interesting to see certain skills emerge in a game like that. For example, it seems I have a bit of talent for drawing with my eyes closed. Unfortunately, my drawing skills don’t improve when my eyes are opened.

It was late and the kids were asleep so we decided to stay the night. Thankfully & much to Isabel’s & Amelia’s relief, the Easter Bunny found them at Aunt Penny’s house. We all enjoyed watching them enjoying their Easter baskets early Sunday morning.

It was time for Tiffany & Jon to deploy…

Tiff loaded up her car with some essentials (books, civilian clothes, a cheesecake mix) to get her through the next few months of school. Good thing she’s a Marine musician because she would never make it as a professional mover. First she carried some loose clothes to the car, then an armload of loose books all of which she tossed in the trunk and/or backseat. She obviously doesn’t have the packing gene. The haphazardness of this operation became more obvious when I observed her carrying the next load of stuff to her car… it was empty plastic storage containers. So the car was loaded, directions were discussed AT LENGTH, then we said our good-byes and she was on her way, back to base.

Uncle Marky drove Jon home. Turns out Jon’s family lives about an hour and a half in the opposite direction from the way Tiffany was going. To save Tiff from having to drive 3 extra hours, Mark volunteered to drive Jon. It occurred to me later… that’s Mark’s specialty. I believe that most people are happy to help others in any way they can, but it seems that most people have a specialty. There’s the Aunt who cooks for folks during difficult times, the neighbor who repairs mechanical things when budgets are tight, the friend who baby-sits in a pinch… Mark’s specialty is driving people. He’ll take anyone anywhere they need to go at any time.

After they all cleared out Penny, Debi and I lounged in the family room, enjoying relative peace & quiet while the kids played with their Easter goodies in the living room. The quiet was shattered when Isabel ran into the room crying, almost hysterically. Amelia was close on her heels.

What could have happened?? Did she feed her bouncy ball to the dog? Did she stick a quarter up her nose? WHAT HAPPENED??? FINALLY, sobbing, she got it out -- she was playing with the phone and dialed 911. “I thought the phone didn’t work,” she blubbered. We were trying to ascertain if they answered or if she hung up when it started ringing. It seemed to be the latter.

We talked about the little boy who cried wolf and that we only call 911 for real emergencies. Through her sobs, she apologized profusely. Eventually we calmed her down and the kids went back to playing and the adults went back to lounging.

Within minutes, Isabel burst into tears & chaos erupted once again when she saw a police car drive by the house. We calmed her down AGAIN.

Isabel saw the police car drive by a second time and again with the waterworks. We reassured her that everything will be OK & that we still love her, etc.

Penny got on the phone with 911… they said someone called and hung up. When the 911 operator tried to call back, someone picked up the phone and hung up again, so they dispatched the police. Initially there was some confusion because Penny’s garage has its own address, but they straightened that out and the officer found the house.

When the officer came to the door, I thought Isabel was going to pass out. I explained the situation to the officer. He was stern with Isabel, but not mean. I’m guessing he has kids. Eventually Isabel was able to breathe again. She apologized many times and swore that she has learned her lesson about calling 911.

After all that, the hiding & finding of Easter eggs was pretty much anticlimactic.


Friday, March 21, 2008

Water you supposed to do?

Buy a lined aluminum, stainless steel, or glass container for your water.

The evidence is not conclusive, but there are indications that re-using plastic water bottles may be bad for you.
http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2178.html.

Don't just keep buying new bottles of water though -- plastic water bottles require 1.5 million barrels of oil each year to make.

A good alternative is to use a container that is safe to wash & re-use. Using such a bottle will not only protect your health but will also help protect the environment. Click here for more info on some types of bottles that are good for re-use:
http://www.idealbite.com/tiplibrary/archives/bottled_up1/.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Bi-Lo

You know it’s a slow news day if you can get your name in the newspaper because you buy groceries.
http://www.charlotte.com/business/story/537787.html

Monday, March 17, 2008

The Benefits of Buying Locally

Buying local food is often better for the planet than buying organic, since an organic potato from Peru takes so much more energy to ship than a nonorganic one from Idaho.

The Benefits of Buying Locally

  • Ridin' the fresh train. Produce shipped from outside the country travels up to two weeks before it arrives in grocery stores.
  • Giving local farmers a chance now. If you buy goods produced nearby, you'll keep more money in your community...and more farmland.
  • Jumping back from energy waste. It takes 4-17 times less oil to produce local food compared to nonlocal.
  • Getting off the bruise-control track. Food that has to travel long distances usually requires additional packaging and may have been genetically modified in order to survive the trip.

Wanna Try?

  • Local Harvest - locate a farmers market or CSA near you.
  • Sustainable Table - see what's in season in your area.
  • 100 Mile Diet - feeling ambitious? Find out what it takes to eat only food produced within a 100-mi radius of your home.
from IdealBites.com daily tip for 3/17/08

Alignment

I hit a pot hole in the road of life a while back and my chakras are completely out of alignment. Life has been pulling to the left something awful ever since.

Once I get my alignment fixed hopefully I can resume my journey to spiritual enlightenment.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Sad but true bumper sticker

I was behind a car this morning that had a bumper sticker which read: “My dog is smarter than our president.”

I wanted to stop the car on the freeway to ask where I could get one.

Friday, March 07, 2008

The Kids are OK

Just in case any of the parents of the kids who are sleeping over happen to read this, I thought I should follow up to let you know that everyone is OK. Not sure what caused the scream/squeal but they are having a fine time.

Is Anybody Out There?

I guess you've all given up on reading my blog since I was away for a short time. Today was my last official day in my old job.

I have been so busy -- I've been FURIOUSLY training my replacement. The poor woman's head will surely explode from everything I've tried to cram in there. 7 years of learning and experience in 3 weeks... it's been hectic for me, but I'm sure it’s been much worse for her.

I'm behind on voicemail, email, my blog and everything else. Hopefully I'll get time to catch up this coming week.

Today is Isabel's 7th birthday! Can you believe it? She's having a sleepover with 2 girlfriends tonight in lieu of the traditional bday party. Just heard a BLOOD-CURDLING scream/squeal from the bedroom -- guess I should go see if someone just cut off a hand or something.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

ART by Isabel

I know I'm biased, but I really think Isabel has some real art talent. Check out her lastest piece on Artsonia: http://www.artsonia.com/Isabel253.

Blogus Interruptus

I've been on a hiatus from the blog for the past two weeks because I've been training my replacement at work. Did I mention that I'm changing jobs? Same company, different job. I'm going from Accounting/Systems Manager to Training & Development Manager.

Interesting change, huh? Accounting speaks to my logical/analytical side, but after 6 years in Accounting my creative/artistic side is jonesin' for some action. Anyway, I have been preparing for & training my replacement in Accounting for the past 3 weeks. I have one more week of training her before I officially move into my new job. Cramming 6 years worth of learning into 3 weeks is an interesting challenge.

I couldn't possibly begin to recount all of the random thoughts I've had over the past two weeks, but here are a couple of highlights:

  • Only 14 days until HGTV gives me my new dream home in Islamorada! (sorry Val)
  • I still don't get why so many people are gaga over Obama. Can anyone explain it to me? I'm hopeful that Ohio & Texas will go for Hillary, but it's not looking good. Is it too late for Gore to get into the race? I suppose he could wait until later and run as an independent.
  • I've had a tough time with pottery class -- I hate my clay & my clay hates me. I think changing days has messed with my sense of order. I'm feeling like I should have stayed in the beginning class for a while longer. And my final excuse is that I haven't been able to really focus on pottery due to the extra time spent at work in the past few weeks.
  • Saw the movie Once on DVD. I loved the music. I'm always so intrigued and impressed by the creative song-writing process.
  • Went last night to see U23D. It was AWESOME. I loved all the songs, but I think my favorite in the movie was Sunday, Bloody Sunday. This is a must-see for any music lover.
Finally, here are some quotes from Bush Countdown calendar (counting down the days until he leaves office) that a friend gave me for Xmas. There were 3 good ones in a row so I thought I should share:

Quote for 2/22:
“This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And, having said that, all options are on the table.”
--Israeli television interview, 2/22/2005

Quote for 2/23 & 24:
“If you don’t stand for anything, you don’t stand for anything!”
-- Austin-American Statesman, 2000

Quote for 2/25:
“The Bob Jones policy on interracial dating… I spoke against that. I spoke out against interracial dating. I support the policy of interracial dating.”
-- CBS News, 2/25/2000

He is SUCH an idiot.