Entries categorized as ‘Uncategorized’
Do you “Buy American”? If so, why, and if not, why not?
For my part, during most of my consumer life I’ve tended to focus on what’s cheapest, and as I’ve gotten older I skew towards the best value (which doesn’t always equal the lowest price). This certainly means that a lot of my money has gone to purchase goods that were made outside of the USA, and which were sold by the “big box” stores, or online. Volume buying means volume pricing equals lower prices for me, and I’m in favor of keeping as much money in my pocket as possible.
That said, I’ve also started to think about buying local. I have a visceral, negative reaction to the term “buy American” because to me it sounds jingoistic. But buying local feels more personal, less political. It’s about reducing your own personal footprint – when you buy goods made close to where you live you reduce the costs to bring it to you, which can be considerable. It’s also about supporting the businesses of your neighbor, which feels like the right thing to do. This time of year, with plentiful fruits and vegetables in season, this is easier to do with food. For consumer goods I still prefer to spend as little as possible, but I am willing to spend a little more to buy from a locally owned store versus a national chain. Sometimes.
I will admit that I like walking into a store and being free to browse without someone asking me immediately whether I need help. Smaller stores tend to have someone ready, willing and able to help you right away. This can be good if you’re looking for something specific, or have a lot of questions. But when you just kind of want to look around, see what’s there, maybe compare prices, read labels and mull over your decision, having a sales person hovering makes me want to flee without spending a dime. Ideally of course they would be able to read my mind when I walk in and stay in the shadows until I’ve narrowed my choice and need to ask a question before making my final decision. Alas, they’ve yet to implant those mind reading chips in store owners and their employees.
Suffice to say, I’m more aware. Awareness is the first step in action. I won’t promise to buy local all the time, but I will include it in my considerations.
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Hey, a bonus post here on the final day of NaBloPoMo!
I did it! A post everyday in the month of November. I did resort to memes a few times, but otherwise I had surprisingly little trouble coming up with something to post about, which I had been worried about in the absence of a theme.
I’ll probably take a few days off from posting, but I find I like the routine of posting everyday, or nearly so.
Categories: Uncategorized
No need to thank me, no really. I’m just here to do my part.
You see, I have come to the conclusion that keeping the universe from imploding, or exploding, must be my purpose. Or at least I hope there is some reason I’m not allowed to sleep more than 3-4 hours at a stretch.
Here’s how you too can become a keeper of the universe – don’t worry, there’s plenty of room for more!
- Become a parent. This is the number one proven way to get less sleep on a consistent basis.
- Become a parent for a second time, preferably just as your first child has reached a level of sleep maturity, so you can start all over. Great fun!
- Get a puppy, preferably just as your two children have learned to get themselves up, turn on their favorite TV show and get breakfast on those weekend mornings when you’d prefer just another hour of shut eye.
- After you’ve had the puppy for almost 2 weeks, ensure one of your children gets sick in the middle of the night. This way just when the puppy might be ready to go a full night without having to go out, you’ll have to get up once or twice with a crying child who throws up and needs to join you in your bed. It’s really a super way to guarantee you get no more than 3 hours of continuous sleep.
So there you have it – four easy steps and you’re on your way to joining me in keeping the universe together through sleep deprivation.
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After taking a break from blogging while we were on vacation, I find it hard to get re-motivated to post again.
But here are some things on the brain, that if I’m smart I will revisit so I can post in more detail when I get my groove back:
- Krystal is visiting with my ex this weekend (who I want to remind you all is NOT her father, as was his choice at the time) and I can’t believe how much I actually enjoy Belle when she is not having to “compete”. I realize that most of the time I really don’t like my younger daughter very much, which of course makes me feel guilty. But she is very different when she has someone’s full attention.
- For the first time ever I took two weeks off in a row – the first week was our “away” vacation, but the second week (now coming to an end) was me staying home by myself (Krystal started school, and I sent Belle to her school so I could have a break). This second week was the best week I have had in a long time! I didn’t really “do” much (ran errands on my own, mowed the lawn, spent way too much time on the computer), but it was nice to have the focus be on ME ME ME for a change.
- I booked myself for a speed dating event! It’s not til October 29th, so I have time to figure out how I’m going to approach it
- Have you seen “The Pursuit of Happyness” yet? I watched this last night and I LOVED it! I was familiar with the basic storyline having read about Chris Gardner in a magazine several years ago, but the movie was fantastic: at once humbling, inspiring, scary, sad and hopeful. I highly recommend it!
- Also saw “Wall-E” yesterday with Krystal and my ex (the 3 of us also had lunch before the movie). I am reminded how much easier it can be to have another person for my child to focus on. And how much more I feel freed to enjoy her because of it.
Off to try getting back in it – back soon (I hope!).
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We got back yesterday from our 9 day trip to Florida and had a stowaway named Fay along for the trip! She was not a welcome addition to the group, but we had no choice but to embrace her into our plans. Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone. Also known as, make the best of it.
The good part about experiencing a record breaking Tropical Storm (4 land falls!) on your trip to Disney World:
- No one wants to be out in the storm so the parks are virtually empty
The bad parts about experiencing a record breaking Tropical Storm on your trip to Disney World:
- It is wet
- Being wet is miserable
- Especially when everything is heavily air conditioned
- Even more so when you are forced to buy jackets or sweatshirts for your family to stave off certain frost bite from the air conditioned cold on buses and in restaurants after being out in the rain
- Being rained on for 4 days (or was it 5?) was not part of the plan
But you know what? We still had a good time and have great memories of the trip.
Oh, and Krystal started second grade today!
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Back from the weekend. Not feeling real motivated to write much right now.
The morning after my last post, wherein I decided to open my heart a little and cut my mom some slack, she called me to instruct me how to plan our trip to her house for the weekend. She gave me orders to have the car all packed Friday night so we could just get up Saturday morning and leave. And my hackles went up, up, up. I mean, really!
But I swallowed it, and didn’t say anything. We got to her place by 9:30 Saturday morning (not bad, considering it’s a 2 hour drive and she lives on Cape Cod, which is notorious for summer weekend traffic). And we had a nice enough visit. She took the girls to the beach on her own to give me a break, and then took them on another outing on Sunday while I ran an errand. That was nice. But sleeping 3 of us in one bed was painful and I got very little sleep. Also, the different flora on the Cape does not agree with me, and I could not stop itching my eyes or sneezing the whole time.
And I hate the tone and words of this post but I’m going to publish it, mostly because I don’t want to disappear.
I hope to be back soon with something lighter/more insightful/funnier/more universal/fill-in-the-blank!
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We are fortunate to live within a 5 minute drive of a baseball team in the Can-Am league. Don’t get too excited – while these are professional baseball players, they are not in the MLB farm system, and therefore are probably at the top of their own personal game. I shouldn’t make it sound so disparaging – after all, I’ll never play at that level, nor will anyone I know in real life. And it is really cool to be able to go to a baseball game anytime we want. Here we are at the game!
The games are very family-friendly, with a “Kid Zone” on the left field line, inexpensive tickets ($4-$10), reasonably priced concessions, free parking, occasional cool promotional give-aways and fireworks nights. Gosh, when I write it all out like that I want to shout from the rooftops how lucky we are!
Anyway, yesterday afternoon was the finale event for Krystal’s rookie year playing in our local Cal Ripken league which was a make-your-own sundae event outside the stadium, and then a baseball game. All for the bargain price of $4 each. The weather earlier in the day had been dicey – a wicked thunderstorm moved through mid-afternoon, and I wondered if the game would still be on. It was, albeit under still-threatening skies. It actually rained twice ever-so-briefly during the game, and during the second spell we were in the stands with jackets over our heads, while the pitcher stood on the mound in sunshine. And you know what that means!
(anyone know how to rotate that so you don’t have to turn your head???)
The rainbow was particularly cool – it started out on the right as shown in the photo, turned into a full rainbow, then a double on the right, then faded to be stronger on the left, until finally disappearing. It was the most dramatic rainbow I have ever seen.
The girls both enjoyed themselves and the home team won, 10-6. Top that!
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I gotta admit – I’m tired tonight. Too tired to write anything remotely coherent. So here is my favorite recipe for guacamole, and I must tell you that I have never tasted any better than my own.
Guacamole
2-3 ripe Haas avacados (yes, they have to be Haas)
1 plum tomato, chopped (optional, )
1 clove garlic
1 bunch fresh cilantro (this is what “makes” this recipe)
kosher salt
Peel, pit and coarsely chop the avacados. Add the chopped tomato (I’ve been known to leave this out – it’s fine). Sprinkle the kosher salt on a cutting board. Smash the garlic clove on the cutting board with the back of your knife, then drag your knife through the garlic and salt, creating a garlicky, salty paste. Toss this into your bowl with the avacadoes. Chop the cilantro, and mix gently. Ole! Server with your choice of chips, pita bread, vegetables, or as a topping for chicken or sandwich condiment. Be warned, this goes fast!
But hey, avocados have the good kind of fat.
Categories: Food · NaBloPoMo · Uncategorized
I may be one of the last people in the United States to see it, but I finally saw “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” the other day. While it had some redeeming qualities – I laughed in a few places and Orlando Bloom was adorable – I must say I don’t quite get the fuss. Can anyone tell me what’s supposed to be so great about it?
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