Because I want my daughter to have a planet to live on...

Today marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. I have always been somewhat of an environmentalist. I'm not one of those die hard environmentalist that you see in Whole Foods. You know, the tree huggers who go days without showering b/c they want to conserve water. I'm sorry, but I like to smell good thank you. Although I have been washing my hair every other day b/c I hear that the oils in your hair can do wonders for it. But I have to bathe my body on a daily basis or I just feel icky. Although I'm not like my husband who after finished cleaning himself, stands there and turns on the water as hot as it can scorch himself. I get in, do my stuff as fast as possible and get out.

I am also one that if all possible refuses to use Styrofoam products. I remember a family vacation when I was about 11 or 12 years old. We had borrowed a camper and took it up to South Dakota. So my mom was making cereal for us one morning and she places it down in front of me. Cereal...in a STYROFOAM BOWL!! I told her I refuse to eat cereal out of that b/c it's not biodegradable. Yes, I knew what the word meant at that age. And to this day, I will not buy Styrofoam products. I don't even like it when I get food to go in restaurants and they put it in a Styrofoam box. Maybe that is why I always clear my plate so I don't have to take anything home.

Disposable diapers also irritate me. When I was pregnant with Abbie, I was firm on using cloth diapers. I even had my mother in law make me some b/c she is this sewing maniac. Well I used them for about a week or two and realized that cloth diapers weren't for me. Disposables are just so much more convenient. Maybe if I should ever have baby #2, I may revisit cloth diapers.

So today, in celebration of Earth Day I am going to start recycling. We have been recycling our aluminum cans b/c you can get money for them (duh). But I want to do more. So this week I went to the recycling center in town and made a note of everything they take. I am going to start recycling all of my #1 & #2 plastics, glass, papers, cardboard, paper, tin cans and aluminum cans. Charlie thinks it's going to be a pain in the butt b/c we will have to rinse out everything, but if it will do some good for this planet we will on and make life better for my daughter in the future...I'm all for it!!

To quote a status update I read on Facebook today...

"It's Earth Day! Try to do something nice for the Earth today.
Remember, what you do today will impact the Earth for years. Let's
make/keep it clean and healthy for future generations!"

Uninspirational

I'm just blank tonight on what to post. I'm tired of the Post-it Note Tuesday b/c I can never come up with something unique & creative to post. Tackle it Tuesday was an epic fail. I about have the living room in order and the dining room table doesn't look too bad. I did go through Abbie's clothes and boxed up all of her newborn and 0-3 mos clothing. It was kind of sad. It will probably be the last time that I get to see the clothes until they go on a garage sale or given away. Charlie says that we are done having kids, he's happy with one. He really didn't want to have any children but he knew how much I wanted a baby so we compromised. Yet I want Abbie to have a sibling to grow up with. Charlie says she has the dogs. But dogs don't live forever. Hopefully when Abbie gets old enough she can walk up to Charlie and say, "Daddy, I want a brother or sister." She has had her daddy wrapped around her finger from the day he walked with her out of the OR.

Video of the Week

Behind the scenes of the 5 month pose by the bear photoshoot.

Thankful Thursday

• Two healthy eyes (Contracted Conjunctivitis (pink eye) somehow on Saturday). I can finally wear eye makeup again. Going to attempt putting back in my contacts tomorrow.
• A tax savvy friend who completed and filed my taxes for free back in February. I'm so happy I don't have to worry & stress out about that today, tax deadline. The refund is long gone and spent the day we got it. But at least we can say that it went towards lowering our debt.
• An awesome and affordable hairstylist that does a great job on my thick, coarse, naturally curly head of hair. I love my new cut & highlights!!
• A hands on father to Abbie. He watched her for 3 1/2 hrs while momma was getting pampered at the hair salon.
• Beautiful weather where we can grill & enjoy our delicious dinner out on the deck.
• Energetic coworkers who push me to go out and walk for 30 minutes over my lunch hour. I get some fresh air and take in the beauty of springtime in Oklahoma (achoo!!)
• A wonderful friend who is taking me out for a belated birthday dinner on Saturday.
• A great rack thanks to breastfeeding my daughter.

Tackle It Tuesday

Today I feel very overwhelmed. Overwhelmed as a mother, as a housekeeper, as a wife. I am normally a very organized person & when my life gets unorganized, it throws me off and puts me in this funk. I can't even get my thoughts organized to write this blog. There just isn't enough hours in the day for me to get everything accomplished. I actually thought about calling in sick to work so I could stay home without any interruptions & get a handle on my life.



The first thing I need to tackle is my house. I had it clean when my mom came to visit at the end of March and now it's a disaster again. I blame that on spending all of my time with my daughter at night and on the weekends. About the only thing I can stay up on is the dishes and laundry. Although currently I have a load of towels in the dryer to be folded and clothes sitting on the ottoman that are folded but need to be put away. So my mission this week is to spend each night tackling one room. Hopefully by the end of the week, my house will be sparkling clean and I can enjoy the weekend with my family.

The next thing on my "Tackle It" list is to box up Abbie's 0-6 mo clothing. (sniff, sniff) I guess I just can't bring it to myself that my daughter is growing up and is wearing 6-9 mo clothing (she has her momma's long legs). Another reason I'm dragging my feet is because we are still waiting on the hardware for her dresser that we ordered online. I called today to find out that the drawer pulls are on back order until May 5th!! I am not going to wait another month to get her room in order. I guess I will just load up her dresser and then unload it when it comes time to put on the handles.

I also need to tackle my clothing situation. I have so many clothes that I don't wear anymore because a) they are outdated or b) they no longer fit me. For some reason I feel a need to hold onto them. So over the next month, I am going to go through my closet and dresser and anything that I have not worn in the last 3 years will either be trashed or donated to Goodwill. Maybe once Charlie sees how bare my wardrobe is, he will allow me to buy a new one. DOUBT IT!!

Here is a list of other things I would like to accomplish in the next month:

• Spruce up the yard (front yard is about done, backyard will be a chore!!)


• Clean all the windows in the house (inside & out)


• Paint the computer room


• Straighten up, file & shred papers in the computer room


• Clean up the recorded shows on the DVR (I'm about 2 weeks behind on Days of Our Lives...eeek!)


• Lose these last 10 lbs of baby weight (okay, so that may take longer than a month)


• Spend time with my loving husband, adorable daughter and over active dogs.
  
  

Video of the Week

This week, we introduced Abbie to vegetables. I know, it's only been a couple of weeks since we started her on cereal. But she has mastered cereal so I figured we needed to move on to bigger and better tasting foods. Right now she is having cereal as her first meal of the day (around 6:30 am) and then has some sort of vegetable at dinnertime (around 6 pm). Abbie even gives us a critique of her meal. I just want to eat this girl up!!

Thankful Thursday

• Cooler weather so I can delay turning on the A/C a little longer (I was very tempted this week when my thermostat said it was 79 degrees in my house).
• Visits from family members spaced a month apart so I will never feel homesick.
• A daughter who is in love with baby food. Although I do wish I still had a girl who cuddled with her mom as she drinks her bottle.
• A husband who helps me out at night with bathing our daughter, putting her to bed and helping dry bottles for the next day.
• Waking up to find a dog cuddled up next to me.
• Last night's dinner leftovers for lunch.
• A weekend with my husband, daughter & doggies outside cleaning up our yard, preparing for warmer weather.
• Posing for an incognito picture with my family. I love these two people and all of the laughs they bring to my life.