This Moment...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual.  A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama 

Ok, so I am cheating this week and including some words. We borrowed a friend's pick up truck this past weekend, which just happened to have a dump truck feature in the back (you could press a button and the back would tilt and raise). It wasn't as big as a construction dump truck, but Finn thought it was pretty awesome to get to press the button that made the back move....and I did too.... Pin It Now!

Get the Lead Out. Seriously.

Lead is a metal found commonly throughout the environment... it is found in pre-1978 paint, household dust, soil, plumbing, cosmetics, pottery, and all of those lovely "made in china" toys that we keep hearing about. Lead poses the highest risk for young children and pregnant ladies. Lead exposure is linked to lowered IQ and mental retardation, as well as kidney problems. Lead can also be stored in your bones and released throughout your life! Yuck.
So, how to reduce you and your family's lead exposure? Here are a few tips:

• Run the water from your tap until it becomes noticeable colder (usually about 30 seconds) before drinking. Also this is contrary to my save-water preaching, it will reduce your chance of lead exposure.
• Use cold water for cooking (never consume the hot water out of your tap as this is where the lead will lurk).
• Boiling water will not remove lead. However, there are water filtration systems that will. We use the New Wave Enviro 10 Stage filter and love it.
• Get your water tested for lead. Many cities, like Portland, will test it for free. Check to see if your city does.
• Don't let your child eat paint, soil with paint chips, and use all painted toys with caution. Seriously, it is a scary lead-world out there. It's nearly impossible to keep up with all of the recalls, but try to avoid toys made it China and do some research (if you can find the time!)

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Yarn Along

Joining in with Ginny at Small Things for this week's Yarn Along.
Hooray! I have finally finished Phoebe's baby shorts from Debbie Bliss' Essential Baby. They took way longer than they should have. They came out cute, however, I made the 6-9 month size, which is what Phoebe currently wears and they are huge. I mean, if she wasn't wearing a cloth diaper, you could fit two of her in there. I was a little disappointed that I was finishing them at the end of summer, but I honestly think they may still fit her next summer. Todd keeps joking that Finn could wear them. They aren't that big, but they are defnitely not 6-9 month size....
So, I have now finally cast-on for the first section of Phoebe's sweater! I am knitting the crossover top, also from Debbie Bliss' Essential Baby. This is my first time knitting a sweater, so I am a little bit nervous and a whole lot overwhelmed. The pressure is on to finish before she is too big for it!! We are headed on a road trip this weekend and I am hoping to make some progress then. Otherwise, these days I am too exhausted by the end of the day to do much knitting...
I am still reading The Help for my mama's book club am loving it. Wished I had more time the past week, but we have had a LOT going on. (Explanations for that it some later posts). I am about halfway through and hope to finish it up this week. I am also almost finished with The Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr ... just one more chapter to go. I will do a write up of my thoughts in the near future.

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Adventures in Sewing.....

One of my summer goals this year was to sew something from a pattern. You know, a "real" pattern.... the kind you buy at the fabric store. I had bought a few patterns earlier this summer when they were having a $0.99 sale, and so a couple of weeks ago, I sat down, opened one up and got ready to begin. Until I realized that I did not have the faintest clue how to read the pattern. It was written in some sort of secret sewing code that I apparently can not understand. Then I realized that unless I wanted to cut the pattern into pieces and mutilate it so that it could never be used again, I didn't even know how to get the pattern onto my fabric (rookie!). I eventually did some research and got that part figured out, but was still completely overwhelmed by how to approach this pattern business.
So what did I do? Did I stick it through and give it a try? Did I call a sewing-guru friend for help? Nope. I signed up for a sewing class through the community college that I teach at (so the class will be free for me). It starts at the end of the month, and I will patiently wait until someone can explain how these things work before I try and tackle it on my own.
In the meantime, I tried to prove to myself that I didn't really need a pattern anyways, and could totally whip up a cute dress for Miss P on my own, pattern-free. So, instead of sitting down with a pattern, I sat down with my imagination to stick it to those pattern writers.
And, I made a dress. It looks pretty cute, but doesn't exactly fit the way I had intended... it was supposed to be sleeveless, and instead has sort of capped sleeves. The armholes are also a bit too tight. But it fits. And I didn't have to stress out trying to de-code a pattern. Yet.

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Fed Up! A Review

I recently finished watching Fed Up!, an hour-long movie about our food system and what is so wrong about it. This movie is a bit outdated (2002), but even so, it does a great job at summing up the history behind the Green Revolution and the start of genetically modified foods.
The Green Revolution was the introduction of high yielding dwarf varieties (of corn, wheat and other large commodities) all across the globe. The problem with these strains is that the rely heavily on irrigation and chemicals, both of which costs lots of money. So, the good ol' World Bank gave out lots of loan in the poor countries to get them started with these high yielding varieties. And although a lot more mouths are maybe being fed, a lot of bad things have happened as well. Water in these countries has been destroyed from the chemical pesticides and fertilizers that run into them, leading to health problems in the humans who drink the water. Diversity has been drastically decreased and countries now rely on crops that were not even in their original diets. Also, and maybe most importantly, the poorest farmers have now been thrown out of the system, as they do not have the ability to pay for irrigation and chemicals. In essence, the film states that really, this "revolution" was an antidote to social change... it was a way to prevent the people from thinking for themselves. I'm not sure I agree entirely with that, but I sure do think it was a good way for those chemical companies to get rich. Very, very rich.
The original pesticides that were developed for use on our food were simply modified forms of nerve gas used in WWII. Who ever thought that was OK? And all of these high yielding strains required pesticides to grow properly, along with heaps of fertilizers. More money for the chemical companies. Additionally, to "efficiently" grow these high-yielding varieties, farmers started to grow monocultures. this made farming easier and it seemed to be more productive. However, according to the film, large monocultures yield only $21 per acre per year, while  small, diverse farm yields over $1,000 per acre per year. How can this be, you ask? Why would farmers switch to monocultures and make so much less? The answer is subsidies! You can make $21 per acre on your corn harvest, but the government will pay you a subsidy to grow that corn so that you can still make a profit. But do we need that corn? That un-edible corn? No, of course not. But we will feed it to animals and make corn syrup out of it so that you can keep growing your monoculture and messing up the environment. Sound like a deal?
The film also talks quite a bit about genetically modified foods (GMOs). They touch on all the big issues like safety regulation and contamination, the fact that these foods have not been tested before hitting grocery store shelves, and that these foods are not labeled so there is no traceability.
This movie, even though out-dated, is worth a watch. I am going to show it to my class next term, because it does a great job in summing up the Green Revolution and GMOs in an hour, and it is entertaining to boot. Pin It Now!

This Moment...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual.  A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama 

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Reducing My Impact: A Year-Long Adventure. Month 5- Reducing Our Use of Plastic

For my year-long adventure I have been choosing one thing each month to focus on and have been trying to make changes that will reduce my impact on our Earth. August's challenge didn't go so well, so let's hope I can make up for it this month.....The month of September will be focused on changing my relationship with plastic. Plastic is important. It saves lives, it is durable, its use is convenient. But come on people! Plastic is everywhere! It is bad for our health, bad for the planet, clogging up landfills and oceans, and we are using our ever-depleting stores of fossil fuels to create the stuff. Enough already. Starting now, I am vowing to use less if it.And,.. this is not an easy challenge. Sometimes, in one of the classes I teach, I offer an extra credit challenge for people to go 1 week without purchasing ANY new plastic (yeah, even stuff wrapped in plastic). And, when I give this challenge, I often undertake it myself. It is hard, takes planning, and makes you look like a weirdo when in public.
I am not going to go plastic free, however, I am going to try and reduce what I do use. Here are my ideas:

1.  Make my own cloth (ziploc) bags. I already do wash and reuse the plastic bags I have, but over time they deteriorate, and I end up buying a box every year or so. If I make my own, I will rarely have to use the plastic ones and they will last me a much longer time. Plus they will be way cuter.
2.  Buy glass tupperwares (and/or more jars) and use this for food storage. I will give away most of my plastic ones, but will save a few for traveling and camping (when glass isn't such a great idea).
3. I will stop buying shampoo in shampoo bottles. I will now search out a source for bulk shampoo or will buy bar shampoo
4. I will make sure to remember my muslin bags for produce and bulk items (or bring my already used plastic ones).  I will not take new plastic produce or bulk bags! And, while I am at bag making, I will make more so there are always plenty to go around.
5. I will try to purchase less convenience food (like pre-made humus and salsa) and suck it up and make my own. It's cheaper and healthier anyways.... Also, purchasing less convenience food in general that has plastic in the packaging. Like snack foods, crackers, etc. I shouldn't really be eating this stuff anyways, so maybe this will help me eat healthier.

I know this will be a challenge, but I think I have set reasonable goals for myself for this month (or at least I hope I have!)


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