Today is ...

Today is the first day of Fall or rather the Sun is directly above the equator and the autumn equinox will occur in North America at 11:09 tonight EST (according to Coordinated Universal Time). That maybe a wonderfully glorious event in the heavens, its hard to know from here.

From where I sit this day is much like the one before it, which in retrospect may prove to be Divine with time. With time I will set aside that frustrating conversation with a not so attentive customer service representative who clearly had a hearing comprehension issue. Its hard for me to blame her, now that twenty minutes have past, I have come to terms with the notion that I too often do not comprehend what other people say. I offer answers to questions they didn't ask in an effort to speed things along for my own comfort.

We have sped things along through the summer, those unbearably hot days of August, and now autumn has arrived to slow us down and change the leaves and rob us of sunlight and bring us bright orange pumpkins. I don't have a lot of fall specific memories, boring days formally spent in classrooms and now in an office building. Even so I have a great fondness for the Fall. The weather will soon require a jacket to be warn, which in itself is always exciting - that kind of thing doesn't last very long where I live so the novelty never seems to fade.

Enviromentalist Rant

It really is summer isn't it? Through all the financial foils of last weekend I will admit that the weather was some of the best I have ever experienced in Texas and July. I guess it was wind left over from the hurricane that hit just 700 miles south of where we were. The air felt more like May than July. It was nice. Imagine my disappointment then, this weekend when I found that July had returned and brought all of the swampland humidity along with it. I know those in the North look forward to these months. I caved, like I always do and turned my thermostat down to 78.



My daughter's Aunt Bea was with us again. She is a charming 13 year old who loves to dress in black. Goth is all fine and good, but don't tell me you are hot if jeans and long sleeve shirt are you summer look. "Bea you can either have the look or the comfort, and you have made the wrong choice I'm afraid." I guess I shouldn't blame the kid. So much of our lives down here are lived in refrigerators. I keep a jacket in my office so I won't freeze to death. When I first started working at this firm I took up a bad coffee habit because the worm cup helped me keep my fingers warm enough to type.



I don't get on my environmental high horse often, but there is an alarming disconnect in our lives from what it is we are actually consuming. I know people who recycle their plastics and cans, but think nothing of turning their thermostat so low they require a blanket to watch TV. We want to put a moratorium on drilling in our oceans, but what about those mountains we have stripped in Tennessee? The truth is, most of our electricity in America comes from coal, not oil. Yes, we need to reduce our dependence on plastic, but lets not forget our dependence on strip mining. We come up with all sorts of different concepts to make ourselves feel better, but the simple truth is there is no such think as clean coal. The problem is a huge one, but why not start to tackle the problem one over active air conditioner at a time. Its true that air conditioning saves lives. The threat of heat stroke is very real, but a Goth kid shouldn't be comfortable in their black get up in the middle of a South Texas July. They should be sweating. Their black eye liner should be dripping off their faces. They should be wondering if the rebellion is really worth the pain.



As a side note: I would like to add that I find it really cute how this goth 13 year old comes to our apartment to play board games and watch the Disney Channel. Its too cute, really.

Alex is Landing

On the whole summer days are much too much the same. Bright. Hot. I once read a piece by Mary Oliver in which she claims that weather, the word, comes from the old and ancient word for air, for breath. I imagine then, weather is when Earth breaks from her bright, hot day to speak. I love when her voice low and wispy, but at times she explodes in a thunderous rampage. At times I'm sure my day would be better without weather. Then late at night, rain begins to dance on my window. Its 3 am, but I'm awake and listening the sound of water falling out of the sky. Can you imagine such a thing? An ocean caught by floating cotton balls is making its return to land. The falling ocean will feed the grass, the lavender, ancient oaks, tomatoes and mud pies. Who dreamed up weather? Its rather an ingenious idea.

To the Earth on Her Day

I remember, as a child, dusting off large albums filed with family photographs. I would sit with my mother and listen as she would try and guess just what or who the picture was of. This morning, as I began my post of Earth Day I turned on my computer and scrolled through the images on the screen. I played the same game in my head. Where was that? What year? I have dated the pictures below, but to be honest, anything older than last year I'm not sure of. I'm not testifying to those dates in court.

The second thing I thought of, as I looked at pictures of mountains and animals, and one large tree with thousands of carvings was the manipulation of it all. I love Walt Disney World because of the unrealistic environment it brings us, but at the same time, as I look at those photographs on this Earth Day I couldn't help but morn the way we humans have manipulated the Earth. I might mistake the picture I have of Everest for the real thing, if I didn't already know that it is just a roller coaster made from steal. That Tree of Life? Its concrete. Those leaves are plastic. I decided not to post those images, to instead offer you pictures of real flowers, real animals. I have left one pumpkin. Its real. But it is growing down from the ceiling instead of up from the ground and as you can see, the little guy is earning its ears. Take some time today to remember that we live on a planet filled with more than just buildings, freeways and parking lots.

Epcot, 2007

Backyard, 2008

The Land
Epcot, 2009

China
Epcot, 2009

Animal Kingdom, 2008

Epcot, 2006

Winter is Real (who knew?)

So its April and I am finally getting around to posting my Freeze Yer Buns wrap up. In my defense, this winter has been long. So very, very long. I can count on one hand the number of times 2010 has seen 80 degree weather, and let me tell you folks, here in Texas, that's just not normal. I'm not sure if this winter has been the coldest on record, but it certainly has been the longest. It got colder, sooner than it ever has before with a laughable blizzard in early December, and this morning, APRIL 9, it was 45 degrees! WTF!?! I know, you Northerners are rolling your eyes. You readers in Siberia are staring at mountains of snow and laughing at me. I get it. But I bought socks this year! I bought socks for the first time in over five years because for the first time I was actually having to wear them for anti-frostbite purposes.

For all my whining I have to confess that I'm glad I have lived through a winter. Honestly, as a child I would look chart that pictured all of the seasons, Spring rains, Summer sunshine, autumn brown and red leaves and then this mythical thing called Winter and snow. Winter was always blue and the story books talked of children in snow boots, scarves, hats and mittens. I never quite understood what all of that was about. Winter was cold, but it was not THAT cold and honestly snow in the quantities of 40 foot snow drifts, I was sure, were just tall tales. If I was beginning to identify with Garrison Keillor as he opines about harsh Minnesota when I turned my thermostat down last winter, I can now say that now I at least fully sympathise and I'm quite sure that I never want to completely understand.

There is something that happens to your soul with you are no longer incubated in an temperature controlled environment. Its hard to do much when you are freezing. With a sweatshirt, socks and rolled up in a warm blanket, its hard to be enthusiastic about much of anything aside from cooking in front of the warm stove. Still, I feel as though all of that hardship means that I rightfully earned Spring. Last Sunday evening I sat at the kitchen table with Alex, windows open, to let in the cool fresh air and sounds of the city. It would be more romantic to say we were serenaded by the sound of crickets as we played a game of cheese, but the truth is we listened to freeway traffic and police sirens as we played Care Bear checkers. Either way it was liberating to be barefoot in shorts and listen to Alex laugh and say, "my lips hurt from smiling."

Homemade Holidays

I made shortbread last night. (Hold your applause.)

I started making it at 9:30. Mixing, kneading and rolling out the dough took me about 30 minutes. Then 20 minutes in the fridge. Then 40 minutes to cook. Then 1 hour to cool. I ended up falling asleep during the cooling stage while I was watching The Little Couple.

The Little Couple is a reality show on TLC that follows the lives of 2 little people who are married. They seem like nice people, but they live incredibly boring lives in Houston. If I wanted to watch two people play catch in Herman Park, I could go to Herman Park, but in this particular episode they were house hunting in Rice Village (a really nice part of town) and I wanted to see the inside of the houses they were going to look at. Sadly, the show was sooo boring that I fell asleep sometime during their "pre-house hunting" dinner at CiCi's Pizza. Why were two grown people with no children eating at CiCi's Pizza? Why are they eating there when they live on Allen Parkway, right next to some of the coolest restaurants in town?

Anyway, by the time I tasted the shortbread, it was 1:30 in the morning. I thought the texture was off. The taste, while not bad, felt like I needed to eat it with a beverage (i.e. tea or coffee). It was just a nibble though. I had just woken up. It was 1:30 in the morning and I was also thinking.. crap I have to clean. I am going to taste it again tonight when I have a clear head. The only thing I changed from the recipe was that I sprinkled the top with only 1 Tbs of sugar instead of 2. So something to think about when I taste it... "does it need more sugar next time?" I am already changing the way I cut it. I did wedges as per the instructions, but for giving away purposes, (which is the whole idea behind the shortbread,) I will do squares next time. I plan to give part of this batch to close friends who won't begrudge the odd texture and less sugar. I figure if the second tasting goes well, I'll make it one more time for everyone else.

Something I didn't realize before I made it. Shortbread is basically just flour, butter and sugar. Yum.

Homemade Report

I made a gift for my punk rocker nephew. If I had it together I would post a picture. As it is, you'll just have to use your vivid imagination. I took an old vinyl record and pained a handicap parking sign on it. But instead of HANDICAP PARKING, it says... GOOD TIMES.

BACK STORY: My nephew decided to celebrate the start of the summer after his high school graduation by going to a party and jumping off the roof of a two story house and into a swimming pool. Only he didn't land in the swimming pool (missed by less than an inch). He broke several bones in his left foot and shattered the heal. He also broke his right wrist for good measure.

We aren't a particularly sensitive family. We like to poke fun of you when you are down. Honestly I wasn't sure if it was that funny of an idea at first, but when Alex saw it she laughed.

Now, I have to figure out what to do for my country loving nephew who is a card carrying member of the NRA.

I put off taking this challenge because. Yes because. Who wants anything that I make by hand? You can click on the icon and it will take to Chrunchy's challenge page. Read the comments... they are all a variation of "Yes, of course! I knit/sew everything by hand anyway. Maybe this year I'll make my own thread." My level of enthusiasm isn't there. I don't knit or sew. I can bake and make crafty things that involve paint, paper and glue. So you'll understand if I still have a healthy level of doubt about my ability to really stick to my 75% homemade pledge.

Why take it at all then? I started thinking, trying to envision what I would do for everyone. What can make for my 18 year old punk rocker nephew that he would actually enjoy? I haven't got a clue. But for the first time in years I am actually thinking about people's gifts. This the end of the card/cash cop-out. Do teenagers appreciate thought as much as cash?

And why so early? There are only 10 weekends between now and Christmas. Its chrunch time.

Not Musings on Fall

I really am trying not to rejoice that Fall is here. Its not. We still have another 21 days until we can cross the first day of Fall off our calenders. It isn't even time to stop wearing white. Still, as I have walked Gryffindor the past two mornings and felt that slight chill in the air, I can't help but get excited.

I'm not a gardener. I don't have a yard and even if I did I can't pretend that I would spend much time in it. So I feel the change in seasons not in what I plant, but in temperature. That's hard to do in Houston. We have hot summers and mild winters. The differences between the temperatures of spring and fall are negligible and usually only last a week or two. Yesterday's high was 91. A cool front.

One of the best things I have done for my soul has been to turn up my A/C and turn down my heater. When I spend all day in a 75 degree climate controlled room its hard to remember that life is happening outside. So even though its not yet fall. I celebrate. I celebrate that I have turned the ceiling fan in my living room off. I celebrate that I have moved my couch back. I celebrate that I have opened up my windows. Its not Fall, but I can feel it coming.

It's that time of year again...

Staying cool... Pool Side
Polynesian Resort, Walt Disney World
by Katy 2008

... Summer. It may not officially be summer just yet, but today our high is suppose to be 90 and that is hot enough for me to start thinking about staying cool. Last year I went all summer with my A/C set to 80. This year I am bumping it up to 83. I would turn it off entirely, but I have a dog that stays home all day and daughter that I love dearly and I don't want either of them to have a heat stroke.

So how do I stay cool? Last year I basically just keep the fans going (thank God for old apartments and lots of ceiling fans). This year I am adding a new technique I read over on No Impact Man's blog. That is keeping my windows and blinds closed during the day to keep the heat from the sun out. Sound odd doesn't it? But in the name of staying cool I am willing to give almost anything a try. So this week I have been keeping the blinds closed during the day (I used to crack them open to give my dog some light). I can honestly say that I have noticed a difference. NIM probably doesn't do this, but I still keep one ceiling fan going during the day. Houston is so humid that the air in any space can get heavy and gross when there isn't any circulation going.

My hope is the A/C won't kick on until at least July. Let's see how well we do...

Happy Earth Day!

Disney's Animal Kingdom
Walt Disney World, 2008

photo by Katy

It has been a while since I posted something about the enviroment. I could write a post about what I did to give Alex a non-consumption, earth friendly(ish) birthday party. But my mind feels like mush. It has felt like mush since ... forever. I'm finding it really hard to form fully articulated thoughts at the moment. I'll be back later.

Okay. The Challenge officially started on Sunday. Full disclosure... I took Chruncy's advise and emptied my cabinets of things that had gone bad so as to have clean slate.

What I got ride of...

The last drops of Milk that expired on 1/28. (It was still in the fridge because I only take the trash out once a week).

Half of a mushroom. I don't know why I didn't just cook the whole mushroom. Who knows what I thought I had been saving it for.

The last of some left over couscous. I'm a couscous fan, but like I said, not a huge left over person.

That's it... Clean slate.

So far the only things that I have wasted are the two frozen waffles I popped in the toaster for me and Alex on Monday. Before hurrying out the door with out them. By Tuesday morning they were hard as rocks. There was no way I was going to save them. So they became my first casualties of the challenge.

On a side note, for the record, I'm only counting me in this challenge. My daughter is not an eater. World hunger would end if I could give all her left overs away. It is impossible to cook for her. After 9 years I have thrown up the white flag. She eats what she eats and the rest is tossed. So I'm not going to count her because it would make me look really bad.

Alright.. now on with the Challenge!

Waste Not...

Crunchy Chicken is hosting this challenge next month. When I first read her post I wasn't going to join. It just "wasn't my thing." I don't let food go bad. (Generally speaking). I'm not saying that I am some kind of food saint, I simply don't have the income that allows me to spend $7.89 on chicken, so I can watch it go bad in my fridge.

I do, however have a confession to make.... I don't do left overs. I'm just not a fan. There are exceptions to this rule. Like soup. Mac and Cheese. Rice. Thanksgiving turkey. Dressing. ... okay, maybe there are only five exceptions to that rule. I just don't like eating things that look gross. To me, cold chicken generally looks gross. Cold green beans... gross. Cold spaghetti sauce... disgusting

I'm not going to try to justify my aversion to left overs. I realize that it is, mostly, unfounded. Reheated spaghetti sauce taste just as good the second time. Why not reheat those green beans that were frozen to begin with?

So I am on the band wagon. I am going to challenge my fear.

(Did you know that there is no "scientific name for "Fear of left overs"? At least non that google could efficiently find.)

That house is worth WHAT!?!

Alex decided she wants a doll house for Christmas. My gut reaction was no. She's 9. How long is she going to play with it? Not to mention the amount of space that we don't have that kind of thing will take up. Still, she really wanted one. After looking at Doll house options I came to several conclusions:

1. All doll houses are expensive.
2. People selling dollhouses on Craig's list need a reality check.
3. New Wooden doll houses are expensive
4. Wooden doll house kits are even more expensive and don't always include everything.

Just when I was thinking that I would turn to my local Freecyclers and start going to garage sales, I thought of something.

My friend Nursecurlylocks has a doll house. She doesn't have a kid. By the time her bun in the oven is old enough to play with the doll house with outchocking on the furniture, Alex will be in middle school. So the best of all worlds has happened.

1. Alex is getting a doll house for Christmas.
2. It will cost me next to nothing. (some furniture/dolls might need replacing)
3. It already has a home to go to when Alex grows up.
4. Nursecurlylocks gets ride of a chocking hazard for a few years.

It doesn't get any more sustainable than that!

Here we are. Another changing of the seasons. Another challenge from good old Chrunchy!

So we were challenged to keep the A/C up in the summer. Now that winter is inching our way, the challenge is to keep that heater colder. In fact. I am going to try to never turn the heater on.

Now to be honest, I'm in south Texas. Even though our A/C is completely off at this point, we are still using our ceiling fans to make our space livable. Still, I'm afraid that It will snow this year because I made the no heater pledge. So I'm leaving in a loop-hole. In freezing weather...(I mean real freezing not Houston freezing) I will turn my heater on, but it will not go higher than 58 degrees.


If you want to sign up too.. go to Chrunchy's site... http://crunchychicken.blogspot.com/2008/10/freeze-yer-buns-challenge-2008.html

See what other people are doing!

Greening the Office

Main Ceremonial House

Polyensiane Resort,

Walt Disney World 2008

So Hines (the owners of the building my office is in) have decided to go green. Yeah!

The good thing about this is that they are recycling two things that have been hard for me to get ride of at home ... aluminum cans and plastic bottles. While that is good for me and my house, I am still wondering what that helps here at the office. Why? Because there are not a lot of bottles of water and canned drinks floating around this place. Every floor has a fountain drink machine. In our firm you can find almost any kind of soda you could imagine. That means most thinking people don't bother with bring canned drinks from home. There is no need for bottled water.

Another recent change has been going from plastic forks, knives and spoons to compostable ones. That's a great step in the right direction. But so far, I have not seen a compost bin anywhere. I don't think it helps to have compostable cutlery if it is just going to end up in a plastic trash bag in a landfill.

I am really starting to think that there is some kind tax break for offering these things. Here are some green ideas, that might actually be useful...

1) have reusable glasses and mugs available in the coffee bars.
2) have a compost bin in the lunch room.
3) turn up the A/C we won't need to wear jackets and sweaters in July.

Non Consumer Confesstional #3

So I didn't confess last week....

I have been slamed at work. And thanks to one VERY self-absorbed lawyer who can't seem to head out of his ass it was not only busy, but stressful. I hardly ever get stressed at work. I'm the one who doesn't take things personally. Well, not this week. And while I still don't take it personally, I was personally drawn into the drama.

So all that to excuess the fact that I ate out last week. A lot. I won't go day by day, it will be too depressing, but...

I bought lunch 5 times. I bought dinner 6 times.

I used my target gift card to get containors for my recycling. (Previously I had just been using old boxes, but my recycling was startign to look like a trash heep so I decided to clean it up).

I also used the gift card to get an easy listening jazz CD. Because I need something suthing to listen to while I read and siped some wine after the week I had.

Then Sunday, my mom convenced me to go with my sister to Spring. It's an old town filled with shopes that are filled with antiques and a small variouity of other usless objucts. I did, however find two metal signs. They were half off. I didn't want to buy them. I had to.

Then Monday came. We didn't have any food (we went to the store Monday night). I wrote a $20 check for Alex to have money in her lunch account this year.

So that is it.

As a pre-convesstional,
I am about to pay for Alex to get her:
school shirt,
directory,
sticker,
yearbook and
kooze.
I will also pay her...
$15 school chior dues,
$10 class fund,
and my $5 PTA dues.

And while I am checking the bottom of my purse for coins, I will also pay to reserve the town car that is going to pick us up from the airport next month when we go to DISNEY WORLD!!!!

I'm glad this month is over.

Buy NOTHING Confesstional Week 2

I think I might have mad a D.

I'm not doing great... not horrible either though.

August 6

We went to Bible Study so I donated money towards the food we ate, but it was all homemade salad stuff. Oh, and then Alex and I got Ice Cream on our way home.

August 7

NOTHING!

August 8

My brain was fried from work. My last good work friend came and told me he was quiting on Monday. I left with a huge project hanging over my head. I caved. Alex and I bought dinner at the mall. BUT that's all we got at the Mall.

August 9

It was my Aunt's birthday and my mom was taking her out to lunch. I hardly ever get to see her. They were eating at this really cute tea room. So I went. I didn't buy the meal though, my mom did. Does that not count against me?

August 10

My whole family went to lunch at this great Greek Restaurant. My sister works for the Company that owns it so she paid for a lot of it. I did chip in though so that's a strike against me. Also, I volunteered at a Farmer's market. I bought soap because I need something that lathers for when I shave my legs (since Alex used my expensive Dr. Bronner's Shaving gel as bubble bath), and I bought a hand made bib and burp cloth for my cousin for when she has her baby shower.

August 11

Do to being an idiot and not setting my alarm right, I woke up late this morning. Then I set the microwave wrong and fried Alex's lunch (spaghetti O's) so I had to heat up the soup I was going to take for me and give it to her. Since we didn't get to go to the store this weekend and was running late, I am going to have to buy lunch (with a gift card). Tonight I will buy real food, I promise.

Buy NOTHING Confesstional week 1

I flunked.

How did I do for the first 5 days of August? Horrible.

Let's see.

August 1
I bought some groceries which don't count, but then I let my sister talk me into eating the pizza she picked up on the way over.

August 2
My house warming. It was really a lot of fun and I loved seeing everyone who came. I also loved all the food my friends made/brought so I didn't buy anything that day.

August 3
This is a little more dicey. I didn't buy the food, but my sister did (no, not the pizza one, the other one, the Sonic one).

August 4
I don't know if was the threat of death brought on by approaching tropical storm Eduardo or what, but I bought a lot that day.

• Thank you notes for the party (I don't know that I count those because the proceeds go to cancer research)
• A parking space at the medical center (that might not count since it was a medical thing)
• lunch - in order to kill time and avoid going into work I stopped and ate lunch. I ate it there, I didn't use any throw away things, still I ate out.
• I took Alex to Build-a-Bear. She made a bear she doesn't need and we got it pajama's and an outfit it doesn't need. I know. She keeps asking and I just wanted to do something fun since I hate my job so much right now.
• We ate in the food court. I know. I ate out twice in one day for no reason.
• We went to the movie and saw Wall-E. That movie rocks! I immediately felt bad about everything I had just done.

August 5

That was a good day for me. I guess it was because of the tropical storm that hit. (Or didn't). I did drive into work because I didn't want risk being stranded downtown. Other than that the only thing I bought was milk.

Buy Nothing

Okay, I just joined cruchey's buy nothing challenge.

Here are the rules:

• No new clothes
  
• No new gadgets
  
• No new furniture or housewares
  
• No salon services (except haircuts)
  
• No new makeup
  
• No new tools
  
• No whatever the hell else people buy
  
• No eating out (!)

I can live with out a lot of these. I just bought new makeup from my mom. I need a hair cut, but I never get anything else done to myself. I can't remember the last time I bought a gadget. I have all the furniture I need and people are giving me housewares. Tools are not high on my "want list" and well, I need to stop buying random crap anyway. I only anticipate two problems: no new clothes, and no eating out.

The last one is big for our family. I was raised eating out at least once a week. In recent years our family had fallen into eating out at least 4 times a week and now that I have moved out that is probably still the rule. No, we don't eat out every night. Tuesday is girls night out so we eat out with my mom. Then well, I don't really cook that much on the weekends. So yeah, big life style change ahead.

That leads into the first big probalem, new clothes. I am not a close hore. I hate shoping for clothes and I only get sick of looking at everything in my closet once a year. That is usally cured by me buying one or two new shirts, maybe some slacks. Alex on the other hand. She's a kid. Kids grow. A lot and often. She is going to need new shorts and jeans for school. So I guess this will be the frist time I take her to a thrift store to buy stuff. I'll have to report back on how that goes.