The Gamble Life

Choices: OJ

So, on the theory that everything we do is a choice I'm trying to make more conscious choices and decisions.  And one area that I am focusing on is plastic consumption.  I remember when ketchup first started showing up in plastic bottles and I remember thinking "wow, this is great because if you drop it there is no mess."  It's true there are some immediate advantages to plastic, but whenever I think about what the plastic out there is doing to our world I feel so sick and sad.  I wish we could go back in time and re-do our plastic decisions.

Which leads me to trying to see the plastic in my home and choose when and where I let it in.  We drink orange juice with our breakfast every morning.  For a long time I've been buying the Tropicana paper cartons (they come in a four-pack at Costco) but started feeling guilty about how much space they take up in the trashcan.  So then I started alternating with a big plastic jug.  Then I realized that "recycling" in the context of plastic is just not all that great a solution.  Not just because so much plastic isn't actually recyclable or doesn't get recycled but because even that plastic that is recycled isn't made into the same type of item.  So my juice jug, unlike a glass one, isn't made into another juice jug, it's made into a lawn chair or something that is not further recyclable.  I guess what I'm saying is the plastic still ends up as permanent trash at the end of the day.

Above are my choices for orange juice (other than not drinking it which is a definite option, but not one I want to choose right now):  squeeze my own (although Whole Foods packs its oranges in these annoying plastic bags much of the time), carton, and plastic jug, and not pictured is frozen concentrate (which I grew up drinking, but since I shop at Whole Foods mostly I haven't seen (they only have some crazy fancy expensive frozen concentrates at Whole Foods, no just plain orange juice)).

I don't know if the paper carton can by recycled or composted.  I've sent an email to Tropicana asking them what it's made out of.  The plastic carton I will not be buying again; we'll give up regular orange juice first.  I love fresh-squeezed OJ, who doesn't, but with two little boys I don't think that is going to be an every day event around here.  So I'm either going to have to go to another store and find concentrate (I do not like shopping at more than one store) or stick with the cartons.  This is a lot of thought over one little decision--but I feel like plastic has crept into our lives so insidiously and now it's everywhere.  It's going to take a lot of though and consciousness before we can fix our plastic problem.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful, peaceful day in which to give thanks.  Our day could not have been better unless we could have spent it with more family.  Still, I'm so grateful for my little family here and the nice Thanksgiving we had together.  A few favorite scenes from our day (including Abe's (the baby) first Thanksgiving, a very delicious pumpkin puree, rice cereal, and prune puree); we weren't able to go on our traditional Turkey Trot run, but did get in a very nice and long walk on the trails around our house.

Shifting Green

Thanksgiving this week!  Christmas just a month later!  This is such an exciting time, and for me even more so because my older son is so very excited about it all.  It's so easy to get drawn in to the excess of the season right along with the joys of the season.  How to avoid that?

Thanksgiving seems easy, especially since we are not traveling and we're going to go low-key on the big dinner.  I'm making our Thanksgiving day meal (just as I make most of our meals), but it's simple and we're going with a chicken, not a turkey.  We've already decorated.

Christmas is coming though!

 

I love Christmas, the decorations, the treats, the presents (I really love the presents!), the food, the music, all of it, I really love it.  But...I want to keep it happy and calm and homey and not stressful at all.  We will be traveling, staying with our parents, compromising, balancing, but I think we can do all that and still have a wonderful, peaceful, fun time.  I think we enjoy to excess and not consume to excess.  

Is important to me to keep moving forward with my efforts to use less, even at Christmas.  I don't want the holiday to be an excuse to over-indulge, be it food or stuff.

Here are my plans:

1. I'll wrap all the presents we give in drawings my son does or in newspaper instead of non-recyclable wrapping paper.

2. I'll make as many presents as I can that I truly believe the recipients will want.  I don't want to give  a bunch of handmade stuff no one actually wants.  

3. I'm using the best, natural materials for our Christmas crafts and projects (wool felt, cotton yarn, leaves from the yard).  Beth over at Fake Plastic Fish has had a huge impact on my life.  I'm still

4. I'm including thinking about others in our Christmas (I personally love Heifer International).

5. I'm going to keep the focus on our friends and family, especially the ones we don't get to see often enough, and work hard on remembering to let the little annoyances slide.  Keeping the focus on people, keeps the focus off of things.

Last, but SO NOT LEAST:

6. I'll be skipping the day after Christmas shop-till-you-drop splurge.  Sure, it's fun and it's kind of a tradition for my mom and I but I really don't need anything.  So unless there is something specific that I've decided on in advance and know I will love and/or use I'm going to find something else to do other than shop.  Maybe my mom and I can start a new day-after-Christmas tradition:  going out for a special coffee, a pedicure, or a movie together. 

A Week for Thanksgiving

I have so many things to do this week!  I want to finish my Socktoberfest socks (one to go), but first I am going to make a gratitude book for my family.  I bought the paper, now I just need to settle on the design (I'm thinking an accordion fold book, because I think it would look nice opened and displayed on future Thanksgivings), and make it.  This is going to be a book in which we write or draw some of the things we are thankful for on Thanksgiving day.  Something for us to add to each year and hopefully cherish for years and years to come.

Which reminds me of a dilemma I face now, as a mother of two, do I need to make two Thanksgiving books?  There are several things I do in duplicate now, for example, I keep a journal for each child that is just about the child and what's happening in their life and in our family.  I have one for each boy even though sometimes what I write in one is similar to what I write in the other.  These are not for them to read now, they are for them to read later, when I'm dead or at least a lot older.  But it would be strange to have separate Thanksgiving books.  And it feels contrived and weird to make two identical ones; I think that would start to feel like a chore.  I'm an only child so I've never had to wonder "will I get to keep that cherished photo/book/thing?" because there won't be anyone else to want it as much as I do.  How does this work?  Is it likely that one of them will want the Thanksgiving book and the other won't really care?

I have many other projects I'm working on as well; my older son and I are sewing an advent calendar and it is over half-way done.  I think it's going to be great.  I'll definitely show you pictures.  I'm knitting presents (no time pressure on those...yet).  And...oh yeah, Thanksgiving dinner!  It's easy this year, just the four of us (and the baby doesn't get to eat any) and we're substituting a chicken for the turkey.  We'll still do our favorite sides:  horseradish carrots, mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, stuffing, pumpkin pie (from pumpkins!).  Hmm...I really like corn pudding too, maybe I'll add that in if I have time.

And, in the midst of this, I am trying to make some conscious choices/decisions about my plastic consumption.  I'm taking a fresh look around me as I go through my day and not just making the usual decision because it's what I've always done.  Tomorrow I'll show you one thing I've recently been trying in this regard and our morning OJ. 

So I hope everyone else is looking forward to Thursday with pleasure and enjoying this least commercial of the holidays.  It's such a nice opportunity to slow down and spend good time with those you love while eating all the rich delicious foods we deny ourselves other times of the year.

Model Car

This past weekend we went to a special workshop at our favorite museum, the Museum of Life & Science.  They have a special exhibit up right now, Holiday Springs & Sprockets and the artist was hosting a car building and racing.  We had such a great time!  A favorite friend came too and both boys were so pleased and proud of their cars.

I really love to encourage activities like these, activities that are creative, fun, that have him making independent decisions, that involve a little learning (what makes a car go fast down a ramp, should it be heavy or light?  that kind of thing), some use of recycled materials/junk!

Which reminds me that we are currently LOVING the "Eddie" books by Carolyn Haywood.  These books are old--written 70 or so years ago--and are still so wonderful to read.  The only thing is that Eddie is a real collector of junk, or of "valuable property" as Eddie likes to call it.  So now every time I try to put a bottle in the recycling I have my own little "Eddie" saying "wait!  give that to me, it's valuable property!" and I have to sneak around later and throw away a bunch of junk!  These are chapter books and really enjoyable read aloud to the 5 year old.  If you've got one at home, or might in a few years, check out these books, I think you'll like them.

 

 

Saturday Scenes

I've been spending miserable hours on hold and repeating myself endlessly with a series of IRS representatives.  It sucks.  All because of mistakes other entities/people made, not us.  And the IRS position is "well, you pay if it's wrong so we'll let you figure it out." 

In search of a little releaf (ha ha, get it?) I decided to go through pictures from the weekend.  All of these are from our backyard.  The trashcan is my homemade compost bin.  Maybe these will bring a moment of peace if you too are having a frustrating morning.

Finished! Zebrafoll!

I started this sweater when I found out I was pregnant last year.  Ahem.  In my defense though, I can't knit much while pregnant because I develop carpul tunnel.  Still.  The baby gets the fringe and the adorable pants.  Big brother gets the pared-down version (which fits like a dream!).  By the way, I am a fan of the matching outfits for siblings, but this wasn't my idea.  After he saw me working on the baby's sweater he insisted I make him one too.

Now on to new knitting projects!

A Stretchy Kiss

While we were in Austin our friend Eric took us to the landfill (where he works) to see the animals that live there.  The owners of the landfill have some animals from defunct zoos and stuff like that.  Stretch and Eric have a special relationship.

Knitting: Stars

I'd been planning to participate in a swap with a them of "stars" and planned to knit and sew up five of these knitted stars (pattern found here).  I knew it was going to be the kind of knitting I'm not overly fond of:  lots of little pieces that have to be sewn together.  But, I was excited about the swap and thought it would be fun and I had some traveling to do, so it was okay knitting for that. 

The knitting was fine, but I just do not like sewing up enough.  I made one.  It hangs proudly in my kitchen window and I quite like here.  Here are the other four knitted stars:

 

Perhaps I'll sew them together someday.  For now they live in a bag at the bottom of my knitting drawer.  Knitting is a hobby, why force myself to finish them if it won't be any fun?

Book Review: Apples and Oranges

Apples and Oranges: My Brother and Me, Lost and Found by Marie Brenner

 

My review

  rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is one of those books I picked up off the "new books" shelves at the library because I liked the cover.  It's a memoir, sort of, more of an exploration of the author's relationship with her brother taken through his cancer, her career, their family history, and his apple orchards. 

It took awhile for me to get into the book, but once I did I quite enjoyed it.  The writing has a stream of consciousness style to it, although since she is a journalist I'm sure it's all very intentional and edited. 

Even though the story has quite sad parts and even though you see them coming (early in the book she says "I could never have written this book while my brother was alive.") I found the book to be optimistic and hopeful.  I don't have siblings, but I do have difficult relatives (who doesn't) and this book is a wonderful reminder to try and understand and accept those difficult people in our lives, to try and bridge the gaps between us and them, so that we can enjoy all the good things they bring to our lives.  

View all my reviews.