Hello out there

I’ll bet you guys though that when I lost my job that I’d be blogging more often.  Well, so did I.  But instead I’ve been spending more time playing with my son, hanging out with the Holistic Moms and pursuing some of my hobbies, such as cooking, crafting, reading and spending time outdoors.  Its been a very fulfilling lifestyle, and I wish it could last forever.

But, I know its not going to.  As we speak, I’m applying for a seasonal night time job and applying to go back to college next semester to finish my bachelors in environmental science.  Or I might change my major, considering that I don’t really intend to make a career out of anything I can major in at the Metropolitan State College of Denver.

I also really want to keep this blog active so I can share with the world what I’m doing now in my newer, better life.  I am probably getting out of the Army in January and I’m moving on to bigger and better things.  I am grateful for everything that the Army has given to me, but for this Soldier, it is time to move on.

I’m working very hard on a home made Christmas.  I have to be even more strict about it this year because my income has dropped so dramatically.  I’m also scouring Freecycle, and hopefully putting to good use what I learned last year in my first attempt at a Freecycle Christmas.

I’m trying to get more involved in community activities and I’m doing a lot of interviews for doula work.  I expect to be certified within the next six months.  I’m moving forward with my midwifery training, and feeling really good about the present.

I look forward to sharing all of this with you again!

Big Sale on Kids Gear in Denver this Weekend!

Check it out!

The end of civilization as we know it

So my holistic moms group has been all atwitter (is atwitter one word or two? atwitter? a twitter?) about this speech given by Dmitry Orlov February 13, 2009, at Cowell Theatre in Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, to an audience of 550 people, called Social Collapse Best Practices or (as the Organic Consumers Association titled it) Getting Prepared for the Great Collapse.  I thought I’d share it with you.

What do you think of this?  Do you think its possible?  Or, more accurately, do you think it’s likely?  What if something like this does happen?  What will you and your family do?

Personally, there is a part of me (the part that likes action movies) that actually looks forward to this possible future.  But then theres a part of me (the part that gets sad when faceless, nameless characters in action movies die) that hates the idea of the senseless violence mentioned here.  Could I be a squatter, if need be?  Yes.  Could I claim a peice of ignored land to set up a community farm?  Yes.  Could I run an establishment like the health clinic mentioned in this speech?  Oh certainly yes (I’ve begun looking into midwifery training, by the way).  Could I have a donkey.  Yeah, that would be cool.  But could I hire a mentally unstable former cop or Soldier to commit violent acts on my behalf to intimidate people who get in my way?  I’m not down with that.

What do you think?  And what are you doing to protect yourself in this economy?

No Christmas Gifts This Year

In my effort to have a greener, less consumerist Christmas, I am scaling back on presents.  I’m not eliminating presents, but I’m scaling back quite a bit.  I mentioned my digital cook book idea (its a Word document with a collection of recipes in it, Breakfast, Appetizers, Entrees, Desserts, etc) which I’ll be emailing out to friends near and far as a free but thoughtful gift.  But maybe I want to do a little something more for them?  Maybe I want to give a gift of experience.

Enter No Christmas Gifts This Year, an e-card service that gives you the opportunity to give a friend or loved one a gift of experience of their choosing, for free.  The recipient gets the ecard and chooses from a variety of activites listed in the card.  What they choose is what you’re obligated to give them for a present.  Activites listed include “Learn a new skill”, “Play at the park” and “Cook a meal”.

I think I’ll be adding this to my gift arsenal this year.

Finding Local Food and products

I’m a big fan of buying local.  Part of it is because I believe I live in the best place in the world, and therefore all products that come from my local area must also be the best.  I also believe that everyone should believe this about the place where they live.  Unless you live in Newark, NJ.  (Okay, that’s probably only funny to me, and maybe a few of the dudes I was deployed with who were from Newark.  Its just a joke though, seriously.)

But not everyone knows where the nearest farmers market or u-pick farm is, so here are a couple of resources to help you find them.

Local Harvest

Farm Fresh

Pick Your Own

Lets review about local products, if you aren’t familiar with the benefits.

There is a lot of debate about whether its best to buy local or organic, as far as health and environment are concerned.  I think every one can agree, however, that if you can find and afford products that are both local and organic, that would be ideal.  I don’t know which is better, they both have their pros and cons.  It might actually end up being a wash, organic has just as many benefits as local does, the benefits are just different.  What I do know is that local is most often cheaper than produce that was shipped from far away, whether its organic or not, so local is a really great option for me, and probably is for every single mom.

Here are the other benefits of buying local foods and other goods:

• Local products are not shipped very far, thus reducing the amount of fossil fuels burned getting from where it’s produced/farmed to you.
• Local produce and food tastes better, because its picked closer to perfect ripeness and is fresher when you buy it.  Shipped produce is picked well before it is ripe, so that it will ripen (instead of rotting) while it ships, and therefore has less flavor than ripe produce has.
• Local produce and food has higher nutritional value, because its picked closer to perfect ripeness and is fresher when you buy it.  Fresher, riper food has the highest nutritional value.
• Buying local keeps more money in your community, where it is more likely to come back to you either as money, improved local economy, or improved infrastructure within your local community.
• Buying local does more to rescue the national economy than bying stuff that has been shipped a long distance at big box retailers, because most of that money spent at big box retailers actually ends up going to the countries where the products were manufactured (think China).
• Buying local is a great way to immerse yourself and your family in your local community, providing tons of opportunity to meet new people, make new friends, and get a lot of networking done.
• Buying local is a great way to educate your self and your family about where the things you use come from and where the things you use end up.  It helps you to see and really feel part of the big web of life in which we are all entwined.  Its a real eye opener, helps to expand the mind, makes you feel like you’re part of something bigger than yourself, etc., etc.

My ambitious Christmas goal

I, like No Impact Man, consider buying used to be the superior green shopping choice over buying organic or something like that. He and I think so (as if we sat down together to come to this conclusion) because a) buying an unwanted item keeps it out of the landfill, b) buying an already made item keeps resources from being used to produce new items, c) buying used items greatly reduces or eliminates all pollution production, emissions, and energy usage associated with manufacturing and shipping new products, and d) buying used contributes directly to your local economy (unless you’re buying over a long distance through ebay or something, in which case you’re contributing directly to another local economy) by putting money in the pocket of one of your community members or a local non profit organization. Buying used is an even better green option for single moms, because it also happens to be the cheapest green shopping option.

In order to green my holiday season as much as possible, and also to save money for more important things (like paying down debt), I am going to attempt to do all my Christmas shopping in the following locations (in order of preference)

• Freecycle
• Craigslist
• Thrift stores (Goodwill, Arc, Savers, The KGNU second hand shop, etc.)
• The Flea Market
• Higher end second hand and antique stores
• Local craft shows/stores
• Etsy
• Ebay
• Local organic product stores
• Online organic product stores

Okay, craft shows and Etsy isn’t used, but handmade is a good thing too. I put Ebay under Etsy because half the crap on Ebay is new anyhow, and I don’t want to have to ship things. I did put places to buy new, organic stuff on the list, but I highly doubt I’ll use them. In fact, I intend to stick primarily to my first two options on the list.

Thats right. I’m going to try and do all my Christmas shopping on Freecycle and Craigslist. If this turns out to be a success, I am going to make this a holiday tradition.

I should add, however, that there are two over all stores I might have to make a stop or two at to make my Christmas shopping goal really work. The craft store (stops there should be fairly minimal, I’m pretty sure I have all the craft supplies I could possibly need) and the grocery store (stops there will be somewhat more frequent, I do love to bake during the holidays).

I will keep you guys posted.

Buy Nothing Day 2008

I discovered Buy Nothing Day when I was 17 or 18, when I realized that reading Adbusters was about more than looking like a hipster.  I don’t buy Adbusters anymore, because I can’t afford them (its a freaking expensive magazine for being an anti consumerism publication!) and I don’t have time to read them (and their consistent use of little, messy fonts – a personal pet peeve of mine), but I’m still a loyal supporter of Buy Nothing Day, an event they sponsor every year.

Buy Nothing Day is the anti consumerism movement’s response to Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the year).  In some places, people actually hold demonstrations in shopping malls and other shopping hubs, but it seems like everyone in Denver is just as lazy as I am and no one ever wants to actually organize an event, they just want to show up and participate in one.  The idea is to educate people about how massive consumerism is harmful to the environment, society and our personal physical and emotional health.

I think you’d have to be crazy to go out on Black Friday anyhow.  I don’t like going into crowded stores, and those who do are practically rabid on the day after Thanksgiving.  I am fond of my eyes, personally, and have no desire to risk getting them scratched out by an angry super shopper who’s been camping out on the side walk since she finished cleaning up Thanksgiving dinner the night before in a battle over the last 9.99 sweatshop manufactured sweater at Old Navy.  No thank you! But apparently the majority of the population is crazy, because if not, then the day after Thanksgiving would not be the biggest shopping day of the year.

Obviously, participating in Buy Nothing Day was not a big change in my lifestyle.  I pretty much have participated in it all my life, I just didn’t realize there was a name for it.  I try to take it to the farthest extreme I can.  I make sure that my gas tank is filled and that I’m stocked up on any personal care items I might need (diapers, toilet paper, etc.) the day before Thanksgiving.  If I forget something, I do without that day.  If at all possible, I try not to leave the house at all, although this year I am going to visit my grandmother in Boulder with my sister and our kids, and last year I was in the hospital delivering my son (which unfortunately resulted in my family members going out and buying things; flowers, It’s a Boy balloons, some fresh fruit for me to eat). 

Maybe one day, if enough people participated in Buy Nothing Day, it might actually be safe to go out on Black Friday, but since I am now such a big supporter of Buy Nothing Day, I still won’t go out.  To learn more about Buy Nothing Day, visit their website or look them up on Facebook (there’s a Buy Nothing Day group there, I am a member).  I encourage all single moms, and everyone else, to participate in Buy Nothing Day by staying home and spending some quality time with your kids, or going out and participating in a demonstration.  You can bring your kids along, an opportunity to both spend time with them, teach them about the anti consumerism movement, and about civil action.  Its also an opportunity to meet new people.  You can find an event in your area on the Adbusters Buy Nothing Day website.

Have fun, and Happy Buy Nothing Day!

(by the way, all the links in this post go to different blogs and pages about Buy Nothing Day)

Repower America

This is copy and pasted directly from an email I got.  Please sign!

Friday is the last day to voice your opinion on whether the EPA — the Environmental Protection Agency — should regulate carbon dioxide pollution, the primary cause of the climate crisis. This is a big deal.

The EPA is taking public comment, before making a ruling.

Of course, special interests — like the oil and coal lobbies — are working overtime to defeat a positive ruling and have already gotten thousands of comments submitted in opposition.

Most people don’t know about this opportunity for public comment, so your voice can make a real difference. And with a new president in the White House, it’s likely that someone will actually be listening. Submit your public comment to the EPA here:

http://www.RepowerAmerica.org/EPA

In April 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide if it is harming our health and welfare. After more than a year of delay, the EPA is finally now requesting public comments on whether carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping pollutants are endangering our health and our climate.

Join us, and send a message about how crucial it is to reduce harmful carbon dioxide pollution. That you expect the EPA to use its powers to protect our health and welfare. That we can “Repower America” by using energy sources that don’t emit carbon dioxide, and make the switch to 100% clean electricity. And that the solutions to the climate crisis are the same ones needed to address our economic and security challenges.

This is our chance to go on the public record — all the comments will be posted on the EPA’s website. To post your public comment, just go here.

For nearly eight years, the Bush administration has done nothing to address the growing threats we face from global warming. Hurricanes are getting stronger, the North polar icecap is melting, and we’ve suffered through intense droughts, floods and killer heat waves.

The deadline is November 28th. Let’s help end the era of delay.

Thanks,

Cathy Zoi
CEO
www.RepowerAmerica.org

Making Thanksgiving more meaningful

I used to hate Thanksgiving.  To me, it was a time when the whole family got together, all the women would slave in the kitchen all day and get irritable, all the kids would get yelled at all day, and all the men would watch football.

Somehow, as I’ve gotten older, my perception of the holiday has changed.  I love Thanksgiving now.  The shift happened when I was about 17 years old.  My whole extended family no longer gets together.  These days its just me, my mom, Elijah and my sister and niece, if they make it out from Missouri.  Although I miss the large gathering (not so much the sexism of who cooks and cleans, but I do miss the rest of it), I do like the opportunity to forge new traditions and to re focus on the true meaning of Thanksgiving. 

With that in mind, I read this wonderful article on MindfulMama.com about Thanksgiving I thought I would share with you.  As Elijah grows, I would like to incorporate all of this into our holiday tradition.  What are your Thanksgiving traditions?

Also, here is an articlefrom The Green Parent that talks about greening Thanksgiving traditions.  It has some good ideas in there, if you can incorporate them.

Hopefully one day I will get married and have lots more babies (not very green, I know, but I love babies so much!) and then I will have my big family Thanksgiving again.

And for the record, I do have one uncle who helped out in the kitchen quite a bit.  He actually kicks a lot of ass in the kitchen.  I think he missed his calling.  He should have been a celebrity chef.

Confessions of a Christmas dork

I love Christmas time.

Actually, I’m just in love with life starting the beginning of October, which is the build up to Halloween, which I feel is the kickoff party to the best time of the year, the holiday season!

I love Halloween!  I love Thanksgiving!  And I love Christmas!

Part of loving the Holiday season is loving the thing about Christmas that most people loathe … Christmas music!  Oh my god, I love Christmas music.  I used to have a rule that I couldn’t listen to Christmas music until Thanksgiving day, but I have found that its just not enough to satisfy my LUST for Christmas music, so this year I changed my rule to no Christmas music until the day after Halloween.

I used to have the worlds biggest collection of Christmas music downloaded (illegally, cough cough, erm) on my computer, and I was happy as a clam during the Holiday season.  Unfortunately, all of that (illegally) downloaded music led to a (MASSIVE) virus on my computer, and I lost everything!  Lesson learned (I suppose its not exactly in the holiday spirit to go around stealing Christmas music anyhow) and now I buy CDs.  Also, there is a radio station here in Denver that plays continuous Christmas music, and I can get down with that (even though most of what they play is the “classic” and “soft rock” variety, and I really love the more alternative and rock varieties).

There’s been a lot of talk in my Holistic Moms Group about how to simplify Christmas.  We all pretty much agree that we’d like more traditional, family focused, less consumerist holiday seasons.  I want these things for Elijah.  I want him to feel, like I do, that Christmas is about much more than gifts.  But I’m not ready to give up gifts entirely.  I like gifts.  I actually like shopping for Christmas gifts (its the only time of the year I enjoy shopping, in fact).  I could give up wrapping paper – in fact, I wish we would, but my mom loves it – and I can certainly get down with less gifts, but I can’t part with them entirely.

This year, Elijah is going to get pretty much just stuff I would have to buy him anyhow.  New clothes, new bath products, and a few new toys and books (because toys and books are good for growing babies).  Because his birthday is so close to Christmas (bummer!) I’ll be spreading his need gifts out.  I’m just doing one gift for my mom from Elijah and one gift from me.  Actually, I can’t make that promise either.  She might get a few from each of us.  But its not going to be a ton.

I want to focus on doing more holiday activities.  I’m thinking about signing up for the Turkey Trot and the Jingle Bell walk, two holiday 5ks.   Also, we like seeing the lights at the Botanic Garden, and this year the Botanic Garden is also doing a lighted nature walk down at Chatfield Reservoir we want to check out.  I might take Elijah to Zoo Lights at the Denver Zoo too.  There’s a candle light walk in downtown Golden on the 5th I think I want to go to, and my mom and I like to go up for the Georgetown festival.  I think getting out and participating in stuff like this also contributes to my goal of getting more deeply immersed in my local community.

I hope to craft more gifts this year too.  I’m working on making a digital cookbook for my friends (its just a Word document, shhhhh), and I found a number of really cool crafts on Make Baby Stuff that I’m wanting to try out.  What I do buy, I hope to buy green.  Here is a cool article with some great green gift ideas!

What do you do for the holidays?  How do you make things simpler and greener?  What’s your stance on presents?  Any fun activities you’re doing?  Do you know of any in Denver that I’m missing?  Let me know!

Oh, and whats your favorite Christmas song/music/album?  Let me, the Christmas music expert, recommend a few.

Maybe This Christmas

Maybe This Christmas Too

Maybe This Christmas Tree

Sufjan Stevens’ Christmas Album

A Santa Cause

Any of the Very Special Christmas Albums