Clutter Free Gifts

I am having a hate-hate relationship with clutter right now. My mom is coming for the holidays. She is an amazing super mom lady and she always does the cooking and cleaning and many other helpful things when she comes to visit. This leaves me free to do things that she can't necessarily do, like catch up on some homschooling with the kids or decluttering. So, I am hoping to get a lot of decluttering done during the holidays. My mom and I go out and buy our Christmas presents ourselves that we plan for the other person to give us. That way we get something we need/want, and not something that will just clutter up our lives and not really have a use. I'm sorry if that doesn't sound Christmas-y to you, but we really enjoy Christmas this way.

If I do get a "surprise" gift, I hope that it is something that can be used up (christmas baking, nut tray, my favorite products, fruit basket, free babysitting, etc) and won't create clutter in my life.

Today I came across an article from Simple Organic listing 5 Clutter-Free Gifts to Give This Christmas

I would not mind if I did not get any Christmas gifts at all (gifts are not my Love Language), but as long as I am getting some, I sure would much prefer the clutter-free kind they are talking about. I wouldn't even mind socks - in fact Bamboo socks are on my "list". Smile.

Merry Christmas Goat Style

One of my little girls wants a goat. This kind of video almost makes you want to say yes. (grin)

Paper "Pinecone" Christmas craft

Canadian Living Paper Pinecone craft

Materials:

• Tracing paper
• Medium-weight decorative craft paper, such as solid colour or patterned scrapbooking paper
• Card stock or recycled greeting cards (for pattern templates)
• 26-gauge wire
• Sharp-tipped craft scissors (such as Fiskars No. 5 Micro-Tip craft scissors)
• Glass beads
• White craft glue
• Sewing needle or straight pin

Directions:

1. Print out, then photocopy or trace pattern pieces A, B, C and D onto piece of tracing paper; using craft scissors, cut out. Pattern pieces here

2. Trace pattern pieces onto card stock or recycled greeting card to make reusable pattern templates; cut out.

3. Trace pattern pieces onto decorative paper to make number specified; cut out.

4. With sewing needle, pierce holes in centre of pattern pieces B, C and D.

5. Cut piece of wire approx 30 cm (12 inches) long.

6. Glue one end of the wire between the two A pieces (see photo); let dry.

7. From the opposite end, thread two beads along wire to bottom. Thread wire through remaining pieces in the following order: B, C, D, D, C, threading two or three beads onto wire between each pattern piece.

8. Finish the pinecone by threading three or four beads on top of piece C.

9. Wrap the remaining length of wire around a pencil to create a spiral; bend end of wire into a hook to hang on Christmas tree.

Tip: Add a bit of curve to your pinecone by slightly bending each "petal" of the pattern pieces around your finger to give a more realistic look.

Hilarious British Animal Voiceovers

My kids favorite part of a trip to the zoo (and mine too) is what we call "animal commentary". I "talk" for the animals - something like what you see on the following video- although I am sure I am not as funny.

Yucky Chemicals in my Toothpaste

Back in the spring, I started trying to make some healthy changes to my life. I started a test-run of eating vegan and liked what I saw and felt and am still going strong in that department (you can read about my vegan adventures here.)

I also was hoping to rid my medicine cabinet, make-up bag, and cleaning supply cupboard of all things containing chemicals and replace them with natural products or home-made natural concoctions. I am someone who hates waste and is also very frugal, so I figured that I should use up what I have and replace them as they were used up. There are a few problems with that line of thinking. First, I have some products that have been on my shelves for possibly up to 20 years! How quickly I thought I would use those up, I am not certain. Another thing hampering the usage is...the usage. I don't use cleaning or beauty products very often, so even though I have a mountain of them, they don't really get much use. I could possibly take another 20 years just to try and use *some* of these babies up. The last thing is that I keep reading more and more bad things about the ingredients that are in many of these products and I just can't tolerate using them anymore.

So, some time over the Christmas break I am just going to offer up almost all of them on freecycle. I will save only what my non-natural lovin' honey thinks he needs. I have already started putting some things in boxes- let's see if I miss them.

Two things prompted me to finally take the leap.

1. I am so sick of clutter! I came to a breaking point in this. I took pictures of my cluttered house. These are my "before" pictures. I plan on sharing them with you as soon as I feel I can also post some "progress" pictures. I am imagining a life without bottles and tubes and jars of stuff that I rarely or never use. Sigh. Bliss. Love.

2. One change I made early on was a switch to a more natural toothpaste. A couple of months ago, I sort of slipped back into using our normal toothpaste again (which my family is still using). I got two horrible canker sores in a row. I thought this was a little odd, so I googled "causes of canker sores". Although no one is certain what causes canker sores, it is suspected that one cause is a reaction in some people to sodium lauryl sulfate, a common ingredient in many toothpastes. Since I had switched from a toothpaste without, to a toothpaste containing sadium lauryl sulfate in the time I had the canker sores, this was the obvious guess for me. I switched back to my natural toothpaste and haven't had another canker sore.

However, around the time I started getting canker sores, I also got a rash that is a lot like acne behind my ears and on the back of my neck. If I had a reaction to sodium lauryl sulfate in my toothpaste, then it would be pretty likely that I would also have a reaction to the same ingredient in my shampoo! I am just in the process of switching out my shampoo. This was just the motivation I needed, though, to get rid of all these chemicals from my house.

Thank you chemicals for making yourselves known and showing me that using you up does more harm to me than I am comfortable with. It is best we go our separate ways.

Love That Song!

This is a song I love anyway, thanks to Moulin Rouge. However, I happened across this version today and just love it. I love the sound of her voice and if you check out some of their other videos you will see just how musically inclined and talented she is. I love the piano "plucking" that her partner does too.

The Case for Memorization

My family recently watched Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. We absolutely loved it, especially my oldest daughter who is a Tim Burton fan. We are all long time fans of Alice in general though. The storyline is totally different than the Alice we are all used to. I loved how this "sequel" seemed to just fit and feel so right and still be a great story on its own. I loved how Johnny Depp (The Mad Hatter) kept asking "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" through the whole movie. I loved how the Jabberwocky had a main role.

I have been a fan of The Jabberwocky for as long as I can remember, but seeing this movie and later watching You Tube videos of kids reciting poetry



(like this one) reminded me that once upon a time I wanted my kids to be consistantly be working on memorizing poetry as well as scripture.

I had made the decision to start with The Jabberwocky when I happened upon The Case for Memorization, a blog post that coincidentally mentions The Jabberwocky. I was already in the right mind-frame, so the post just solidified for me what I need to do.

3 Year Old Recites "Litany" by Billy Collins

My daughter showed me this video. She said it would "inspire" me. Oh ya. It inspired me all right. Inspired me to want to have another child, so I can "do better" with the next one. (eye roll) Yeesh!

Every Sucess Comes with a Little Failure

I love those stories you hear about famous or successful people that tell of their failures or setbacks on their way to greatness. Stories like how it took Thomas Edison over 10,000 attempts to create the light bulb. Can you even imagine? I would never have the perseverance to keep up with that. Here is a link to a post from A Pilgrim's Progress with a great video on these kind of failures.

I really get inspired and encouraged by this type of thing. I hope you get something out of it too.

Pacific Garbage Patch

This is so discouraging, yet motivating. I am discouraged by how much damage we are doing to our planet, but seeing videos like this makes it more real to me and motivates me to do more. It gives me a reason to keep on what I am doing and find more to do. I really want to eliminate plastic from my life. Whether it is a hazard to my health is already a worry in my head, but when I see how gross it making our planet as well, I have to try harder.

Vega Smoothie Photo Contest

I don't know if there is anyone out there reading this blog, but if you are I would love some help with a photo contest I entered. It is one of those where the photos with the most votes win. I have my eye on the blender prize, which means I need to come in somewhere between 2nd and 11th. Voting goes until August 15th, 2010 and each email address can vote once every 24 hours.

If you would like to help me out by casting a vote for my photo, you can go to the Where Will Your Smoothie Take You contest page and this link will take you straight to my photo. Thanks and smilies to all.

A Different Sort of Video- Taylor Swift "Thug Story"

I really like this girl.


We will see how long this video stays up.

Music Staff in Nature - Birds on a Wire

Music is part of who I am. When music and nature intertwine like in this video, it is so overwhelming for me, it is almost hard to breath. This is beautiful. Check it out.

Cat's Eye View

Cooper:Photographer Cat Website

Get your own cat cam here

The Other Blog

I must confess - I have another blog. I don't suppose that it makes any difference that since I have been blogging elsewhere, I have also been blogging more here? Maybe you will visit me at both?

Journal of a Wannabe Foodie

Gush, Gush. a.k.a. Being Green

I long to write a non-fiction book. I have so many ideas for books I could write. Do you remember how Seinfeld used to be called the show about nothing? Some writers can write about nothing and make it one of the best reads you've ever had. Some can take a good concept and make nothing of it. I have no confidence in myself (as a writer) and am very terrified that I am the latter type.

I am only 22 pages into the book Sleeping Naked is Green ad yet the book is already making me green (with envy) and doubtful of my abilities. Although the author is not making something out of nothing- she has a great concept- I just find her writing so witty and thoughtful. I cannot imagine myself coming up with some of her very original comparisons, such as, "...they offer one of the most widely available natural products lines around, a bit like the financially secure but pot-smoking cousin of Proctor & Gamble." She is beautifully descriptive in a way that adds oodles of character to the book.

The author is very casual in a delightful way. She has the confidence to say what she wants to say without getting all technical and formal. "...humans have been relying on their senses for centuries to gauge wht's good for them and what's not- which is why the sight and smell of rotting food sends yuck signals to our brains..."

I'll let you know how I feel about the other 243 pages.

Who Can You Trust?

I know that everything these days "causes cancer" from the food we eat to our makeup and sometimes even our clothes (fire-retardant anyone?). I mean, how does anyone these days keep from joining the ranks of the obsessive-compulsive? Tonight I came across this article talking about the lack of regulation of sunscreens. I know to avoid phthalates, sulfites, and parabens. I know it is generally a good idea to avoid food or other products that have a list of ingredients that you can't pronounce. It happens to be a lot of work to find fairly safe products and foods these days. Is it too much to ask that the companies receiving our almighty buck might try to keep us alive longer so that we can keep shelling out to them? ...because after all, it is all about the money right? (We have to give these guys some motivation they can understand- BIG eye roll inserted here).

Nerdy conversations at our house

It is with pleasure that my gals and I accept the names geek or nerd - definitely compliments here, although I don't think anyone outside our family has ever described us this way (I didn't include my husband as I am not so sure he appreciates those labels like we do).
Here is a conversation from my house today:

Oldest dd: Mom, I opened the cupboard and some test tubes fell out and shattered on the floor.
Me: Oh, no. (groan)
dd: I'm sorry mom. All I did was open it and it happened.
Me: Oh, I know honey, I just hate cleaning up glass from the floor because I always worry if I have left some behind.
pause...
dd: You know you are a nerdy family when you open cupboard doors and test tubes fall out.

I am not even sure that we have ever *used* those test tubes, but at least we have some to break. (sigh)

Vegan analogy for reactions to homeschooling

I am reading a book called The Vegan Sourcebook (Joanne Stepaniak, M.S.ED.). There was a particular part talking about how others may feel or act towards you for your choice of diet, and I thought it exactly described how some others behave when they learn that you are homeschooling or plan to homeschool. So, read below and substitute the vegan reference for homeschooling, and I think we have hit the nail on the head.

Questioning our worldview is a difficult, sometimes impossible task. There are so many elements in our lives that we just assume to be corect that it usually doesn't even occur to us to question them. Even when pressured by outside forces, we tend to cling to our own worldview rather than consider other perspectives. That is why choosing to be vegan can seem so enigmatic to friends, family, and coworkers. Challenging the validity of accepted societal norms makes people uneasy. It brings up issues most people never think about, let alone want to talk about.

Thoughts on Busy-ness and Time

You know the old saying, "It takes money to make money"? I have been thinking about how it takes money to make a whole lot of other things too.

It takes money to make time. This could be turned in the opposite direction in so many ways, but let's just stick with my train of thought for a moment and then you can go off and think of all the ways you could dispute it. (grin) When you don't have quite enough money, so much extra time has to go in to thinking up all the different ways you can eek out an extra dollar here and there. You find yourself doing things like going to two (or three) grocery stores on discount grocery day so you can get the best deals at both stores to save yourself an extra 3% off the total bill or washing out ziplock bags so you can re-use them. Don't get me wrong, I abhor waste and love saving a buck, but when you *have* to do it, it can take the fun out of it. It would be really lovely to be able to *choose* to do it, or every once in a while be able to say, "I don't feel like I have the time to do this today".

It takes money to have friends. Of course one can certainly have friends without money. However, often you want to invite your friends over. It is seen as rude to not offer your friends a beverage and a snack. When you have to worry about the dollars it would take to have friends over, even just for the cost of a beverage and a snack, it really takes all the zip out of that too.

There are so many things that it just takes a few dollars to do, but when you don't have those few dollars to be care-free with, you can really be limited in so many ways.

One other completely different thought: Busy-ness is relative...

...and is something I am learning a little about. We can be very busy, but be inefficient with our time. Sometimes keeping a time journal can help, sometimes that can be a time waster in itself. I do notice that when I have kept a time journal I do keep to the "important" stuff because I certainly don't want to have to write down that I stared off into space for five minutes deciding what to do next!

Sometimes I really want to accomplish or learn something, but don't do anything towards it because the "whole" task seems like such a big deal. For example, I have been dancing around eating healthier for a long time. Learning about eating healthy AND learning all the cooking/shopping/other skills to eat healthy is such a BIG thing. You just have to take one little thing and jump in. I really wanted to make beans, but thought that the whole soaking the beans and whatever else you had to do to them was out of by grasp (I am really low on the cooking skills graph, ok!?). The other day, I picked up a package of black beans that had directions on the back for all the soaking and boiling. Now, I have made beans. Now, I will remember how to do it again. Now, I can move on to something else. Did it take me a long time to learn how to cook beans? No. Is it going to take me a long time to learn all the things I want to learn to know how to cook healthy? Yes, but if they are broken down into simple things like cooking beans, or making one new recipe or learning one new simple thing every week, eventually you will get there (even if busy-ness is standing in your way).

Treadmill Dance Fever!

Well, I suppose that now that I know how to embed videos, it is only fitting that I share another, right? It was a long weekend for us this weekend and our family decided to go bowling. They show videos on the TV screens, which is not always wunderbar as some of those videos were not really something I wanted my children exposed to (read: women grinding in bikinis do not happen to be under my list of aspirations for my daughters...and *nothing* to do with the "milkshake" song is on that list either). However, there was an amazing little video that I saw with some wacky guys doing a choreographed treadmill "dance". This looks like so much fun. If I had numerous treadmills, this would definitely be on my top ten list to try. Enjoy!

New skill- Learning how to embed a video (aka gorilla love)

This video absolutely moved me. I cried like a baby, but I *am* the sentimental kind.
This is my first time embedding a video, so hopefully it works and I can say I learned a new skill today.

Simple to Start

We are going to make an attempt at getting back into Blogging here. I am reading a book called The Kind Life by Alicia Silverstone. I am only one chapter in, but so far both of the first two chapters have began with some really great quotes/info, so I thought I would share them.

Apparently, the original definition of diet is: (noun) a way of living, or thinking, a day's journey. Quite a bit different from everything attached to the word 'diet' today, isn't it? I am really trying to get in touch with what I eat and make healthier choices, but it so convenient just to eat/make something out of a box. I don't know if I could be vegan like Alicia, but I am making baby steps to a better diet. Pass the quinoa please.

Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.
Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, 460-377 BC

Even Hippocrates knew better way back then. How far we have come, yet how backwards we are.