Long Weekend in Portland

My son and husband and I, along with about 100 parents and kids from our school, went to Portland, Oregon last week. We went because of LEST, the Lutheran Elementary School Tournament, that takes place at Concordia University in Portland. It is unlike any other tournament you have probably been to. It includes basketball, chess, swimming, knowledge bowl, spelling bees, math and science competitions, dance, cheer, drama, art, choirs, musical ensembles, and individuals singing, and playing musical instruments. All in 3 fun filled days. It really is a great way for kids who have various skills and specialties to get to compete. Someone once commented on the LEST closing ceremonies, that the kids cheer just as loud for the team that wins the knowledge bowl as they do for the team that wins basketball. That pretty much sums up LEST.

Portland also happens to be my husband's home town. So, we are there at least every summer and are sometimes there several times a year. It is a beautiful city with a lot to see and do both in the city and in the surrounding area. I recommend it highly.

Fresh Air!

I remember growing up in Southern California in the late 70's and early 80's, when many days you could see the air. Although I don't have asthma or any other lung issues, I remember that on really smoggy days it hurt to take deep breaths. We even had days at school when we couldn't play outside because the air was so bad. Of course, California now has strict laws about emissions and the gasoline was reformulated to cut down on air pollution. In my 7 year of teaching in Southern California in the 90's, I never once had to keep kids inside because of air pollution. So, we can now breathe easy and not worry about air pollution, right. Well, actually, no. While outdoor air pollution has improved, indoor air pollution has gotten worse. Yes, indoor air pollution. The EPA says that in the average home, levels of organic pollutants are 2 to 5 times higher that outdoors. Most of us spend a good part of our time indoors. What can we do to protect ourselves and our families? One thing is to switch your cleaning supplies to nontoxic alternatives. Don't know where to get them? Click here to find some great nontoxic cleaning supplies that work really well and won't pollute your home. Here's a simple thing you can do-open your windows. When weather allows, open up your house and let the bad air out and the good air in. What about the times that you can't do that because of the weather? Get an air purifier. Here is the one I use in my home. It has made our indoor air fresher and cleaner and now I wouldn't be without it. If you don't have an air purifier in your home, then you are the air purifier.
I hope you can take a few steps to clean up the air in your home so you can breathe easier.

Water Rationing

Well, here in Northern California, water rationing is right around the corner. We have had several dry years in a row and this year is looking to be dry as well. We had maybe 1 or 2 storms in January and nothing for several weeks. Later this week we are expecting a bit of rain, but I'll believe it when I see it. So, the idea of water rationing sets up a bit of a dispute in my house. You see, I was raised in Arizona and Southern California, so I was raised to think about limiting water use. My husband was raised in Portland, Oregon, land of rain and rivers. So, we don't always see eye to eye on the importance of using water wisely. Case in point: We have a toilet that has run almost constantly since we moved in 5 1/2 years ago. This drives me nuts. I can practically see the money going down the toilet. My husband hardly notices it. Another example: When we moved in, there was a low flow shower head in the master bathroom. The first week, he replaced it with a regular shower head. So, getting ready for water rationing should be fairly easy to figure out in our house, once my husband realizes that we have to do this.

1. Buy a new toilet, you know, one that doesn't run constantly.

2. Install low flow shower heads on both showers.

3. Fix leaky spigot outside.

4. Put cover on pool in slow down evaporation.

5. Turn water on lower when brushing teeth and washing dishes.

This is my initial plan. Anyone have other ideas? I will gladly try to get them past my husband.

Good weekend

Well, what a weekend it was. I had my cousin, aunt, and their nutritionist friend come for the weekend. They were in the area for a meeting and tacked a couple of days on to their trip to come up and see us. The first day, the order of the day was...play. When they got to our house on Saturday afternoon, we rushed them back out to our car and out to 3 wineries. You know, when in Rome.... We then went out for a great dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. That about did them in. Then, day two...work. First we went to church (not work, of course), then we began to prepare for a nutrition seminar that my new friend, the nutritionist, was kind enough to do for a group of people I had invited. It was so great to have someone so knowledgeable to listen to and to ask questions of. You think you are doing pretty good in the nutrition realm, and then you learn all kinds of new things. I did find out which fruits and veggies I should buy organic and which I should save my money on. For all of you, here is the list:
USDA DIRTY DOZEN
Most pesticides
1. Nectarines- 97.3% had pesticides
2. Celery- 94.5%
3. Pears- 94.4%
4. Peaches- 93.7%
5. Apples- 91%
6. Cherries- 91%
7. Strawberries- 90%
8. Imported Grapes- 86%
9. Spinach- 83.4%
10. White potatoes- 79.3%
11. Bell peppers- 59%
12. Red raspberries- 59%
Bonus– Buy organic baby carrots
These are things I will try my best to buy organic.

Then, all too soon, my company left. They may be back next year. If so, we have our plan all worked out. Play a little, work a little. I like that plan.

I'm ba-ack!

Well, after several months I've decided to dust off the blog and give it another shot. So, what's my excuse for abandoning my blog. Ah, um, well, not sure. Maybe I was busy at school. Maybe I was busy with the ever taller little boy and his various activities. Or maybe it was a certain social networking site that has taken up my computer time as of late. The important thing is, I'm back. So, here's what's been happening:
-trips to Yosemite in October (it was COLD, we had snow, then went back to being warm after we left) and St. Louis (no snow, some rain, some cold, some warm, weird Midwest weather.)
-learning about the wonderful world of Wii. We got one for Christmas and are learning how much work a video game can be.
-battling ants over and over and over again. They are probably co-habitating with us and think they have kitchen privileges. I learned that they won't go though baby powder and that we have lots of tiny holes in our house. Thank God for caulk!
-Besides teaching part time, I have been working on my business, helping people live greener, healthier, wealthier lives.
Okay, there it is...my life and ways to be green.

Reduce

We've all heard about reduce, reuse, recycle, right? I've taught this to kids many times and it usually goes something like this...We all know how to recycle by putting things in the recycle bin. Can we think about ways to reuse things. Maybe writing on the back side of paper or using an old coffee can to collect pennies or to keep pencils. And reduce, uh, well, maybe buy things with less packaging? That's always the hard one for me, reduce. I was thinking about this again the other day and realized that I am already doing 2 reduce things every day. Who knew? We switched to cloth napkins awhile ago. I thought it would save our napkins from ending up a landfill somewhere. That's reduce. I haven't bought paper napkins in over a year. The other thing I started doing was to stop buying so many bottles of water and start drinking filtered tap water. Here's a great water pitcher to buy. Again, reduce! I guess its easier than I thought. Find your own ways to reduce. Have fun!

Back to School

Well, obviously, I've had a lazy summer as my last post was over a month ago. After our time in Oregon, we had my parents visit for a week and a half. We went to several wineries (its what we do here) played some miniature golf, went to the Charles Schultz Museum, and hung around the house. About a week after they left, my aunt came from Indiana. So, it was back to the wineries (oh, the sacrifices I make) another round of miniature golf, and out to several restaurants. Then we all piled in the minivan for the 7 1/2 hour trip to Long Beach to see my brother and his family. My parents were there, too, and 2 other brothers. We all had a good time, but it was a quick trip, so it was back home for another 7 1/2. Then, it was back to work getting ready for a new school year. Which brings us to today, the first day of school. It was a half day, but the new school year is underway. I am now the mother of a 3rd grader, strange to me because I taught 3rd grade for 6 years and loved it by the way. I have an ever expanding list of computer work to do, and Joel is back to full time principal mode. So, the lazy days of summer are gone, but I think we were ready to get back to the routine of another school year.

This is also harvest time here in the Napa Valley. We have friends who are home winemakers. We help them when they ask and this year the busy time has coincided with the beginning of the school year. So, we will spend a few evenings and several weekends racking, bottling, crushing and pressing wine.

So, that's our life the next few weeks, school and wine. Cheers!