Starting with a Thankful Heart (and photos, as promised!)

Today was one of those days. You know the kind. The day when you throw your hands up in the air and wonder, "Really?" But, when all was said and done today, it turned out find. I'm tired, but still thankful for a good number of things:

1. The packages to the aunts and uncles are in the mail - complete with little kid-made dough ornaments with the tags for a splash of holiday cheer!

2. Little Sister did her shopping for Mr. Music before we picked him up from school. No lines at our favorite locally owned shop, though I was happy to see a number of shoppers!

3. After dinner we had an impromptu hacky sack circle which was just hilarious. Neither of us adults are any good at it (despite hours and hours of it in high school and college . . . very sad, really), but we sure looked like superstars compared to the 4 year old and almost 2 year old! Mr. Music is great at getting hit in the forehead and Little Sister kept us all on our toes by running around in circles and randomly crashing into one of us for her turn with the footbag (which she would then pretend to throw, but really just hand off to the next person). It really was a fun time and we all had sweaty faces afterwards to prove that "circle kicking" CAN be a workout if done with the right people (especially when those people are under the age of 5).

4. Despite icy roads and icy hills, we accomplished all of our errands safely. My favorite trip was to the post office (the first stop to the first post office of the day) when I picked up our package with the book's award stickers!!!

This is our award certificate for the Moonbeam Children's Book Award - isn't it fancy? You can see the stickers in the corners. I'll get a photo of a sticker on a book ASAP.

Even the envelope the certificate was sent in is sparkly!

Here's the actual Bronze Medal! The center moon part actually spins, so it is really quite cool. I'm still trying to figure out appropriate framing of it.

5. I finally have photos to share with you of our big Christmas sewing adventure (although if you are a relative of mine, I'm going to ask you to use your self-control and please go visit another site without viewing this next set of photos - they are Christmas gift related in nature!).

See how the bag folds flat so nicely? That's because we used a canvas bag as a template! This is one of 5 different fabric combos. It just so happens that I bought this fabric in Italy in 1999. I used some of the fabric for bedroom curtains when we lived in North Carolina - but now I've reused it all for reusable bags!





If the bag could stand alone, it would look like this (we filled it with reference books!). We have since added straps made of the same fabric, but I haven't gotten a photo of the bags with straps yet!

Breath of Fresh Air - Eco-Runner

No, the title for this post isn't about how grand the weather is here (because, just as quickly as fabulous weather graced us with its beauty, it went away leaving us with CRAZY wind, grey clouds and rain . . . and temps in the 50s and 60s instead of the 80s and 90s we had this weekend . . . ugh!). Instead the title is in regards to my discovery of Eco-Runner. Go follow the link!

Now!

Really!

Do it . . .

It'll just take a second . . . come on already!

See? Aren't you glad you did?

Eco-Runner is a great concept, wouldn't you say? Makes you want to lace-up your running shoes, grab a plastic bag you've been saving to re-use and head out to make your community a bit greener, right?!!

Some readers may recall how I posted some time ago about making efforts to be more in tune with the impact I'm having on the environment. Since pledging to be a better citizen, I've tried my best to keep on the steady course to live a more "green" life. Here's a quick recap of what actions I'm (and by "I'm", I mean "my family is") taking:

- cloth diapers for my 15 month old (we're consistently at about 75% cloth, 25% disposable, though that's an average) Image credit: Bummis

- cloth napkins at dinner (100% - AND my parents have followed suit - AND my mother-in-law sent us a set of 8 so we're golden now without me having to do laundry as frequently!)

- washcloths for counter cleaning instead of paper towels (100% - 1 roll of paper towels used to last us about a week, now they last closer to 3 and I'm considering ditching them, if I can convince my husband that it is a reasonable idea!)

- we compost all of our fruit/veggie food scraps (there's a little compost jar by our sink to make it easy - and my husband IS good about dumping it regularly into our bin in the back yard)

- reusable grocery bags (90% - I'm still working on getting my husband to remember the ones I've placed in his car for the "on your way home" grocery stops)

- I cancelled 6 catalogs through Catalog Choice (and will continue to cancel them as they arrive in our mailbox . . .and, sadly, they will - even though these are from companies we've NEVER ordered through or only order through for the holidays!) Image credit: www.carnegiecarnegie.com/magazines.jpg

- my husband is biking to the bus stop to take the bus to work . . . currently 5 days a week, but since he gets motion sick (translation - a headache that lasts a few hours - ugh!), I think it might be okay if he does it a bit less frequently. When making these choices, you DO have to consider if the trade-off is worthwhile . . . and a husband with a headache for the entire night does not seem worthwhile. We'll see how it goes in the long-term, as he's just nearing one month of it. The gas saved for the nearly 40 mile round-trip commute is quite a chunk of moolah . . . not to mention the reduction in his carbon footprint. Decisions, decisions.

MSNBC just posted a simple list of consumer tips for making a difference in helping the planet. You may be surprised at how much you are already doing - and how simple it could be to do just a bit more!

I could keep going . . . but I won't bore you with the minute things we're doing or that we can do, since I think the above choices are making a fairly decent dent and there are hundreds of sites DEDICATED to the topic!

And now I'll get back to the Eco-Runner - this guy lives and breathes the notion that who he is and what he does MAKES A DIFFERENCE (and he's right)! By starting in his own backyard and spiraling out globally, he is spreading the joy of running and the idea that a passion for running can go even further by combining it with cleaning up our environment as we run. Simple, effective, inspirational! And, another reason this philosophy caught my mom's eye to pass along to me - Eco-Runner has a curriculum for Kids ! Too cool!

Now, that's what I call a breath of fresh air!