One last rant

In today's local paper, The Pantagraph, there was an AP story about stay-at-home moms needing to stay closer to home. Oh, the woe. They can't just get in the SUV and drive to Target, whenever. They have to plan that trip in conjunction with a trip to playgroup.

The sacrifices these women make! I tell you. One mom says there's no way to go back to work. The hour commute would make it cost prohibitive.

It's just too much woe for one morning paper. I will say, living close to city center, taking public transit (yes! with your kids), walking, biking, eating at home, line drying, watching energy costs and not bitching about it would really be a welcome change of pace among this group. Instead of saying, "There's no time for poor old me," they could maybe be grateful they have, at their disposal, a means to teach their kids that energy is something we use with purpose. It's not our God-given right.

As I end this rant, I end this blog. I just don't have it in me to direct other people in the ways of green. There are much better outlets (Ideal Bite and Grist, for instance) for this information.

My whole idea of writing about green comes from a humorous aspect, much like writing about parenting. But unlike parenting, I've been able to pretty much master going green in just a few short years. No longer to I get flustered on the bus. No longer do I get stranded miles from home. No longer do I struggle with laundry.

So, I'll start blogging more on my original blog — My Dirty Little Secret — about my life as a mom who is constantly flustered. Of course the green will be there as well, but I'll leave the advide to the experts and, instead, try and document my little world, which is funny, loving, frustrating, unbelievable and green, all at the same time.

On the line

I received an e-newsletter from e-mail from Project Laundry List today. I was surprised the impact of laundry, which uses a huge amount of our resources, wasn't being tracked as closely as other things, like transportation.

But it seems there will be a meeting to take a closer look at these issues. This is from the newsletter:

The statistics that our government keeps, which are used by hundreds
of businesses, utilities, and nonprofits, are often dismal. When it comes to laundry,
the numbers are terrible.

* There are no stats on commercial laundry done at Laundromats, hospitals, hotels,
restaurants, universities, fish piers, etc.
* There is terrible data about gas dryers, which about 17% of American households
have.
* They have this "5.8% of residential electricity use goes toward the electric dryer"
figure upon which we have built our organization's mission; however, they have no
footnote or any knowledge of how the number was derived.

I guess there will be a meeting to take a closer look energy consumption in general. I wonder if laundry will make the list?

The REAL reason SAHMs go green

Hi and Lois
Sept. 25, 2008

You might think that children are our future, and all that crap, but really, it comes down to cash. Or lack of cash. And if the newspaper comics are talking about it, rest assured, it's old news.

Why the bus?

I was chatting the other day with a single friend of mine, who happens to live in the sprawling land of Phoenix, Ariz., when she told me she's been commuting via the bus?

Why? It's less stressful, she said.

That is something all transit companies should really start pounding into the public. Reading the paper, listening to an iPod or daydreaming is about a billion times less stressful than driving.

Gas prices means this might be a viable option for many more people. Check out this stat:

The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that Americans drove 3.6 percent fewer miles last year than the year before — a total of 3.003 trillion miles in 2007 compared to 3.014 trillion miles in 2006, according to preliminary measurements.

That would make 2007 one of the few years — if not the only year — in U.S. history during which total traffic volume decreased.

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

Technically, I'm not including a recipe. But this is definitely food related.

The New York Times just wrote a really interesting article about the mistakes parents make when feeding the kids. I was a little shocked that "Letting your child live exclusively on Fruit Loops" didn't make the list, but hey, I guess that's sort of implied.

I have to say, I'm only guilty of one to two of the six sins. The article suggests you shouldn't force kids to take at least one bite of everything. I'm definitely in that camp. My argument is, I'll give you an alternative if you don't like what I made, but you've got to at least try it.

Anyhow, I thought it was a great list unlike any I'd seen before. Most say things like, don't let kids fill up on carbs. Well, duh. But this actually offered some useful advice.

1. Don't send kids out of the kitchen. Let them hang around for preparations. BTW, I'm super good at this one.
2. Pressuring them to take a bite. I think I've mentioned, not so much.
3. Keeping good food out of reach. "Good food" was a misnomer. It actually means stuff kids think is good, like candy. The argument is, don't have it in the house if you don't want your kids to have it. I hope wine doesn't apply.
4. Dieting in front of your kids.
5. Serving boring veggies. For Pete's sake, but some butter on those green beans.
6. Giving up too soon. It can take kids up to 15 tries before they accept they like something.

This is how we roll

I vowed not to be one of those mothers who enroll their children is countless organized activities, only to become just that sort of mother.

The only criteria I have is that the activity must be very close to our house, or on a bus route. But my town's park and rec department's community center is about a block away, which houses my daughter's preschool and (soon) her dance class. Her swimming class is just a mere half block further, so you can see I have a surprising amount of options.

And I know that some parents think I'm cuckoo by dragging my kids around on a bike, sometimes in pretty crappy weather. The other day, we walked home in torrential downpours with just some rain boots and umbrellas. My neighbor didn't just think I was crazy, he told me so.

But on a bike, I can get in/get out much quicker than in a car. A round trip might take just three or four minutes. And getting outside, even in bad weather, expends a lot of kid energy that keeps the girls from re-carpeting the house with plastic toys.

With gas prices jumping about 15 cents in two days, it might be cuckoo. But feels pretty sane to me.

Now I realize not everybody has the option of living two blocks from activity central, but our central location coupled with non-car transportation means some days when my husband takes the bus, which is becoming more and more frequent, we don't even move the car from the driveway.

Another way to think about it is to contemplate a commute. If I worked in Peoria, I'd spend close to $2,000 a year just driving to and from work, without any pit stops. Did I mention cuckoo?

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

For my birthday, my aunt gave me this great cookbook all about cooking with the seasons. Since she's also quite the gardener, I also came home from a recent visit with a paper bag full of tomatoes.

"Simply In Season," commissioned by Mennonites, has fantastic recipes for all kinds of veggies. From springtime asparagus to winter squash, almost anything growing in your garden is covered. Since I was the lucky recipient of all these tomatoes, and because I don't can, I made a simple tomato sauce, which I froze. The following recipe is pretty much straight from the book, with a few of my own tweaks.

1 chopped onion sautéed in 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium head until soft.
2 garlic cloves, minced. Cook for about 30 seconds.

Add two shredded carrots, 1 chopped green (or red) pepper, 2 bay leaves, 1/4 cup fresh parsley, 2 Tbsp fresh basil, 1 Tbsp fresh oregano and/or 1 Tbsp fresh thyme.

Stir well

6 cups peeled and chopped tomatoes. Puree about half in food processor or blender.
6 ounces tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste.

Sauté about 15 minutes. Have a lovely bowl of pasta and freeze the rest in plastic bags.

Fake plastic nappies — Big fat flaw week/month

It seems my biggest flaw is procrastination. But since that's not really a green sin, I think I'll let it pass.

But diapers. Oh diapers. These have been my eco-downfall.

I didn't use cloth diapers, heralded by attachment-parenting types and most environmentally friendly moms-and-pops. It's an issue that ranks right up there with breast feeding and baby-wearing.

To start, I would like to point out that at least three studies concluded there is virtually no environmental difference between cloth and disposable diapers. There are been critics to these studies, although they did take many factors into consideration.

It seems logical that cloth diapers are better, in that there's no polluting of the landfills although there's no disputing that both types of diapers use up natural resources. But doesn't the soft cloth against baby's bottom, later line-dried in the heat of nature's sunshine, seem like a better alternative?

It didn't for me for a few reasons. First off, I didn't start thinking of myself as a green parenting until six months into my second child's birth. By the time I contemplated changing, I'd have spent several hundred dollars in start-up nappies. The cost and work precludes lower-level income earners and working moms from truly considering cloth as an alternative.

And to be truly green, I firmly believe it should be accessible to everybody, regardless of income. How else are we supposed to make significant changes for everybody?

Grist's Umbra, of Ask Umbra fame, wrote she was relieved to find out there was little difference in diapering baby. After all, 99 percent of parents use disposables at one time or another and it should be considered good that disposables aren't 50 times worse than a diaper very few people are using.

And the biggest item to note from Umbra's column:

"For one child, over two and a half years, these impacts are roughly comparable with driving a car between 1,300 and 2,200 miles." Now we know exactly how much mileage to shave off our car to compensate for diapering each kid.

Since my children are both out of diapers (actually, it's almost for my youngest, but I am not enough of a stickler and too much of an optimist to count one diaper a day as "still in diapers") I'm effectively out of the debate. But for anybody still considering how to cover baby's bum, try some eco-friendly varieties like gDiapers or Seventh Generation. By all means, if you're able and willing, use cloth, wash in cold and line dry. Or maybe, try diaper-free babies, which is really a thing and has apparently worked for some brave parents.

Or just try to compensate in other areas. Stop using central air, or turn it down. Cut shower time down to three minutes. Eat more vegetables. Drive less. And, perhaps the most important aspect of eco-parenting, encourage children to do the same.

Photo by A Fresh Perspective | Zak Metz's photostream on Flickr

Flaw week; continued

Doritos!

I have many excuses for not listing all my green flaws in a timely fashion as I had promised. For instance, I have a non-stop barrage of family in town. Also, who really wants to list their flaws in an organized, thoughtful manner? And last night, I bought Lucky Charms, juice boxes and paper plates in an effort to make my eco-fied house somehow more kid friendly to my husband's kin.

This truly is a downward spiral. To make up for my uncharacteristic impulse buys (my husband demanded to know what I had done with his wife), I made some very tasty, adult-friendly, homemade mac-and-cheese my kids literally ate up.

So here's my eco-flaw of the day: I cave to peer pressure and Doritos. It's really unfair that guest kids are eating Doritos on the couch while my kids are banned to the kitchen table during snacks of crackers and milk. I understand this.

But there's lot of reasons to eat non-processed foods. They taste better. They're better for you. They're better for the environment. Trust me... I love Doritos. But sometimes you just have to say no for the greater good, meaning both the planet and my waistline.

So maybe the kids should be able to watch Saving Nemo while eating some stove-cooked popcorn (that's why God invented Friday Movie Night) and some homemade peanut butter cookies. It just takes a tiny bit of effort to feel a little better about "kid food" that doesn't have a bunch of mystery ingredients or excessive packaging.

But maybe I should consider that nobody is perfect, and while I might have bought one package of paper plates too many, I'll do better next time.

Dorito photo by giest on Flickr

Guilty pleasures – Big fat flaw week

So I love Day of Our Lives. So what!!

I know it's so stupid, really I do. I can hardly believe I'm even admitting to it. Even still, I try to catch at least 10 minutes of it a few times a week. I also love really cheesy movies, Tori Amos and The Simpsons.

Just because I'm trying to conserve energy doesn't mean I live in the woods. I like Project Runway as much as the next girl/gay guy, but all this media love can really add up to some serious cash on DVDs, CDs and electricity.

So, instead of denying myself my Sami/E.J./Lucas love triangle, I just try to conserve as much as possible.

• Power cords, especially for televisions and stereos, are great ways to fight phantom energy, or the stuff you're using even when the tube is off. It can make up as much as 5 percent of your energy bill.
• Instead of buying, borrow. Libraries aren't just for books, like the crime mysteries I'm currently embarrassed to admit loving. I get most of my rental movies there as well. They're not always free. Mine charges $1 for two nights, but they have new releases. We just watched Superbad a few nights ago. Many libraries also stock music and video games.
• Speaking of music, instead of CDs, try Pandora. It's like a radio station made just for you and totally free.

Stop wining – Big fat flaw week

Sometimes, like last night, I've been known to drink a beer or two (or, unlike last night, 18) too many. But my real weakness leans toward the sipping variety.

Red wine that is.

And how come it's so hard to leave a half-empty bottle on the kitchen counter? It's just a question for the ages I guess. But if you're going to drink a glass or two of the stuff while you're making dinner, best to be as eco-friendly as possible.

And so we have the box. Less packaging and transport costs means greener (and less expensive) drunkenness. I've read in a number of places that campers like to remove the wine bag from the box for a light-weight cocktail hour in the woods.

Now, I know a wine snob or two who would never touch a glass of Merlot from Target (also available in little single serving juice boxes!), but for the casual wine drinker who doesn't swoosh the stuff around in the mouth and then spit it into a community bucket (as the very sophisticated wine connoisseur can do) then there are a couple of pretty good choices.

My favorite so far is Pinot Evil (like "See No Evil" with three monkeys on the box) just as much for the clever name as the tasty pinot noir. Black Box has gotten a good reputation and is widely available.

Lazy imperfect days

For whatever reason (the heat, the sun, thoughts of fall right around the corner), it's hard for me to get motivated in August. For instance, I stop blogging and think, "Eh... I'll get around to it sometime next week, or maybe the next time it rains."

This lackadaisical approach to life (like spending way too much time and the pool and not contributing a weekly Fricipes entry) definitely creeps into my eco-world as well.

For instance, sometimes it's just easier to use the dryer then hang those tiny kid clothes on the line. The carpet smells vaguely like dog so it's easier to buy some chemical-laden carpet cleaner than research and make my own concoction. I just can't bear browsing garage sales for great deals and Macy's is having a one-day sale. One car trip to the mall won't end humanity, right!

So this week, I'll focus on my eco-flaws and maybe even a few fixes, just as a reminder that even the most perfect of moms (and here I'm referring to some other women I know) have moments of weakness.

Bugs and beautiful flowers

Here are a few reasons why heading to the nature preserve, or even the backyard, can be thrilling summer outings for kids, at least here in the Midwest.

Here's our favorite summer songstress — the cicada. Do you know, these bugs are eaten in some part of the world?


A monarch butterfly enjoying some lovely goldenrod. This scene was one of many from our recent nature walk.

Speaking of butterflies, here's some pretty butterfly weed. I think its color makes butterfly weed (it's not actually a weed, fyi) the most beautiful of the prairie wildflowers. I think many people consider wildflowers weeds, but what makes these plants less beautiful than a peony or a marigold?

I think these are black-eyed susans. They were among some of the plentiful, and colorful, varieties of wildflowers in bloom this time of year. I once spoke to a horticulturist who noted wildflowers are big, to-be-noticed kind of plants, something that scares away many timid gardeners. But these plant, native to the prairie, are familiar with the climate, don't need a lot of tending to and really are quite beautiful.

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

So you had a big party last night and that big bowl of tortilla chips is stale. Or, more likely in my case, you fell asleep with an open bag while you were watching "We Are the 80s" on VH1 for the 15th time.

Whatever. There's an awesome remedy for those inedible corn chips — chilaquiles.

Chilaquiles is a traditional Mexican dish using leftover corn tortillas. The tortillas are fried, layered with leftover sauce and cheese, and baked into a casserole. There are a ton of varieties to this great dish, and here's a link to get you started, but my personal favorite is the tomatillo variety. It's tangy and wonderful.

2 lbs. tomatillos, quartered. They look like husked green tomatoes and sold near the avocados.
1 medium onion, diced.
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped.
Juice from one lime.
1/2 tsp salt.
1 jalapeño or serrano pepper, for the brave. (otherwise, optional).
2 cup chicken broth.
1/2 bag corn chips. If you don't have this, fry up about 12 corn tortillas cut in eighths.
16 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded.

1. Combine the tomatillos, onion, cilantro, lime, pepper and salt in blender until smooth. Bring mixture to boil on stove.

2. Add chicken broth. Bring to boil. Turn to low and simmer 10 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 350.

4. Put about 1 cup sauce on bottom of casserole dish. Layer with tortilla chips.

5. Add another cup of sauce, half the cheese and another layer of chips. Top with sauce and cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

6. Serve with sour cream. If it's a spicy dish, it works really well with a fried egg.

Eco-parenting

The site How You Eco has been profiling eco-homemakers (something they're caling Chief Eco Officers, and really, could I say eco one more freakin' time!) this week on their blog. Sure I'm included, but I swear there are other, more interesting, people on the site.

The Whole Foods story

Whole Foods, the fancy-schmancy grocery store known for selling quality organic food, is having a bit of a problem. Seems people aren't willing to spend half their paychecks on good eats when times are tough.

So the chain is trying to shake its image. But one thing it can't do at this point is appeal to the huge part of the population it's ignored for so long. There are 16 stores in my state of Illinois and every one of them is in Chicago or the Windy City suburbs. Big cities. Hip neighborhoods. That's where Whole Foods built its base.

Don't get me wrong. I love Whole Foods. Yum. But it looks like I'll have to stick mostly to my local grocery (the St. Louis-based Schnuck's that built a store a mile from my house off a bike trail) local farmers (it is the Midwest, after all) and local specialty stores.

Good luck with that image problem of yours Whole Foods. You're going to need it.

Photo by beardenb on Flickr

Getting to know you

I got one of those silly surveys friends sometimes send to one another in an effort to talk about themselves. Sure I answered it.

What caught my attention was a question about favorite smells. Many of the women (all moms) said they liked the smell of a clean house.

After watching more daytime television than I care to admit, and having wandered down a cleaning product aisle at the grocery store every once in a while, I can tell you, that smell is not the smell of clean.

In fact, it's probably exactly the opposite.

Many cleaning products contribute to indoor air pollution, which can be 2 to 5 times higher in your house than outside. The chemicals (or volatile organic compounds) in cleaning products, air fresheners and dry-cleaned clothes can contribute to a number of health woes, including damage to the central nervous system.

Air fresheners are the worst in my book. They provide a very strong smelling product meant to conjure images of clean, when one organization found phthalates (known to cause birth defects and reproductive harm) in 12 of 14 air fresheners testing, including those labeled as "all natural."

The truly safe cleaning products, such as those sold by the company Seventh Generation, are great, but expensive. For most of my cleaning, I stick to baking soda, washing soda and vinegar. Try to buy soap instead of detergent, which contains petroleum products.

And for a fresh, clean smell, open a few windows. You might find the outside actually smells OK.

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

The tomatoes are here! The tomatoes are here!

Every year when we get those first few tomatoes, we always analyze the best way to eat them. A fresh mozzarella/tomato salad with olive oil and great bread? A fantastic BLT?

How about some fresh salsa? Oh how I love the conundrum of summer food.

Here's my recipe for the perfect summer salsa. Next week, check back to find out how to deliciously use stale corn chips.

This is a single tomato recipe. Just double, triple or multiple by 100 for your needs. Also, don't be afraid to experiment. A seeded cucumber or diced carrot can make a nice addition, especially if you're making a clean-out-the-fridge variety.

One good sized tomato
Tsp salt
One small onion
One jalapeno or Serrano pepper (use half a green pepper if you don't like the heat)
One small ear of corn, boiled five minutes and cut off cob
Juice from half a lime
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1. Dice tomatoes. Put in colander in sink and sprinkle with salt (this will rid the tomatoes of their excess juice)
2. Layer diced onion, diced pepper and corn on top of tomatoes. Do not stir.
3. Squeeze lime juice over vegetables
4. Wait about 15-20 minutes.
5. Stir the mixture into a medium bowl. Stir in cilantro and season with salt and pepper.

Eat with corn chips, tacos or over scrambled eggs.

Awesome reasons for not driving

Surprises.

Yesterday, I meant only for a quick bike trip to the library for some new books (I got Salman Rushdie's newest novel!) and a little browsing.

But then ice cream sounded great. After some chocolate cones, we strolled through the town's farmer's market.

On the way home I thought, "Why not stop at the playground?" And what a treat when two little girls, the same ages as my little girls, showed up. The little quartet played together, as my4-year-old would say, "The whollllle time."

Child's play

I was jogging about a week ago when I noticed a particularly windy storm had knocked one of those backyard playsets down in a nearby neighborhood. Yesterday, I was running along the same route and noticed nobody had bothered to fix it.

It's part of the problem with DIY playsets. I see these overpriced kits (a very small set excluding lumber starts at a few hundred and the sky's the limit on high-end equipment) constructed all over town and see kids playing on them less than 1 percent of the time. What a waste.

I think the monotony is part of the reason for backyard playground failure. Kids like the park because there's always a chance other kids will be there. Sure the swings and the slide are fun, but it gets old after about the hundredth time.

It's also not uncommon to see these sets bordering community parks. That just screams, "We're too important to mingle with whatever commoner might be frequently my neighborhood playground." Also, they fall into disrepair from lack of use, or when a wind storm blows them over.

And people have blight issues with clotheslines.

I say the playground's biggest benefit is it's community building. Kids want to play with other kids! And if you're a stay at home parent, don't tell me you don't crave adult conversation, even if it ends up merely being about your 2-year-old's reluctance to eat anything but bread.

So stop the backyard madness, get out the bikes and ride to the park. You might be surprised what (and how many friends!) you might find there.

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

I've got nothing against the traditional grilled cheese sandwich. Who doesn't love butter, bread and cheese slices, maybe some ham if you're feeling fancy?

But I definitely prefer a more grown-up variety, especially in the summer. And both my kids, even my picky eater, love it.

Today is one of my favorites. I got some good Ciabatta bread from the bakery. I could have made my own rustic version if I had the time and inclination, neither of which panned out.

Then I layer fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and some shredded mozzarella. I brush both sides with olive oil and cook over medium heat on the stove top until both sides are golden brown, about four minutes each.

Add and subtract veggies and cheese to find your favorite combo. I'm also partial to sautéed spinach with goat cheese.

Hurry up and wait

That was our day yesterday after a very long, very stressful trip on the city bus. I know, I know... I'm always saying things like, "Sell your car and ride the bus. It's fun!" Well, it's fun sometimes, I think.

We don't use the bus much in the summer. I really only take it a few places (transferring with two kids can be a little like trying to pull two kids off the monkey bars and one of the kids is kicking you in the head) and the bike is just an easier option. Mostly that's because I can come and go at my leisure, which I enjoy.

A bus is a whole different story. It only comes by our house once an hour. That requires us to be at the bus stop at 45 minutes past the hour and, more importantly, be at the downtown stop at 35 minutes past the hour. Missing the bus means either waiting an hour for the next bus or walking the mile home.

Ever try to get two kids under the age of 5 out the door is 3 minutes? Well, it's tricky. It's even harder in the winter with coats, hats, mittens and boots.

But when I made an ambitious trip to Meijer yesteday, I broke the cardinal rule of riding public transit in a small town — wear a watch. If you're constantly worried about the time, it's stressful.

To my kids' credit, they were extremely well behaved on the bus. Well, except for my 2-year-old pointing and laughing at the giant Vietnam Veteran wearing a beret, a hat she apparently found hilarious. But all this waiting serves as good opportunities for running around, which at a bus stop, isn't a great spot for that. We did find a nice little spot with steps and some grass.

But while the weather is nice, the bike is definitely better.

Summer favorites

Someone recently asked me about the cost of a CSA v what I'd spend at the grocery store.

We pay about $14 a week, which is slightly more per week than we paid last year, but our farmer this year grows more "backyard garden" kind of stuff, which is a bigger hit with the fam. This cost obviously differs among farmers, regions, items grown and how organic the farmer is.

One green pepper; two onions; two tomatoes (yeah! tomatoes); three cucumbers; three pickling cucumbers; four banana peppers; one eggplant; three Japanese eggplants; up to four zucchini (I only took two because, frankly, I don't want any more zucchini); one head of leaf lettuce; one bunch of basil; one bunch of carrots; one head of garlic.

And music please.

A dozen ears of corn!!!
After several months of the constant mantra "I don't like it" from my super-picky 2-year-old, this was indeed a welcome addition to the dinner table.

(note* I checked at Meijer yesterday and calculated $14 without counting the zucchini, garlic or tomatoes. I definitely feel like I got a deal.)

Getting from A to Beta

Beta Walking Google that is. Google Maps now makes it possible to map your walking route. This totally rocks, especially when visiting cities where one-way streets might make regular mapping unpractical.

Here's a blog (Google LatLong: Pound the pavement)that explains all the benefits of walking better than me. But one thing I noticed, Google gives you plenty of time to get somewhere with one mile taking about 19 minutes.

I love that!

Doing what works

I recently considered the possibility of going back to work. Now, all you SAHMs out there, don't get all hot-headed and bitchy with your "raising children IS work" argument. Sure it's work, but not the salary kind I'm thinking about.

But after some serious thinking following my initial interview, I called to cancel the second interview. In my pros/cons lists, the side came out nearly even, not nearly enough to ditch the tan, buy a car and go suit shopping.

Here's what I learned in my silent deliberations.

• Buying a car would be almost a necessity. That means a car payment, insurance, gas and the probability I'll actually use this car (unlike the clunker sans working air we currently own which I avoid at nearly all costs) meaning more money on gas. This wouldn't be very Mothering Earth-like behavior.

• Homecooking would take a backseat to sleep. Cooking good, wholesome, inexpensive meals at home is time consuming. In fact, when I went on the interview I called my husband and asked about lunch. He asked if I could just pick up Taco Bell. Taco Bell?! I haven't eaten this kind of low-grade food in months. It was delicious, but I had to run an extra mile just to justify it.

• Speaking of running, that would be the end of that. Again, sleep has to take priority. I run in the morning when everybody's home. I can't very well go for a run at night when the girls are in bed before Steve gets home. And darn it all if I don't want to spend at least 30 minutes with my spouse everyday.

• Childcare. This is a biggie. I'm not opposed to childcare, but it's expensive and it really goes against this whole simple life we've concocted for ourselves. One more year before my oldest starts kindergarten and then it's all over but the teen-age angst.

• All the little things. The line drying. The garden. The homemade cleaning products. These are the products of a person focusing on the home. I realize it would be nice to communicate with adults on issues unrelated to potty training, but potty training will come and go. Jobs will come again. This simple life of using less, wanting less and loving almost every minute of it, this could come and go.

But I'm going to hang on as long as I can.

Like peas and carrots

I just returned from a second, less eco-friendly, vacation to Minnesota. I realize driving 45 minutes to get to the Mall of America is probably a true tree-hugger's worst nightmare, but seriously... how could you go to Minneapolis and not go there?

When we returned home to a pretty tidy house and an empty refrigerator, I felt pretty good about myself for scrounging up a decent stir-fry meal using some stuff from my garden. My carrots didn't seem orange enough, and peas not abundant enough, but that's why stir-fry is so awesome. Just throw in what you have and hope for the best.

And just for the record, I've never trusted baby carrots. They seem really wet and taste weird. So when we bought a bag for the car, my 2-year-old ate a bunch and later threw them up in their nearly original state, I have to think I'm right on this.

Give peas a chance

I hate peas. Yuck.

That was until last night when I picked fresh peas from my garden, barely boiled them and served with butter and salt. Delicious. I read that frozen peas, because they're flash frozen just after picking, generally taste better than grocery store "fresh." It's surprising, but apparently peas quickly (in about a day) lose their nutritional quality and flavor.

But just out of the garden? Heaven.

My only complaint, and this is a problem with everything from my garden, there just wasn't enough. I don't have adequate room to grow the number of plants needed to provide a satisfying pea side dish. Even the most prolific plant is just one plant.

It's true, I do have a decent-sized yard, but we also have two giant shade trees that keep things nice and cool around here in the dog-day summer months. They also keep the chilly wind out when things around here get more blustery.

So what's a Gardner girl to do? Well, herbs are something that grow pretty easily and don't need a ton of room. I cut what I need and it always grows back. I also have some pepper plants that aren't as square-footage hungry as say cucumbers, zucchini or melons.

Besides, I have my CSA and that provides our four-person clan with plenty of veggies to go around.

Suburban free fall

It was innocent enough, I swear.

A rainy morning and a eco-husband who says, "Where's the umbrella? I'm going to take the bus," and you've got yourself a simple temptation to take the car two blocks to your daughter's swimming practice. So that's exactly what I did.

And so what if after practice I run to the bank. And then there's the traffic jam and my stomach reminds me about lunch. What's one McDonald's drive-threw in the grand scheme of things? And Target shopping?

Wait... Regain senses. Go home and make a delicious lunch of homemade chicken nuggets from the leftover tenderloins on the cutlets. Make a salad. But what a reminder of how easy it is to slip back into easy.

Save money. Save my waistline. Save the environment.

Photo by Snappybex on Flickr

Back to real life

It's been a week since my trip. That's how long it's taken me to recover. And yes... seriously. A commenter said smoothies with bananas, honey and milk cure hangovers. I could have used a kiddie pool filled with that concoction for the bad-boy I brought home.

The trip was great, except Amtrak ran into pretty major delays on the way back. Many people on board complained that this is why nobody takes the train.

But I'm reminded of a two-hour traffic jam during a vacation because an acid truck overturned. Or spending more than an hour on the runway waiting for a plane to depart.

Sure it's frustrating when a train stops for apparently no reason (they could do a better job of communicating delays), but I'd much rather be on a roomy train with a dining car stocked with wine and veggie burgers than circling over an airport during a storm.

I am outta here

I'm just about out the door for my eco-friendly, low-cost, no-kid weekend to visit a friend. I won't be back posting until next week, so in the meantime, check out my most recent essay on Grist.

Off to the train. You know they serve beer, right!

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

Who doesn't love a good smoothie? That's right. Nobody.

So I was pretty happy my husband passed along his mom's quick smoothie recipe for a refreshing after-dinner treat. You can make it with ice cream, but I find it works just as well with plain yogurt (I never buy the pre-sweetened stuff because it's chock full of high fructose corn syrup and it's just as good if you take the plain stuff add a generous helping of maple syrup and your choice of fruit).

This smoothie literally takes about three minutes and could use almost any fruit. I read another great recipe to freeze these in Popsicle containers for smoothie frozen pops. Yum...

Strawberry-banana smoothie

• I cut up one banana, a half dozen good sized strawberries and throw those in the blender. I add about a cup and a half of yogurt and two TBS of maple syrup, which I swear does not make your yogurt take like maple syrup, just yummy sweet.
• Blend.
• Add about a handful of ice cubes.
• Blend until the cubes are crushed.

The big green escape

I'm going away this weekend because A) I have a really incredible husband who understands a break is needed whenever I start contemplating selling the kids on eBay and B) I have a really incredible husband.

After I bought Amtrak tickets, I started thinking maybe I should have rented a car. It's about $80 cheaper than the train, and a lot faster.

That's before my incredible husband (he really is, and yes, I'll stop mentioning it) pointed out that with the distance I'm driving, it would actually be $20 more expensive if I drove straight there and back, was lucky enough to get a car that got 30mpg and gas prices don't go much higher than $4 a gallon.

Not to mention the missing relaxation factor I get from riding the train.

When traveling alone, a train is much more eco-friendly than either the car or plane (especially planes with one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gases), so it just makes sense to grab an iPod and a couple of library books to help decompress after a steady stream of "mommy, mommy, mommy" during the last six months.

Grist recently ran a list of ways to green your trip and it's definitely worth checking out. Another tip: I always drink a ton of water when I travel, whether it's by plane, train or automobile. Bringing a reusable water bottle helps cut down on plastic waste.

Train photo by sheilaellen

What a line

I just want to sing the praises of the clothesline of a moment.

It's one of the easiest ways to eco-fy your house. And, unlike many very small (and cheap! hooray) changes, it packs a pretty big punch. I like to put in a load of laundry every night (I'm lucky to have a timer, but sometimes I wait until I wake up to start) and line dry late morning until early afternoon.

I do one load of laundry everyday, unless it rains. I can take it down at noon, or if I'm busy, later. It doesn't matter because line-dried clothes don't wrinkle like they do in the dryer. In fact, I have some clothes that have to be ironed no matter how quickly I retrieve them from the dryer, unless I hang them on the line.

Alexander Lee, Director of Project Laundry List, was recently quoted here:

One dryer, he knows today, eats up to $100 or more in power each year while emitting up to a ton of carbon dioxide. Collectively, America's more than 80 million dryers annually burn 6 to 10 percent of all residential electricity — second only to refrigerators and the equivalent of 30 million tons of coal or the output of the nation's 15 least productive nuclear reactors.

Stop all that just by hanging your laundry. Lee has a new blog for his organization that gives tips, musings and news all about the clothesline. I swear by it!

Beautiful big breakfast

When you run two miles in the morning, and then bike four miles to a restaurant carting 70 pounds of kid behind you, there's absolutely no guilt as you're practically licking your plate clean of its three-egg omelet. This I know to be true.

What I do find a little guilt-probable is the food. We were looking at the table condiments and found each packed with high fructose corn syrup, which is essentially banned at our house. Sure, I understand this sweetener, which is not that much chemically different than plain table sugar but a crap-load cheaper, is used to sweeten jams and jelly.

But when honey contains sugar, high fructose corn syrup, plain old corn syrup and, oh yes, honey, in its top five ingredients, you know there's a problem. So maybe we don't use the tiny packets on our table, but what about the pancakes? What about the juice? What about the sausage?

What's in that stuff? And how many empty calories did I replace from my vigorous morning workouts?

It's not that I'm against sweet stuff. I happen to like sweet stuff very much. I'm just against mass-produced foods adding this stuff, and calories that could be contributing to our obesity epidemic (although this issue is up for debate), to items that don't need sweetening. It's not that this corn-product is worse than sugar, but it's contributing calories to almost every processed food.

Honey, for instance, doesn't need sweetening. It's sugar. Why would you sweeten sugar? That's why I find it's just easier to avoid high fructose corn syrup altogether.

Master list

When scoping out big-ticket items at a garage sale, it helps to have some sort of a running list of things you need. On our list, we had dressers, a kids bike and a salad spinner.

So yesterday when we happened upon dressers for our two girls, we hadn't actively looked for probably about a year. But there it was. A three-piece set popped up out of nowhere for $80 (after my husband talked the seller down $20) and it only took us three car trips to haul that bad boy home.

The result, we have pretty decent dressers for both girls. It's not the steal we got last year when we bought our oldest daughter's big-girl bed, or the deal in the classifieds for our tiled dining room table, but it's still a great deal and it's totally recycled.

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

As promised, another DIY for homemade crayons, stolen straight from my Green Living Family Tips for Nick Jr. Magazine. I wrote it, so I guess it's probably OK for me to steal it.

This is a great option for birthday favors, along with homemade Play-Doh or a homemade CD burned with your favorite kid tunes.

Recycle your crayon bits

1. Collect broken and used crayons for a rainy day project.

2. Remove the paper from crayons and fill muffin tin halfway. Use just one color, or mix a bunch for a tie-dye looking crayon. Bake at 200˚F for 12 minutes, or until wax melts. Watch closely. Let cool.

Dump the Pump

It's the third annual Dump the Pump day, promoting public transit.

Our family isn't driving today. Steve took the bus to work, I biked to the grocery store/playground and will later be biking to the pool. Our public transit system is offering free rides today, so I'm a little bummed I'm not taking the bus somewhere.

Since we regular make everyday Dump the Pump day, I don't feel too bad. Driving less saves us much, much money, we are healthier and we're contributing to a more sustainable world.

We don't need a day to feel good about that. Although free buttons help. Visit this Public Transportation site for a free button showing your support for the bus/train.

Reusable awesomeness

I just want to say, those Parmesan cheese containers in the cooler section (like Kraft or off-brand cheese that's totally not the good stuff but that is much cheaper than the good stuff and you know you kind of love it) make great snack containers.

They have cool lids. A wide section for crackers. A shaker section for raisins. The lids screw on which means less spillage. They're a great size.

I haven't done this yet, but I'm thinking of letting the girls paint one. Giving them ownership of this handy-yet-disposable item might (fingers crossed) make it less likely they'll leave it behind.

Organically sealed

Do you know what I find incredibly annoying? When things labeled "organic" have a decidedly not-earth-friendly aspect.
Like this tea I picked up the other day. Just for the record, I generally don't buy organic as a matter of course. I'll pay higher prices for locally grown, preferably using organic methods, and I'll buy organic produce if it looks better, aka fresher. But corporate organic farming just doesn't ring my bell, if you know what I mean. (note * I highly recommend taking a look at that last link. It has a flow chart of which companies own which organic brands.)

I bought this tea because it was on sale. When I got home and saw each tea was individually packaged — in plastic — I groaned dramatically. Most of the high end tea I buy isn't individually packaged, and some of it doesn't even have that little string and paper. The really good stuff is loose tea, and that doesn't have any packing at all.

Practice camp

As I get older, I love the outdoors more and more. Cold. Hot. In between. If I could figure out a way to live outside, I just might give it a try.

So it's weird that my husband and I aren't the camping type. Sure, we'd like to be, but we didn't make the effort pre-kids and as any parent knows, picking up something like that post-kids can be impossible. For example, if you've got a kid who will barely sleep in a bed, how the heck are you supposed to get that kid to sleep in a tent!
This is the year we're going to really make an effort to do at least one camping trip. Now that our baby is 2, we're finally able to do things that seemed crazy just last year, like taking a train trip to Chicago that prepared us for the apocalypse.

Last night, we did a trial run in the backyard. By we, I mean my husband. And by trial run, I the real thing. Trial runs are great, because in case of failure, there's an easy escape hatch like a bedroom 30 feet away. And when you trial run, you realize the things you'll need for the real thing.

For instance:

• Couch cushions are no substitute for a second air mattress. Waking up on a couple of askew cushions with two small children on top of you is not, apparently, a recipe for a good night's sleep.
• If you're going to be getting a less than adequate night's sleep because of early risers and late downers (I realize that doesn't make too much sense, but bear with me), do not drink too much beer/wine and realize a hangover on just a few hours rest is something you do in your 20s.
• While we had a television, house lights, loud stereo and fridge in our house, nature will probably have less of that stuff. Bring light.

See how useful our trial run turned out to be? Come on nature. We're ready!

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

Last week, the girls took home a tiny tub of Play-Doh from their summer reading program. It was a sticky mess and I promptly threw it away and promised my elephant-never-forgets-minded 4-year-old I'd make some myself one day it rained.

So she kept waiting and waiting and waiting for a rainy day. Today, still no rain despite predictions of 80 percent, and I gave in.

I don't know why I had waited so long. Homemade Play-Doh is super easy and fast. It doesn't have any mystery ingredients and you can decide on the fly what colors you want. Break out the cookie cutters and you've got yourself an afternoon.

Simple Mom just posted a super recipe for the stuff on her site a few days ago. Rather than steal it, I'll just go ahead and link directly to her site. I just made two batches and found it simple to follow with a great result. Next week, I'll post my other favorite rainy day DIY — homemade crayons.

Growing success

I think I've mentioned this before, or maybe a few times, but my thumb is not naturally green. So I super excited about my minor success this spring.

I grew lettuce (from plant) and radishes (from seed) in my new little garden. It turns out all the books are right; anybody can grow radishes. My 4-year-old, having helped sow the seeds, even ate some of the radishes she helped grow. And the lettuce was as tender and sweet as any at a farmer's market.

But I was a little disappointed it wasn't the BEST salad I've ever eaten. The stuff from my CSA farmer is just as good. I guess that means it's just as fresh, which is a good problem to have.

Now that the lettuce is gone and the radishes are thinning, I've planted peppers and tomatoes. I'm conducting a little tomato experiment by buying an heirloom variety from a farmer and some standard breeds from the hardware store to see which produces better. The heirloom plant, at $3, better do well to compete with the six-pack of Better Boys for the same price.

Bye-bye Hummer

"Who would want a Hummer? Can you imagine if you had a Hummer right now? What a nightmare that would be."

My husband just laughs at my rant, and it's double entendre-y nature. But seriously. Who has that kind of cash just waiting to be thrown away on gas?

Nobody, it turns out. GM is backing off it's line of SUVs, and thinking of selling its beloved Hummer, to focus on smaller cars. Come on Ford. Bring back that feisty Festiva at nearly 30 mpg.

Come to think of it, maybe people are going a bit further. A few weeks ago on a bike ride to the park with my girls, I saw two other parents with kid trailers — on the SAME block. I see them everywhere now (even my neighborhood Target store for less than $100 on sale). Today at the playground, the only things there were three parents, three kids and two bikes with Burleys.

It's pretty exciting to watch the market crush the things are damaging the planet while promote the things that make us all healthier.

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

My salad days are back — literally.

This week in my CSA bounty, I received three full heads of lettuce, a bag of baby greens and a bag of spinach. That means salad.

I'm totally not complaining. I would gladly eat salad every day between now and doom's day. But of course, I need a good dressing. A first-rate dressing is important when trying (begging, pleading and threatening) to get kids to eat their green leafies as well.

Personally, I lean on the side of sour on the sour/sweet debate. Here's what I view as the perfect combination. Just blend all the ingredients, the oil in a slow, steady stream to emulsify the vinaigrette. Toss immediately with greens (and if I'm really lucky, some yummy radishes).

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar or fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (just a pinch if you only have table salt)
6 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
a few chopped chives, optional


My CSA farmer passed along this dressing recipe recently. I haven't tried it, but I'm intrigued. I'm guessing it would be a favorite with the girls.

Combine about 1/4 cup mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip--it will not work!) with enough milk, thinning it, but not runny. Add about 1 tsp sugar and mix until the sugar dissolves. Add vinegar (cider vinegar works best) to taste, 1 TBSP or more.

Bunny killer

It didn't take long before we forgot to let our dog inside when we headed out one day.

This resulted in a very quick end to our nest of bunnies. While we were saddened by the sight of tiny dead bunnies turned into tasty snacks by our beloved (and kind of disgusting) beagle, I do realize this is nature and nature cannot always be controlled.

We'll try harder next spring bunnies. Only, I hope your mama knows better than to birth you in a yard with a killer beagle.

Successful no-mo

We made it, but just barely.

A weekend without driving seemed like a great idea Friday. The forecast called for sunny and 80 all weekend. So when rain showers threatened even an hour outing, it seemed clear that no car (and no buses running Sunday or Monday) would leave us pretty inside and bored.

But we pushed on, took some chances and had a fantastic weekend complete with three meals from the grill and lunch at a restaurant. It was mostly uneventful, but it was inexpensive and nice to just be home with the family.

No-mo weekend

Since gas prices are ridiculously high, and because my family and I had mostly planned a leisurely weekend of yard work, playgrounds and around-town outings, we decided to go car free this Memorial Day weekend. Plus we have brats from this local farmer, so really there's no reason to go anywhere.

For any adventures we might take, we'll be traveling via walk, bike or bus. I'm sure this will work out perfectly well, without even one 2-year-old tantrum. So happy three-day weekend to us and everybody else.

Bunnies

Today, we discovered a nest of bunnies in our back yard.

Ahhhh. !!! Bunnies!!!

Obviously, mommy bunny wasn't too bright. A dog and two little kids equals bad place for baby bunnies. And because my husband and I aren't the kind of people who kill cute little baby bunnies, or let our dog kill the cute little baby bunnies, or can tolerate the sadness of having mother rabbit continually look for her cute baby bunnies we moved, we put a small fence around the nest.

Turns out, that was the right thing to do. In a few days, the bunnies will have hair. In 10 days, they'll be old enough to move around. I'm thinking of doing a bunny lesson for the girls.

Our neighbors probably think we're crazy. That's fine. At least I don't have to live as a bunny murderer. And that's fine by me.

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

Could there be a more perfect spring dish than spinach salad? The greeny deliciousness. The bacon. The vinegar.

I just love it. But it also needs a perfectly cooked hard boiled egg, one of life's most perfect foods. For such a simple thing, hard boiled eggs can be hard to master. I normally end up with most of the egg going down the disposal with the shell or an overcooked yolky mess that works like cement inside my mouth.

But the following method seems to work well.

Put the eggs in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Cover the eggs and let set for 10 minutes, remove the eggs and plunge them in an ice-water bath.

Just because I'm a huge pain in the ass, I must admit I actually don't do this because I am the lucky owner of an electric tea kettle.

I just plop the eggs inside, turn on the kettle (it turns off when it reaches a boil) and take them out at 10 minutes. If I don't break any, I make myself a lovely cup of tea as a reward for being so smart.

Run them under cold water as you peel to reduce egg-white waste.

Summer starts.... NOW

Our CSA started today. Hooray!

Today, the girls and I went over on the bike (it's a long haul and through some pretty busy sections of town so my husband will generally pick up after work but he couldn't today so, in the words of our beloved heroin Dora, "Lo hicimos.") and picked up our bounty of lettuce, spinach, radishes, green onions and Japanese greens. Even with a crappy, cold spring, we got a pretty nice supply of green leafies.

Belonging to a CSA is about the best thing, other than giving up a car, we've done to go green. It's a bit of cash all at once (about $300 at the beginning of the season) but you get a nice supply of veggies each week and you get the freshest of the fresh. This means eating in season and not having to stand in the grocery store produce section for 30 minutes deciding what to buy.

And it feels so awesome to support local farmers. This might have been our first pickup, but they also had a surplus of asparagus at the beginning of the season that they gave to their members, for free. Two pounds of unexpected asparagus! You just can't beat that.

Long live community supported agriculture. And summer.

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

I recently bid house guests a safe trip home. I made a huge pork roast with basmati rice and broccoli, but I'm pretty sure I could have opened a can of tomato soup, grated some cheese on top and called it a day — all to the same reaction of "What a wonderful dinner."

That's because I made my own bread. Homemade bread is deemed such a luxury that it matters little else what is on the table. And a tasty loaf is truly a wonderful thing. If you've ever looked at the ingredients in your typical sandwich bread, you'll likely see a bunch of mystery ingredients, including high fructose corn syrup.

I make mostly two kinds of yeast breads: American white loaf and Rustic Italian, depending on what I'm serving. Stews and American-style meals, like roasts, are better with the white bread. Everything else gets rustic. Also, the American bread recipe takes just a few hours, whereas the rustic recipe takes two days.

These recipes are pretty complex, so I won't include them here. I use Cooks Illustrated (best cookbook EVER) for both the white and the rustic. You need a subscription (which is well worth it, by the way, but they also have an unlimited search for 14 days free).

The New York Times ran this interesting recipe for no-knead bread that I've never had any luck with, but it's a great idea. I just think my oven doesn't get hot enough. And here's a nice recipe for white bread from a pretty thorough site.

So bake a loaf today, but don't expect it to be there tomorrow.

What's wrong with feminism?

Nothing! It's a movement that has allowed women as many choices as men. Many, many feminists probably think my decision to stay at home with my children is a poor choice, but I think that choice is up to family.

I believe the choice to work is not an issue women should be fighting, and judging each other, about.

In any case, a crazy right-wing columnist made the argument that feminism is bad for the environment. He cites two commuting parents (not to mention the nanny to which I say HA!) are taking to the road worsening climate change, something I'm pretty sure he doesn't a) care about and b) believe in.

But his argument is flawed. Women staying at home often drive just as far, or further, than their commuting husbands. Just yesterday in my local paper, one mom told the reporter she just can't cut back on the 12,000 miles she drives each year running errands and chauffeuring her kids. And most one-income families I know have the working-part driving the sedan while the home-part gets the minivan, or worse, the SUV.

But I should at least be thankful that the right is making the argument that driving is, in fact, bad on the environment.

Seeds of success

I'm nowhere near being able to claim my gardening project a success (I'm somewhere between four weeks and four years away from being able to actually eat anything I've planted) but I'm, yet again, hopeful.

My radish seeds have sprouted in the garden. I don't have much hope for the lettuce plants that my fat beagle is continually attacking, for whatever reason.

And in my south-facing front window, I have the start of basil, chives and, today, parsley. My daughter's popcorn seeds she started at the library story hour are looking the best of the lot. Perhaps I'm Christine (the) Gardner by name only.

My daughter, she was a Gardner right at birth.

Things you learn in nature

My 4-year-old daughter recently walked in on my husband peeing in the bathroom.

"Daddy! How are you doing that?"

A few days later, during a hike through some pretty deserted trails, she started jumping around demanding we return home. I took her behind some bushes and showed her how to squat and just pee outside. We too can be liberated. She laughed hysterically and peed all over my shoes.

Oh, what I wouldn't do for some guy equipment. Not all the time (it's pretty ugly, if you ask me) but definitely at sporting events, at nightclubs when the liquor has poured freely, and most definitely during hikes outdoors.

As green returns to the landscape, we've been spending more time just tooling around our area's green spaces. I can't think of a better way to whittle away some hours than hanging out with my kids in nature. Everything is new and wonderful. (I tried to find an online resources that lists green space, but it's pretty much a local effort. Check with the local parks and recreation department for a list of parks, trails and preserves.)

This morning, I suggested a walk somewhere close. I asked whether they wanted to go to the woods (we live about about a half mile from a small nature preserve) or the playground. My heart nearly burst when my 4-year-old shouted woods.

We even got serenaded with her new song, "I love the forest," on the way. A few birdwatchers let the girls look through their binoculars and told us about the black and white warbler they spotted.

I definitely love spring!

Awesome reasons for line drying

Yesterday, I tumbled dried a load of laundry due to a cold and rainy day. But because I'm me, the housekeeping equivalent of a forgetful nomad, I forgot to take remove the clothes from the dryer in a timely manner and ended up with a wrinkled mess.

My solution? Take the worst wrinkled, which are generally the things that should look flattened like dress shirts and cotton pants, and hang them on my sunny line for a bit.

Sunshine fresh and no iron. Who wouldn't love that?

Eco-healthy

I love how green living is contagious.

I guess it's only in my own family, but maybe you have to be in really, really close proximity to catch an eco-cold.

My husband has hopped on the green-parenting train — well.... the city bus anyway. Since the weather turned more spring-like, he's been taking the bus more often. He likes to read the paper or a magazine, and he's prefers the mile-walk home from downtown rather than catching the transfer because it provides him with some fresh-air exercise after a busy day.

Speaking of getting some exercise, living mostly car free has been challenging after a fierce and exercise-lacking winter. Carting 70 pounds behind me after months of ignoring my thigh muscles is — let me tell you — no easy task. To compensate, and because I recently dog-sat for a farm hound who required much more exercise than my tiny plot allows, I started jogging.

These early morning jogs (check out this really inspiring PBS Nova special about regular people who train to run a marathon to help you set your clock an hour early) merely add to my optimism about enjoying the coming summer, spending time playing with my daughters, focusing on my family's overall health and really just enjoying life.

Wondering where all my self-deprecation has gone? Wow... It only took two years to finally get good at this. Who knew I was just a quick study!