Carbon Neutral

 



As I have tried to be disciplined and get caught up on my blog reading and maybe even blogging myself....I read Think Tank Momas blog post and thought I have to get in on this. Her friend Darla clued her in on how us blogging leaves a carbon footprint. The average blog receiving 15,000 hits a month, has emissions of EIGHT (8) POUNDS of carbon dioxide a year.
Now I am nowhere near that many hits in 6 months let alone 1 month...but I still think that giving back to our environment is terribly important....and I do spend an awful lot of time on Facebook so maybe I could off-set that just a bit and here is how.............
Plant a tree. You don't have to plant it yourself or even in your own yard...in case you live in an apartment and don't have a yard you can still do this.
All I had to do was post this "My blog is carbon neutral" blog., add a button to my blog to raise awareness. And then a tree is planted for my blog. EASY as 1-2-3.
You can too! Just go here  to find a button you like grab it and add it to your blog.










So what to do? Quit blogging? Certainly not! That isn't going to happen. BUT, there is something we can do. Plant a tree. And we don't have to plant it ourselves. Nope. I post this "My blog is carbon neutral" blog. I add a button to my blog to raise awareness. And then a tree is planted for my blog. EASY as 1-2-3.

ABC's of Me

It's early Sunday morning and I figured why not might be fun so here goes......thanks to Vicki at Frugal Mom

A. AGE: 39 the only reason I know this is I just had a birthday

B. BED SIZE: Queen

C. CHORE YOU HATE: Vacuuming....I have a special relationship with the vacuum

D. DOG'S NAME: Hutch the Husky

E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY!" ITEM: A few minutes of quiet before all the kids get up

F. FAVORITE COLOR: Green

G. GOLD OR SILVER: Silver.

H. HEIGHT: 5'4"

I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: I play the radio like a pro

J. JOB TITLE: Professional mom and all that is included

K. KIDS:  8...yes 8....2 mine, 2 his, and 4 foster...it's like a bag of skittles in our house

L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: cramped with 8 kids what more could you expect

M. MOM'S NAME: Stella

N. NICKNAME: Foster kids call me Ya-Ya, BFF's hubs calls me Red, everyone else just calls me CRAZY

O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: 2 c-sections

P. PET PEEVE: Poor speaking, you know like "I gots 3 toys"...Oh geez just typing that hurt

Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: It's my island

R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY?: Righty

S. SIBLINGS: 2 older brothers and 2 older sisters

T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: Around 6ish

U. UNDERWEAR: nothing intersting thats for sure

V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE: Lima beans

W. WAYS (REASONS) YOU ARE LATE: When I have appts and caseworkers show up just as I am walking out the door

X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: Most recently my head

Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: Egg Rolls...I think that might be on todays dinner menu...YUMMM

Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: The turtles

Day 1
So as I told you all before I have decided to try this 7 day no spend thingie.
 I have planned a menu for the next week and I have to admit that doing so was tough for me....I am not really sure why. When I owned my daycare I had all meals planned for a month at a time....(the state said I had to do this). But 7 years of not making menus has me feeling like I did when I had to make my first menus. WOW this is making me feel old and even more unorganized than I already knew I was.

So 12 hours in and I am realizing that, for me, going 7 days without spending reinforces that for me to succeed at being even a tiny bit organized I need to make lists....many many lists. I have also accepted that I make a gazillion runs to the store for whatever the mood strikes me. So this no spending thing is going to be a good thing for me in more than the wallet.

I want to say thank you to consumption-rebellion for this idea. I think I may come back to a more organized and frugal system....at least I am praying for that....:)

No Spend Week

I was inspried by Eilleen, over at
Consumption Rebellion to try this out and see how I do.

I have decided that starting March 26th for 7 days I will not shop for anything. This does mean that I have to get my act together and plan a menu for that week and get to the grocery store, but what the heck how bad can it be to not eat out or shop for 7 days.
Now this does not include what the Old Man will spend getting to and from work, his commute is about 100 miles one way so refilling the tank happens often. It will also not include medical stuff and the usual bills.
How many of you can try the same thing? If not for 7 days how about just the weekend? Maybe we could all make an impact on our own lives this way.

Whats for Dinner Tonight

Easy Bake Chicken Pot Pie

1 cup cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces

1 2/3 cups frozen vegetables, thawed

1 (10 ounce) can cream of chicken soup (I use low sodium)

1 cup Bisquick reduced-fat baking mix (regular Bisquick will work too)

1/2 cup nonfat milk or milk

1 egg



Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix chicken, veggies and cream of chicken soup together and spread into bottom of non greased 9-inch round glass pie pan.

Mix remaining ingredients (Bisquick, milk and egg) and pour on top of chicken mixture.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until top turns golden brown.

And as you all know I add or substitute things as I see fit for that meal......so

I added more veggies than called for and added 1 can cream of mushroom soup, a can of mushroom pieces and stems. And doubled the bisquick topping.

Lawless Tuesday in Nebraska

If a child burps during church, his parent may be arrested.
--thank Gawd that was not a law in GA when my kids were little...they were gas factories

It is Illegal to go whale fishing.
--where would one go whale fishing in Nebraska?

It is illegal for bar owners to sell beer unless they are simultaneously brewing a kettle of soup.
--Can they serve the soup or just brew it?

It is illegal for a mother to give her daughter a perm without a state license.
--Such as a Drivers License or a Teaching License....who determines what type of License is needed?

Now I have done more reading on this hydroponic vegetable garden than I did on having a baby when I was pregnant, and I feel like the only way to make sure I understand what I have read is to just build it and see what happens. Up to this point I think I understand the building process.

Just need a tote such as this.....

cut some holes in the top of it for a little plant baskets, fill the basket with clay stones,

and plant with no soil on the roots

get a fish tank air pump and a sand stone.....fill the tote with water to the bottom of the basket and voila you have a garden. The pump keeps oxygen in the water...now you just have to add some sort of nutrient supplement to the tank.

Now according to all of the reading this should give a larger than usual yeild to a crop. So, we will be seeing as soon as our overnight temps are steady enough to get this going I will try to take a stab at it.

If anyone knows anything about this PLEASE let me know what you know.  Maybe sharing info can help us all.

OH and I am going to the farm store next week to see about the chicks...YAY ME!!!!