Yoga = My Heart

Take me now, I"m happy. Okay, don't, really.
I practice yoga 2-4 times a week now. It is linen' up my back,
helping me to breathe and relax, and generally keeping me sane.
I work as a speech therapist. It's hard work.

Yoga makes me happy. Bliss.
U can achieve the same affect watching your cat, minus the body feel good.

Ice Cream Makin Fun

So, Last night, after a wildly successful dinner
of pesto, pasta shells, and zucchini with 'fruit sorbet'
for dessert...I was still hungry. I had a craving for ice-cream,
and creativity. I knew we had half-n-half in the fridge, and I wondered:
What can I make? ICE-CREAM, of course.

Don't have an ice-cream maker. Didn't have cream. The ice-cream-it was delicious.
Here's what I did:

Ingredients
2 cups half-n-half
1/4 cup brown sugar (or white)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup salt
4 trays ice cubes
ziploc baggies
1 large freezer/hotorcold bag

To make:
Mix half-n-half, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk to combine. I used several small ziploc baggies, cuz that's all i had. Pour mixture into ziploc baggies. Seal tightly. Pour ice and salt into the large freezer bag. Place ziploc baggies into larger bag. Seal large bag tightly. Shake, Shake Shake. Shake some more. Shake shake shake.....BEHOLD....ICE CREAM! Squeeze into bowls and enjoy.

Seriously, if you are a coffee drinker and have basic ingredients on hand--you can make this. I got the idea from the internet because we have no ice cream maker. Lucky for me, we had done this at work, so I knew what to expect. K., he was in awe--and immediately started brainstorming ways to make a BIKE powered ice-cream maker. Even funnier, there is a video on you-tube.

This ice cream made our stay at home saturday into a fun, yummy evening.

Now...stay tuned for the bike powered version!

Random Thoughts

Here is a 'friday' compilation of random things I'm contemplating:

1. Fat-free feta cheese is not good. It tastes like rubber. I don't like it. If i want feta cheese, next time, I'm just going to eat it.

2. Sometimes, even though the 'childish/'scared' track is running in my mind---THE SANE ADULT VOICE COMES OUT!!! It's totally cool....the adult takes over, and just speaks. OK, it sounds like i have different voices in my head, and I don't mean that at all. What I'm talking about is: I'm getting married. I work a full-time, apparently valuable profession. I make serious decisions. So, even though the 'holy moly' tape is sometimes still playing...the ADULT mode is becoming more auto pilot.

3. Turning off the water while brushing your teeth is truly one of the easiest enviro-saving actions you can take.

4. I love my cats, to the point of ridiculous abandon.

5. I truly enjoy my job/profession.

6. Life. Is. A. Blessing. (And i am blessed to have all I've got)


********cat mom************************

what cat mom's up too

WEllllllllllllllllll
these days I am:
- chasing after my constantly entertaining cats. Allegro got really peeved when
I went to a trip to texas and K. blocked off his fav. sleeping spot. he had a
random, but scary, episode of aggressive behavior. Which, if you know my crazy
lovely cat....is not normal


- running like a crazy woman at work

- continuing to plan a wedding

- shopping for bigger livin digs


- LOTS AND LOTS OF YOGA


- making A. queen laugh with lots of deep sayings.

My First Recycling Letter: ACME

Dear Customer Service Rep:

I would like to comment on your policies regarding recycled bags,brown paper bags, and plastic bags. As part of my commitment to Recycle, Reduce, and Reuse, I carry recyclable bags with me for my groceries. As an alternative, I sometimes use brown paper bags.

At your store on City Ave, when I request, "paper only", I am frequently given paper bags with plastic carrying handles around them. This creates twice the waste - two bags.
The first time this happened, I was upset but moved on.

However, during my shopping experience recently, I was troubled by interactions with your cashier.
As he put my groceries in a plastic bag, I handed him my reusable bag and said, "I'd like to put as much as possible in this." He put one item in the bag, and continued to scan. I had to fill the cloth bag myself. When the cloth bag was full, I requested "PAPER ONLY." I specified paper only, and yet he put the items in paper bags with plastic bags around them. He put ONE remaining item, that would not fit, in a separate plastic bag. I took the items out, took the plastic bags off the paper bags, and returned them on the counter.


While I know Acme does support plastic bag recycling, making a difference in waste requires reducing the amount of plastic that enters the stream of waste. Also, I made a troubling observation. While Acme SELLS reusable bags, as do many other stores, they have done nothing to educate their cashiers on this practice.

I fear that selling reusable bags simply encourages more consumerism. Consider the impact of your company. Consider the impact if you were to train your cashiers in accommodating customers who choose to use multi-use bags or make choices to use less plastic. I would also suggest adding paper handles to your paper bags, so that these can be used without plastic bags around them. Finally, training employees about items you sell--such as re-usable bags--could also
encourage internal recycling and conversation among employees.


The inside of your new City Ave remodeling is beautiful, and I would like to continue shopping at your store. However, this will depend on my future experiences with your cashiers as I continue to use my cloth bags and request PAPER ONLY.

Sincerely,
(me)