The easy home improvement project

I had this nice little Saturday morning plan to spruce up my home. I was going to paint the bathroom a nice shade of yellow using zero VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint and change the mirror.

Pop goes my bubble.

My house was built two years ago. The entire interior of the house was painted with one thin coat of flat paint. I'm guessing that my builder had forgotten what it is like to live with kids. Every surface looked dirty and chipped almost immediately. Fast forward two years and the guest bathroom looks absolutely gross.

So I did my research online. I knew that I wanted to go with a zero VOC paint. The EPA has stated that indoor air quality is three times more polluted than indoor air. Conventional paints give off harmful fumes while they are wet and then they continue to release harmful toxins when dry. Conventional paint has been linked to a host of lung problems including asthma. No thank you.

I settled on Sherwin Williams Zero VOC paint because they have a location close to me. The friendly paint store man even carried the paint out to my car. (I did look rather cute that day) Friendly Yellow is a mellow shade of yellow. Neutral with just enough yellow.




The first step was to remove the plain mirror. Only it wasn't just screwed to the wall. I was glued to the wall too. Pulling the mirror off the wall was more about pulling off the wall. In thick strips.

Now we are $30 more dollars into the project and anticipate 48 hours of applying, sanding and drying mud before painting.

Does anyone else watch those DIY house flipping and home improvement shows just to get a good laugh? That karma is now biting me in the butt. Feel free to laugh at my disaster...but watch out. Karma may be waiting for you too.

Downward Facing Elf

Today Girlie started a yoga class at her public school. A certain friend of mine thinks this is completely hysterical. This friend also gasped when I told her about my 4 year old Little guy and what a great rock climber he is. "Shouldn't kids just play in the sandbox?" she asked. To which I mumbled, "The wall is only forty feet high".

Back when I was a naive, skinny and judgemental elementary school teacher I had a ton of views on the over scheduling children and their parents. I would have not approved of my present day self. Is there a way to go back in time and slap that old judgemental me?

My kids like scheduled activities. They beg for classes of every variety. Little Guy recently asked for a "using tools like Santa's elves class." Unfortunately they don't offer that one in my town.


As a family we try to be active. Hike, swim, golf, play basketball and just play outside. The kids also have a lot of time on their own just to run and explore in the backyard. We are happy.



For now I'm going to let the kids try violin, skiing, hip hop or whatever we can comfortably manage. And just as importantly, I'm going to work on being so judgemental of other parents.

And The Winners Are...

Thank you to all of my wonderful readers who entered the Recycline toothbrush giveaway!

The kids and I chose five names out of a cooking pot earlier today. And the winners are....

Ruth over at http://www.ruthdynamite.blogspot.com/

Diane over at http://the-mommy-spot.blogspot.com/

Annette over at http://natural-childhood.blogspot.com/

Dolphyn over at http://dolphyngyrl.blogspot.com/

Erikka over at http://theextraordinaryeir.blogspot.com/

What a wonderful, diverse group of bloggers! Congrats to all of the winners!

A BIG thank you to Recycline http://www.recycline.com/ for donating their wonderful toothbrushes!! You have a customer for life.

Calling All Freegans

Have you heard about the people who are calling themselves "freegans?" Freegans are people who choose to scavenge for food in cities. They refuse to pay for food. They live off of our perfectly good food that we cast away.

My hat is off the freegans. It is a lifestyle that I could never follow, but certainly admire. Maybe I could support a freegan or two?

My cabinets are dark and deep. My fridge is tangled with baking soda, lettuce and too many bottled drinks. I loose food all of the time.

Sitting in the front of my pantry are the easy to grab kids snacks like brown rice cakes, sunflower seeds and FruitaBu to name a few. Behind the healthy/easy kids snacks hides the rest of the dry goods type of food. The rice, muffin mix, bread crumbs and raisins may never see daylight. I need to find a way not to let this food spoil and be wasted.

The fridge situation is even more dire than the pantry. If I could come up with a creative way to use 1/4 of a can of whipped cream leftover from Christmas, a cup of chicken stock, lettuce, two eggs and whatever else is growing in there then I would be a total Martha. Don't even mention the leftovers. Why can't I get anyone in this house, including me, to eat the leftovers? All of that food will go to waste. Every time I make a trip to the compost bin with wilted veggies I feel a pang of guilt.

Please help me get the word out to all of the freegans in Connecticut. Feel free to come raid my fridge. I'm trying my best. I know that you can be more creative than me.






You have already seen a photo of my freezer. Why not the pantry too.

The Oprah Effect

Friday is Lumpy Day for Little Guy and myself. After running all week to school, activities and errands, we try to just stay home to play. I savor our Lumpy Days together because when September rolls around Little Guy will be in Kindergarten and we won't have as much alone time together.

This morning we were flipping through the TV listings and today's Oprah episode caught my eye. "Going Green 101" is a repeat, but I have yet to see it. I will be DVRing it so I don't miss a minute while I'm at Brownie pick-up.

It got me thinking about what I have heard called "the Oprah effect." Basically, when Oprah endorses something everyone (like all of America everyone) listens.

Take last night's Iowa Causes. Oprah said "Obama" and Iowa voted for Obama. Even I have succumbed to the Oprah effect during a sports bra shopping trip. Oprah endorsed a specific bra, so I did what any American woman would do and bought that sports bra.

If Oprah gets behind the idea that every one of us can make a difference to the earth and then takes it a step further to show America how to make changes for the better...can you imagine?

I predict that if Oprah keeps the environment in the forefront of America's consciousness then she may be what saves us from ourselves.

Cut The Cord

Sometimes having a blog is like putting yourself out there, naked, for all of the world to see. I have confessed to all types of sorted and gossipy details about myself. Here comes my newest little secret.

I have cords. I have a lot of cords in my house. So many that I had to designate a drawer in the kitchen just to hold the cords for our portable devices.



What is a gruppie to do with all of those cords?

A bunch of these cords belong to two old cell phones. Power cords, car chargers, hands-free ear pieces. You get the idea. Each of the phones can hold a charge for maybe two hours at best. That doesn't work for me, so the phones had to be replaced.

Now the offending cell phones are sitting in the drawer, tangled in their cords with little hope for the future.

I have spent lots of time online searching for what to do with these phones and cords and there is no easy solution. One company will "recycle" the cell phones but not the cords. I put recycle in quotes because there is not really way to recycle the phones in the sense that they are "squished up and made into new phones" as my Little Guy likes to believe. Most "recycled" phones will likely end-up in an underdeveloped nation polluting their land.

Then there is the idea of donating the phones to the military stationed abroad or a women's shelter. What good would cell phones that have to live attached to a cord do?

In the deep, dark, cobwebby back of my mind I remember hearing about groups that refurbish old cell phones. Where are they?

My cell phone was less than five years old, rarely used and had blown through two batteries. I didn't want a new shiny model. In fact, I could care less. I felt pressured by shoddy manufacturing practices to create more trash and become more of a consumer.

Any suggestions about what to do with my old cell phones and cords would be greatly appreciated.

Recycline Toothbrush Giveaway

Recently I posted about discovering that my son's character toothbrush contained lead and how sick I felt over possibly harming Little Guy. Brushing With Poison

I was completely horrified that a major company would paint a product that goes into the mouth with lead. So I headed out into the world searching for a safe solution.

What I found was the Preserve toothbrush made by Recycline. The brush is made out of recycled yogurt cups. The other big bonus with this toothbrush company is that when you are done with the brush and case the company will send you a mailing pouch to return the them. Your old brush will be recycled into a new plastic products. Everybody wins!

The friendly people at Recycline http://www.recycline.com/ agreed to mail 10 brushes out to me to give away to my loyal readers for FREE! That's right. Free!




Each winner will receive one child's toothbrush and one adult's toothbrush.


Here is the skinny;


1. Post a comment "anonymously" with your email address if you are not a blogger.


2. OR post a comment if you are a blogger


3. OR send me an email in my "complete profile" section.


4. US residents only please.


5. I will chose the winners on Tuesday, January 8th


Thank you to the friendly people at Recycline and to my readers!