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PS  I will find a way to link my Flickr account there too. Since my camera broke and I’m still learning how to use Erics, my haven’t update them in a while. Soon, soon…

Remember when you were a kid, and you didn’t quite get exactly what you wanted for Christmas? And then you whined and complained like it was the end of the world? Well, it turns out that nasally-voiced, impossibly immature younger you might have been onto something. Every year, crappy Christmas presents are literally ruining the planet.

A Waste of Christmas
You see, every Christmas, or that ol’ American orgy of consumerism, as I like to call it, just about every resident of our great nation spends an average of $800 on Christmas presents. How many of those gifts are going to suck and end up in a landfill by the year’s end, after the year-or-so-long posterity period of keeping them for appearances is over? Plenty—around 50 percent of Christmas gifts hit the trash within a year, generating tons of waste, according to one study.

And then together, we buy 2.65 billion Christmas cards—enough to fill a 10 story football stadium, according to Recycling Works. Are all of those cards really necessary? That’s an awful lot of artificial Hallmark sentiment-laden cardboard with which to deliver 20 dollar bills to nephews and cousins.

To make matters worse, 40 percent of battery sales take place in the holiday season—many of which will power remote controlled cars and electronics that won’t last out the year.

The point is that every year, in our mad dash to sate the perceived gift-requirements of the holidays, we end up buying way more than we need to. We can’t help it—it’s in our blood. We’ve been reared on excess, and you buy your cousin that present not because you think he could really use a deluxe plastic travel Martini kit, but because you feel like if you don’t buy something, anything, you fail.

And thus, unwanted presents and the wrapping paper they came in and the cards taped to the outside of them end up as trash, at different intervals over the coming year.

Beating the Consumerist Christmas (W)Rap
But there’s hope: According to the Center for the New American Dream, a whopping 70% of Americans would welcome a decreased emphasis on gift giving. The problem is, the act is so wrapped up (pardon the pun) in our consumer culture that extricating the practice would take a massive paradigm shift. Or a few more near-Great Depressions, at least.

So let’s do what we can to start steering this destructive trend into a more sustainable direction: this means more e-cards, more recycled packaging, and most importantly, thoughtfulness. Yes, it sounds sappy, but if we really think, and consult wish lists, we can find gifts that’ll be kept out of the garbage. (For starters, here are 15 Gifts that nobody needs) And if you’re still at a loss, seriously—donate to a charity in the gift receiver’s name. Your cousin may moan now, but he’ll probably still like it better than that tacky wool Christmas sweater you were going to get him.

Today was Jason’s Thanksgiving Feast at his school, they have been reading Stone Soup and made that for all the parents for today. It was really nice, we sat with the kids while the teacher read the book and then the kids sang songs. Then we sat down for a nice bowl of soup, cornbread and juice, followed by pumpkin pie with whipped cream.

I’ve decided that I would like to simplify my life further and I found this great website called Zen Habits, one story in particular caught my attention and I would like to pass it on:

100 Ways to Have Fun with Your Kids for Free or Cheap

Yesterday I posted about Family Day, where we try to have fun together as a family, often for free or without spending much money. I thought it would be useful to list some ways to have fun with your kids without spending a lot of money:

1. Have a reading marathon.
2. Write stories together.
3. Play soccer.
4. Paint or draw together.
5. Create a fort in your living room out of blankets or cardboard boxes.
6. Go on a hike.
7. Have a sunset picnic at a park or beach.
8. Play board games.
9. Play kickball.
10. Get up early, pack breakfast, and have a sunrise breakfast.
11. Go to a museum.
12. Go to a playground.
13. Play hide-and-seek.
14. Have a pillow fight.
15. Ride bikes.
16. Build sandcastles.
17. Rent a dvd and make popcorn.
18. Tell stories.
19. Have a scavenger hunt.
20. Make mazes or puzzles for each other to solve.
21. Play card games.
22. Garden together.
23. Bake cookies (let the kids help).
24. Go to the zoo.
25. Go to the library.
26. Shop at a thrift shop.
27. Create a blog together.
28. Create a scrapbook.
29. Make a movie using a camcorder and computer.
30. Learn to play music.
31. Fingerpaint.
32. Make play dough from scratch.
33. Make homemade mini pizzas.
34. Buy popsicles.
35. Make hand-painted T-shirts.
36. Set up a hammock, make lemonade, relax.
37. Go to a pool.
38. Go to a public place, people watch, and make up imaginary stories about people.
39. Visit family.
40. Write letters to family.
41. Paint or decorate the kids’ room.
42. Make milkshakes.
43. Play freeze tag.
44. Create a treasure hunt for them (leaving clues around the house or yard).
45. Decorate a pair of jeans.
46. Do a science experiment.
47. Play games online.
48. Teach them to play chess.
49. Learn magic tricks.
50. Create a family book, with information and pictures about each family member.
51. Fly kites.
52. Go snorkeling.
53. Barbecue.
54. Volunteer.
55. Donate stuff to charity.
56. Compete in a three-legged or other race.
57. Create an obstacle course.
58. Pitch a tent and sleep outside with marshmallows.
59. Roast marshmallows.
60. Play loud music and dance crazy.
61. Write and produce a play (to perform before other family members).
62. Paint each other’s faces.
63. Have a water balloon fight.
64. Have a gun-fight with those foam dart guns.
65. Explore your yard and look for insects.
66. Go for a walk and explore the neighborhood.
67. Go jogging.
68. Take pictures of nature.
69. Play a trivia game.
70. Make up trivia questions about each other.
71. Make hot cocoa.
72. Play house.
73. Decorate the house with decorations you make.
74. Make popsicles.
75. Play school.
76. Do shadow puppets.
77. Make a comic book.
78. Play in the rain.
79. Make mud pies.
80. Blow bubbles.
81. Take turns saying tongue twisters.
82. Sing songs.
83. Tell ghost stories in the dark with a flashlight.
84. Build stuff with Legos.
85. Give them a bubble bath.
86. Play with squirt guns.
87. Play video games together.
88. Play wiffleball.
89. Play nerf football.
90. Build a rocket from a kit.
91. Bake a cake and decorate it.
92. Play dress-up.
93. Thumb-wrestle, play mercy, or have a tickle fight.
94. Make a gingerbread house, or decorate gingerbread men.
95. Learn and tell each other jokes.
96. Play basketball.
97. Learn to juggle.
98. Walk barefoot in the grass and pick flowers.
99. Build paper airplanes and have a flying contest.
100. Prank call their grandparents, using disguised, humorous voices.

I do want to go back right now, if only I could. The weather right now is cold, windy and raining sideways and I’m not looking forward to going outside. I’m missing the sunshine so much that I’m looking into getting one of those sun boxes to help me feel that warmth again.

I started my classes for Axia College on the Monday we got back and have just drifted through my first week in a daze, so now the second week should go much easier. I guess I didn’t realize how much of my time it would take up just by taking two classes a week… I keep telling my son “Mom’s working on homework, gimme a minute”. Thought I’d never have to say that. It’s going well though, easy first couple classes to get the mind back into the role of studying again.

And pictures! I still need to go through all our pictures and put them on Flickr… so hopefully by the end of the week……….But first I have to finish up this homework assignment!

On a sadder note, when we got back we contacted the vets office where our ferrets were staying in luxury land and our Cassie had relapsed and they had her on Prednisone by IV. We ended up having to have her put to sleep and that was a hard thing to deal with. So we’ve now lost our original two ferrets, I don’t think we will have anymore pets for a while when Chip and Miles finally walk down that road, it’s just too hard to deal with losing these cute furry carpet sharks.

Rest in Peace you fuzzballs

Eric was telling me that instead of having cupboards for dishes, they just have two dishwashers. One is for dirty and one is for clean…. I think my solution is better though!

I also had a craving for cookies so I threw a handful of almonds and dates into a food processor and processed them until they were fine and sticky. Added a bit of cinnamon and almond flavor and used an Onigiri mold and formed them into stars and then popped them into the fridge. Perfect!!

I explained to him in simple terms what is going on right now with the ecomomy and belive it or not he understood. I always let him know how much everything is and he recognized that the price of food has gone way up and he decided that he didn’t NEED to eat the expensive organic packaged cereal that he likes and that organic oats would be just fine for him! I love that smart little guy!!

He is now riding his bike great without training wheels although we still need to work on stopping, he just lets the bike fall when he stops, picks himself up and brushes off. No more tears, I’m glad because I’m tired of pulling that chariot of his around town and I’m ready for him to go on his own, soon though, very soon. Speaking of riding around town, I came across a great article on how to green your transportation and they have some great ideas to try, check it out here. In attempts to live a bit greener I have now taken to driving 55mph instead of 65-90mph like most people do on the Interstate when I drop off Jason with his dad every other week and I’m not alone either, I have a sticker that says “BACK OFF! I’m saving fuel” and quite often I end up having people pacing me most of the trip. The best thing is that I’m getting 10 more miles per gallon just by backing off the pedal! That’s almost 100 miles per tank of gas… that is if I only drove on the Interstate, and it’s perfectly legal too. Check out Drive55.org for more info on this.

I really am turning into a hippie aren’t I? I will post pictures of Jason and his antics later on tonight.

First Day of School

Well, as of Monday September 8th I will officially be a student… again. It’s taken me, what? like 15 years to do it but it’s never too late. Been a big week around here with Jason starting kindergarten on Tuesday, he thinks he’s a big shot now and that he can back talk his mom. I was making him stand in the corner for some minor infraction and he turns around and says to me “you don’t OWN this house!!”. Like that makes a difference, well actually it did because it got him a swat on the bum. He’s going through a lot I can understand… his dad and his girlfriend of five years (more) split up and he was pretty close with the daughter, called her his sister. I’m sad for him but that does not mean he can be a little smart alek with me, his dad maybe but not me because I’m Mom… otherwise known as “The Law”. Then a couple weeks later he starts kindergarten and now this weekend he meets his dad’s new woman. The man doesn’t waste time, he just overlaps them a bit too often. Ok, this is turning into a rant….

But me, I will start classes the beginning of November when we get back from Mexico. I’m so anxious to go someplace other than Oregon…. of even the States. I need Adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!

While he was waiting to see the doc, Jason and I ventured out on a mission to find some good vegetarian grub, and boy oh boy did we! Cafe Yumm! is the best “fast food” vegetarian restruant there is. While I got only a measly salad (raw me) I got Jason a Yumm! Bowl which of course I had to taste, it consisted of brown rice, plain black beans, salsa, and cheese topped with what they call “Yumm Sauce”. If I wasn’t raw fooding it I would have scarfed down the whole thing, besides… Jason was guarding the bowl like a doberman.

I set out to find a recipe for this spicy but not sauce … and it goes like this:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup almonds
1/3 cup brewers (fast acting) yeast
1/2 cup garbanzo beans
1/2 cup silken tofu
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp curry powder

Blend nuts, beans and oil in food processor. Then blend in yeast and liquids one at a time. Puree until smooth.

This sauce is great with rice or pasta. It can also be used as a dressing for salads, a topping on soup & chili, a spread for sandwiches, a dipping sauce for veggies, a basting sauce for grilling, or a mayo alternative. It’s really quite versatile! But best of all, it’s egg free, dairy free, wheat free, gluten free, sugar free, cholesterol free and low in sodium. I’m sure if you make it you’ll find a ton of creative uses for such a flavorful, yummy sauce.

Tonight we are having sunflower “burgers” with salsa on romaine lettuce with the Yumm sauce, I’m making the rice, beans and for the guys since they have bottomless stomachs.