BEGINNING TO REAP THE BENEFITS OF HIGH OIL PRICES

Whether it's the high cost of oil and gas, the lack of money overall or the blistering hot heat; we are beginning to reap the benefits of fewer people on the highways. Each and every weekend, there are fewer automobile fatalities reported on our local news. I just hope that families are using this financially motivated time at home in a positive way.

Putting my money where my mouth is; we caught rain water in the wading pool and rather than drive to the beach the girls played in the back yard while daddy cooked on the grill. After they got tired of splashing around, I filled containers with what water was left in the pool and watered some plants with it.

The girls didn't miss the trip out of town a bit and learned a thing or two about water conservation in the bargain! Dad and I realized that spending the day in the back yard eliminated a long car trip with tired, fussy babies. When they got tired, their beds were just a short walk away. Everybody was a winner.

While I hope for the good of the economy that high oil and gas prices are a temporary irritation, I can see some benefits and bonuses

OIL PRICES ARE DROPPING AND NUCLEAR POWER DISCUSSIONS ARE RISING

Amazingly, tbe price of oil has dropped considerably the post few days and yet I am hearing more and more about decreasing the time it takes to get a nuclear power plant up and running.

People! Wake up and remember 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl. Do we really want to be stampeded into making rash decisions and rushing into pushing forward with a power source that leaves us with the problems of dealing with nuclear waste that nobody wants in their back yard that can poison everything within a large area if things don't go perfectly?

On the upside, I hear that Texas is jumping on wind power. I find this very encouraging to hear that a traditional oil state is moving forward with alternative energy sources. Cheers to Texas! I wonder if turbines could be mounted on the roofs of buildings in the same way that they have installed microwave towers? Anybody know?

PULLING AWAY FROM FAMILY TRADITION

Fourth of July weekend is drawing to a close and the only good thing that I can say about it is that the children slept late this morning and that it rained. This is a good thing because when the children want to set off the few firecrackers they have left over from Friday night, they might not set the woods on fire. Don't think for a minute that those horrible images of wildfires in other parts of the country didn't make an impression on me when we had not had any rain for several weeks.

As far as the holiday weekend went there was the usual round of picnics, backyard softball games splashing in knee deep kiddie swimming pools in a vain effort to beat the heat. I suppose we did our part to represent a picture of the traditional American patriotic family at play.

Speaking of tradition, I couldn't stop the thought from running through my mind that while there are so many things that are truly right about our country, one of the things that I see wrong (my apologies to President Bill Clinton) without country is that young people seem to have no appreciation for tradition or what came before them.

When I was a child I loved for my parents and grandparents to tell me about their childhoods and the way things used to be. I adored my grandmother and grandfather and enjoyed spending time at their home where I knew there was lots of time for hugs, kisses and stories about little girls and boys that were long gone but would have loved me to pieces if they had only known me.

After dinner they would open the family photo album and not only tell us that those people in the pictures were the details about the background of the photograph and details of the day when the picture was taken. I am relatively certain that my oldest daughter even at a young age would find this to be somewhat less than exciting and probably downright boring. How could my children that I had raised not find the same things entertaining as their own mother?

I loved the one on one time that this older couple was willing to give to me and was so proud when they came to my school functions or ballgames. I recently went to see a neighbor girl play ball and was sitting with her parents. In the second or third inning her grandparents joined us. Her grandfather went to the dugout to wish the little girl luck and she seemed utterly embarrassed and seemed unwilling to speak to him, much less thank him for coming. Who has put the idea that older people are not “cool” and should be ignored into these young people’s heads?

My goal for the week is to try and teach my children respect for tradition and to appreciate the history of her family. I’m open to suggestions if anyone else has found a way to do this and work against the growing tide of the anti-tradition movement.

I would like to say that I doing this out of respect for my parents and grandparents, which is true, but I'm smart enough to know that I'm going to be older one day and I don't want my grandchildren to feel that they shouldn't speak to me in public.

TOP REASONS HIGH GAS and OIL PRICES ARE GOOD

In the decade of the 90s we really began to know what the definition of terrorism was. Terrorist groups were crawling out of the woodwork, becoming more sophisticated and shouting their hatred of the United States to the heavens. Perhaps the scary thing about it was that they in no way tried to be sneaky or keep their feelings for themselves.

Al Qaeda took over Afghanistan and turned it into their personal playground of terrorism apparently while our own government apparently rocked back and watch to see what was next on their agenda while there were attacks on American interests and our citizens. At this time Bill Clinton was president so the Republicans were blaming him for the problem. Never mind that from 1995 on the Congress was Republican-controlled and handled (or didn’t?) things in the same way. Another odd fact of that was that during the entire presidential campaign during the year 2000 neither of the candidates seem to find it advantageous to bring up the tide of terrorism that was rising ever higher.

Am I the only one that sees a similarity in our government's lack of response to the threat of terrorism as well as to the energy crisis? I'm not talking about a lack of energy resources. Indeed we are told that energy resources are rather plentiful and that the United States has enough coal for the next 100 years.

What I'm referring to is the fact that our planet possibly can not survive another 100 years using coal and oil as our primary energy resources. The reason I believe that high gas prices might be a good thing is that it will prevent further resistance to the avoidance of conservation. We need to develop new energy sources as well as to practice conservation of our current energy resources.

Perhaps with these high prices creative individuals will be given funding from major corporations in response to the need to develop new sources not because they are philanthropic but because they see the opportunity to make a large profit. It's my opinion that if oil prices were to stay at sky high levels might actually prevent a true crisis. These are thoughts that crossed my mind last night after a mind blowing trip to the gas pump. After I thought it over I reconciled myself to the fact that higher gas prices might prevent a few of those last-minute trips that are unnecessary and indeed might serve to make better planners of us all. Then this morning the reports are out that inventories are up and the prices of a barrel of oil began falling. It seems that I can't get used to one scenario before another unfolds.

WHERE OH WHERE DOES OUR GARBAGE GO?

In the area where we are spending the summer (we have to travel hither and yon for dear husband’s work) nobody seems to recycle anything unless you count the large deposits of fast food cartons and boxes that I see thrown onto the sides of the roads to biodegrade. There are no recycling receptacles in public areas and no separate bins for household trash whatsoever.

When I asked some of the locals where to put the recyclables they looked at me like I was from Mars and then looked at each other with an almost imperceptible nod and a wink to acknowledge to each other that “She’s not from around here.” I almost wanted to scream at them that while I might be a temporary transplant from another part of the country that they should wake up and realize that while each area might have its own unique culture (or lack of) that we are all part of the same planet.

In the face of this frustration, you can imagine how beautifully it kicked off my day to see that a news program will air this evening regarding how foreign countries are considerate enough to be taking garbage off the hands of the United States of America. I don’t have time to do in depth research on the subject but have read some excellent books by those that do track the “American Garbage Trail” that were very interesting. One was Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash by Elizabeth Royte who was surprisingly non-judgmental of non-recyclers as she states the pros and cons of the practice. I especially found the section on the New York waste-water treatment plants riveting. Gross facts on waste water for enquiring minds who just want to know and then might wish they didn’t.


What I would love to hear more about is why foreigners can find it profitable to buy our waste and pay the expensive cost for transportation in order to ship it overseas for recycling and yet we as a nation can’t find a way to skip the fee for transport and do it ourselves. What is the deal? Could someone please explain the economics or environmental reasons that our garbage is traveling so far from home?

When Birth Control Becomes an Environmental Problem

There is a path in the park by a lake where I like to take my children strolling every day that we are in the area. It's a lovely place to teach them about nature and we have managed to take some fabulous pictures of owls, redheaded woodpeckers and most magnificent of all of our birding efforts was the day that we saw a bald eagle perched in a treetop no more than 20 feet above our heads.

This is a wonderful, wild and wooded area where we can watch people catch fish, do some bird watching and get our exercise with the children. It's a rare day when the weather is so poor that it keeps us from enjoying our daily walks on one of our favorite paths. Last December as we were strolling along something caught my eye about a foot to the side of the nature trail. As we drew closer it became crystal clear that someone had been enjoying our favorite place to observe nature and all its wonder to experience a little something more adventurous.

To put it bluntly, what lay directly ahead and that my oldest daughter almost stepped on was a neon yellow condom that from all appearances had been used. While I’m no prude I also don’t like to dodge people’s used personal products when out for a walk with my kids. Whether it’s chewed bubble gum, women’s sanitary products or a q-tip; I would rather not have contact.

Getting back to the issue, after the stroller and my toddler moved ahead a bit I nudged the condom off the trail and under some leaves. That prophylactic sighting took place in late December and yesterday afternoon after a strong rain came through the area guess what? The bright yellow condom resurfaced. It was dirtier, partially ripped away from the top, but in the same place. Here it is almost July and I know that it’s been lying there covered in leaves, has gone through one of the wettest seasons that we’ve had in quite a while and yet shows no signs of deterioration. Pardon me for the pointing out in a rather graphic manner that this condom is just one of the millions that have been thrown out the car window, flushed down the toilet or put into the trash in seven months. Along with all of the other environmental problems we have to deal with; I wonder if are going to wait until the ozone is gone and the garbage is on our doorsteps before we do something about it? Is there such a thing as a recyclable condom?

BO DIDDLEY

Our household is sad today. You might not think that the fact that Bo Diddley died would cast a pall of mourning over a four year old girl's day, but it most certainly has. But she's no average child, she practically did her teething on the neck of a guitar and she didn't have your run of the mill baby girl nursery theme her nursery was decorated with guitars on the walls and whole and half notes on every possible surface.

The reason for the musical obsession is that my husband is a musician (and a darn good one if I do say so). His dad loved really good guitar and exposed him to the great players. I have nothing against some of the modern players and enjoy listening to some. But anyone who knows squat about guitar knows that if you want to be any kind of a player you have go back to the roots to get to the good stuff. Jimi Hendrix knew it; Eric Clapton knows it and look where it got them. They were smart enough to know that the music that came out of the heart of Mississippi had the best beat. Each guitar god that followed has added a new layer; most are smart enough not to say they improved the original sound and to pay homage to the true stars like Bo Diddley who came before them and gave them the tools of the trade.

I'm very proud that our little girl who knew the words to "Who Do You Love" and "Hey Bo Diddley" before she was three years. But it hurts to see her be so down because she was so connected to the old blues musician and feels the loss so keenly that music lovers all over the world have suffered on this day. She knows in her soul that there aren't any more Bo Diddley's to replace this one that's gone.

I need to find some way to turn this into a learning experience for my grieving daughter. Maybe the right words to tell her that while another of the original blues guys have joined the band in Heaven will come to me in time. This girl might not ever play the first note or become a musician, but she certainly has the sensitivity and the soul of one.

SOCCER MOMS aka ELITIST JERKS

First the tennis moms, now the soccer moms are getting cliquish attitudes. I make no bones about the fact that I'm too darn tired to worry every minute about fashion trends and making a personal statement thereof. I have three baby girls whose appearance says more about me than my own. I know that makes me sound codependent as all get out, but it's just a matter of pride that my girls all leave the house and look clean and well dressed for a few minutes, anyway.

Yesterday the trio and I went to a friend's birthday party at the lake. I knew as soon as I pulled into the parking lot that I was a fish out of water. I have a small SUV, (a Honda CRV to be exact) and have at times felt guilty that I didn't get a hybrid car that would get better gas mileage. In exchange for some inconvenience in stowing gear and loading and unloading children you feel better about your contribution to environmental causes. The parking lot at this party should have done away with my feelings of guilt in spades; it was filled with the biggest trucks that are sold like the Hummer, Yukon and Tahoe.

It became obvious pretty soon after our arrival that the guest list was heavy on soccer moms and their kids. Some of the kids even had on their team uniforms and were bumping a soccer ball around with their knees. I couldn't help but wonder about this, because isn't kiddy league baseball in full swing? Maybe baseball or Tee
Ball isn't as attractive to elitists as soccer?

The botox injected faces and the lips full of collagen of the soccer moms didn't bug me; I do my very best to not judge people by their appearances. But the attitudes of these unfriendly women just about made me want to lose my lunch. Amazingly, the kids all did fine but the women around the picnic table were just about to send themselves and me to an early grave with all their self-centered chitchat.

Each one ran over the other's conversation with soccer mom stories about what they had bought lately, where they were going on vacation or how their child was just so much more advanced than the other kids. One thing that struck me was how none of them had a question addressed to the other moms about anything. Everything that rolled out of their mouths sounded like sales pitch that was geared toward raising the asking price for her and her stuff.

When did people become so wrapped up in themselves that they could not care less about anybody else? When my mom used to take me visiting, the objective was to hear what other people were up to in their family. After all, don't we already know all about our own?

If you are a mature soccer mom that doesn't have a haughty attitude, fake breasts and collagen injected lips I would love to hear your side of the story. Usually I don't paint an entire segment of the population with the same brush and tomorrow I will probably have regrets. But today, the activity is rather therapeutic and feels pretty good.

The bad thing is that we have another invitation to a party next week and I'm pretty sure that the same group will be in attendance. So, this may not be the last of my soccer mom stories.

GIRLS SOFTBALL ENVY

None of my girls are old enough to play with real, hard baseballs or softballs let alone tooth cracking aluminum bats. However, there are enough children in my neighborhood that are enjoying softball season at the moment that my kids are noticing. The little girl next door got a new pair of cleats and my oldest girl completely feminine love with the shoes with the "bumps" on the bottom.

After an inpromptu playtime in the side yard, she came in asking what the "bumps" on the bottom of the cleats were for. I explained (as best I could) that the plastic bumps made the little girl be able to run faster and not to fall down as much when playing ball. This explanation was all it took to make the case for buying a set of cleats for everyone in our family. After all, what's not to love about being able to run at record speeds and not to trip and fall while you are in the process?

I could see that even more explanation was going to be necessary and I followed up my previous remarks with the fact that cleats were for girls who actually were involved in softball. After the information that cleats are for girls who are playing sports and as little girls didn't play ball, they didn't come in little girl sizes.

The disappointment in her eyes was sad enough but the pitiful sight of her watching through the glass in the door while the neighborhood kids piled in the cars to go to their ballgames was especially painful to watch. It just so happened that I was having a conversation over the back fence with our ball playing neighbor girl's mom about this sad scenario when a brainstorm struck.

Practically in mid sentence a lightbulb lit up over her head and into the house she ran. I went back to pinning my rugs on the line and in a moment she returned carrying not only a pair of tiny, worn looking cleats, but a pair of those baggy knee length nylon shorts that girls wear to play ball.

I cleaned the red clay off the baseball shoes up as best I could and had them and her shorts waiting when she came back from the pool with her dad. You would have thought that I had given her a new car! The shoes are too big as are the shorts which are pulled up under her armpits at this very minute, but this is one happy little girl!

Race and Gender in the 2008 Presidential Election - Are We Idiots or What?

It should come as no surprise that I have been among the millions of American citizens watching the presidential race with interest. Those of you who visit this blog regularly should be amazed that I have bitten my tongue and kept quiet this long. I'm actually pretty shocked at myself. I almost broke training yesterday after catching a few minutes of the View's opening dialogue.

I have never considered myself and Whoopi Goldberg to be like minded; not that I DISagreed with her, I just didn't pay much attention other than I liked her in the movie, Sister Act. But I could have hugged her neck yesterday because gave my frustration a voice on national television. She and I both seem to wonder why in this day of enlightenment and such public need are race and gender in the 2008 Presidential Election an issue?

Why should anybody with half a brain give a rip how dark or light a candidate's skin might be? Even less important to me is whether they sit or stand to pee. Haven't we sunk as low as we can go by letting these idiotic worries dictate how we vote? We have bigger fish to fry here than sex or lineage. Why can't people understand that it's much more productive to study voting records than pantsuits?

I haven't decided yet who will get my vote, but when I do it won't be determined by gender or race. I'm going to look at how the states these candidates served did under their direction. Forget promises, these people have track records that can be used as indicators of their performance as public servants.

I consider the Presidential race a job interview. We, the citizens of the USA, are the employers. It's up to us to choose who will do the best job and we can't do this to the best of our ability if we allow ourselves to be side tracked by
irrelevant facts such as skin color, race or gender. You don't even have to like the person you vote for. Some of the most successful companies that I know of are run by efficient CEOs that would come in last place in a popularity contest. It's not about how personable a person might be or that they look like us, the person we put in the oval office needs to be capable, experienced and willing to get the job done of putting our country back into a position of greatness.

Travel With Kids

I love looking at homes especially in the springtime when the flowers are in bloom and everything's fresh and pretty without the inevitable layer of dust that dirt roads and dry weather tends to distribute all over everything in its path.

We had had several days of gloomy, stormy weather and just missed being hit by a tornado that touched down way too close for comfort. Being cooped up for several days with three hellions made me want to get out of the house. In my desperation to change my surroundings, I made the grave error of thinking that a road trip to enjoy the local architecture might be in order.

Right out of the box, the oldest one cried, pouted and when that didn't work; screamed that she didn't want to ride anywhere. She wanted to play some stuff! Her words, not mine. Then the car seat pinched the littlest one's leg and gave her an excellent reason to cry for a bit. Amazingly, the middle one out of fear or lack of reason didn't squeak, but early in the ride said that her stomach hurt. Knowing that meant she was car sick and about to vomit up her lunch, I gave up and turned the car around and headed for home. Not the first example of early Greek Revival did I see, but I do have a plan for next time. A baby sitter.

WHY CHEAP GAS PRICES ARE A BAD THING

Why I am against cheap gas prices? Well, pretty much the same reason that I’m against getting drunk or drugged up just because you had a bad day. What does drinking and drugging have to do with lowering high gas prices? They both are quick fixes that put a temporary band aid on a problem that has long term, negative consequences.

What can we do about gas prices? Slow our energy consumption for one thing. History of gas prices notwithstanding, anytime an item is not being bought the price drops like a rock. Every time you get in your car and make a trip that's not necessary you have contributed to our problem.

When we have cheap gas prices nobody thinks twice about running to the store a couple of miles down the road two or three times a day to pick up a popsicle or lollipop. All the time you are taking advantage of those cheap gas prices, you are working to raise them in the future. The facts are that when the price of a tank of gas hits us pretty hard on the hip pocket we tend to be a little bit more organized and to think twice when we are at the store to remember to pick up extra supplies.

Face it people, we have gotten lazy and unorganized. Abundance of resources, food and inexpensive fuel has not been a good thing for this country. We have become fat, lazy and very overindulgent. Rather than making the most out of what we have, being thankful and reinvesting our resources we have rocked back and said screw it. The live for today (or the minute) attitude is waving like a bright red flag in our faces with the overload in credit card debt, lines of credit and the purchases of houses that consumers can’t afford.

I know that if my fellow inhabitants of planet Earth haven't gotten it from the jillions of news programs shattering it in their faces they probably are not going to get it from this little piddly blog entry, but I’m going to say it anyway; we are running out of time. Even if we have another hundred years of coal, oil or whatever will burn there are consequences with the environment that should not be ignored.

So what if politicians stand up and declare that the federal tax on gas could be done away with which would result in cheap gas prices once again, is that a good thing? Wouldn’t it be better for us to wean ourselves off oil together rather than to find ways to make it cheaper so we can continue to be wasteful and blissfully stick our heads into the sands even deeper?

I heard one eco-minded person making a speech about going green and he made the statement that Mother Earth can’t survive if we continue to increase the poison we pump out. People, Mother Earth will survive....but guess who might not make it? The planet may react slowly to our toxic contributions, but human beings are pretty quick on the uptake. It doesn't take long for humans to sicken and die with bad air and water.

I don’t want a depression or even an economic slowdown to hit this country or any other, but quick fixes are not what we need. Promises from politicians that propose to slap a band aid on the problem with no long term plan should be seen for what they are: popular statements so that the sheep will see that they are elected to public office. Cheap gas prices are no reason to get excited and think that that’s all it takes for happy days to be here again.

NOT SO FUNNY AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS

I have to confess that I have laughed out loud at some of the amateur home videos that I’ve seen on America’s Funniest Home Videos and other shows with similar content. I didn’t bother to watch any of the Jackass stuff (no matter how hot Johnny Knoxville would be if he wasn’t involved in that crap) because watching people do stupid stuff that could cause extreme bodily harm isn’t my idea of entertainment.

I’m ashamed to say that I gave America’s Funniest Home Videos a free pass because the personal home videos often were of children in a family environment rather than a bunch of ragtag misfits. To put it bluntly the reality show is not my taste, but I really didn’t see harm in watching it, but I have changed my mind.

This show is one of my sister’s family’s favorite shows. The day that it comes on tv is a special day at her house and meals and activities are scheduled around its air time. When I was at her house the other day and it was on, I had to look away from the television screen because it seemed to me that in the making of the video, somebody may have gotten pretty banged up and yet her kids still thought it was hilariously funny.

There were kids getting splashed with water and the occasional face getting smashed with a cupcake; harmless stuff for the most part. But there were some segments where people may have been really injured. Still, I was not ready to put the program on my “banned viewing list” where it is today. The reason the showed has been banned from house is my personal observation of what it teaches children.


My sister and I took our families to the mall for lunch. We were walking across the parking lot towards the entrance and I saw an elderly lady in front of us stumble on one of those concrete barriers that are about four or five inches tall that are located in the front of each parking space. The lady clearly didn’t look down and she tripped on the thing. It’s a miracle that she didn’t fall flat and hurt herself. After a struggle for balance and grabbing a nearby car for support she managed to catch herself and prevent a nasty fall.

I was frozen in mid-step holding my breath knowing that I couldn’t reach her in time to do any real good. Plus, I had one baby on my hip and another by the hand which would have kept me from helping much even if I could have gotten to her. When I saw that she was Ok and I was in the process of releasing a sigh of relief I realized that my nieces and nephews were rolling in laughter.

I turned and looked at them to chastise them and even then; they had no clue that it wasn’t right to laugh at another’s misfortune. My sister was mortified at her children’s behavior. The thought struck me; how can she tell them that that’s the way to act if she’s watching the same thing with them on television and laughing her butt off right beside them?

So, call me a fuddy duddy or dull but no more amateur home video reality shows at my house.

HIV POSITIVE BABIES

I have never heard of pre-chewing food for babies. Why on earth would a person do that? Number one, I discourage all my children not to drink or eat after each other. I don't kid myself into thinking that this practice will stop them from infecting each other with every virus that makes its way through the preschool or Sunday school, but I don't want them to develop the habit of sharing food or drink with casual acquaintances. The MRSA thing in my house has made me pretty cautious.

What parent would want to unnecessarily exposed their child to a cold virus or a case of stomach flu much less an HIV positive parent exposing their child to the AIDS virus!

The reason for this rant is that I read an article that states that pre-chewed food has been found to transmit HIV to babies. I'm glad that they found this out, but my question would be what kind of dumb ass would take the chance of spitting possibly virally active saliva into an uninfected person's food? Ok, in third world countries where there might be limited access to blenders and commercially prepared baby foods there might be a need for a parent to grind up whatever was on the menu to make the food soft enough for a baby to eat. However, there were cases where they seem to be pretty darn certain that pre-chewing of food was what gave some babies HIV in Memphis and Miami.

I've never been to either town, but I would hazard to guess that there's no shortage of baby food in jars or blenders in either location. How senseless!

LEAD TEST KIT! TEST YOUR BABY'S SIPPY CUPS, BOTTLES AND ELIMINATE DANGEROUS TOYS

I've said for awhile that I'm afraid to bring anything into our house without testing it for chemicals and lead. With all the stuff that we know that has been overlooked for years, wouldn't we be stupid not to feel the need for testing our babies stuff?

We can't wait for the powers that be to tell us what we already know, my friends. We have to make informed decisions on our own and not expect the government or any agency with a neck deep stack of papers on their desk to get around to telling us that BPA was bad, but......there's more where that came from.

With the lead paint in toys that was found a month or so ago, I'm sure the noose is tightening on imported baby products and toys but just in case there are some loose cannons still on the shelves, here's a link to a free test.

I have heard rumors that some of these so called FREE chemical, radon and lead test kit for toys were indeed offered at no cost to the consumer, but then when you wanted to actually mail the stuff in for results they want to pop you with a twenty dollar charge. So, for the record I have not tried this lead paint test kit out to see if it's the same.

If any of my readers use the test link and find out that there's a hidden charge, will you please let us know?

IF THE BPA SIPPY CUP DOESN'T GET THEM, MIGHT PETROCHEMICALS DO THE TRICK?

Any mommy worth her eco-friendly salt is well aware of all the hubbub surrounding BPA and how it might be sneaking its way into her baby. To think that we've been pumping breast milk like Elsie the Cow on crack so that baby will have all the best start in life only to put it in containers that may be making it, shall we say, less desirable health wise.

The answer seems to get back to basics; glass and stainless steel are the top choices. A couple of companies are going to rack up big bucks off this scare. One of which is the Born Free company which is reported to be back ordered on its chemical free, safe baby products. I say they deserve every darn dime because they were doing it right ahead of time. Nobody had to draw a line and pull the plug on them to get them to step up to the plate and make the best sippy cups that they could with the knowledge that they had. But, moving on.....

Like all this isn't enough to make you feel guilty for life, to think you were the one loving that Sponge Bob Square Pants bright yellow baby bottle and all...enter in the complaint that alleges that there are supplements that have been added to some baby formulas that are made with some kind of petrochemical that causes babies to vomit and have diarrhea.

It seems the supplements start out naturally enough. It's hard to get more natural than algae and soil fungus, right? Then, hexane enters into the extraction process and hexane is alleged to UN-natural. To put it in scientific terms, hexane is a neurotoxic petrochemical solvent and no, I'm not a scientist and don't claim to have a degree in science. However, there were about 100 cases documented where infants on formulas containing these supplements had the aforementioned symptoms (and I'm not a lawyer either in case you were impressed with the legal sounding jargon) but these babies anecdotally improved when their formulas were changed to supplement-free formula. Darling, do you have to be a science major to figure that one out?

ARE CANADIAN OIL SANDS THE ANSWER?

There’s lots of talk on the financial channels this morning regarding all of the untapped possibilities that we can explore to supply our country’s need for oil in the coming years. Canadian oil sands have been getting a lot of coverage because they say there is more oil in that sand in Canada than there is in all of Saudi Arabia. It’s an expensive process to extract the oil from the sand. It has to be heated to separate the two and that eats up the profit per barrel. I believe I heard mention of a price of $30 per barrel. In these days of $100 plus prices for a barrel of the black gold 30 bucks seems like a piddling amount doesn’t? Therefore, we can probably look for daily oil production in Canada to start kicking butt if it hasn’t already.

In addition to the possibilities for Canadian oil sands, they mentioned something called oil shale. They reported that our own state of Colorado is loaded with this wonderful stuff. While I was listening to the repartee, my thoughts were drifting along the lines of , “Wow, shale oil mining might be really good to hold us short term and keep all that money from floating out of the country for the few years (a decade at most) that it will take to get solar and wind power developed. Then all of a sudden somebody throws out the date of 2035. Twenty freaking thirty five? If I’m not mistaken that’s how long they said it would take to start to take advantage of the glorious oil shale in Colorado.

My thoughts are that if we are still relying on fossil fuels for the next two decades, we are going to be in such deep environmental poop by that time that oil is going to be the least of our concerns. Why is everybody acting like Canadian oil sands or Colorado oil shale is the answer to our problems? They might put a bandage on energy problems, but if we don’t get a handle on what we are doing to the environment the increase in natural disasters is going to negate the benefits from what we are being told.

What say the rest of you; are we still going to be an oil sucking, global warming society in two decades or will we be well on our way towards correcting the wrongs that we have done to earth? Should I start telling my kids that they should prepare for careers in selling ocean front real estate in Tennessee? Perhaps we will be teaching the children in school about the "Lost Civilization of New Orleans" as well as the "Lost City of Atlantis"?

NATURAL CLEANERS - FINALLY HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS WITHOUT FUMES

Somebody finally is getting wise and tapping into the market of people who want clean homes but like the idea of breathing in toxic fumes or absorbing them through their socks. The people at Clorox have decided to offer a more green, eco-friendly option. You can even pick the stuff up on your weekly (or daily if you are like me) trip to Walmart.


Their new product, Green Works is said to be environmentally friendly, natural and biodegradable. Darn it, somebody out there may just be listening! Now, if it just works. I began long ago trying my best to ditch as many chemicals in my daily life as I possibly could. Cancer rates in one branch of my family has been sky high for generations. So high that eco-friendly cleaners are great, but non-carcinogenic is rated even higher.


I know that there are worlds of sites with recipes for making your own cleaning powders and solutions at home, but most of the stuff just didn’t work worth a darn! If you scrub long enough and hard enough plain, clear water will work eventually. I want something natural that will cut grease, girlfriend! One natural thing that DOES WORK better than it’s chemical laden counterparts is vinegar. That stuff cleans a floor really well.


I’m sure that there are other non-cancer causing agents and concoctions that will clean a kitchen and bathroom but I don’t know what they might be. What green cleaning solutions have you found that actually work? Please send them in, my house is in dire need of cleaning, but fume free! ;-)

PARENTING and DISCIPLINE MAKE THE FREE STUFF SEEM WONDERFUL FOR KIDS

The world is a wonderful place for my girls right now! Cass loves riding her little car in the carport and big sister is trying out her big girl bicycle with training wheels. Lately we have had days warm enough to take the whole crew walking down the dirt road near our temporary home. We went to the park at the lake that is a few miles away from where we live. The wind was wickedly blowing everybody’s hair and we’ve decided that we hate the wind even in warm temps.
The oldest said awhile back that she really didn’t like winter because of all the cold air, the rest of it was really ok. How profound a statement coming from such a small girl.

She is really amazing to me right now, every ride to the library or to the store brings on conversations reagarding things she sees on the way. And I honestly believe that she would pack the library in the car and bring the whole children’s section of storybooks home with us.

Looking back, I can pat myself on the back for disciplining myself to always look I was excited myself when I made the announcement that it was time to head to the library. I also took the time to build friendships with the librarians so they would remember my children’s names which makes them feel SO special. The reward to this method of parenting is that a trip to the local library is almost equal to a trip to Santa’s workshop at my house. What wonderful days when the good times are free but they don’t come with no effort. Mommy had to lay the groundwork and schedule the trips for optimal post-nap or early morning time frames when babies are more prone to smile and charm people they meet.
A small price to pay to see even the little one show such excitement over the prospect of FREE books.

CELEBRITIES THAT WANT TO SAVE THE PLANET

I'm all for saving the planet, ok? It's a responsible thing to do as well as a worthy cause. My family lives here and if I've learned one lesson in my life it's that you don't go around spreading shit where you live to put it crudely. I do my dead level best to pass the message along to my kids in a more child friendly manner, of course.

My pet peeve that I'd like to share today is regarding celebrities that are constantly in my face shouting ways that we can save the planet. Getting the message out to the general population about the melting of the ice caps and the fact that mother earth is groaning in pain from hot flashes that we have caused should be a priority and if it takes a pretty, sexy movie star demanding face time on television to get the job done, I'm on board.

My beef is that the celebs need to put the practices that they are promoting to the viewing audience to work. For starters, they can stow the spaghetti straps and halter tops that they wear in the dead of winter. Do they think we are so stupid that we don't know that we can't be comfortable with the thermostat set on 65 degrees while lounging about in next to nothing? Movie stars on a set with blazing hot lighting might be toasty warm and more comfy half naked, but would it kill them to send the message that it helps save energy if you turn down the heat and put on a sweater? Jimmy Carter figured it out years ago! Why are modern day celebrities so slow on the uptake?

Another thing is the mansions they live in. How green are they? Even Al Gore has taken a massive amount of personalized "global warming" over the huge mansion he and Tipper bought. They are reported to have installed solar panels and taken steps to make the house more energy efficient, but I suspect it's still sucking its fair share of utilities from the grid and making a contribution to global warming. Don't get me wrong, I have great respect for Al and Tipper and believe wholeheartedly that if he had shown a fraction of the sense of humor that we have seen recently that he would most likely be in his second term as president of this wonderful country, but I have to admit that the big house bugged me a little.

Am I the only one who notices that politicians and celebrities don't always practice what they preach?