Live Earth

Al Gore has been known to exaggerate (will 2 billion people REALLY be participating in the upcoming Live Earth concert?). Nonetheless, this environmental event promises to be quite a party. I’ll be having a house party down at the beach to watch the events on 7.7.07. If you want to participate in some way, you can sign the Live Earth Pledge:

I PLEDGE:

1. To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;

2. To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become “carbon neutral;”

3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;

4. To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;

5. To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;

6. To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,

7. To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.

Host your own house party by visiting Al’s site.

Recycling Quandry

Our recycling bin that we keep in our kitchen just bit the dust. I’m now searching for the perfect recycling container. As I’ve mentioned before, we’re a bit obsessive about recycling and typically have to empty our container several times throughout the week into our outdoor recycling bin (which, by the way City of Chapel Hill, is NOT large enough!).

Here are my issues:

**limited space in kitchen to store recycling

**no garage or basement to keep it outside prior to Tuesday pickup

**our kitchen is ugly enough as is, so I hesitate to junk it up with something big, bulky and equally ugly

**I need something I can hose out because we’re a bit messy

I’m considering this option from DWR. It’s big but I could use just two in the kitchen and keep two in our “basement” (aka crawl space) for cardboard and other items I have to take to the city to recycle.

I considered building this cute creation from Blueprint Magazine. But I’m not sure I have the space, skills or energy.

Does anyone have any clever thoughts or something that really works for them? Do tell!

Giblets

When I’m working with a client and we’ve sorted and categorized as much as we can, I refer to those last little items that don’t really have a home, but aren’t trash or giveaways as “giblets.” I think the term also applies to random thoughts floating around in your head with no good home to land. I’ll share a few tonight:

Saw this on Unclutterer and love it. I’m always struggling to find the best, clutter free way to charge our iPods, cell phones, digi cams, etc. I’ll never pretend to understand how this works, but it looks like a must have for all charger-challenged individuals.

I was working with a client today and we were discussing kids and gifts and being overwhelmed by all they receive (and then annoyed because you have to find a home for it!). I feel like a cheapwad (and let’s face it, I am) and a bit ungrateful sometimes when I skip out on gift giving or am not always warm and fuzzy over receiving gifts. But I really don’t believe in giving gifts just to give them or receiving just to receive. I think gifts should be spontaneous gestures — you see something that you know someone you care about would really love and want them to have it. IdealBite covered this very topic the other day, making this re-gifter and sometimes gift-skipper feel a little better about myself.

Last week I Googled “Time Makeover”, the Fine Living show I shot a few episodes for earlier this spring. Originally, it was scheduled to begin airing on July 22, but apparently we’ve now been pre-empted by “Cooking with Chefs: Produce, Fish, Cutlery and Pepper.” I guess knives, forks and table condiments pull in a bigger audience at 8pm than families struggling with time management issues. I’ll keep you posted on the big premiere once it is scheduled. I also received an email last week from the Director of Talent Development and Casting for the Discovery Networks, looking for a new “face” for an organizing pilot they’re shooting for TLC this year. I seriously considered trying out, but today, as I was scooping poop off the floor that my son didn’t quite get in the potty, and both phones were ringing, and I tripped over a pile of stinky camp and swim lesson laundry, I had my moment of reckoning. I just don’t think I have room in my life for TV right now. I crossed that career opportunity off my “to-do” list and felt a huge sense of relief. Perhaps I just experienced my own “Time Makeover.”

And my final “Giblet”…I raved about Greendimes earlier this year–the earth friendly company that helps you get off direct mail lists AND plants a tree every month in your name. It took several months, but I can finally say that I receive practically NO junk mail. Just the magazines I subscribe to, a catalog or two that I still enjoy receiving, and unfortunately, our dreaded monthly bills that we still receive the old fashioned way. They’ve been on Ellen, in Good Magazine and Business Week…but you can say you saw it here first.

Run (swim & bike), Neva, Run

My friend Neva is about to compete in her first big triathalon. You can read about her training and her family on her blog. I’m so inspired by her, and whenever I read her stories I realize that my whining (often about inane things, like my aimless summer, or my son-who-was-potty-trained-for-three-days suddently quitting and refusing to pee, or the humiliation of wearing a bathing suit) will get me nowhere fast. When Neva returns from her race, she plans to start organizing a benefit (perhaps a silent auction) to help raise money for a friend’s maternity hospital in Malawi. She’s just one of those friends who makes you want to work harder to be a better person.

Neva races in Philly this weekend for Team in Training, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We’ll be cheering her on from Chapel Hill. Go girl, go!

Playing Catchup

I never meant to take two weeks off from blogging. I got caught up with end of the school year activities, an amazing trip to Williamsburg, VA with my daughter, mom, sister and niece, then returned home to a potty trained son (gotta love Carter for making that happen–he went cold turkey on the diapers and I swear, our kid is peeing and pooping in the potty without M&Ms, stickers or even the promise of a new fan!), and no Internet access for 3 days (this time I can blame Time Warner, not my beloved Mac).

Summer is officially here now that school is out. I loved summer as a child–days at the pool, sunbathing in the driveway with a 3 liter of Diet Coke and a thick layer of baby oil to enhance my tan, sleep away camp, hours of soap opera watching and no real place to be. But as an adult, I actually find summer to be a lonely time. Regular routines are all out of whack, friends are on vacation, it’s hotter than hell on a good many days, and trips to the pool have lost their magic. Perhaps it’s my extroversion, or my desire for structure, but something about summer and long hot days with no schedule in sight makes me feel a little sad.

We made our first summer trek to the pool with friends yesterday. It was fun to go with others, but still didn’t make the experience of donning a bathing suit any more exciting. My son sat on the edge of the pool and traced my spider vein-covered legs with his fingers, asking “mommy, what are all of those pink lines?” Nice self-esteem boost from the 3 year old. And since my son is still getting the hang of the potty thing, I spent half of the afternoon in the swimming pool bathroom begging him to pee and/or poop. Getting to the bathroom required running (because when they’re learning, there is no time to walk!) barefoot across a gravel parking lot and way too much touching of a public toilet for a woman who calls herself the Neat Freak. But he’s getting the hang of it and had a totally accident-free day today–I’m so proud of him I could just cry, despite his running commentary about the state of my thighs.

Today we visited the library and signed up for the summer reading program. I think I’m going to have to put together some kind of daily/weekly schedule for us so we have a planned activity every day during our weeks without camp or trips to the beach. Otherwise, I fear I’ll start drinking at 4pm while the kids watch their sixth and seventh hour of PBS kids (they’re now old enough to notice when the same show comes on twice in one day). So much for the carefree days of summer…could I be less of a fun mom?

Perhaps I need a project to inspire me. You might have noticed I haven’t mentioned my attempt to reduce our consumerism lately. I don’t know what has come over me, but I’ve been buying like it’s going out of style. We completed all of the work on our house and are officially broke, so you’d think that would slow me down. I even forced myself to watch Inconvient Truth again AND hurled trash off of the back of a pickup truck into a landfill…and still, I’m buying.

I was just reading on MojoMom today about a new initiiative on BlogHers to harness the power of women bloggers and support a global cause for a year. I truly believe that climate change, eco-friendly and simple living are worthy causes to stand behind. Despite my shopping, I still find myself thinking throughout the day about my impact on our world and what I’m leaving behind for my children. But I’m feeling like a bit of a hypocrite given my trips to Old Navy and Target of late. A second part of BlogHers initiative is to create an election ‘08 manifesto–asking the candidates to earn our votes by addressing the issues that matter most to us. I watched both the Democratic and Republican debates last week and was pleased to hear climate change mentioned…but no one is knocking my socks off with their solutions.

I sound a bit like my six year old whining “I’m bored”…and we’re only 3 days into summer. Inspire me with your stories of summer memories or plans, or red-hot issues you want to read about online. This girl is needing an infusion of excitement and something to stand behind again.