One Small Change

So I have a ritual in the morning.  After tending to the needs of the little bees, I make my way to the computer and waste a ton of time reading the blogs in my blog roll and then bouncing around all over cyberspace reading other blogs.  But while doing this, I learn stuff, lots of stuff!

While visiting The Prairie Girl, I became aware of a little challenge called One Small Change.  I read further.  It's a challenge to make one small change a month to make our lives a little greener.  Here at the Hive, we think we are green.  We are so not green.  We buy LOTS of new stuff.  Some of us leave the lights on in our rooms (Ladycakes!)  We do like 50 loads of laundry a week (Me!)  We eat at McDonald's.  We have a Wii and we play it a lot.  We have a ton of work to do.

So with a name like "One Small Change"  I feel less intimidated.  We can do this.  However, I'm making each of us take the challenge.  Not just one challenge for the whole family.  Everyone has to suffer with me.

Here is what we are committing to this month.

Ladycakes will turn off the lights in her room and closet EVERY time she leaves that space.

Mr. Handsome will program the thermostat to hold steady at 68 degrees during the day.  We currently hover at 70 degrees.

Q will walk to school at least one morning a week unless the weather does not permit.

Elvis will try wearing a pair of pants or pajamas more than once before throwing them in the hamper.

I will boss them all around and remind them that they are not green!  Just kidding.  I promise to bring out the cloth napkins, walk with Q on the days he walks to school and remember to take my re-usable bags to the grocery store.

It's a gentle start for us and this challenge.  I think we can do it.  Next month, we will dig a little deeper.

Who wants to join us?



Add "It's Not Easy Being Green" sung by Kermit the Frog to My Life Soundtrack.

They don't get cheaper by the dozen.

 
It's Ladycakes' 12th birthday.  A dozen years since she was born.  It seems like yesterday.  It seems like a lifetime ago.  12 year olds are hilarious and scary.  They are still little kids but there is a glimpse of maturity.  It's a sliver of a glimpse but it's there.

For her birthday, the two of us went and had a pedicure.  I used to tell people I was a foot model.  Seriously, I would say that my feet were the feet they saw in Dr. Scholl's ads and they believed me.  We loved getting our piggies painted together.  I can't believe she's mine.

Ladycakes, you are amazing.

Ladycakes is one of the kindest young ladies I know.  She's careful with her thoughts, her words and her actions.

Ladycakes is driven.  Since the moment she was born she has been driven to be the absolute best she can be.  It may take a lot of effort but she never quits, she slowly and diligently conquers anything.

Ladycakes is creative.   She sees colors like no other and wants to create.  She needs to create.  She can draw and I am so jealous.

Ladycakes is quiet and reserved.  She is not the one who needs to be the center of attention.  She has incredible self-control when it comes to her personality.  Again, I am jealous.

Ladycakes adores her father.  In love with this man who loves her with all of his heart.  She only wants to make him proud.  If she only knew that her mere existence makes him the proudest man alive.

Ladycakes is silly.  Crack herself up and can't stop laughing silly.  And, it's infectious.  It gets us all going.  I totally get that part of her.

Ladycakes is a pig.  P.I.G. pig.  Here room is a sty.  She refuses to close her dresser drawers.  But then, she gets this bee in her bonnet and she cleans that room like an HGTV pro.  Organizes, decorates and makes it all pretty again.

Ladycakes looks like me more and more everyday.  It trips me out.  She has my mouth, she has my eyes, she has my chin (and you know how I feel about my chin)  and she's beautiful.  And that makes me say, "Wait, that means you think you are beautiful."  And then I look in the mirror and I smile, because it means I AM beautiful.

Ladycakes is saving her money to build a house.  Not for a pair of jeans, not for the latest cell phone.  Ladycakes wants to build a house.  One that she designs.  One that she will live in.  Guess what, it will be a beautiful house and it better have an apartment for me when I come to visit.

Ladycakes has the utmost respect of her brothers.  They look up to her.  They look to her for guidance, for ideas, for love.  She gives them all of that.  They will love her forever and they will protect her like brothers do.

Ladycakes is the best first child for which two parents could ask.  She led us to believe this adventure would be easy.  That all babies were sweet and smart.  That all toddlers were funny and cute.  That all kindergarteners were curious and nervous.  That all young ladies were polite and thoughtful.  No doubt she will lead us to believe that all teenagers are responsible and courteous.  And that sometimes they make mistakes but they will learn from them

Mr. Handsome and I are so proud of Ladycakes.  How did we get so lucky?

Happy Birthday, young lady.
We love you.

Zebras Don't Matter

So zebras really don't matter today, unless of course you are a zebra activist and then they matter everyday. But who cares if I SAW a zebra? Not me, I feel really sad for all the people of Haiti. I just watched a video interviewing a woman who runs an orphanage in Haiti. There are 90 children in the orphanage. NINETY! She stated that this earthquake will only increase her occupancy and will make it difficult to keep in contact with the parents of children she already houses. She may never know if those parents are still living.

When Q asks if he can play the Playstation after school, gonna make him read about Haiti. When Ladycakes asks what she can have for a snack after school, gonna make her read about Haiti. When Elvis starts whining about Q not playing with him, gonna make him listen to Q and Ladycakes read about Haiti.

Here at the Hive we are thinking about Haiti today and tomorrow and the next day. If I could grab those 90 babes and bring them here, I would. Make them all new little bees. I wish I could hug each one for just a minute. Rock them a bit. Hum in the ears and just tell them it's going to be alright.

I guess I'll do that with the 3 bees I have. And be glad.

Equine sightings

Mr. Handsome and I got the little bees out of the hive today. It was a blue-bird, absolutely gorgeous, honey of a day. If you've been reading along you will understand that first I alphabetized the pantry and then put all of our DVDs in numerical/alphabetical order before we headed out. But, if you've been reading along, you also know, I'm a pain in the ass.

Look at this, this where we live. This is practically our backyard. Seriously? It's amazing. And look at Mr. Handsome, how cute is he? Totally dealing with Elvis. His patience lasted about 5 minutes, Mr. Handsome's that is, but at least I was able to document it.

Here I am with all the bees. It's fun to be able to do things together, despite the age difference. You know, I'm old and they are young. Just kidding. Elvis wants to keep up with Ladycakes and Q and sometimes it's hard. This is a fun activity.

We saw all sorts of creatures today. Like this one, the four-handed, caped shadow rectangle. Look at the way it displays it's jazz hands. That's totally a defense mechanism that occurs when it feels threatened. We chose not to disturb it further.

Look at this fellow. Quite handsome. Loving the day as much as we were. He laid down and rolled in the snow right after I snapped this.

This was his friend, he watched me for quite some time. I think he felt bad for me. He was like, "Are you those kids Sherpa? Because dude, you are carrying 3 coats, 2 pairs of gloves, poles that clearly aren't yours and you keep handing out Lifesavers. Your life kinda sucks." I winked at him and in my mind was so pleased that even though that horse was judging me....he felt my pain for a moment. We bonded.
So it was a fun day. We got out, got some fresh air. Enjoyed being together. Hopped in the car and headed home. As we got off the highway, here's what we came upon. Mr. Handsome couldn't stop the car fast enough. I did a suicide dive out of the front seat while yelling, "I've got to get a picture of this....STOP. STOP."

Okay so this was actually yesterday. I can't lie. I'm not wearing my ski gear. But I'm not shitting you. This is what we came across. Look at me, I'm giddy. You would think Mr. Handsome just told me he got a million dollar raise. All it takes is some equine excitement to make me smile like a school girl. Seriously, a zebra. A zebra? In Utah? And I'm hugging it like it's my own child. I smelled like zebra for the rest of the night.

I swear that zebra is saying "Save me!"

WARNING: These images are not flattering!

Mr. Handsome and I are always up for some cheap thrills. We aren't, generally, ones to pay for entertainment. We figure we can create our own. This is what we do when the little bees have been tucked in here at the hive.

I lay down on the floor with my camera in hand. This is not sexy despite that sentence, in fact as the title suggests, it's VERY unflattering. And Mr. Handsome busts out the beef jerky. Again, it may sound provocative but in that sentence "beef jerky" really means beef jerky.

He places the beef jerky on my forehead. Wow, this is sounding really bad.

That Naughty Dog and his Accomplice begin to swarm. I am trying to keep the camera at the right angle.

The Accomplice makes the first move. Who would have thought That Naughty Dog is a bit intimidated by the flash.

She goes in, jowls and all. And takes the prize. It's beef jerky for heaven's sake.

Clearly, I have no pride here. But it's hilarious. I laugh, Mr. Handsome laughs. The Accomplice lays down by me hoping that more beef jerky will magically appear on my face. Mr. Handsome is threatening to put some right on my lips....you can see his hand there, moving in.

The dogs are psyched. Turns out they like cheap thrills too.

We need to get a life!

Now he can do this Do you think that you could? And he can do that Which is more than any old cat could

Are you familiar with Kipper? I LOVE Kipper. He makes me so happy. I wish I lived where Kipper lives. I wish I talked like Kipper. If I said, " We are having leftovers for dinner," in Kipper's voice, my whole family would hip, hip, hooray for leftovers. Kipper is calm, methodical and terribly naive. I'm cool with that. He's a dog, a dog with a slipper. He's Kipper, Kipper the dog. And btw, that's a toad not a frog.

Here Kipper is investigating hedgehogs. That in itself is so tantalizing to me. Who wouldn't love to own a hedgehog? That Naughty Dog (not Kipper!) would eat a hedgehog and then blame it on his accomplice (also not Kipper) ...but still, they are little and prickly.

January 6th has been a Kipper kind of day and that's a good thing. We shall see what tomorrow brings!

Live a Simple Life in a Quiet Town

I read a great blog. It's on my blog roll. Creative Little Daisy. It's charming. While reading her last post, I was compelled to follow along. Find one word to work with as your New Year's Resolution. The lists. They're too much. You can't keep up with them. But one word. Can't we all try to make one word work for us daily. I think I can. I'm going to try. Here's my word.

stead·y (std)

adj. stead·i·er, stead·i·est

1. Firm in position or place; fixed.

2. Direct and unfaltering; sure.

3. Free or almost free from change, variation, or fluctuation; uniform: a steady increase in value; a steady breeze.

4. Not easily excited or upset: steady nerves.

5. Unwavering, as in purpose; steadfast.

6. Reliable; dependable.

7. Temperate; sober.

tr. & intr.v. stead·ied, stead·y·ing, stead·ies

To make or become steady.

interj. Nautical

Used to direct a helmsman to keep a ship's head in the same direction: Steady as she goes!

n. pl. stead·ies

The person whom one dates regularly, usually exclusively.

---

steadi·er n.

steadi·ly adv.

steadi·ness n.

There are so many things that need to be steady in this girl's life. I'm going to try out this word for a month or so. See how it works for me. Steady in emotion. Steady in spending. Steady in judgement. Steady in reaction. Just steady. I think it will work. It is definitely attainable. One day at a time.

Tomorrow means back to the real world. 2 of 3 don't feel great. Mr. Handsome is dreading the alarm. I am dreading the lunch boxes. Steady the course. Steady.

Good luck tomorrow. It will be fine.

Add "Steady as she goes" sung by The Rancontuers to My Life Soundtrack.