Take the Pledge!

I read this today and wanted to cry!

Did you know that making bottles to meet Americans’ demand for bottled water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some 100,000 cars for a year? With gas prices so high (though bottled water is even more expensive at up to $6 a gallon*), why pour oil and money down the drain when you can get your own reusable bottle and fill'er up at home?
The current energy crunch illustrates the importance of conserving all our natural resources, yet for each gallon of water that is bottled, an additional two gallons of water are used in processing.

It’s time to take a real stand and pledge to Break Your Bottled Water Habit for good. So far over 3,900 of you have pledged to give up bottled water for a year, reducing 159,936 pounds of carbon emissions in the process. We can do better than that. Take the pledge, encourage your friends to do the same, and reduce your carbon footprint by 40.8 pounds this year for each person.** Imagine if 20,000 of you make that same pledge.
From now through October 30, take the pledge to Break the Bottled Water Habit, and encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Need more reasons to Break the Bottled Water Habit? Check out our top five reasons to break the habit, and then our top five ways to do so.

Taken from newdream.org

Do you smell something?

That is how every fall begins at my house. Sitting in the car the other day hubby starts sniffing the air.

Hubby: Do you smell something?

Me: No (with a scowl)

Hubby: It's football

Me: Oh boy (mock enthusiasm)

Yep, it's football season and my Saturdays and Sundays, oh yeah and mondays have already taken a hit. Not to worry, I'm pretty sure they've implemented Thursday night and Friday night games as well.

As if it's bad enough that my hubby becomes a couch potatoe for the next four months, but I also have to deal with the ridiculous sports fan behavior. For example, hubby tried to walk out of my house wearing a football jersey to work.

Me: whar are you wearing?

Hubby: My bronco's jersey! (happy as a little school boy)

Me: No, no you are not

Hubby: But it is casual friday!

Me: No way!. Jerseys are reserved for use at home of if you actually play for the team and it is the assigned uniform.

Hubby: (dejected) Fine....

So thank you college football. Thanks NFL. You have not only turned my 30 year old hubby into a 14 year old boy who wears sports gear as clothing but you have also monopolized my TV set and roped me into driving up to Logan to watch the worst ranked team in college football play in freazing conditions! Go Aggies!

Musical evolution

Last week I stepped out of my shell and went to a concert. Not that big a deal, I know, but I was so close to not going and then I would have never known the joy that is The Avett Brothers. My lovely friend Jason aka. Soffe, had sent me a sample of their music and I knew I liked it from the start. But the concert, the concert was such an awesome experience. I usually enjoy concerts if I can sit in the back and if they are over by 9:30. (I'm old beyond my years, I know). Not so at the Avett Brothers. When they finished at 10:30 I was sad and wanted more. It was so much fun and what a bunch of entertainers! They were crazy! The two brothers make up the heart of the band and they have a stand up bass and a whack a doodle cellist that plays his cello like a guitar. Loved it.
Maybe it was the nostalga since they hail from North Carolina. Maybe it was the songs lyrics filled with feeling and love. Maybe it was a night out.... Whatever it was I loved it. So much so that I encouraged Jon to drive to Boise two nights later so he could see for himself. His fan status has now much surpassed mine!



The concert fun continued when I met my friend last night for a Bonnie Raitt concert. I didn't even know who she was really but really enjoyed the concert. The concert was at Red Butte Gardens and it was so beautiful and even chilly once the sun went down. Silvi came along and danced the night away (i think she thought the crowd was gathered to see her moves).

Now that I have shocked the old fuddy duddy out of my system I think I am ready for more. We've already got tickets to Weezer and ColdPlay. Weezer gives me a little heart burn because we are on the floor and I'm not too keen on moshing with 14 year olds. Whatever, I guess I need to give everything a try right? That is the moral of this post...right, right!

Did I teach you the alphabet??

Tonight in the tub Silvi asked for her foam letters, as she calls them "her a,b,c's". Obligingly I dumped all 26 into the tub then looked on in amazement as she started pulling out letters and calling them by name. "O", "E", "R" were just blurted out. Did I miss something? Was there a sesame street episode that my daughter watched that I am unaware of (note: we don't watch sesame street). I know I didn't sit down and go over her letters with her, although I am planning on doing more learning activities since I've discover the true meaning of "a child's mind is like a sponge."

Needless to say, I was very proud, quite shocked, and a little embarassed that my daughter is picking up on her ABC's without much help from me. I thought the ABC song was something to work on....

This blog post was brought to you by the letter "O". (Silvia's favorite)

Spoiled but not rotten...yet

Miss Silvia turned two last week. Wow, I never envisioned my life raising a two year old but so far it is going better than expected. We ended up having a cookout/party for her even though I had planned on only doing cake with the family. I got a little guilt trip from my mom because "we were in North Carolina for her first birthday."

So we had a few friends come over and it was a lot of fun. Silvia and her mini friends ran around the yard and were making a game out of climbing up the steps and rolling a ball down them, then repeating that a few more times.



Then it was on to presents and cakes. Here is where the spoiling really went into over-drive. Jon did a pretty good job of restraining me, but no one could restrain my mom and sister.















Just from them she got a play kitchen (out with the old cardboard one I guess!) and a baby doll with tons of accessories! Now I'm not complaining because since she received this showering of gifts she has been pleasently occupied in her play room. It was just a bit overwhelming.

Jon and my gift to her was a trike. It turned out to be the hit of the party with all the girls taking turns on it.




















Needless to say, we all had a great time. We ended the night with some cupcakes and ice cream which some how avoided melting to pieces in the heat.

















Luckily (for my waist line and silvia's attitude) birthdays only come along once a year!

blog block

I know it's been awhile. Silvi's birthday has come and gone and so has most of this summer. I was really planning on blogging this week but alas my apartment swamp cooler is broken and I can't think straight. It is a constant 86 degrees in here! I don't know what I did to deserve this bad treatment by my landlord but I'm dying! Five going on six days is too long to go without a cooling system. I'm irrate and too self consumed to write about anything else.

I guess I'm going to have to summon my inner witch so we can get it fixed. No wonder I can't sleep!

A look back

Browsing through pictures today (when I should have been working) I couldn't believe the difference a year makes in the looks of a kid.

Example:

June 07

June 08

then and now....