"Regular Guy" vs. "The Germophobes"

It's fun to see what people buy at Costco. A guy who I decided to call, "regular guy," had nothing but a ton of fruit, including two Costco-sized packages of gala apples, a bag of lemons, a bag of avocados, blueberries and raspberries, plus fruit juice and antioxidant drink, in his basket.

We ate pizza at Costco earlier and I had just had an urgent visit to the bathroom where I didn't even have time to put down seat protection, so fruit didn't really interest me at that point. I so wanted to ask "regular guy" if he was really going to eat all that fruit before it spoils.

Then there's us, "the germophobes," with Costco-sized tp, Clorox Wipes and Lysol spray, a hunk of cheese, water, bottled tea and juice. We still ended up paying ninety-two dollars. Ivan had to make an emergency visit to the restroom as well. At least we didn't have to buy any fruit to be regular, although I do wish I could've used those Clorox Wipes and Lysol spray before I went.

Bloggy Days (sort of)

Mosaic made with FD's FLICKR TOYS Thx John
Dear Shanny,
I tried to participate in Photo Bloggy Days, but alas, I have commitment issues. Here is what I've got though. I hope to do better next time. It was fun to make people were wonder why I was taking pictures of things like the place where I work. Was I collecting evidence for a law suit?

My day began about 5:30 on Friday because we now have a new dog whom we would like to prevent from peeing on the carpet. I let him out but didn't take a picture because I was too tired. I went back to bed until 6:30 at which time I fed said dog. (Side note: we named the dog Jerry, after Jerry Springer because he was listed at the pound as an English Springer Spaniel so we named him Jerry Springer Spaniel. We learned later that the real vet declared him a Brittany mix. Still, Jerry Springer Spaniel stuck.)

I started getting ready for work around 7:00 AM (pictured) and treated my wound before I left. I got to work around 8:00 AM and didn't take a picture because it hadn't been two hours. I had to leave work to go at another site (pictured) where I chased computer viruses and obnoxious computer operating systems for the next several hours. I was too stressed to take pictures and didn't eat lunch, but I freed myself around 3:30 PM, when I took this shot of Wesley Bolin Plaza.

I went to the library (pictured) to drop off books and pay a fine which I could have used put toward the purchase of the Fairly OddParents video that was late. Then I went to pickup Joaquin and talked to Diane for a while then went home to see Jerry. I took the picture of Joaquin in the rear view mirror around 5:00 PM (he wasn't happy about it). We had Boston Chicken for dinner (I was starving because no lunch, so no picture).

When Ivan finally got home, I went to Target to pay my bill and saw this pillowcase (pictured) for Joaquin. I was at Target way longer than I intended and left when I got the call asking if I had been abducted. Home again to my new Halloween wreath that I made a few weeks ago (pictured). Joaquin went to bed. I then treated my wound (that is a picture of my blister, not something more obscene), and watched Ugly Betty (pictured) before going to bed myself. I was tired.

Saturday morning, I awoke to find my blister had broken. Now I'm worried about infection. I went to have breakfast with Peggy, then I spent 3 hours at Target! I only went to go get a birthday present for my nephew! No pictures of that because I was just there last night. We spent the afternoon at the party (pictured) and came home to see Jerry (pictured) who moves too fast to get a picture. We've gotta work on sit/stay. Now, I'm working on this entry and I'll be going to bed soon. So I'll bid bon nuit Photo Bloggy Days!

The moral of this story is that I spend entirely too much time at Target. The secondary moral is that I need a new camera and possibly more practice.

October, 2008: From Here to Forever

It's October. So many things happening, changing, and I don't mean the leaves, because if there's one thing about Phoenix, it's that the leaves don't change.

Joaquin's cousin is moving out of of my sister's house. We are happy, yet sad, about this. When Joaquin heard, he said, "Angelica's moving out? She can't move out, uh, uh, she's way too young!" When asked how old you have to be, he said, "Well, let's see, she's twenty six now, right? She needs to stay for four more years. Then she can move out." Like Ivan said, at least we know what we're in for.

Although they haven't asked recently, I know it's gonna come up again. About me working full time. I don't know why I'm holding out. I just can't commit but my guess is that I'll relent because, well, at least I've got a job. I'm off the rest of this week because I'm already a little burned out with the whole helpdesk thing.

My mother never said which holiday was her favorite, actually, she said she didn't like any holiday, but my guess would be Halloween. Mainly because she LOVED candy and she would go all out for trick-or-treaters when only a few would go to her house. That was alright though, because then she'd have candy, candy, candy, all the candy she desired. She liked the decorations too. Last year around this time, we were in Flagstaff and I remember she bought a halloween bowl and dishcloth from a little store downtown. I remember she had a hard time walking but she just kept at it, I don't think she complained once about it, heck, even I had a hard time keeping up and I did complain. My sister noticed though, and suggested she sit in a restaurant and have a beer while we wandered around to see if there was any more stuff we absolutely had to have...seems like such a short time ago.

Isn't it interesting that the stuff is still around while the person who owned the stuff isn't. What is most important in that equation? I thought about this because Ivan just broke one of my favorite dishes from a store called Rue De France, which is no longer, and it didn't really bother me, it just brought up those feelings about our stuff outliving us, and my mom...

Ivan is working days now. Its gonna take some time to get used to. It's been just Joaquin and I on weekdays for quite some time now. We've got our own routine.

One of my big concerns is what I'm gonna make for dinner because there are days where I'd just cook for Joaquin and I'd eat cereal or salad or something. A man doesn't like only salad sprinkled with pieces of chicken nuggests as an entree. We had Domino's Pizza for dinner tonight. Joaquin and I have NEVER ordered pizza delivery the entire time we've been on our own.

I cried tonight, Ivan thought it was because of the dish. I told him no, it isn't the dish. I still cry sometimes, he's just not usually here to see it and I don't usually write about it because it generally passes quickly. I have lots on my mind and even with my luck the past week, I'm just feeling that the universe is really out of wack and has been for quite some time. Is it ever going to feel "normal" again or is this what it's going to be like from now on?

Most brilliant ideas come at 1:00 AM

If I understood this government bailout thing Bush speaks of, I would say do it but charge interest. They'd do it to Joe Public, right? Ivan added that they should add a clause that says they can change the rules anytime they wanted, just like the financial institutions do. This was what I was thinking at 1:00 AM after dealing with second grade, excuse me, just found out that it is third grade, math earlier that afternoon.

I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person. I can even be above average if I focus. But this math thing is making me feel like, well, not so much. We bought Joaquin a math book this summer to try to keep him busy. There is a section on the guess and check problem-solving method. Word problems. I hate word problems. So I'm looking them over and trying to come up with the answers. I can't. So I look at the back of the book and I become even more confused when I know the freaking answers.

Here is the sample question: "Neptune and Mars have a total of ten moons. Neptune has six more moons than Mars. How many moons does each planet have?" So Joaquin and I are trying work through the question and I say, "We need to find out how many moons Neptune and Mars have." To me, the problem might as well have read, "Blah, blah blah blah blah..."

Joaquin quickly says, "Mars has two moons." I'm still trying to figure out the problem and, already a little exasperated, I tell him to wait before he guesses and I go over the example some more. And he says again that Mars has two moons.

At this point, I'm thinking my kid is brilliant. So I look him square in the eye and ask him, "How did you get that Mars has two moons?"

"I read it in a book at school."

Well, there you go, my friends, that is how you solve math problems. You read about them in a book.

I may not be such an idiot after all.

"I believe it was Plato...

...No, excuse me, I mean Play-Doh..." --Damon Wayans as Oswald Bates from "In Living Color." [link]

This Twitter [link] thing is really wrecking my writing. When I look back at this blog years from now, I'm--or Joaquin, when he's older is--going to think every event in my life only happened in 140 characters or less. (I actually made that sentence 139 characters on Twitter just now).

It is helping me to try to express myself quickly. I do like the big words, big wordy words. I'm just not very good at using them. I'm afraid I'll sound like that Damon Wayans character, Oswald Bates, verbose prisoner, on "In Living Color." [Video link for your convenience, or flatulence, depending on which end is up.]

I truly believe I have the most thoughtful, wonderful little boy. He instinctively seems to know exactly what to say to people to make them feel good. We were talking tacos today and he said he wanted to make them at his birthday party with Marco and Miguel. I suggested that we make his birthday a chef theme and dress in hats and aprons. "Oh, no," he said, "No dress up." After he thought about it though, he said he wanted to be Governor of his party. I asked if he was going to dress up. He said yes. We'll see. Somehow, I kind of think he could be the real Governor sometime in the future if he really wants to be.

Monday, Joaquin saved me another Uncrustable, which, if you're from outer space, is this wonderful little concoction composed of peanut butter and grape jelly encased in soft white bread. Kind of like a p. b. and j. empanada, or turnover, if you will. He said, "Close your eyes, I've got a surprise." (while I'm driving, no less.) And pulled out the extremely smooshed (yet extremely tasty) Uncrustable. I squealed. It was so good, not only because I like them so much, but because he thought of me, his old mom. Sure, he doesn't like p. b. and j. so wouldn't eat it anyway, but that's beside the point.

Today, he wanted to make tacos for dinner like they did at school one day a while back. So we went to the grocery store and bought taco shells, shredded cheese, tomatoes and ground beef. I wanted a different cheese but since he was cooking, I told him he could choose. I came home and prepared the ground beef filling and lettuce and put everything in bowls and he showed me how to assemble the tacos. It was too cute. I should've taken a picture but he didn't want his recipe on the Internet. He only made one then started eating. He was really hungry. I had to make my own following his instructions. Very tasty.

I asked him, "Is this taco filling as good as the one they make at school?" He nodded, except the shells were a bit stale and hard (just say no to Old--I mean really old--El Paso). So we started talking about cafeteria food and I asked him if he liked the way they cooked in the cafeteria. He said, "Yes...But, you cook much better, Mom."

Oh, my heart! See what I mean? His father could learn a lesson or two. He cooks, he gives thoughtful gifts and compliments and he even vacuums after dinner. No wonder he already has a couple of girlfriends.

I've Got...Nothing

I looked for a photo that might go along with this post. Couldn't really come up with anything as I hate my freakin' camera, so I'll just chat... Here's one I don't think I showed you.

It's of Joaquin on one of our final days at the public pool in July. He still wants to swim and although it's still hot, I feel like the season is over, but I feel bad because he doesn't have any fun swimming alone. We were supposed to go to a resort but I can't believe they still charge $140.00 off-season. Makes you wonder what they go for during the winter. CHeck out this link for the Arizona Grand Resort(music alert). I bet this is the reason for the escalated prices. I still want to go.

I've been working. I mean, really working, not just there for special projects and whatnot, real work. I am not happy about it.

So I stay up late. I wish I could say drinking and carousing, but it's more like computer, laundry and toilet bowl cleaning. I just finished watching Coco Chanel on Lifetime. How did I watch a cable program when I have no cable TV? Bandwidth, my dear, bandwidth.

I loved the costumes and sets. Shirley MacLaine was alright, so was the other girl, but I felt something that might have been a little swoon in ma belly when the charcter "Boy Capel" played by Olivier Sitruk appeared in his scenes. The tango scene, oh my. I'm gonna go watch him again.

How To Make Mama Happy

I never really know what kind of night I'm in for when I pickup Joaquin from school. Will he argue or bargain with me about everything from TV watching to what's for dinner? Qubo is a big point of contention between us. Will he do as requested of him to without question? Will tears be shed (his and/or mine)?

Today was a good day. We got home and he knew he had homework, so he did that first while I went into his closet to hang an organizer to put his clothes in for the week. He's been wanting to dress himself and always comes in to ask for help picking out his clothes so I got this organizer and put one day of clothes in each section. We'll see how that works.

After he did homework, I asked him to do some chores, then he watched a little Qubo while I made dinner. He played a little after dinner then took his bath, played and watched TV a bit more, then time for some maintenance (cutting nails), brushing teeth and to bed.

I know it's too much to ask for every day to be like this, especially with one who always wants to "be the boss" of everything, but I think getting back on a schedule after several weeks of summer chaos is helping. I no longer have to argue about things like staying up to watch the Simpsons. The answer is just no.

This and Olympics? I'm feeling the om.

My Cooking Stars Aligned Today

I slept late today, so tired from all the late night Olympics viewing. Why do they have to show them so late here in AZ? We know they're not really live. I knew two hours before I saw it who had won in gymnastics. I still watched though.

Since I slept late, I didn't even think about eating until around 3:30, 4:00 PM. I decided I was going to make what I wanted and the guys could eat it, or not.

There used to be a placed called Wingers and I loved their spicy-sweet wing sauce. I've craved it many times since they closed the couple of places here in the Valley that I used to go. I'ved looked up recipes in the past but never had the recommended hot sauce, Franks Red Hot, on hand. I bought some recently, so today I decided it was time.

There are lots of recipes on the web, including one that had only two ingredients: Franks Red Hot sauce and brown sugar. I decided to combine a couple of recipes so I came up with: about 1 cup Franks Red Hot sauce, about 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, a dash of garlic powder and about 1/4 cup hot water. Mix everything in a saucepan and bring to a boil and boil on low for about 15 minutes. I broiled the wings and poured the sauce on at the end. Big YUM! I'm saving the leftover sauce for another time.

The other recipe was for broccoli salad. I buy from Fry's (Kroger) occasionally but I thought it was sort of expensive for something that seems so basic. Again, there are lots of recipes on the web. I had tried one a few weeks ago that suggested blanching the broccoli. I didn't like this recipe as much. I don't know if it was the sauce or the blanching but I ended up tossing it. I decided to try again using different recipes as guides.

I bought packaged broccoli the other day so I had it on hand, tore it up into smaller pieces. Then I diced about a third of a large red onion and threw in some bacon bits and dried cranberry. I didn't add nuts as some recipes suggested. For the dressing, mix about 1 cup of mayo (people say use mayo, not salad dressing), 2 tablespoons of white sugar and about 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Pour over the salad and refigerate at least 2 hours. It was still good even though I didn't give it time let the flavors "meld."

I'm not the best cook, but these are keepers! Not being the most consistent cook either, I hope I can duplicate the recipes the next time I get the cravings. I know that's a lot of sugar but it's not like we're using ALL of the sauce and well, let's face it, raw broccoli needs something.

The true test: Joaquin says he didn't like wings but I cooked him up a few without the sauce. He changed his mind today. Next time he wants four. He wasn't crazy abou the salad because he doesn't like raw veggies but cutting them into smaller pieces helped a little. We'll work on that.

Trying to Make Life Less Tedious

Wow, I've been gone a while. They've changed the blogger dashboard.

I've just started reading "The Book of Bright Ideas," by Sandra Kring. I've been really attracted to books set in the south lately. Even if it's not set in the south, the characters always have a southern accent in my head when I'm reading. I even have a southern accent when I'm reading the stuff I've written, which means that last sentence sounds like, "Ah eyvan hayv a southern ayxent when Ahm readin' the stuff Ahyv written."

I've had the book a week and I'm only on page ten. I don't know what the block is about, maybe it's because I'm using my eyes so much at work, I only want to see high definition pictures when I get home, but I think I'm starting to get into it now. We'll see how far I get before I lose my mojo.

Speaking of high definition, we got our HD converter boxes the other day and Joaquin is obsessed with a station called Qubo that can only be seen via the HD channels. No, we don't have cable yet, as a matter of fact we're getting rid of the few channels we have now because I seriously think it would be hard to put the kid to bed if we had more TV (me too). Also it's just not worth the price to someone who believes that TV is meant to be free! The only thing Joaquin misses now is the ability to freeze, go back and record like Tia has from her DVR. So go ahead and laugh at us. While you're watching all your fancy recorded cable programs, we'll be doing stuff like, um, surfing the net and watching kids programs twenty four hours a day, and, um, possibly sleeping. Sleep is good.

I'm missing sleep because of the blasted Olympics. Only about one week to go, right?

Homeschooling

Joaquin was going to something called X-Zone at school the past couple of weeks. They were supposed to go on field trips, do special activities and fun stuff while learning. Joaquin was bored. Although he would come home with a little tidbit about a continent they'd visited, a craft and sometimes a prize, he's already pretty, well, continental, so he already knows a lot about the subject. Since he was bored, Ivan said he didn't have to go anymore.

Faced with the fear that he might lose some of what he's learned during the year since he's now home all day, we got some workbooks at the bookstore over the weekend. There are tons of them, but we decided on a Harcourt Family Learning Grade 3 Math Skills book because he was already learning two digit multiplication and some division in school, among other math things. It's perfect and his dad now believes he is a genius. Whew, we got to him before he'd forgotten what he'd learned.

We also got a Grade 2 reading comprehension book with science, geography and history. His class was focusing on reading comprehension at the end of the year so I think it will help and the subjects interest him so that's a plus. The other book we got is a Kumon book of Simple Sentences about nouns and verbs for ages 5, 6 & 7. This book will help with his writing practice which he really needs.

All of the workbooks seem like good choices and they seem fun too. We're stoked. (Do people still say stoked?) Our child is gonna be a genius. Now, if I could only get him interested in music, my life would be complete.

'Nuff Said

We laughed to keep from crying. Just kidding. Not really this hot, only 110°F. The temperature gauge is freaking out. It made us laugh because when we started the car, it said 131°, then 140°. Ahh, it's the little things.

How To Make Your Child An Unbeliever

Funny how some things become routine after experiencing them a few times. Joaquin lost another tooth last Friday...or was it Thursday? Oh, it was one morning at the end of last week.

Well, wouldn't you know, the tooth fairy forgot to come. Then the tooth fairy forgot again. That poor little tooth was sitting on the bedside table for two days with...nothing. No money, no stickers, no toys, not even an IOU. Finally, two dollars were left in place of the tooth very late one night. Late payment, it seems, since the going rate for a tooth is generally a dollar.

Instead of being happy about the cash, Joaquin tells us, "The tooth fairy isn't real. That's your money, you keep it." His argument included the fact that you can't see the fairy. He said he knew it was us trying to be the tooth fairy. I tried to convince him, saying we can't only believe in things that we can see. My argument fizzled when I asked him if he'd ever seen us leave him money, which kind of canceled out my previous argument about not seeing and believing. See, I can argue both sides like nobody's business.

I asked him if somebody told him there was no tooth fairy. He said no, he figured it out by himself. Finally I said, "Do you think we'd miss sleep to go into your room late at night just to give you money?" I saw him stop to think about that statement because he knows his parents and they don't miss sleep for much.

He still wasn't buying it a while later, so I kept the cash. He asked me about the money the other day. I said, "Oh, so now you believe in the tooth fairy." He said, "Well, maybe." Smart kid, but he still doesn't have the money yet.

I Don't ♥ Laundry

It seems as though I've been doing laundry more and more often lately, especially darks and whites. This is because of Joaquin's black baseball shirt and white baseball pants. He's got two games per week. That's a lot of laundry. This doesn't give my towels a chance to smell like Fritos corn chips and I've even taken to putting non-fabric items in the laundry, like the bathtub plug or the shower curtain, which I would normally replace when it would start to get moldy. I've found that washing it works wonderfully. That's my post Mother's Day tip to you.

You're welcome.

I was pretty sad when I found out that Joaquin needed glasses. I hate the idea of hiding his beautiful eyes. I knew it, but was hoping not. So, trying to make the best of the situation, we're now we're trying to pick out frames. He likes the ones at the end, but I think we're gonna get the first ones. He's cute anyway.

~*~

The other day my sister and I went to the antique stores in Glendale to look for a charm for a charm bracelet given to her by my mom. My mom used to love these stores, one in particular. As we were browsing, my sister pointed out an owl cookie jar my mom has had forever. It is apparently McCoy pottery, called "When Shadows Fall." It was nice to see it since we haven't been to her house for a while.

Another thing that caught our attention was one of the salespeople talking about beer with Clamato. In this case, Budweiser, which he says is now sold with the Clamato already mixed in. Our mom used to mix her own with Miller Lite and we always laughed about it. Who knew she was such a trendsetter? Yet another thing to miss about mom.

nOTHING iN pARTICULAR

One of my, um, I mean, Joaquin's favorite gifts he got this year was the Crayola Color Explosion Glow Board. Much fun can be had with this thing. This was in celebration of Barb's birthday.

We're still playing Wii. You know, I never mentioned the twinge of guilt I had as I was leaving the store with Wii in hand the other day. It is such an unnecessary item. I actually questioned why I'd bought it. Until I brought it home, that is. Funny, Ivan found an article about it not being exercise, like we ever questioned that. Yet, to see Joaquin when he's playing, with his rosy cheeks and sweaty forehead, you'd really think otherwise. Did I mention he loves it?

It was a rainy day today. Thirty percent, my hiney. A nice gentle rain but rain nonetheless. I stayed in pj's until about ten PM and only put on clothes because I had to open the blinds to remove Christmas decorations. Yes, "Operation De-decorate" has begun. I'm trying something new this year. I'm going to try to write down how long things take me to do. I don't know why, exactly, but it was interesting to know that it took 2.5 hours to remove ornaments from the tree, wrap them and put them away. It was sad to put away the ornaments and Joaquin has requested that the tree stay up for a couple of days. I may oblige until Monday afternoon. Another thing that is going to be hard to take apart is my chandelier decorations. I love the way they came out this year.

Another thing I loved was the bird ornament that I gave Joaquin's teacher this year. It was hard to part with and I couldn't buy myself one because it was the last one in the store. I was a good girl though and let it go. An amazing feat, especially since there were slim pickin's on the ornament selections this year. Is it just me or did the ornaments available at the department stores really suck? I might be forced to make my own one day. Good thing I have a photo of one I liked.

Encouraging Socializing

Barb asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year. I told her I wanted one of those Baroque Dolls that are sold in the Netherlands. She said to keep wishing. Then I told her some of the other things on my wishlist, dvds, books, tea...She said something about it being a good list, but the items don't encourage socializing.

Socializing?

This here is the most social I get. Today at the library, I saw one of Joaquin's preschool teachers that I loved, loved, loved. Such a neat person. I so wanted to keep in touch with her when he left. Today I wanted to ask her if we could get together sometime, but I just couldn't. She had her three kids with her, her arms were full of books. She's now assistant director at the center so I know she's busy. I seriously don't know how to start a friendship.

So, here I am with my kid and my computer. I'm think I'm ok, but I think Barb might be onto something.

Oprah Would Be Proud

I really hate trying to live up to the "Oprah Standard," yet I find myself doing it over and over again. Last season Oprah had a show about how to get out of debt. These people were canceling cable, consolidating credit cards, calling up companies and making deals with them. It really was very interesting even for me who (fortunately) doesn't carry a lot of debt (I still don't have cable).

Still, who doesn't like to save a few bucks, right? So, today I decided to cancel 3-way calling and call waiting on our land line. It bugged me to see those charges every month when I knew we didn't use either: We're not that popular and we've got cell phones.

I saved us a whopping $4.85 per month. Ivan laughed. Yeah, we'll see who's laughing when we drive up and I order an Iced Venti* Caramel Macchiato next month.


*For those who don't parle le Starbucks, that's a large.

Career Building

No, he's not sick, he got ahold of the scissors. This is what happens when you allow an almost seven year old to watch 'The Simpsons' late night only semi-supervised. The episode had to do with, you guessed it, haircuts. He's never shown any interest in cutting hair before this. I laugh everytime I see it. Joaquin loves that.

Oh, it looks worse when you put a flash to it, but I'm wondering what to do next, give it a couple of weeks to grow out or have it all shaved. My usual choice is to take the "no action required on my part" route, also known as "do nothing." Que sera, sera, you know. Thankfully, he starts school again next week.

Blog Action Day

Today is designated Blog Action Day, a day where over 14,000 bloggers will write about the environment. Today is also the day that former Vice President Al Gore won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with a UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for their work on bringing the issue of climate change to the forefront. Al Gore celebrated here in Arizona. Really, no better place to be at this time of year.

I decided to write about little things that I've been doing. I didn't register on Blog Action Day website because, well, there's that little thing about over 14,000 bloggers...

If you've been here before, you probably know about my spare room which is filled with so much junk, I don't know what I have. The other day, Joaquin asked where's all the junk because the room is slowly clearing out. How? Mainly because I'm trying really hard to think about every purchase I make. Do I really need it? That's the big question.

The other day I was at Target. I saw so many Halloween doo-dads that I wanted and that Joaquin wanted. BUT WE DON'T NEED THEM. I have so many Halloween decorations already and I don't even decorate. I'll probably keep them until they wear out. I've also gotten lots of help from this website.

I've been replacing the lightbulbs in the house with those compact fluorescent bulbs. I buy 3x concentrated laundry detergent without dyes or perfumes and we're not going to seed our lawn with rye grass this winter for a break in our water use. It's something, I think.

I recycle; even stuff from work. Can you believe State of Arizona doesn't have a comprehensive recycling program. At least we have the city program that I can use.

I know there's more because I'm constantly thinking about it. One thing I haven't done yet is compost. I've talked about it for a while, but haven't started. Perhaps this is the year. And, although this is sort of contrary to my de-cluttering agenda, I think I want one of these.