Recycling and Reuse

Recycling:

At home we recycling everything that can be. They don't take the glass because too many garbage men were getting hurt from the broken stuff. The city does have a spot where they have dumpsters to collect glass. We have one of those spots that's walking distance, so when we get a small bag full we walk it over to recycle it.

Collecting:

For awhile we were collecting caps. The city didn't want them because they were so small. An artist friend collects them for art, so we gave him our collection every so often. I was surprised at how fast we collect those things! We don't even drink bottled water, or soda at our house.

I also hang onto yogurt and cottage cheese containers for students to use for paint water.

Compost: 

We keep a compost pile year round. I have since I was little. It's good for when you need to grow things, it doesn't take up too much room, and I love that my garbage rarely stinks because all our peelings and extra food scraps go into the compost bin outside. Along with that we hang on to all our leaves too.

I once had a grocery cart I got for a Halloween. I was a bum. I may be a bum again for Halloween because it was so easy! Anyhow we thought about getting rid of the cart, but then saw this:

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We're going to line it with burlap, keep compost scraps and leaves in there, and plant stuff on top. 

School:

I had a student that recycled paper for the last few years. She just graduated. There is no recycle program here at all. 

Personally I feel like city businesses should be forced to recycle. They go through things way more than a family would. I know that carpet and furniture stores have to crush their boxes, and recycling should be the next logical step. 

As far as homes go, I think it's a personal take. If I lived out in the sticks I'd just burn my trash. I wouldn't take steps to go into town to recycle. Gas would be burned just to go into the city to recycle. I suppose it could be collected, and taken into town when I went. I'd have to weigh out if it was worth it, or not. It just doesn't make sense. I would however keep a compost bin, or pile.

I decided to ask my work: There are many students that feel passionate about recycling here. The student that did this is no longer here. In order to sustain a positive student mindset I feel like it's important to keep this going. If I went to the library, got 3 recycle bins (1 for each classroom) could I recycle the paper here?

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The response pissed me off: Only if you use your own time to do it. You have to keep the bins from overflowing. You have to make sure the bins are no where in site for Open Houses. 

This had to go through 3 people before it came back to me. 

The bins are always under the tables where the printers are. I don't see how having a recycle bin out is any different than having a trash can sitting there. 

I understand about making sure they don't overflow. I wouldn't want that either. 

The message came from the Director, but it was actually my Boss that decided what to say back to me. The Director said, "If you need any help, let me know!" :) I know know my Boss. He's nice, but certainly not for change. It's odd because he runs an art school! My Boss just got done saying that he wants me to run things how I see fit, yet he's this way about me recycling. 

Would you start the recycling program, or would you just say screw it? 

I feel passionate about it, but their response makes me want to scream. Part of me wants to throw back at them that I was told in my review that I could run the classroom more... I'm not a difficult person. Actually I'm pretty easy going for the most part. They schedule guest speakers in our classes at random times, and I bend without a fuss. They change my assignments, and I make sure they are changed properly without complaining about it. They make me manage the classroom being cleaned by the students before breaks, and I do it well. I do know that if I don't say something than it all piles up, and one day I will want to blow up.  

Kids

I love kids for the most part. I always have. Sure there are days where I want to trap myself in a quiet room, but I think we all have those days.

There was one time where I felt really bad:

On a bus in Atlanta a kid kept staring at me. Now usually after I smile, they smile too. They won't come to me, but they'll smile at me. Then if I make a face, they'll laugh. Well the kid on the bus many moons ago didn't laugh. They flat out started to scream cry like someone hit them. I wanted to hide, but instead confessed that I was just trying to be friendly to the kid, and scared them. I didn't dare tell the mom that I was making silly faces at their child. I 
apologized.

The Mom huffed, and puffed and blew the bus down. Ok not really.

I felt like she gave me the death stare. You'd think after apologizing that she'd be ok. Nope! I hope she didn't think I was a creeper that was trying to win over her kid, and kidnap him. No, No, No!

There were a lot of times where I didn't feel bad at all:

My cousin's kids are the types that won't come to me at first. They kind of giggle, and run away.

I crawl over to them and say, "BOO!" They giggle some more.

Then we exchange silly faces.

After that we're the best of friends. I even let them use my camera.

Random Tid Bits

1. I'm so annoyed! I love when my boys are outdoors playing. I really do! Kids need sunshine, to run around outside, to learn new things like archery, fishing and canoeing. It just seems like every freaking year they get some kind of rash from wet muddy clothes being on their skin for too long, a scrape from diving into a semi shallow pool of water, a massive sunburn even though I send sunblock with them, and get this a new one: A fungus nail from wet shoes being on too long. In Jiu Jitsu Mica got ringworm from the mat. Isaak has gotten flat warts. After a year, I think he's finally getting rid of them! Flat warts seem to multiply like crazy! I'm just beginning to think if there's something out there that's skin damaging they'll freaking get it!

Now we're doing a lot of things to try and get rid of the toe fungus before it spreads! The doctor's office was no help. They said, "With kids it's hard. They can't be treated like adults can." I'm supposed to call them if the infection gets worse. They probably think we're the dirtiest people ever. I promise we're not! When the boys have outdoor camp they shower daily, and I wash their clothes daily! Otherwise it's a shower every other day. About the only time I call the doctor's office is for skin issues, or if they are truly sick.

Mica's new skin routine: The morning starts with Mica soaking his foot in warm epson salt and lavender oil water, while he eats breakfast. He dries his foot off, and applies a mix of coconut oil, tea tree oil, and lavender oil.

Around lunch I have him apply toe juice.

Around dinner he soaks his foot in Listerine and unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar. Yes Listerine can be used as a foot soak. Listerine is a disinfectant, Apple Cider Vinegar kills fungus. I bought yellow Listerine because the green kind was turning his foot a green color.

Around bedtime he applies Vicks Vapor Rub with a sock over it.

I'm about to try Henna this weekend. I have a friend that uses Henna on a regular basis. She knew where to get it safely. A lot of places sell it black market wise. That black market stuff can be bad! The same goes for essential oils. My friend went to a workshop about Henna, and told me all about the healing benefits. There are a lot of benefits that I never knew about! I looked them up. It comes from a tree root. It's been used for health purposes in India for centuries. I'm willing to try anything! Plus I can use extra on Isaak, or myself for fun designs. I'll practice on paper first, then my upper leg, and on Isaak's shoulder, so no one can see it if I happen to mess up! I'm sure Isaak one day would like a Henna upper arm band that has a super hero pattern of some sort.





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You apply Henna, let it set for a few hours before washing it off. With Mica's toe my friend said to apply it, and keep it on as long as possible, or until it falls off. A henna design lasts for 7 days. It will make his toe a brown stain. It's important to cover everything before using henna. It will make anything it touches a brown stain. His toe is always in a covered sandal, or tennis shoe for when we go out. Otherwise his toe is free from anything on it at home.

Travis rolls his eyes when I try essential oils, Henna and coconut oil. In my defense, there are no meds that can be put on Mica's toe to treat the fungus. So what's a Mom to do?


Here's his poor nail. It looks as if it could fall off. :( I heard fungus nails can take up to 3 years to heal. Sometimes they never heal. I'm trying to heal the poor thing! I don't want it to spread!



2. I've been doing a lot of busy work this week. School starts for me on Monday! 


3. Isaak loves watching videos on doing hair. Mica laughs and shakes his head every time! 


4. Travis and Mica love watching silly cat videos. I laugh and shake my head every time! 


5. I saw these labels and thought they were funny. I only thought they were funny because the labels themselves are actually made in the US. Usually it's the opposite. 

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Duck

We got to the boy's camp early a few weeks ago. A duck kept following us.

I like the reflection in this one:

I like the blue in the feather in this one:

I guess we all have a scratch that's hard to reach.

It was really pleasant to watch the duck. I love how they don't have to be anywhere at any particular time. They do need to watch out for predators and eat, but otherwise they can swim here and there with no time table really! 

Generally they have a pretty view too!

If I were a different animal I don't know what I'd pick, but being a duck I wouldn't think would be too bad of a choice. What animal would you be other than a human?

WW: My Little Pirates {Linky}

Don't forget to enter my $100 GC to Family Fare.
 

Odd Dreams

When I do remember my dreams they're always odd!

I've had dreams where I was a dinosaur + another where I was a werewolf = Me waking myself up growling at Travis. The poor guy has been scared to sleep with me at times.

When I was pregnant with Mica I had all kinds of crazy dreams. I dreamed that I gave birth to a bull frog because his nursery was done in frogs. I had another where I gave birth to a baby that was as long as my Dad. My Dad is tall! Mica was a long baby, breech, and I was lacking fluid.

Last week I was 1/2 listening to Hillary's speech. I was actually waiting for the news to get on. I'm not for any of the candidates really. In fact I'm kind of sad about how our politics is ran by corporations. Anyhow...enough of that. I fell asleep.

Apparently I skipped the news altogether in my mind. I dreamed that Hillary Clinton was supporting pink massage goggles, and Donald Trump was supporting black massage goggles. Donald looked odd with his crazy hair popping out the top! A little crazier than what I have here, but I did what I could via Photoshop and crappy res photos of the goggles.

It looked something like this:

I woke up to an infomercial to JIDUE, which is a massage goggle I guess. Since I checked out their website I've of course seen ads popping up all over.

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Travis said, "So are you going to ask to review one of them?" I of course said, "No they'd give me nightmares!"

Do you ever have crazy dreams?

Question of the Month

The question this month is: What is your favorite beach? 

That's a hard one for me to answer. I've only been to a handful of beaches in my whole life. I'm from Nebraska, and live in Nebraska now. It's smack dab in the middle of the US. If you are a big Counting Crows fan they sing a song called, Omaha. Even though they hadn't been here before writing the song, it depicts where I live pretty well. Outside of where I live there is mostly grasslands. I live in a city, so the prairie is outside of my town. It's pretty to drive through because you can see for miles and miles. There are no huge trees, or mountains blocking your view throughout most of the state.

Back to Beaches:

Considering the fact that we don't have any here, I've gotten really excited at all the ones I've gone to. There are rivers here. Rivers they've tried making into a faux beach. I heard that they have a lot of broken glass at them, so I haven't gone to check them out.

I went to Galveston, Texas with a few friends when I was in high school. I had fond memories just because it was the first beach I had ever been too. It was also fun because I was there with friends.

I went to Cancun with my Mom, younger sister Terra and Grandparents when I was in high school. I was always told not to drink Mexican water, I thought that meant even bottled water, so I didn't drink anything all day. The beach was fun, but I got too much sun, didn't drink enough water, and literally passed out at the end of the day. My Grandpa was pounding on the bathroom door because he heard me drop. It was also odd because a few Mexican guys kept trying to hit on me; I'm assuming  it was because I was light skinned. Considering that I was with family I was so embarrassed.

I went to Tybee Island in Georgia when I went to grad school in Savannah, Georgia. I wish I could have gone many more times than I did. My roommate had a car, but her family owned a beach house in Maryland. The beach wasn't too exciting to her. I loved it! That's probably the beach I remember the most because I lived there for 2 years. I loved the Spanish moss that hung from the trees there. I know this isn't a beach, but I enjoyed River Street to. I loved the cobble stones, shops that sold salt water taffy, the spot I stood where my voice echoed, the big ships and boats that went by, and the street performers that were all over.

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Lastly I went home with my roommate from grad school. I got to see the beach in Ocean City, Maryland. I didn't spend very much time there. I was so tired from the trip, and finals from the week before. We traveled to DC and Baltimore.

What is your favorite beach?

Room

I don't normally post about movies we watch, but we watched a really good one. It's called Room. If you have Amazon Prime it's free to watch. 

My husband laughs because he generally picks out movies that he doesn't even like. He asked a few co-workers what movies they would recommend and Room came up.

I loved the movie! It's from the novel Room.

It is really similar to Jaycee Dugard, or Elisabeth Smart stories. More the Dugard story because this girl was locked up for 7 years, and had a child.

It has suspense, creativity, happiness, and sadness all wrapped up into one movie. There was only 1 actor I recognized, which maybe why I've never heard of it. It's also why I loved it. I like seeing new talent.

I loved how creative the boy is in Room. He reminded me of Isaak at the age of 5.

What's a movie that you love? I'm looking for movies that are not mainstream.

The B.R.A.T. Diet

I had big plans for this weekend. We were going to go to our Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. They had free admission with special fun exhibits. I wanted to check out Benson Days, which had food trucks, live music, a parade, and a pancake feed. Then we had tickets to a baseball game, which the boys did end up going to that, while I stayed home.

Yep it's been awhile, since the boys went to the SAC Museum. This was taken a few years ago.

Sickness started with Isaak on Monday. I didn't know if he was actually sick, or was just filled up and needed to go to the bathroom. He went to camp, and infected other kids I'm sure. Then Travis got it, and I knew it was real. Then it was Mica. He stayed home from camp, and only had it a day. Finally it struck me. Yesterday I was weak, and my stomach hurt. Today I woke up feeling pretty ok. I even made a big breakfast for everyone. Then it all came back like a freight train. Only now it's mostly 1 big headache.

All week I've been trying to have us all eat light, and stick to the B.R.A.T. diet = Banana, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast. Anyhow I grew up having this diet when I was sick. My mom was a nurse. She made sure I stuck to it. She added soup to the mix, and soda crackers. I always add Jello to the diet, for the boys Gatorade if they won't drink, and for us tea. We've had toast with jelly, toast with honey, Jello fixed the normal way, Jello in liquid form, rice made different ways, and so on. I'm really glad that I'm the last one to get this. I don't think any of us can stand this diet any longer. I did have Travis pick up rice and wonton soup at a Chinese place last night. I was happy to have the variety of soup. Ha!

What kinds of food do you eat when your family gets sick?