Attack of the Eco-Moms!

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Hey look, Julia Roberts and I have something in common. Besides our incredible good looks, that is. You know people get us confused all the time, and now they’ll be even more confused. I can see it now, poor Julia will be taking the composting out and the neighbors will look out their window and holler “Hey Summer, is that you?” Then she’ll sigh and shake her head and wish everyone would stop getting us mixed up.

OK, kidding aside there is something about having kids that seems to make people stop and really look at the world around them. Usually followed by an “Oh shit!” and a desperate scurry to figure out what they can do to make everything as perfect as possible for this tiny bundle of love that is so dependent on you. It’s frightening to think of all the things you breath, eat, touch, and use daily suddenly invading the microcosm of your baby.

They are perfect and you think, How can I help sustain their state of bliss and progress? And really beating up the planet the way we have is not going to do that. Having kids is a great catalyst for reflection and action.

Having kids set in motion my “hippie” gears for certain. Which is a bit funny because I was raised in a semi-hippie-ish home. Had a garden, composted, recycled cans, reused brown paper sacks to wallpaper the living room. But my teens pushed me as far away from that as possible. I was a typical teen munching on Big Macs and tossing my trash out the window. It took having kids oif my own to realise that maybe it isn’t such a nutty idea to be environmentally friendly.

[tags]Julia Roberts, environment, parenting, kids[/tags]

Tags: environment, Julia Roberts, kids, life, parenting

5 Things You Should Be Doing Online In 2008

To end the year I wanted to share some of my favorite online services and sites. If you are blogging for money or fun these are the sites that can really give you a boost. There are so many fun things going on on the web it’s a bit hard to know what’s cool and what isn’t. Not that I’m any indication of “cool”, but I can at least say what is cool to me. Of course your list might be totally different, but these ar the top five things online I think everyone should be rocking in 2008.

1. StumbleUpon

I’m always a bit shocked that more people aren’t using SU. It is my #1 fave for playing online. It works simply. Just sign up and download the toolbar. Don’t worry, there’s no spyware or virus or anything. And it’s a fairly small program. My nearly dead PC can handle it, and it freezes if I open notebook. Once you have the toolbar running you’ll notice a little thumbs up and thumbs down icon. These are awesome. As you’re online like normal you can use these to give your opinion of a site, blog, article, whatever. If you’re reading a blog post and think it’s great give them a thumbs up, if you find a website you think sucks give them a thumbs down. If you are the first person to rate the page a little box will pop up asking you to write a brief review and tag the page. But even if you’re not the first person you can click the little speech bubble a couple icons away from the thumbs down and add your two cents or see what others have said. You can also channel surf with SU. Choose to search through “homebirth” and you’ll be taken to page after page that people have tagged homebirth, and you can rate those pages yourself. There is so much more to do you just have to download it and play around yourself. (Hat tip: check out my profile and friend me!)

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Tags: blog carnivals, blogging, cre8buzz, fun, hugg, meme, sk-rt, social media, stumbleupon

Little Felt Stars

I found this great tutorial on sewing felt and had to give it a shot. Using thrift store felt, embroidery thread I got at a garage sale a couple years ago, and dryer sheets to stuff it I set out to make a felt tree ornament. I’ll apologize now for the pictures. My camera is officially dead now so these were taken from my camera phone.

Not bad for a first try. I could definitely tighten up the stitching next time, and use better stuffing. But for a first attempt it’s kind of cute. I’m thinking next Christmas to have one ornament on each present I give. Or should I give them out before Christmas so that people can gt them up on their trees? Maybe deliver everyone an ornament and a plate of cookies for Winter Solstice?

[tags]crafts, felt, ornaments, handmade[/tags]

I’ve Got A Favor To Ask

Everyone run over and give hugs to my girl Jo. She could use some right now. Prayers, thoughts, and spare parts welcome too.