Wired For Noise

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

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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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

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

Sara posted her resolutions for the year and I was tempted to do some of my own. I already wrote some homeschooling resolutions that easily apply to just parenting. But there are a few things extra I wanted to add. So here is the complete list of what I want to accomplish in 2008.

• Take more walks, even if the weather isn’t the best (Must get off my butt more often)
• Learn more about dinosaurs (the boys are wild about them!)
• Read less brand-name character books (like Clifford, Thomas, etc…)
• Do a ton more arts and crafts (So much fun!)
• Go to bed at a better hour (well rested kids learn better)
• Live even more green (There’s always room for improvement)
• Drop those last 20 pounds (that are hanging on for dear life)
• Really try to make money online

Tags: New Year’s resolution

I am submitting this post to the January’s Write-Away Contest at Scribbit. Head over to read other posts on wander lust and escaping.
I’ve had wander lust my entire life. As a kid I would come up with any excuse what so ever to leave the house. Mostly I just walked to the gas station and sat on the steps sipping a soda or I went to the park and hung out with the other kids. I never really wanted to do anything, I just wanted to be somewhere else for a while.

As I got older I walked up and down the streets of town. When I began driving I would cruise to the next town over and hang out on the main strip, then it was crossing the state line up into Kansas to hang out at the skateboard park, and finally at the age of 18 I excitedly moved 2 states away to be on my own. But my wander lust was only briefly satisfied. After a few more moves I ended up back where I started, and dying to get out. I would dream of a life almost like The Beach, except without the murderous drug growers.

Yet my desire to go somewhere has been in high gear lately. Every time Dearest hears about a new store opening in somewhere else I’m bugging him to apply for a transfer. And now that Trish has started talking about her upcoming move to Costa Rica I’m even more fjumpy. I’m ready to go, now. I stayd up far too late last night ignoring emails, knitting, and the dishes to pour over every blog, website, and travel guide on Costa Rica I could find. It’s been my new obsession for a few days now really.

I don’t want to live the life of some globe trotter, I just want a change of scenery. Somewhere comfortable and relaxing and still new and unknown that I can sit in for a while. I don’t care if the grass is or isn’t greener on the other side, I just want to watch it grow somewhere else for a while.

Tags: Costa Rica, travel, traveling

I just joined a new group online and I have to share. It’s called Zwaggle and it’s almost like PaperBackSwap and Freecycle met and had a child. A hippie child that encourages sharing resources for love.

Zwaggle was created with our own families in mind. We value neighborhood and conservation, and envision an online community that reflects a strong sense of social responsibility while helping families manage their resources. We believe in promoting a sense of sharing, trust, and respect for one another, our resources, and our environment.

Once you join you can post items that you no longer need or search through items that others have posted. It works almost exactly like PaperBackSwap except that there is a lot more going on than books. Clothes, toys, bedding, diapers, anything that parents need. It’s like finally having that community around you that offers you things when you need them. They’ve been dished about on momfinds, EcoMom Alliance, and Cool Mom Picks. This site is definitely worth checking out.

You can join for free right away. However, I earn points for referals so if anyone would like a referal email just let me know. To be a verified member you need a credit card to prove who you are, but nothing is charged to the account.

Tags: zwaggle