Closing Out an Absolutely Amazing Day

Today was a perfectly wonderful day...and really not for anything particularly out of the ordinary. In fact, it was a perfectly ordinary day, and I'm pretty sure that's partly what made it a pretty amazing day. So what awesome things transpired today?

Well, here ya go:

---We met my friend and hub for one AMAZING breakfast. I mean, amazing. The type of place that's so old school tiny diner with a lil bit of Portland weirdness thrown in for good measure. The type of place that even on a weekday mid morning there's a 20 minute wait in line outside and a waitlist via clip board at the front door. We ate at Stepping Stone Cafe in NW PDX, and let me tell you, the hub's Banana Nut Bread French Toast was absolutely amazing and delish! My Neo Bobcat Omelette definitely hit the spot. And catching up with (and introducing the hub to) a gal pal and her hubby I hadn't seen in two years was a pretty awesome way to start the morning.

---After breakfast, hub and I wandered around the NW 23rd area and then briefly stopped off in the Pearl District. Mainly we were looking at furniture stores--the types of places I generally use for inspiration and then find something similar at reduced cost....although I have to admit one of these days...I just might break down and buy a legit bed from the ol' PB (Pottery Barn). Though most the rest of the stuff in there made me hang my head in disbelief.....I'd feel way too guilty to outfit my home in true Pottery Barn: a) who actually wants to put your feet on a coffee table that cost over 1000 bucks and b) I'm pretty sure that 1000 bucks could provide plenty of meals, bedding, and warm clothing to homeless kids on the streets of the city...I'd rather spend my money for that cause over a coffee table any day.

---While in that general area, the hub and I went in Whole Foods---which apparently he'd never been in before. We both wandered around and it was pretty fun to see him checking stuff out and in disbelief that such a large store exists that's full of organic and local selections. (On a side note: um, my old soy yogurt is CHEAPER than the organic yogurt I've been buying now for the last two years.....might just have to go back to soy on this one..... ;)) I'm sure we're one of the most random couples ever cause we didn't buy anything....more so, we just went in to look and be in awe of the selection.

---From downtown, we came home and spent a bit just relaxing together on the couch. Hub watched another season of his new favorite show available on Netflix instant (Dexter....I avert my eyes 50% of the time), while I poked around online on the laptop. Then, since the weather had cleared up, we decided to leash up the gals and take them down to the dog park for the first time ever, and I have to tell you that we were both pretty impressed. We let them in the "all dogs" section and they all did great! It was pretty entertaining watching about 13 mid-large size dogs running around sniffing each other, some fetching balls, and another third just running in circles. They loved it! It was great to let them socialize and they enjoyed finally getting to walk around the new neighborhood.

---After the dog park, I got distracted by picking up the yard and cleared another trash can of leaves and debris. I finally discovered some clippers, a lil saw, and the shovels in the shed and so I was able to remove a few shrubs and cut off some wayward branches from the bushes we do intend to leave. There are still a set of bushes to remove, but it felt great to get an hour in the yard!

---By the time I came inside, hub had the dough for our pizzas going in the bread machine and I got the itch to go for a run. We laced up our shoes and headed out on our three mile loop.....and this time around, it felt great! We ended just as a slight drizzle started down.

---An evening of homemade pizzas with some great local beer while hub finished watching a March Madness game and I had a couple great text conversations with gals back in Louisiana......

....and yep, folks, nothing overly special to most....but an absolutely wonderful day to the two of us. In fact, this regular ol' day is one that I'd probably have to rank in our top ten. Always amazing that sometimes "nothingness" can have the most significance.

Hope each of you has a great weekend ahead!

Local Christmas Parade

This evening the hub and I headed into the downtown of the local small town near our military installation. The population of the town is about 6,000 people but we'd never seen a holiday parade like this one---at least 70 individual floats! It was so neat to see so much of the town out to celebrate and cheer on floats passing. And I've never seen something wrap up so seamlessly--at the end of the last vehicle, the road opened back up, people returned to their vehicles, and everyone headed home without traffic or any chaos. (Although they left an awful lot of trash in the streets which blew across downtown with the wind)

We had the military ball on Thursday, which while fast was a pretty fun event! My office Christmas party  was last weekend. This coming Friday we have a Christmas lunch for the Dept of Human Resources on post that the husband actually elected to try to come to if he can get off work early enough.

We recently had a message from the hub's good friend wanting to know if we had the same address and were ready for the holidays. The address might be the same, but since we do not yet have a tree, lights or decorations up, or holiday cards figured out....I'm not entirely sure we're ready for the season. ;) Although tomorrow we'll hopefully get a free tree again via Trees for Troops and we hope to find some decent Xmas cards when we go to the local large town to return my original ball gown. We haven't decided if we want to put lights up on the house yet, but if so....then we'll just about be in holiday season. :)

Hope you all are progressing into the season with calm and thankful hearts. Sending positive thoughts and blessings out your way!

Community Conversations on Toxic Chemicals and Health

For the last two nights CNN has been airing a TOXIC AMERICA series. I was able to catch the last 15 minutes of the initial special on Weds and then last night I watched the one on Toxic Childhood. So amazing to see CNN covering these topics in depth and trying to raise national awareness of how the unregulated chemical industry impacts human health.

Conversations on toxic chemicals and health are happening all over the nation, including formalized events. If you're able to attend one of the following conversations in Oregon then I highly suggest it---get involved and show your support.  Join the conversation!

This was sent to me by CHE-Oregon (Center for Health and the Environment's Oregon state chapter):

Community Conversations on Toxic Chemicals and Health

The Oregon Environmental Council, Oregon Toxics Alliance, and the Oregon Chapter of the Physician’s for Social Responsibility are teaming up to hold forums throughout the state to get public input about how toxic chemicals are affecting people’s health. The forums are part of a two-year project by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to strengthen the nation’s approach to protecting the public from chemical exposures in air, water, soil, and consumer products throughout the country.

Upcoming Community Conversations:

Eugene

Monday, June 7, 6:15-7:45 pm

Eugene Public Library Tykeson Room

Contact larkin@oregontoxics.org for more information

Hood River

Thursday, June 10, 5:00 pm-7:00 pm

Hood River County Museum

300 E. Port Marina Drive

Contact maye@oregonpsr.org for more information

Gresham

Sunday, June 13, 12:30-2:30

Gresham Library

Contact reneep@oeconline.org for more information

Astoria

Sunday, June 20, 5:30 - 7:00 pm

Blue Scorcher Bakery Café

1493 Duane Street, Astoria

Contact maye@oregonpsr.org for more information

For more information about the community conversations, go to:http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/nationalconversation/community_conversations.html

Photo Project Day 23: Rant

WARNING: It's time for a public health rant.....

This is the view from my backyard every school day at about 3pm.  What you can't see in this photo are two things. 1) There is another vehicle parked hidden behind the SUV. 2) The street that these cars are parked on is approximately 2 city blocks in length and ends in a cul-de-sac.  Our street Ts into it and is approximately 1 city block in length and ends in a cul-de-sac.  Two additional points: we live on a military post where yes there are concerns about who has been let into the Army in recent years, but no one is allowed on post without having their ID scanned....so at least some sort of filtering is going on. And two, the speed limit is 20mph and is heavily enforced in the neighborhoods.

At about 3pm every school day, 2 buses come through the neighborhoods.  The bus stop you can see in the background of this picture services only our two streets as every street off the main street has its own bus stop.  Every afternoon about 3pm at least 4-5 cars park at the entrance to our streets (most of which are parents that get in their cars from their houses and drive the block to this spot) in order to wait for their kids to get off the bus and drive them home.  When our nation is in the midst of an obesity crisis, when kids don't get enough time outside, and when parents are driving a block and idling their vehicles to release exhaust fumes into the air----its seriously necessary to pick your child up a block or two from home?!  I can understand picking your child up if you live a mile out from the bus stop or even 1/4 mile if you lived in an extremely unsafe neighborhood.....but here?!  But since most the people in our neighborhood get in their vehicles to drive to the mailboxes also in the picture, only to drive home after picking up their mail....then what more should I expect!

Which leaves me with an additional gratitude toward my parents....thank you for making me walk home from school almost every day whether it was 1/2 mile down the street for elemetary school, just over a mile home from middle school in the city, or about a mile from high school!!

Photo Project Day 15: Changes

Living on a military post, there are constant changes.  Someone's always coming and going, so at least once a week we see one of these or a U-Haul in our cul-de-sac area....Some times of the year there are more changes than others however...

Photo Project Day 12: WINTER?

More snow in Louisiana!  Who would have thought that we'd get snow twice in one winter?  Unfortunately the hub and his guys were working out in the field last night, but in some ways snow is better than just cold and rain!  By noon it had melted off but it was a shock to see it this morning for sure!

Photo Project Day 3: Follower

Today is two-for-one, but both demonstrate the relationship of our animals.  The first is a picture of Major following the dogs and I out to the field where we let the dogs run off the leash.  "His" woods are in the back ground of both photos.  We've recently started letting him be an outside cat except for when he wants in, and he loves the big patch of woods across the street from our backyard.  He spends hours out there and apparently he's made friends! (The husband saw him with another cat this morning.) 

The second picture is of Anna and Roxi watching Major as he enters into his woods.  Both girls love Major (maybe a little too much sometimes....) and always anxiously watch his approach and leaving through the chain length fence.  When Major feels like its payback time for the overabundance of love that they bestow upon him, he likes to walk along the fence just outside their reach.  Thus they each gets turns being both follower and leader.

The Beginning of a New Life

Welcome to our patio....which is the most completed space within our home (well the bathroom looks pretty dang good too)! If you look closely you'll see a potted tomato, basil, yellow pepper, and a hot pepper. We probably have missed the actual growing season (IT'S HOT and on the way to get HOTTER) but we figured it was at least worth trying! The flower boxes and hanging basket are filled with flowers--new varieties that I have never seen before but that have gorgeous blossoms and apparently love sun. The two rocking chairs are some that were left by another soldier who changed units so my husband inherited them and we love them. We also have a friendly little lizard who lives where that white fence divides our unit from the neighbors on the patio, and he enjoys sunning himself on the rocking chairs as well.

It's interesting how one's life can go from running around with a full social calendar, working, and finishing school to worrying about how to put the finishing touches on the living room, doing loads of laundry, and making banana bread from almost rotten bananas. I'm learning my way around the military post and the surrounding area, and I have had to succumb I'm sad to admit to shopping at Wal-Mart. Although once the house is set up I'm hopeful that some of those trips into town will subside. I've been busy the last week just getting settled in, repainting my white furniture into brighter colors for the hubby, searching for part time jobs, checking in with the folks back home, and getting the two of us organized as much as possible.

There are some things that have surprised me about this place:
-Even though the produce section is much smaller, produce (and many other foods) are cheaper here "on post" than they were in Oregon.
-Pumping my own gas is faster and much more efficient.
-There is an on post thrift store that I haven't been able to check out yet, but hope to do so.
-There IS a summer farmer's market....while slim pickings....at least the tomatoes are delicious!
-We can recycle everything EXCEPT glass (which is somewhat shocking since you would think glass would be the most mainstream to recycle....in fact only three towns in the entire state recycle it and the closest to us is over two hours away....it still breaks my heart to throw glass away).
-I'm actually not a fan of sales tax.
-Many people in our neighborhood are very active--which is nice to see family members and neighbors out getting exercise together.
-The Louisiana beer I almost like better than our Oregon microbrews.
-And the commissary (grocery store) sells quite a few organic/soy/natural options for food stuffs.

The housing we are in is military associated and I have been glad to see them supposedly taking a more environmental approach. While it's definitely hot outside, the AC is set (except on extremely hot days) to average about 15 degrees below the outside temperature. This allows for relief but not AC overuse...even though there are moments when you feel like you're roasting or too cold! They also request that we replace air filters every month and expect CFL light bulbs to be used. However I plan on putting in a call within the next week to ask if they also have a "take-back"/safe disposal plan in place for the light bulbs. While the bulbs are more energy efficient, they are not some that I typically use due to the mercury content and the fact that most people do not have ready access to dispose of the bulbs appropriately.

The housing company is also starting a new policy which caps the amount of electricity usage a household can use per month. If you go over, you have to pay out of pocket an additional amount. If you are under the cap, the housing company will cut the renter a check. The husband and I already do a pretty good job of running around turning out lights, etc but we do have quite a few electronics plugged in routinely. I'm hopeful that in the next week I'll get my clothesline hung up in the garage, as all this extra heat leads to increased sweating which leads to increased laundry! But hopefully we will be able to end each month under the cap and get money back.

Finally being together means integrating our lifestyles as well as our preferences...hence the repainting of furniture, etc. It also means that we have to make decisions together on what foods to buy and what products to purchase and use. So far it seems that we are maintaining a balance between organic/less toxic foods/products and those that are mainstream. I'm hopeful that eventually we can be cooking and producing more from scratch thus controlling more of what's going into our bodies. We both have the ability to do these things, now it's just creating the time and energy to do so as we become more comfortable in our new environment. For me during this last week that has meant hauling my tote bags around into all the different stores I've been in and realizing how unaccustomed individuals here in Louisiana are to that behavior. However buying my less toxic laundry detergent also gave me the perfect opportunity to educate the checker when she asked me about the product. So there are good surprises and transitions occuring here most definitely!!

And with this lengthy update I'll close for the night! Hope all are well!