Becoming more green: upcoming steps

I know I haven't been blogging enough lately, my apologies there. I'm waiting until October 1 (new Mvelopes funding!) to search for the green versions of some things I've run out of. Here are a few things I'll be looking for this month:

• Toilet bowl cleaner. Right now I use a combo of the Scrubbing Bubbles Fresh Brush disposable brush and conventional toilet bowl cleaner. I don't know that I am willing to give up my disposable brushes, but I am willing to search for a more green toilet bowl cleaner.
• Razor/shave gel/hair removal. Not something everyone needs to hear about in detail, I know, but I keep thinking of all the disposable razors I've been throwing away. I read this article about some other options which do include sugaring.
• Body lotions/perfumes. After watching America The Beautiful I realized that everything I use has phthalates in it. There is mixed thought on whether phthalates are cause for concern, but from what I've read, I'd just rather phase them out. I have found some great Whole Foods brands of lotions that are inexpensive. I was thinking of adding essential oils for scent. This would be an investment since those oils are a little costly. I am not 100% sure about this yet.

Well, I hope to keep everyone posted on these efforts in the upcoming month(s)!

The dangers of business casual

If you follow me on Twitter or are my Facebook friend, you know that I hate business casual. Over the summer at my work, we could wear jeans every day. Then when Labor Day rolled around, it was back to business casual. WHY? I am hating it. Why is it OK to wear jeans 3 months and not the rest of the time? I am a programmer so I never, ever see clients. I just sit here and write code all day. Half the time I work from home. Why do I have to change clothing for the 4 hours of the day I am in the office, only to change again for the other 4 hours I am working from home?

Not only is this annoying, it is dangerous and let me tell you why. For women, business casual involves different shoes. I have discovered 2 ways in which these shoes can cause me personal bodily injury.

Flats - Despite how fashionable flats are nowadays, I have come to terms with the fact that I am too clumsy to wear them. We have long shiny tile hallways into the building with slippery floors. At least once a day, one of my shoes flies off my foot in mid-stride and I have to go chase it and put it back on. Either that or, for some reason, I lose traction and slide on the floors. This only happens when I wear flats.

Wedges or heels - I actually have fallen in love with wedges because they are heels with less chance of me falling off of them. But let me tell you what is not safe. What is not safe is when I am going down 4 flights of stairs in wedges and some dude behind me is trying to run down the stairs. It's dangerous enough trying to go down stairs in wedges at all, but trying to run downhill, as it were...that is a straight up ticket to the hospital! This has happened to me several times in the last week. What is the deal with needing to run down the stairs at 9 AM? I haven't even had my coffee, and you are making me run. What can be so important that you need to get into the building right now??

My suggested solution to these dangers is that I should be able to wear jeans and flip flops all the time. At least jeans so that when I fall down stairs or slip on floors, I will have a more flexible and comfortable landing.

The economy and the radio

In case you haven't heard, apparently the economy is in the toilet. One of the things I had to become accustomed to when I married my sweet husband was constant NPR. I've really gotten to like a lot of the shows - Morning Edition, Fresh Air, Marketplace, Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, A Prairie Home Companion, and CarTalk are some of my favorites. However, with the onset of this economy trouble, I found that listening to the constant reports of how everything is going to crash, we are all going to go broke, no one knows what to do about it, really had me in a constant state of worry. I was seriously thinking about investing in gold dubloons. I don't even know if that is spelled right! Craziness!

Since I realize there is no action we can actually take to change anything in the economy, I had to take some action of my own. I had to cut off listening to KERA altogether. I asked that we be allowed to change our clock radio from NPR, where had been since we were first married, to the Christian radio station so that I could hear a positive message when I wake up. I am listening to either that station or the local Mix station in the car. I listen to the iPhone or Pandora when I'm at work. I've also been listening to podcasts from Walk In The Word by James McDonald or MidDay Connection by Moody Bible Institute. I highly recommend both those podcasts for anyone who needs a little encouragement these days! You can find them both in iTunes by searching.

Thank you for your prayers!

A few people have asked about my grampa, and I wanted to pass on that I hear he is doing well. They sent him home from the surgery the next day and he is recovering there. I have not talked to them directly because every time I have a chance, it is something like 10 PM and that is not a great time to call someone who needs a lot of rest. Mom might be able to post some comments to this post for readers regarding the most recent recovery news. Thank you for your ongoing prayers, I see them working for sure! Feel better soon, Grampa!

Spare room

The spare room has always been a little weird for us. We primarily use it for an office, but sometimes when people visit overnight they use it as a bedroom. We have never owned a real bed for it, but just blow up the queen size AeroBed mattress. We did combine our two separate filing cabinets (from before we were married) into a single drawer-style which looks a little more like a bureau than a filing cabinet and purchased a simple and streamlined desk for the room.

But, we were still inflating and deflating the air mattress. I had moved my desk into the room when the bed wasn't out, but what I really wanted was somewhere I could sit and read comfortably while Christian worked at the desk in the evenings, and which could also be used for a bed when guests visit. So, when my friend told me she was getting rid of a daybed, we were excited to take it for free! I spray painted it black to go with the rest of the room and bought a grey custom daybed cover for it. Here is the end result so far:

And here is a shot of the trundle bed and linens under the daybed cover - when the trundle is up and pushed against the daybed it makes a king size bed:

I do think we need some nice bright pillows for it, although I am struggling to decide what color of pillows. Any ideas?

Maybe one day the room will have a few more accent pieces like art or something. For now, I am really enjoying it as a type of couch to read on while Christian is working.

Prayers for my Grampa

Got a call last night from my mom, my Grampa Edinger had some emergency surgery last night. I haven't heard anything since then because everyone is away from their computers right now, but we are keeping him and my Gramma in our prayers. Not sure yet if we should travel to East Texas this weekend or not. Next weekend at least one of us will most likely be traveling to South Texas to take care of some business down there, so I don't think we'd be able to make it out to East Texas then. So, keep them and us in your thoughts and prayers if you can!

Birthday Geocache hunting

Yesterday was my husband's birthday, and since we now have church in the evening, we got up Sunday morning and went searching for geocaches! I had never done this, but his new iPhone has GPS so now we can.

Here is a blurb from the GeoCaching.com site explaining what geocaching is:

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

That is a pretty good description - we looked up 3 caches on White Rock Lake trail there near our house and we were able to find 2 out of the 3! We each found one, so that was neat. One had been there since early 2006. We are thinking of making a cache of our own one day.

Happy Birthday, honey!

Oh the drama of permanent coffee filters

I was excited when I got the new coffee machine because I was going to use permanent coffee filters instead of paper ones. I had even read the Amazon reviews and found that the Mr. Coffee filter worked well but the Medelco filter had holes too large and made weak coffee. The day after we bought our new cofffee machine I logged on to Amazon to order the Mr. Coffee filter and was horrified to find that it was out of stock! I checked every day for a few days to see if it would be re-stocked but it never was. I also went to local stores, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc. but they did not have the size I needed (4-5 cup basket filter).

I looked all over the internet to find other brands of 4 cup permanent coffee filters and finally ordered what appeared to be a no-name filter from some anonymous online store. It took 2 weeks to get here! When it did, it turned out it was a Medelco! Doh!

And the reviewers were right, the Medelco made weak coffee. It was pretty bad. The day I received the Medelco filter in the mail, the Mr. Coffee filter went back in stock on Amazon! Oh, the irony.

Before I was able to go ahead and order the Mr. Coffee filter, we happened to go by Green Living this weekend. There I found canvas coffee filters in many different sizes, so I bought one. So far, I really like it. It makes great coffee. It does say that it lasts only about a year instead of indefinitely. But, I can buy it locally and I think that maybe organic cotton or canvas might take less energy to produce and there fore be more renewable than something bad of plastic and vinyl and metal.

Trans fat free: cinnamon rolls and cake mixes

I have a personal vendetta against trans fats, and have been known to go on rants about food manufacturers who label products "trans fat free" because their products contain less than 0.5 grams trans fats "per serving". (info about trans fats and why they are bad). You have probably also heard me explain that you can always find out if there are really trans fats in your food by looking for the phrase "partially hydrogenated" or "hydrogenated" in the ingredients of your food. So, I am going to leave that part of the lecture out, for now.

After I became aware of the dangers of trans fats and adjusted my diet to avoid them, there were some things I had to simply stop eating. Two of these things were: store bought cake mixes (so, no more cupcakes at home), and refrigerated ready-to-bake cinnamon rolls. For years there have simply been no companies making decent versions of these items, even at my beloved Whole Foods. I have to say that I've missed these things a lot.

Today I have great news! I have found versions of these products that are now truly trans-fat free! As in, no PHO's at all! Here they are, and where to buy them. Guess what? They are both store brands!
Note: This post has been updated, Walmart no longer manufactures Great Value cake mixes.

• Wal-Mart "Great Value" Cake mixes are without trans fats
• Wal-Mart "Great Value" cake icing is without trans fats
• Kroger brand Cinnamon Rolls are without trans fats

I have already written a thank-you note to Kroger for allowing me to eat "homemade" cinnamon rolls for breakfast again for the first time in many years. It's a little harder for me to say thanks to Wal-Mart because I have other issues with them, but I am indeed grateful.

I'll keep my eyes open for more trans-fat free items. If you see any, always feel free to let me know!

Homemade veggie/produce wash

I have been so impressed by Mel's success in spending only $200 on food for a whole month, and also convicted that here in our family we have been woefully over our (very generous) budget in the food and eating-out categories. I had to come to the painful realization that all the organic items I've been buying have really been taking their toll on the ol' wallet, especially now with food prices rising.

I discussed with Mel and Mica that it is hard for me to consider the idea of going back to buying conventional vegetables. We all had a good laugh about that, since apparently the term "conventional" vegetables is only something seen at Whole Foods...which is yet another reflection on how much time I spend in specialty organic shops.

I decided that if I need to buy conventional (non-organic) produce, I really want to take extra care to get as much of the pesticide residue off as possible. I have heard of products like Fit produce wash, but I think that spending $7/bottle on this wash would probably cancel out the monetary reasons for buying non-organic produce in the first place. I was pretty sure that I could find a recipe for a homemade wash, and here it is! I really like that there are 2 versions: a soak and a spray.

Last night after we went grocery shopping for the week I filled the sink with the soak version of the recipe and put a bunch of produce in it. I didn't let it soak for a whole hour, probably more like 30 minutes, but I feel like it probably did help. At least I feel better about it and I am hoping it might even extend the fridge life of some of the produce. If you get a chance to use it, let me know how it goes!

Skin care - giving up and getting help

This year has been The Year of Fixing My Face. When I turned 30, my face freaked out. I had been using Arbonne and loving it, but when I turned 30 everything stopped working suddenly and my face thought I was 13. (Ironically, when I was 13 I actually had great skin.) I decided that I am too old for severe acne, that is what dermatologists and health insurance are for, so I went to one.

I've been on the Retin-A, Duac, and an oral antibiotic for a few months and they've been working great so far.

Aside for half my face peeling off if I use anything too harsh to wash it.
Yes, that. That can be embarrassing. It has happened twice.

Meanwhile, I have run out of Arbonne and was trying to slowly replace it with other things. This became more complicated with the added risk of half my face peeling off again if I choose something too harsh for the cocktail of things I'm smearing on my face right now.

To add to the confusion, one of my friends is now selling Mary Kay, I am a Sephora Beauty Insider , another friend recommended Bath & Body Works skin care products, and of course there is always the Beauty Hacks section of BlogHer and I am addicted to Glamour and Real Simple magazines. I feel like I need to balance what people say works for them, and what is eco-conscious...
Then there is, again, the possibility of half my face peeling off...AAAAGH!!!

Finally, just as I did when the acne first popped up (no pun intended), I gave up and decided I need to pay someone to just tell me what to do. So I called the dermatologist again and found out that they have skin care consultants at their office I can go see who will help pick out products for me that will work with my meds. I was so excited!!!

I went today and it didn't take long. She told me that Neutragena and Cetaphil are actually really pretty great for my super-medicated skin and in conjunction with those for moisturizers she gave me a cleanser from SkinCeuticals and a chemical-free 45 SPF day cream from Elta MD.

I know what you are thinking...are these green products?! Do they have parabens? Do they test on animals, are they vegan? As far as I can tell, no parabens. I need to do more research on that. I cannot tell if they test on animals or if they are vegan, even after visiting the web sites. But you know what is interesting is that they are both manufactured here in Dallas. Carrollton and Garland. Does that give me credit on the "buy local" side for local vs. organic? I don't know. But I do know that something like a 100 gallon jug of Cetaphil was $11 at CVS. Compared to the tiny bottle of Arbonne moisturizer I'd been paying $79 for...sounds pretty great!

Requiem for Arbonne...I will miss the yummy smell, but I also learned from my skin care consultant that if I can smell something I am putting on my face, it is probably not going to react well with my Retin-A. So, here goes. I'll let you know!

Day of Yoga

Yesterday, Labor Day, was Dallas Free Day of Yoga. Many participating studios in Dallas offered free classes, giving people in Dallas the chance to experience a different studio, a new studio, or any studio at all, if they'd never been. We took a class from a private instructor at Crooked Tree Coffee House at 10 AM and then I went by myself to the Community-wide class at 6 PM.

The community-wide class was very interesting...There were 6 different instructors that each did a small portion of the instructing. The intention was to give everyone a taste of the 6 main types of yoga. The practice took place at One Arts Plaza, which is a newly constructed building, part of the efforts to create a downtown arts community in Dallas. While the lobby in which we practiced was visually beautiful because it had 3 stories of glass walls and let the natural light in, the acoustics were terrible. Most of the time I couldn't tell what the instructors were saying.

I've been out of the yoga loop for a while (aside from my yoga tapes, which I do several times a week), so when one of the instructors mainly did head-stands for the majority of his section, I just watched the others. More than half of the audience couldn't do headstands anyway. The people who could were all yoga instructors. Also, there was significantly more chanting than I've ever experienced in yoga. I have always attended classes that were primarily for fitness, without much of the "spiritual" aspect that a lot of people probably associate with yoga. So I was a little thrown off by the chanting.

Overall, though, it was a fun event and I look forward to next year. It did encourage me to pursue my yoga again, maybe buy a few more tapes. When we get out of our current gym contract, I'd like to see about taking live instruction again. I did get several coupons for a week of free classes at some nearby studios, so that should be a good start!