Poppies and ...

SHEEP!

Make Earth day Every day...

Here are some habits I've successfully changed this past year:

1. carpooling (once a week last school year) and biking (once a week this year, except for "deep winter" (i know keep laughing you folks who live in "real winter")
2. using cloth/canvas bags at stores (ALL stores, not just for groceries) The hardest part is moving fast enough (especially for those Target baggers)
3. recycling paper in my classroom (yes, I lug it home once a month. We are working on setting up a formal program at school.)


And some I am still working on:

1. using disposable dishes (plastic bottles and cups, silverware, and paper plates)
2. composting
3. growing some herbs/veggies

Happy Earth day..hug someone on Earth today, and Every day!

Now let's hear your ideas...and victories- comment people! I know there are at least 5 regular readers!!!

updates

well-I've been on vacation, and thus away from the blog. This past week we had a lovely visit from my parents; dad has just retired and they are entering a fun phase! We had a great week full of equal parts relaxing, enjoying meals and little day trips. We spent a day at Descanso Gardens with it's rosarium and camellias, then another day at the Lancaster Poppy Reserve. We enjoyed grilled salmon and lots of veggies, and spent an afternoon reuniting with my mom's college roommate and her family. We shopped at the local farmer's market and ended up with a great salad and grilled onions, and they also spent some time working on house projects while we were at work. We're looking forward to the return visit this summer!

The Be Brave project

Eleanor Roosevelt said: 'Do one thing every day that scares you'
A fellow blogger started a project last October to try and do just this-as of yesterday-I joined up.
I don't know if her project is still going, but I have committed to an entire year of this. 4/8/08 to 4/8/09.
I will probably keep my log in a real journal, but will share from time to time some of the things I've tried. To get started,

here are the first two:

4/8 joined the project, passed a car on a two-lane road

Favorites

1.) Favorite Girl Name: too many to list
2.) Favorite Boy Name: ditto
3.) Favorite City: Barcelona
4.) Favorite Country: Costa Rica
5.) Favorite Color:apple green/chocolate brown
6.) Favorite Food: all
7.) Favorite Store: goodwill
8.) Favorite Clothing Brand: gap/ann taylor
9.) Favorite Smell:gardenia/grapefruit
10.) Favorite School Subject: creative writing
11.) Favorite Season: Summer
12.) Favorite Animal: all
13.) Favorite Website:celebrity baby blog
14.) Favorite Game: hide and seek
15.) Favorite Makeup Brand: mary kay if any
16.) Favorite Book: too many to list
17.) Favorite Movie: Big Fish
18.) Favorite Song: lots
19.) Favorite Male Singer: Steven Curtis Chapman
20.) Favorite Female Singer: vanessa paradis
21.) Favorite Actor: Johnny Depp
22.) Favorite Actress: ashley judd
23.) Favorite Dog Breed: bernese mountain dog
24.) Favorite Ice Cream: maple walnut
25.) Favorite Soda: diet coke
26.) Favorite Juice: orange
27.) Favorite Hot Drink: coffee
28.) Favorite Holiday: christmas
29.) Favorite Craft: wine cork boards
30.) Favorite Gadget: laptop
31.) Favorite Baseball Team: none
32.) Favorite Basketball Team: none
33.) Favorite Hockey Team: Ducks
34.) Favorite Football Team: none
35) Favorite College: none
36.) Favorite Perfume: ananya-body shop
37.) Favorite Number: 3
38.) Favorite Musical Instrument:piano
39.) Favorite Childhood Toy: Fisher-Price
40.) Favorite Cartoon: none
41.) Favorite TV Show: Rock of Love 2, Ace of Cakes, TLC.HGTV.etc
42.) Favorite Time Of Day: twilight
43.) Favorite Candy: tootsie pop
44.) Favorite Car: solara convertible
45.) Favorite Designer (Accessories) Label: none
46.) Favorite Computer Program: imovie
47.) Favorite Collection: books (mostly from library book sales)

TAg you're it-

Spring Break

Just finished a delightful visit from K. in which we:

*hiked 6.47 miles at a local loop trail (which included 3 bubbling tar pits and 53 lizards-we counted!)
*explored historic Union Station, Olvera Street area, and Chinatown (where we ate dim sum-and then some)
*went on national TV in the Jimmy Kimmel studio audience
*got creeped out by Hollywood wannabes in Marilyn Monroe, chucky, and various superhero costumes
*visited a historic one-room schoolhouse on route 126 (now technically a 3 room one) with 53 students in grades k-6 (it is its own district!) They were so friendly and let us peek in the K-1 class and use their bathroom. a little red schoolhouse. cool
*saw Harbor seals and their pups in carpenteria
*lunched in Santa Barbara at Lettuce B. Frank (salads and hot dogs for sale)
*walked around quaint Danish influenced town of Solvang on a rainy, chilly afternoon
(K. did a white wine flight tasting at the Wandering Dog wine bar)
*drove through a cloud-slowly
*drove through the campus of UCLA-pretty but WAY too many pesky pedestrians!
*walked and shopped (well K did) on Rodeo Dr. (no celeb. sightings though)
*drove north to Malibu and lunched at "Duke's", then drove through Santa Monica to experience the (rather slimy)character of Venice Beach (including muscle beach and the public restrooms), then down to Manhattan Beach (our favorite spot of the day) to walk the pier, go gaa-gaa over beach homes, and do some bikini shopping.
*sitting by the pool

Things that will have to wait until next time:
Dodgers game
sitting on Dockweiler state beach (and zuma>where D. and I saw dolphins two 4th of julys ago)
find more surfers