Mar 22, 2020 | A better way, Cultural chaos, Culture, Just plain good, World |
I’m a cyclist. Not a race-winning, super fast, well-known cyclist, but an average-pace, somewhat normal human being that loves to ride a bike. In fact, I love to ride so much, I’m planning to ride the Southern Tier in September this year. I need to practice a lot to...
Mar 6, 2013 | Creative weirdness, Cultural chaos
I wrote this a few days ago. It goes to the tune of Madonna’s song Material Girl. I think I might need to do a music video with it. :) Not a Throw-Away Girl Some stores discount, some stores ship stuff I think they’re okay If they don’t give me...
Mar 4, 2013 | Cultural chaos, Just plain good |
Please vote for me!! Voting takes place from March 4 to April 12. I submitted an entry on toms.com to win a Giving Trip. I want to win this! A TOMS Giving Trip is on my bucket list. Here’s my entry (click on it to vote for me): Here’s the scoop: My...
Jul 12, 2012 | Am I still here?, Cultural chaos |
Let me start by saying I’ve never been homeless. Rethinking homelessness for me is knowing there are people in really tough situations without a home, and knowing I’m a few paychecks away from the same thing. I’m a middle-aged single mom, living in a nice suburban...
Jun 28, 2012 | Cultural chaos |
Recently, I was a guest writer on singleroots.com and wrote a post about friends with benefits. There are many good things about being single, and friendships are first and foremost. I have married friends and single friends. I have male friends and female friends....
Jun 21, 2012 | A better way, Cultural chaos |
I sometimes say to my kids, “We’re having no electronics night.” Inevitably, one of them will start down the ‘electricity’ path, saying, “Oh, so we can’t use lights? How are you going to cook dinner without the stove?...
Jun 19, 2012 | A better way, Cultural chaos, Mini challenges |
Why wouldn’t anyone believe me when I said an ice cream sandwich, left at room temperature, would still look like an ice cream sandwich a day later? Well here it is. Almost 24 hours later, a little puffy in the center, but still very much intact. What is...
Jun 9, 2012 | A better way, Cultural chaos |
While grocery shopping a couple of nights ago, I found myself in a quandary. I’m a frugal shopper, although I dislike calling myself anything with the word “shopper” in it. I’m also a bit of an activist against plastic waste. I’m not a...
Jun 6, 2012 | A better way, Cultural chaos
Rethink shopping. I really am not a huge fan of shopping in most situations. We practice the ‘no impulse buys’ philosophy. If you see something you want, and you remember it 24 hours later, then you can go back and get it. This saves us HUGE amounts of...
Jun 2, 2012 | Cultural chaos, Recycle, Repurposed
I decided to go to the Frisco Farmers’ Market today. As the words farmers’ market suggests, I expected to find lots of local produce vendors and maybe a few other food-type vendors. Since the name starts with Frisco, maybe my expectations should have...
May 26, 2012 | A better way, Cultural chaos, Flashback, No retail shopping
It’s the one year anniversary since I finished the no retail shopping challenge. Why did I do the challenge? Straight from my original blog post: I wanted to live differently, meaning finding creative ways to not buy stuff I really don’t need, to share stuff...
May 17, 2012 | Am I still here?, Cultural chaos |
I decided to participate in the aday.org project on May 15th. Here’s the project description off the aday.org website: On this one single day we ask you to pick up your camera and help us photograph daily life. What is close to you? What matters to you? We will...
Apr 9, 2012 | A better way, Cultural chaos |
Tomorrow is TOMS “one day without shoes” event. An event to create an awareness of the impact a pair of shoes can have on a child in need. Yes, I’ll be barefoot tomorrow. So will my son Joe, who has school tomorrow. I’m thinking his...
Dec 5, 2011 | Abandoned places, Book reviews, Cultural chaos, Dumpster diving, One year of downsizing
I wasn’t going to do much blogging on holiday shopping, but people keep asking me what kind of stuff I’m buying for Christmas gifts or what are good gifts to give that give back to people in need? So here it is… my brain dump on Christmas shopping. Yes, I call it...
Nov 26, 2011 | Cultural chaos, Flashback, Read the fine print
I love reading and making fun of the Black Friday ads, but better than that, reading the fine print can be quite entertaining. I started this last year on black friday. I got to do it this year with my friends Jason and Carrie. You can read last year’s post...
Nov 26, 2011 | A better way, Cultural chaos
Black Friday: So I didn’t go out for Black Friday like I did last year… to make fun of people shopping. Here’s the video from last year. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cPc36tqraw Small Business Saturday: Why is this after the big retailers get...
Oct 27, 2011 | A better way, Cultural chaos, Repurposed, Salvaged
I found a place of business a few days ago that models everything I believe in. The Grass Roots Eco Cleaners & Market is a wonderful place in Frisco that everyone should know about. So why is this place so great? The cleaning is eco-friendly The fixtures and...
Oct 6, 2011 | A better way, Cultural chaos, Downsizing, Just plain good
Over the past week, most of my blog efforts have been going to launching projectwarm.us. It might be crazy to try an collect 5,723 coats and blankets for the homeless by Thanksgiving, but that’s not going to stop us from trying! I started this with my friend...
Oct 1, 2011 | A better way, Cultural chaos, Trying to matter
My friend Lin called me a few days ago and asked me a simple question. “I have a few coats I want to donate. Do you know a good place where they can maybe help someone in need? Maybe a homeless shelter?” Well, if you’ve ever met Lin, she’s my...
Oct 1, 2011 | A better way, Cultural chaos |
For the first time in several months, I missed fast food. I was craving a Wendy’s chicken sandwich and fries. I was craving the food itself much more than the convenience of it, however that would be nice sometimes. My anti-fast food thing is more about the...
Sep 24, 2011 | A better way, Cultural chaos, Save $
Yes, that’s my thermostat. It’s reading 92°. No, I don’t want to turn my air conditioner back on. One cool day is all need to motivate me to turn it off until the heat is needed. I’m tired of the high electric bills. I’m fine in the...
Sep 23, 2011 | Cultural chaos, Downsizing, Flashback
I don’t usually blog about food, but clearly this is a topic that falls into the “living differently” and “downsizing” categories. Flashback to 6 years old. I remember eating cereal called Kaboom. Do you remember it? The cereal itself...
Sep 18, 2011 | Am I still here?, Cultural chaos |
There are just some things you rarely see in affluent suburban areas. I decided to walk to work this past week, and what did I see? #1, a whiskey bottle in a tree. It was empty. What? You would have checked too. I guess the good thing here is that the person...
Sep 4, 2011 | A better way, Cultural chaos, Repurposed
I said, “No fast food through the end of the year.” Why? Mostly because of the wastefulness of it. The amount of disposable plastics, paper and styrofoam bothers me. We do fast food places out of convenience. I just wanted to see how badly I needed...
Aug 8, 2011 | A better way, Cultural chaos, Just plain good, Read the fine print, Salvaged |
I got to participate in a really cool thing yesterday. New Dos and New Shoes at the Collin County Children’s Advocacy Center. Under-resourced kids got new shoes and new hairdos for going back to school. Several hairdressers got together to provide these...
