Keep America Beaufiful! There's Still Time...

Have you looked outside lately? Take a walk around the block with your kids. Hike through the woods. Or just look at your own yard after a windy day. It's a mess!

Plastic bags, ignored roadside newspapers, candy wrappers, water bottles and more. All just lying around cluttering up the landscape. On a recent hike my kids and I actually found a ceiling fan in the woods...A ceiling fan!?!?

It is a sad absolute that when I take my children outside, they will see more trash laying around than other children playing and wildlife put together. Just as with violence on TV, the more they see it, the more immune they become to litter being a part of their world. If we don't do something about it, together as a family and a community, litter will become a permanent part of our great outdoors.

One way for communities to get together to tackle the problem is underway right now! Keep America Beautiful™, the nation's largest volunteer-based community action and education organization, is hosting The Great American Cleanup™ in communities, both nationally and internationally. "The Great American Cleanup™, [is] the nation's largest community improvement program, [which] takes place annually from March 1 through May 31, involving an estimated 2.8 million volunteers and attendees…The hardworking volunteers donated more than 7.7 million hours in 2007 to clean, beautify and improve more than 17,000 communities during more than 30,000 events in all 50 states and beyond. Activities included beautifying parks and recreation areas, cleaning seashores and waterways, handling recycling collections, picking up litter, planting trees and flowers, and conducting educational programs and litter-free events.

"Keep America Beautiful™ believes that each of us holds an obligation
to preserve and protect our environment.
Through our everyday choices and actions,
we collectively have a huge impact on our world."

Get Local & Get Involved!
"There are more than 565 certified community affiliates of Keep America Beautiful™ doing good works." Click here to find a group near you.

Can't find an affiliate in your area?
Start one of your own. "Organize a clean-up committee by seeking out a few people who share your passion for the cause. Set a meeting date and let the ideas flow. Decide which project everyone wants to tackle." Click here to learn how you can Organize your own Great American Cleanup™

Here are just some ideas of how you and your kids can get involved in Keep America Beautiful™:

• Host a tree planting party
  
• Put a new coat of paint on a graffiti-marked wall
  
• Adopt a road with your friends and plant flowers
  
• Sponsor a litter collection contest
  
• Clean up a river or field that has become an illegal dump site
• Collect recyclable and reusable items on your block and deliver to a recycling center
  

Together we can make a difference. The possibilities are endless!

:)

Rules for Writers...

Today I'm taking a break from blogging to meditate on Barbara Delinsky's Rules for Writers. She has been my long time favorite author and her blog is always one that I refer to regularly for writing tips, ideas, and all that jazz ;)

"How to define a writer? I call it anyone who puts words to paper, whether for a living or for fun, and that means book writers, letter writers, journal writers, emailers, bloggers, you name it. I'd guess that every person reading this is a writer of sorts."

So, if you have a sec today and want to read along with me, work on your writing skills, and find out how to curb writer's block or how to edit your manuscript - whatever ails you - see ya there!

;)

My Hair is Back!

I realized something yesterday as I walked past a mirror and saw my reflection...I finally look like myself again! It's been a long time coming too.

Last March I had to chop all of my hair off. The October before, it had started to fall out and what was left by the new year was a knotted frayed mess. Before it started to fall out in clumps, my beautiful blonde hair was long, healthy, silky and all the way down to my butt! However, due to adrenal inefficiency (that would take another year to truly diagnose) my body started to break down, starting with my hair.

Now, I know. Hair is hair. It'll grow back. But it was hard to loose like that, being the lovely locks that they had been all my life. But something had to be done. It was just a horrible bird's nest at the nape of my neck everyday. It's frumpiness was just dragging me down.

I had to force my mother to do it. A seasoned hairdresser of 25+ years, she still didn't want to see it all go. But there was no use keeping it. So, with a chop chop chop, 15 inches were gone. By the time she was done trimming the rest up, my hair was only one inch long...

Yikes!

So, with more than a year later and taking care of my self - making sure I get the right amount of sleep, staying away from toxic people, and doing things for myself - I have almost made a full recovery...and my hair shows it ;)

It may have been a big chop at first, but it was worth it. And in more ways than one. Yes, it got rid of all that dead hair leaving room for new healthier growth. But it also a very concrete reminder too. Every time I was startled from my reflection in the mirror, seeing that I had no hair! - I was reminded that I had to take care of myself.

Even if I didn't feel like I had time to actually do it on some days, seeing my hair - taking what felt like an eternity just to grow past the tips of my ears! - I was reminded that I had to do something for myself every single day: I had to take a shower that day. I had to get to bed on time. I had to get out side and run. I had to write. Anything, something. All I knew was that I had to do something for myself that day.

Someone very wise once told me: if you don't take care of yourself, no one will.

No truer words were ever spoken. Everyone needs to know this and implement it into their lives, even if it takes a catastrophic event to make them realize that they need to take care of themselves.

We are all worth a little time and effort for ourselves. Many of us don't realize this and go through our lives giving and giving...but if we only give and give and never take a little for ourselves to refuel, someday there won't be anything left to give.

So here's to all of us doing a little something for ourselves this weekend, whether it's sleeping in a little later or going on that hike that we've only been talking about taking for months.

Enjoy!

And take care of yourself!

:)

The Breastfeeding Promotion Act... Mark your calendars & meet me in DC!

Back in 2005, I drove down to DC with my little breastfed baby boy, popped him in my sling, and waltzed onto Capitol Hill to show support for the Breastfeeding Promotion Act. It was an awesome afternoon indeed, full of nursing mothers, breastfed babies, lactivists, speeches, cheers, and a powerful showing of our joined support for the Act that would surely help protect nursing mothers in the workplace.

Again in 2007, I the made the same pilgrimage, this time with my little breastfed baby girl in the sling, toddler boy at my feet, and my sister-in-law and her baby girl too. (We actually appeared in the following issue of Mothering Magazine, sitting on the steps of the Cannon Building where the press conference was held - my beautiful daughter in my lap, me reattaching the clip on my nursing bra...yeah, it was a Kodak moment alright...)

So, why do I mention all this, you ask?

Well, guess what's coming up? (For those of you who are mathematicians, yes, it happens every two years). And this year - 2009 - the date to mark on your calendars to join in support of The Breastfeeding Promotion Act in Washington, DC is June 3rd @ 11:30am.

The Breastfeeding Promotion Act is to be reintroduced on June 3rd by Rep. Maloney's (NY). The following is from mama Lorrie Leigh who has been asked to coordinate an activist presence at the press conference that day. Below is the email she is trying to make go viral to all parenting lists, blogs, communities. Feel free to pass this on...spread the word!


To all breastfeeding activists/lactivists/concerned citizens!

Rep. Carolyn Maloney is going to reintroduce the Breastfeeding Promotion Act to Congress in June. With a change in leadership in both Houses and a White House that is attuned to work/life balance issues, this year we need to push hard for passage!

The Breastfeeding Promotion Act will:

• Add breastfeeding mothers in the workplace as a protected class under the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Provide incentives for employers to have private lactation areas for workers
• Create a performance standard for breastpump equipment
• Create tax deductions for pumping equipment
  

Rep. Maloney and other co-sponsors will hold a press conference on June 3rd at 11:30am on the Cannon Terrace at the Cannon Building on Capitol Hill. Once again we are gathering as large a presence as we can to attend the press conference in support of the bill.

Here is what we need from all who care about this issue:

1. First, we need you to contact your Rep. in the Congress (find him or her here http://www.house. gov/ ), this week, and ask them to sign on as a cosponsor of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act. The more cosponsors a bill has, the more attention and support it garners. We need all 435 Representatives to know how important this bill is to the 70% of mothers who work and may desire to breastfeed once they go back to work. So call AND email your Representative and ask to speak to a legislative aide today.
   
   
2. Second, we need anyone within driving distance of Washington, D.C. to make plans to join us on June 3rd at 11:30 am on the Cannon Terrace at the Cannon Office Building, Independence Avenue and 1st Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003. You can drive in if you are willing to come early enough to hunt for parking spot south of the Cannon Bldg. or take Metro to the Capitol South station on the Blue/Orange lines. This link shows a picture of the terrace where we will meet: http://www.visiting dc.com/capitol/ ca...ng-address. htm
   
   We need pregnant and nursing mothers, their supportive partners, grandparents and all your cute little nurslings and toddlers to join us that day for the press conference. At previous introductions of the bill we have had between 100-200 attendees at the press conference. We would like an even bigger showing this year. It is very important that you RSVP to wchappel@myexcel. com with the number of adults/babies/children attending so we can be prepared (and have enough kid friendly snacks/drinks on hand). And so that I can email final details to all the night before the event.
   
   
3. Third, we need everyone who attends to plan on visiting the offices of their Representative in Congress immediately after the press conference, to personally appeal to them to throw their support behind the bill and sign on as an original co-sponsor. Don't let the opportunity to have face to face interaction with your legislators pass you by. Last time I went I had a very spirited conversation with a young female legislative aide who clearly didn't understand why her boss should care about this bill. The House of Representatives link above will give you the address of their Washington office. All of the legislative office buildings are clustered near Cannon Office Building. If you call ahead you can make an appointment (I would suggest you make an after lunch appt. time and go get some lunch with your kids after the press conference) to speak to someone.
   

Lastly, if you have a workplace lactation discrimination story you would like to share at the press conference please email wchappel@myexcel.com immediately. The speakers lineup is being put together now and some mothers may be invited to talk about their own stories.

This is the year to get this done! Please forward this message to every breastfeeding, parenting, working parent list and group to which you belong, just keep the contact info intact."

Thanks all,
Lorrie Leigh, AAHCC



feel free to copy the above and spam all your green lactavist friends!

Here's to a great turn out ;)

When Rituals Die...

I just realized something. I am not following any of my writing rituals that I had so minutely assembled in order to write. I'm sitting here, editing chapter four, and there are no candles...no snack...no nothing!

A year ago today, I was in the early days of starting to write my first novel. However, in order to actually sit down and write, I first needed to drink some water. Then see what I had to buy in order to restock the pantry. Then I had to make sure the kids were still asleep...maybe I'd give them one more peck on the cheek...hmmm...didn't wake them up...

Ok, so then I had to select a snack...a bowl of almonds? chips and dip? popcorn? Oh, yes, popcorn would do. Then I had to find a candle...

The ritual would take about twenty minutes to do...and then I'd finally sit down to write...maybe...

However, here I am, sitting with no candle, no snack, and I'm just writing...well, editing what I've already written (and converting a 3rd person POV to a first person, so yeah, I'm rewriting). And I'm able to do a whole lot more writing now without all the fancy preparation than I was a year ago...

So this leaves me with a question...

Have I reached some sort of writing plateau? is it confidence? It sort of feels like confidence... But why? I mean, here I have this 165K first draft that I have to edit to 100K, make it readable to others outside myself, and then edit it again...and again...and again.... Where is all this cockiness coming from? That I can just sit down without paying homage to the writing gods and just...write?

It's like mountain climbing, when you have the peak in sight and you know you'll be there in a few hours. You just get this feeling inside of you, like you've already done it, and that feeling helps to propel you to the finish - to the summit. It's almost like you can already see the view, you're so close.

I guess at this point in a writers career, they no longer need the talismans, rabbits foot, the candles, the snack, the offerings to the gods to get in writing mood and write... You're already there. You can see the finished draft in your mind, it being only a few edits away.

And it does give you a cockiness, and why not? In order to write you have to be cocky. If you don't have faith in your talent, no one else will.

Green is as Green Does... A New Blog is Born! :)

I'd love to introduce you to a new blog, The Green Mamas, authored by both my beautiful sister-in-law and I. The blog is all about our adventures at being green in everything we do, every way we can ;)

So, please feel free to come on by, kick off your shoes and stay awhile...this is going to be fun!

:)

Do you LOVE to blog?

I think I have a problem...I think I'm in love...with blogging...

Why, you ask?

Well...it's just so...fun!

Honestly, why is blogging this enjoyable?! I mean, this is the one thing I was going to do just because I thought I had to do to - you know - get my name out in the world, so that in the event my book is published that someone, somewhere would know of me...and potentially buy my book, of course ;)

I didn't start blogging because I thought I was going to enjoy it. It's not like I needed one more thing to do, especially while attempting to finish my novel...right?

Only thing is...I do enjoy it. To be honest, I think I love it. I mean, really love it. I think about it all the time, I can't wait to get blogging again, even after I've just posted a blog. And while I'm doing other things (aka: editing my novel) I'm daydreaming about blogging...boy...sounds like I have a crush on blogging!

It's just so fun and easy!

Will the inspiration ever cease?!

It's like the creative outlet I've been waiting for all my life...

What about you?

Do you love to blog? What do you blog about? Now is the time to yell it from the mountain tops (aka: the comment box) and tell everyone about your blog, the one you love to add to every chance you get.

Oh, and reading other people's blogs is part of the fun too!

So let's go...

Let's blissfully follow eachother along in this la-la-blogging-land...

:)

Not exactly the swine flu, but...

I've taken a bit of a break from blogging this past week due to my darling daughters mysterious all-of-a-sudden illness. She's back to her normal bouncy healthy self now, thankfully! But for a moment there I was actually scared!

Bright and early last Friday morning she woke me up saying that her belly hurt. Now this is not an out of the ordinary occurrence. Both she and my son wake up with this comment practically every morning, and I do believe I'm the one to blame. You see, we wake up famished! Starving! Tummies rumbling! I've been like this my whole life and now I see that my poor little ones are on the path of waking to an immediate feeling of hunger.

Soooo...here it was, 6:30 am, and her belly hurt. "Oh, just climb in with mommy and I'll get you something to eat...Just five more minutes, please," I beg with my eye lids still shut, hoping she'll fall back to sleep and we both can make it closer to seven before leaving the snuggley warmth of my bed.

Ten seconds later, after successfully climbing into be with me...she vomited.

And proceeded to not eat anything other than breastmilk (which she promptly threw up as well) for the next four days...four days!!!

I took her to the doc's office...doc said to just give her some probiotics and give it a couple more days. "Whatever she has she's keeping to herself," is what the doc tosses out on her way back out the door.

Ok...

Then, on the night of day four around 10pm - after not eating anything, nursing like mad, throwing that up, and oh I won't even get into what was coming out the other end - my little skin-n-bones, pale white little girl rises up and says quite sternly, "Daddy, get me pizza."

She stood patiently by the door until the delivery guy showed up...And then she ate.

And ate.

And ate.

And, within a day of pizza eating, her color came back and she was on the road to recovery! I'll admit that pizza isn't really all that nutritious and that chicken soup and rice or some other combination of healthy-for-ya foods would have been a better bet for my little two year old...but when they want pizza (and especially after what she had been through)...give them pizza!!!

So, least to say, it was the swine flu that has everyone crazy about, but it just had to happen at the same exact time as the breakout... Anyway, that was my weekend...

How was yours? ;)

Get Rich!....A Secret To Absolute Wealth

Oh, yeah, baby...I'm rich!

I'm the richest person I know...And I'm richer than I've ever been in my entire life! I have everything I've ever wanted and more...

Why?

I'm blessed.

And I feel more and more blessed each and everyday.

How?

I'll let you in on a little secret. I have close to nothing and almost everything, all at the same time.

"They may not have a lot of material things, but that doesn't mean they are not successful," says A Cherokee Feast of Days, a daily meditation book by Joyce Sequichie Hifler. "The Elders say that what everyone really wants is to be happy and have a peaceful mind. Material things by themselves do not bring happiness and peace of mind."

Therefore, when you define true success in the peace, love, and happiness that you feel and share, there are no boundaries to how rich you can be. So...share the love :)

I don't have a lot, but I always give away almost everything that I have. And - somehow, some way - all that I need just comes along. I think it's the Universe's way of saying, "Thank you for your generosity" with a smiling handshake.

Charles Eastman once wrote, "When I was younger, I knew the love of sharing. Since I have become civilized I have lost such wisdom." Today, we are so consumed with consuming - building our own little castles of stuff, collecting every thing that we can buy - that most of us have lost a bit of what it is to be human. We are all struggling with something (or someone) and if we just helped eachother out a little more, all the woes we feel would be greatly alleviated.

Giving is also a way we can live harmoniously on and with Mother Earth. She shares with us everything we need to live and survive. It's all about being like fruit, and living life like a Three Sisters Garden - the corn, bean, and squash - sharing with eachother nutrients, shade, and support thus creating a strong and healthy harvest.

I feel that by sharing everything you have - whether it's left over compost or simply just the love and compassion in your heart - you will not only be taken care of, somehow, some way, but you'll also feel richer beyond your wildest dreams.

The moment you stop being consumed with your own needs and start reaching out to others and sharing all that you have - all that is you - and helping in any way you can, you'll instantly feel it. That richness will fill your life, your soul, your spirit.

You will be blessed.

:)

No More Emotional Stalling...Time To Move On! :)

I'm so excited to report that, starting today, I'm starting to edit chapter three! Phew!

I always knew chapter two was going to bite my ass...

Editing chapter one was a piece of cake. I changed the tenses, fixed the POV and DONE! It was only a few days going...

Then came chapter two...this is where my MC finds something from her past that jolts her awake, leaving her with a choice: keep on keepin' on, or mix things up!

Yes, the POV had to be changed...the past tenses fixed. But it wasn't a grammatical stalling that kept me from editing chapter two, or keeping me from wanting to edit chapter two. It was totally emotional. Remember, this novel is a Roman e Clef. This is MY story.

And there are some hard parts to relive...

When I started this little (now big) venture, I didn't think ahead at all the time I'd spend opening old wounds, rehashing, and reliving things that I'd rather not have a second go around with... Least to say, it's been a very painful yet cathartic journey. I just hope it all translates into the wonderful book that I feel it is becoming!

And I've been letting blogging about nothing in particular, chatting away on facebook, and dreaming about my soon-to-be garden get in the way...But it's editing for crying out loud!

Is there anyone out there that really enjoys this part?!

What Did You Say?...Make Your Body Language Heard

Ever email a friend and, due to their incorrect interpretation of what you sent, that friend turned into a foe? Ever receive a text message and get instantly perturbed because, lo and behold, the actual meaning didn't really come across exactly crystal clear on your 50x50 pixel screen?

Some say the art of communication is becoming endangered. Others argue it's already dead. Well, at least that's what they write anyway.

The problem? No one talks anymore.

"Wait a minute," you say. "I talk to my friends all the time!" Yeah, in emails, facebook chatting, text messaging...

Ah, but we're missing the most important ingredient to the art of communication, the part that helps us see the truer meaning behind the words: body language.

It's easy to see who's attention you have and who's you don't when you're talking face to face...or rather when you're talking and they are looking at their cell phone, waiting for it to ring, or (how many times has this happened to you) they are texting someone while you are talking!

Oh, yeah. Body language does say it all.

But, what happens when you take away the face to face and there's a misunderstanding? How often has an otherwise easily understood meaning gotten mistaken and someone is left with the question: what the hell was that supposed to mean?!

Years ago - when the web was new - it was awesome to talk with my cousin who rarely picked up the phone, thousands of miles away, yet answered an email from time to time. However, since she was so new to the technology she didn't quite understand the language yet. One false move on my part - adding a (sp) after a couple words I wasn't sure I had spelled correctly - and wham! My four little characters were considered as an insult (namely, she interpreted it as though I was saying that she couldn't spell) and she didn't talk to me - email or on the phone - for months.

Petty? Yes. But this is only one small innocent example of the many misunderstandings I've had in my life due to these non-verbal miscommunications types (no pun intended). I won't entertain you with the more brutal ones...some days I feel as though I'm still rebuilding those bridges.

Anyway...

So this example brings up an interesting point! Maybe the art of communication isn't actually dead yet. Maybe we have merely created a new way of communicating! And body language really isn't left out of our new language either...

Emoticons!
Smilies!
Italics!
just to name a few...

Emails, texts, and chatting may be just simply characters on a screen, but they can sure become an imaginative fun way of talking with eachother ;) If it wasn't for this simple yet prolific way of communicating, I wouldn't have been able to get back into contact with numerous friends that I've had all over the world (yep, I'm a military brat!) Any time of the day, all I have to do is pop onto my facebook page, check my email, or text a friend, and wham! I'm talking with them, wherever they may be, whatever they may be doing. It's so much easier nowadays to be contact with just about anyone! Even those whom you may never actually see again...

Everyone has their own way of staying in touch. Some of us prefer face-to-face conversations. Some of us just don't have the time or the energy to talk to anyone after a long busy day. And some of us are land somewhere in between. But no matter how you do it - in person or via your blackberry - make sure your body language is speaking loud and clear.

Oh. And if there is a misunderstanding on one or both of your parts...don't let it go unsaid. We're human after all. No one is perfect...No one.

;)

What do you do in YOUR bed?

el lugar más importante del mundo" - the most important place in the world.

Seeing how everything wonderful in life can happen in bed - from sleep to conception to birth - its easy to see how they came up with the beautifully coined phrase.



Too bad we live in a country that would rather make money off of having us live in fear of this wonderful life experience - implanting a picture in our minds of birth as being unbearable pain, needles, drugs, screaming, and worse.

Wouldn't it be out of this world to see this ad on TV her in the US? We are in dire need of a come back to more human ways of going about experiencing life. How much healthier a nation would we be if our next generations were born into calm peacefulness of a loving embrace, rather than bright sterile lights, strange hands poking and prodding...

The Easy Green To Do List... Making Every Day Earth Day

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

I hope that you have a chance to get out and do something for people and planet today in a very green way ;)

And as much as I love a whole day devoted to celebrating and taking care of our beloved Mother Earth, I think it much more meaningful to make EVERYDAY Earth Day. And why not?!

So...To make everyday Earth Day, I am posting this easy green to do list I received from a wonderfully eco-conscience friend of mine. Do your part today and every day...enjoy!

The Easy GREEN To Do List

In the kitchen...

• Set the refrigerator temperature between 38 F and 42 F.
• Set the freezer temperature between O F and 5 F.

In the dining room...

• Use napkin rings and cloth napkins.
• Use washable plates, cups and silverware.
• Recycle containers by serving condiments in them.

In the laundry...

• Wash and dry only full loads.
• Wash with warm water instead of hot.
• Rinse with cold water instead of warm.
• Hang wash out to dry.

In the bathroom...

• Shut off the sink while brushing your teeth.
• Shut off the shower while soaping or scrubbing.
• Install a low-flow shower head.
• Reduce the volume of water in your toilet tank.

In the living room...

• Switch off unnecessary lights.
• Dress cool: don't turn on the air conditioner.
• Raise shades on winter days; lower them in summer.
• Install ceiling fans to use for summer & winter.

In the yard...

• Compost leaves and grass clippings.
• Avoid pesticides, use nontoxic alternatives.
• Water the grass early in the morning.
• Plant a tree.

Make Everyday Earth Day & Enjoy Mother Earth today :)