Less Impact Mommy

 You all know that I am trying a little at a time to make my family a bit greener.

Here is what we have done so far since July 20th:

• use reusable shopping bags
• switched to cloth diapers for our 20 month old son
• make my own laundry soap
• use only natural cleansers in the home; baking soda, vingar, peroxide...
• trying to recycle if I can only find where to take it (still working on this)
• purchased reusable sandwich and snack baggies to replace plastic bags
• use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins

Its a start. I am pretty happy with where we are at in such a short while.  A little bit at a time so we don't get overwhelmed works for me.

However, after watching "No Impact Man" yesterday, I began to wonder just how far am I willing to go.  Colin Beavan is the "No Impact Man".  The project included Beavan, his wife and young daughter.  Its a great documentary and I really suggest you watch it.  They live in New York City in an apartment.  They went through different phases during this project.



Basically they started with reducing their waste to no trash at all.  Started a vegetarian diet.  Shopping at their local farmers' market.  Only eating foods that was grown from the local area. The project also went to the extreme.  No toilet paper. Yup.  Think of how many trees are cut down to make toilet paper.  How dedicated are you?  No power. They turned their power off at the 6 month mark and lived on daylight and candle.  They used a solar power generator that mainly powered his laptop for his blog.

With such a change in lifestyle there were arguments and stress.  Kuddos to Beavan and his family for going through this.  His reason for the project was not to get everyone to go to such extremes but to think about what they can that actually works for their family.

I am not going without toilet paper.  But maybe I can find a better brand to use.  I really enjoy my electricity, but I will try to use less.  I would love to shop at a local farmers' market but the closest one is 50 miles away.  Defeats the purpose to save fuel.   Oh... that's the other thing.  They stopped taking fueled powered vehicles.  No subways, taxis, etc.  They rode bikes with their daughter in cart behind them.  I can do that.  I need to find a bike.  But I can at least ride to the college for my class.  I can get a seat for my son and drop him off at the sitter's house.  Plus, my kids are always wanting us to ride bikes with them.  And it will be great exercise.

I will say this.  Those who live in larger cities where you have many things in walking distance... take advantage of it.  In rural areas where everything is spread out there is a lot of driving.  I find it kind of ironic that the big cities have these awesome farmers' markets.  Everything in one place.  Here in the small towns people set up road side stands.  Its kind of hit and miss to find what you need or know who has what.  I would love to eat more organic and local foods.  During the summer its easy because friends have gardens but once fall comes around you are stuck with what the local grocer or Walmart has in stock.

Anyway, it all comes down to this.  The movie got me thinking... that was the goal.  What else can I do?  Can I pass it on to others?  Inspire others to be greener?  I doubt I can ever go No Impact.  I don't totally agree that Beavan was No Impact.  He has had a huge impact on the environment in my opinion.  Just this time its in a good way.

How far would you be willing to go?

Wordless Wednesday- My Doctor McDreamy!

This is my husband, Jason.  This picture was taken 20 months ago on the day my fourth child was born.  I had to have a c-section and he had to get dressed up.  LOVE IT!

Crazy Doctor Moments

You know you have one.  A crazy doctor moment when you are left thinking "what the heck?"  Here is mine and I hope you will share yours too!

A few years ago I went in for my normal "Roto Rooter" appointment.  That is what my mother used to call an OB/GYN.  Anyway, everything was normal.  Blood pressure, weight, pee in cup, breast exam and then it went a little weird.  During the pelvic when I was staring at the ceiling trying to make small talk with my doctor she says, "Oh my that is so cute". 

"Ummm... what is cute?"  I couldn't figure out what the heck in my vajayjay could be so darn cute.  I mean we were in the middle of my yearly pap smear for Christ's sake. 

"Your toe nails.  I love the little butterfly design on your toes." she explained.

"Oh.... ummm thanks?"  I replied. 

Then my doctor began to giggle when she finally realized what she had done.  Finally when the exam was over and I sat up on the table she apologized for the confusion.  No problem I thought.

It was actually very funny because right before I went into the exam room I was reading a parenting magazine. This is the story....  A mom was going in for her appointment and she did not have enough time to freshen up (you all know you do it before going to the Roto Rooter).  So she grabbed an already wet cloth in the bathroom at home and tried her best to freshen up.  During her exam her doctor kind of laughed and said that not all of her patients went to such extremes to prepare for their appointments.  The patient did not understand what she meant and just kind of nodded.  Finally when she got home she grabbed the rag while doing laundry and opened up.  It was covered in glitter and no say was her lady parts!

You just never know what is going to happen when visiting the "Lady Doctor".  Do you have any funny stories to tell?  Please share.

Free Fun Friday!

T.G.I.F!  Even though I am not working right now Fridays are still wonderful.  During the school year its even better because I know that the next two days I won't have to wake up early to get the kids ready for school.

This will be my first "Free Fun Friday" post where I share fun things you can do with your family.  I also encourage you to leave "Free Fun" ideas to share with me and everyone else as well.   I am always looking for something new to do with my family. It gets very boring doing the same boring thing over and over again

.

This summer my kids participated in the library's reading program.  It was wonderful.  Each week we went to the library and the kids went into the appropriate age groups.  There was story reading, crafts and snacks.  They even received a small trinket each week.  And all this was FREEEeeeeee!!!  You have to say it like Adam Sandler does in "Bedtime Stories".  The kids then picked out two books each to read over the next week.

So check out your local library and see if they have any programs still going on.  Our library has a pre-school reading program during the school season that follows the same program as above.  Reading is great fun and we should encourage our children to read as much as possible.  Another benefit is that you can pick a book up for yourself too.  I love a good paranormal romance!

Have "FREE FUN!!

Weeds Abundant

Yesterday my family and I worked on our yard. We have a nice medium sized yard. It doesn't take long to mow which is a good thing. The bad part of our yard is the flower bed that I wanted so badly for Mother's Day this year. Be careful what you ask for.

I was so excited this past Mother's Day when my hubby and kiddos helped me plant a flower bed. We had pretty green plants and purple flowers. Surrounded by red mulch. I have always tried to do a flower bed but they never last. Usually what I plant dies. I believe I have a black thumb.

This is part of my flower bed that was planted on Mother's Day.  See those little purple flowers they have gotten so big!

This year it is different. The flowers are growing and are so pretty. But the weeds are growing just as fast if not faster. It is so much work to have a flower bed. Yesterday I attacked those weeds. It gave me a sense of pride to wrench them from the soil in order to protect the other plants.

Today the yard looks great. But in a couple of days I bet those pesky weeds will be back to torture me.

Next year I would like to have a small vegetable garden. Yup, I know that will be even more work. But, it also means less yard to mow.

More Followers Monday

What's More {Followers} Monday?!

More {Followers} Monday was created by three amazing (if I do say so myself) mamas as a way to find some really cool new reads and to gain new followers (and let's face it, we all love followers!).

Want in on this awesomeness? It's really easy to play along...

1) Follow your hosts Me {Mama B}, Little BGCG, and Baby Dickey via Google Friend Connect

2) Grab our button and create a post with the button telling everyone about More {Followers} Monday and a little bit about yourself {Think: About Me/Intro}













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3) Link up your post and find some great new blogs!!





About Me

My name is Nancy Marie and I am the mom to 4 beautiful children.  I am married to my best friend, Jason.  I am a stay at home mom for the moment.  I enjoy camping, reading, and blogging.  I am in the process of going back to school with the goal of graduating with a degree in nursing. All of this is writing fodder for my blog.  I talk all about the dishes I don't want to clean, the diapers (now cloth that need to be changed) and the degree that will hopefully soon be in reach. 

Adventures of Interviews

Last week I applied for a job at a local group home for people with developmental disabilities.  On Monday I stopped by the home and filled out an application for the position of direct support person.  Tuesday, I went in for an interview.  This was when things started to look bad (for me).  I always arrive early for interviews.  Its shows respect for the interviewer that I am on time.  I was five minutes early that day.  I sat and waited.  My appointment was for 1pm.  Finally at ten after one, the lady doing the interviews walks in.  "Sorry I am late.  Just give me a couple minutes please." she said.  Then continued to her office and begins gossiping with another lady sitting in there. 

Ten minutes later.  It is now 1:20pm.  I sat there for twenty-five minutes before she called me in.  She pulled a chair up to her desk and offered me a seat.  She copied the appropriate documents needed for a new hire.  Then she began the normal interview process of asking weird questions that are meant to give the interviewer a secret look into the interviewee (don't even think that's a word, oh well).   Her phone rings.  She answers it.  I sit for another five minutes.  Finally, she stands up and says I have to take a test.  She sits me down at a table and proceeds to talk me through the test.  It is a reading test.  A really easy one.  Apparently they want to make sure I can read.  I took the test and gave it to her.  I passed of course.  Then she said I had to come back the next evening to observe for an hour.  Not a problem.  Before I left she gave me a print out of the upcoming training if I were to be hired.  It was going to start on the same day that I was going to be out of town for my sister's bachlorette party.  I told her that I would not be available that day and she let me know that we would work it out. Then I left to go home. 

There was no talk about money, benefits or even scheduling.  When they do this it makes me uncomfortable because I feel like they are hiding the fact that the money will suck and so will the scheduling.

I went back on Wednesday to observe.  The girl that I followed around was nice and so were the gentlemen who lived there.  The job seemed easy enough.  I would get used to it the longer I was there. No problem.  I asked the girl if she liked working there. She said yes.  Then I asked about scheduling.  She laughed and said the schedule, even though it comes out for the whole month, changes day to day.  Nope, I cannot deal with an ever changing schedule.  Not with four kids.  This shows bad management in my opinion.  Plus the hours were really weird.  They had no set schedule.  It was a hodge podge of hours.

I talked about it with my husband who would like for me to work.  I don't mind going back to work but I don't want to hate the job.  For some reason people just don't understand that.  Jason even mentioned that it would not be worth it if the scheduling was so whack.  With a family you have to be constant.  You can't keep changing everything around on a day's notice all the time.

Friday I received a call and was told that on Monday (that would be today) I was to come in and fill out the new hire paperwork.  I nicely told her that I still have many questions about the position.  The most important being money and scheduling.  "Well, what do you need to know?" was the response I got to that.  Really?  I mean really?  Come on, how do these people get hired!!!

I asked how much pay was.  Minimum wage.  What?  Ummm... no way!  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not above minimum wage.  But I do have a state certification as a nurse assistant.  I have experience.  I asked if there was a way to have a higher pay and she said no.  She did ask if I knew about their sign on bonus.  Which from what I was told was a couple hundred bucks that you would receive after a year's worth of work.  Nope, not happening.  I politely turned down the job stating that I knew I could get paid more elsewhere and she thanked me for being honest. 

Honestly, I was bummed about this because the job would have been great if the management and money would have also been great.

So no job right now. 

I am sure there are some out there who will tell me that I should just take the job.  I love it when people tell me what I need to do.  But I went with my gut on this job.  One bad sign.  There is always an ad for help for this company.  That shows that they cannot keep their help.  Second bad sign.  Management was late for the interview.  She is lucky she showed up when she did because I was counting down to fifteen after and then I was leaving.  Third bad sign.  Workers speak badly about scheduling or people quitting.  Fourth bad sign.  Low pay for what the job entails. 

I will find something.  Soon hopefully.  But I want to make sure that what I find I will like if not thoroughly enjoy.