SallyHP Goes Green

My first post as Contributing Editor on the Green MomCentral blog went up today. If you just can't get enough of me, you can now catch me there twice a week! I'm very excited for this next venture in the blogosphere and hope you'll enjoy it as well.

More Than Meets The Eye

Today, after a leisurely morning of running kiddos to and fro, I told H we had a birthday party to attend that afternoon. He was ecstatic for the opportunity to wander the toy aisle at Target, pronouncing for all to hear exactly what he'd be getting for his birthday...in August.

Amidst protests by H that the birthday boy would not like a bottle of wine, I indulged him in the under ten dollar purchase of the Transformer, Scalpel, (a creepy microscope/flying insect) with a matching Transformer card, of course. Oh, did I mention that this was a 30th birthday party? For one of J's co-workers?

Luckily, said birthday boy is probably one of the most gracious and genuinely nice people you'll ever meet and he took the time to open the gift with H, take it out of the packaging and then 'transform' it...which, I don't know how many of you have tried that lately, but it's not exactly an intuitive process. It's the little things, like seeing them acknowledge how excited your child is about something that may not be exciting to them, that makes you genuinely like someone.

Cake consumed, a ball-game playing in the back-ground and a party foul perpetrated by H (who quickly pronounced over the spillage of beer 'It's okay! It was empty!') I decided it was time to tuck the kiddos under my arms and head home so that J could enjoy some much-deserved social time with his friends.

Before leaving, Birthday Boy suggested to H that they 'share' the Transformer, and that H's shift would start tonight. Of course, you could tell from the shifting of his eyes and sly smile that this was what H had planned and hoped for all along. The car ride home was spent with me reinforcing to H that this was a very special exception and he would never get to take a birthday gift home with him again.

And, yes, it's tucked in with him right now.

As the evening wore on, I was plagued with questions; Did I do the wrong thing? Should I have allowed him to get the gift even though I knew it was completely age-inappropriate, and kind of a gag gift even if H wasn't in on the gag?

I hope I didn't set him up for disappointment at future parties where he'll get the hairy eyeball if he presents the guest of honor with a parenting plan for joint custody of the gift. Then again, I think we'll just cross that bridge when we get there.

A Little Lift

A little something to start your day on the right foot...and maybe a bit of a dare as well.

Tea for You

Yesterday, President Obama signed into law what most think will be a good first step toward overhauling the largest and most expensive institution in our nation; health care. What seems to most (and when I say most, I'm saying it because health care reform was a major platform upon which Obama got elected by the majority of Americans) to be a positive step toward taking care of our own, has been under harsh scrutiny and has endured a lot of false propaganda by it's opponents.

I would say that the vast majority of those that support health care reform would freely admit that this is not a perfect first step, but it is the best step that could be taken right now. Do we need tort reform? Absolutely. Should we look at starting to cover only evidence-based procedures? Maybe. Should we take the hardest look at the devastatingly huge amount of money that we spend on end-of-life care by coming to terms with our fear of the idea of losing a loved one? Probably. But, all of those things will take a long time, overcoming social mores and the pressure that family members feel to make a 'good' decision, or to prolong the inevitable. I'm proud of this first step, and I look forward to the progress that can be made from it.

Click here to see a very abbreviated list of some of the benefits we can expect to see from the health-care bill. I like that it cites its sources for each reason...although number 7 is not cited, so I'm inclined to believe it's a looser number.

I thought this video was interesting, keeping in mind that it was obviously edited; but since it was edited to my own political slant I, of course, like it. Even though it will take a good chunk of an afternoon, I've decided that I will sit and read the whole bill so that I do understand...I would hate to feel as unprepared to defend my position as these folks obviously were if put on the spot.

In Vino Veritas

I'm back from my whirlwind trip West to meet my new nephew, spend time with my dear friend and, oh yeah, see my new house for the first time!

Though the flights were long, and the drive to Walla Walla was another 4 hours, it was kid-free, so it was blissful. I read The Lost Code on the plane, because I'm a sucker for Dan Brown, and did about five minutes of work before I realized I'd get carpal tunnel typing on a laptop during a full flight-being that I'm just a little slip of a girl, my shoulders were not touching my neighbors' at all.

The baby? Gorgeous.

The house? Fantastic.

A weekend with my best friend, drinking wine and walking around my new home-town? More than much-needed.

We spent the first afternoon in Walla Walla registering H for Kindergarten (Welcome, Class of 2023!) and getting my initial tour of the house. Walking in for the first time, it still took awhile to have it sink in that the house was truly mine. High ceilings and an open floorplan with lots of windows left me imagining sun-soaked mornings sitting in the living room with a cup of coffee, listening to the kids play in the back-yard. Ah, the back-yard. Bigger than I'd imagined, with side-yards double that of most of our neighbors; raised bed gardens await me.

The next morning, we spent what was supposed to be several hours at the Flooring store, but ended up little more than two. Apparently my years of obsessively deciding what my 'style' would be certainly paid off in the decisive department. First things first, I found a beautiful hand-scraped bamboo with great variation in color that looked great with the trim sample from my cabinets. Then on to carpet for the bedrooms, vinyl for the bathrooms, tub surround tile, back-splashes and counters, oh my!

After a quick flip through the Parker paints color chart, I had my Knott interior paint selected, and we were off to lunch. But not before the sales-woman picked up on my longing glances at the planks of 'my' floor, wherein she offered to have her guy hack off a piece so I could take it with me in my suitcase...which I promise I don't tuck under my pillow at night.

Sample in hand, we arrived at my house once again to match exterior colors to the brick accents that are already in place. Bittersweet with Equator Trim and a Lava Cake door, and I'd say you can put a fork in this baby; it's done!

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering downtown and ended up in the tasting room for a local winery. I couldn't tell if the proprietor was just a little green or if he really loves hearing himself talk, either way we left with three bottles of Gewurztraminer (to our shock, we found it was not a sweet wine after he twisted our arms to try it amidst our protests of not liking to drink wine that tastes like corn syrup) signed by said proprietor in bronzey sparkle sharpie.

We watched most of the Boost Surf Sho on-line, then walked to Sweet Basil Pizzeria for dinner and then onto Colville St. Patisserie for coffee and dessert before heading home, pushing the clocks forward an hour and falling into sugar and wine-induced slumber.

The next morning, I turned back into a pumpkin and back to the airport we went. Friend farewelled and coffee purchased, I boarded the Southwest Airlines flight to Midway, opened my book and embraced the knowledge that I'll soon be calling Walla Walla home.