Mormon Mommy Blogs

First of all, I just have to say...who would have guessed that a post about flossing would get more comments than almost any I've ever posted?! Crazy!!


So, I went over and signed up on the Mormon Mommy Bloglist. Sue started it, and I figure there are a lot of mormon mommies with high heels, perfect makeup and layered hair, there needs to be one with unshaven legs and cloth-diaper-wearing kids who lives in the backwoods of Alaska.
So I'm on her list now, and to be on her list, I have to add her list to my blogroll. Hey, no sweat.
(By the way, if you're a faithful reader here, and I've lost your link from my blogroll in one of the many changeovers...leave me a comment, ok? I'm stuck with Hubby's computer this week, and I don't have my favorites list, and I realize that I really just need to keep everybody on my blogroll rather than in my favorites...lookout marge, we're growing the list again. :) )
SO, my fellow Crunchy Mormon Mommies, go get yourselves added to the list! That blogroll needs a few more hippies on it I think.
(By the way, if you're not LDS, but are a mommy blogger, you can sign up in the "mormon friendly" ie--PG rated section...if you want...I don't know if you'd want to but you can, just so you don't feel left out or anything...)

Ask Anything!

One day when I was student teaching, I had 5 minutes left at the end of class. So I opened the floor to the students and told them I would answer any question they asked me. First they asked my first name, second they asked if they could call me that. I eventually did this with all my classes and those were always the first questions. They also asked what kind of car I drove, whether I had a boyfriend, and how much I got paid to teach them (when they learned that I was paying to be there, one student said "oh, wow, I'm going to be a lot nicer to you now!") It was fun for everybody. Hubby does this with his classes too--he promises to answer any question they ask (he does not promise to give accurate answers!)
So, in the spirit of fun, and because it's almost my birthday, I've decided to offer the floor to you, my readers (even though one of you is my sister and one is a former roommate and one of you is my husband and one is my neighbor...) You can ask me anything you like, and I promise I will answer them all. As a general rule, I promise to answer truthfully...although I do reserve the right to give a snarky answer if you ask me some random science question or something. I also reserve the right to not divulge the privacy of my children...but I think you already knew that. ☺ But feel free to ask me about me, my life, my thoughts, my home... Just leave a comment on this post.
I'll answer them all in a post on my birthday in a week.

On Flossing

So, each night when Hubby and I brush our teeth, we have a disagreement. One of us brushes then flosses...the other flosses then brushes.
He says I am weird and that I do it backwards. He says his way is more effective and I should switch.
Of course, I feel the same of him and his routine.
I have concluded that it is only 'backwards' if the majority does it the other way, therefore I aim to solve this matter scientifically by posting a poll here on my blog. See, there it is ------------->
Please put your answer on my poll, and we shall see which of us is really backwards!
(And yes, once the official 'right' way is determined, I promise to tell you which of us is 'right' and which is 'backwards'!)

Own up to it!

If you want to leave a comment, be willing to say who you are, ok?
I am no longer going to publish anonymous comments. I think it's annoying and rude to leave a comment without even being willing to say who you are.

Junk Mail

Yesterday we got home from six weeks on the road; last night I tackled the pile of mail. Oh boy. I always knew junk mail was annoying, but let me tell you, six weeks worth of it is a great indicator of just how MUCH junk gets mailed to me.
Here's the thing: much of it isn't default 'junk' (you know, advertising and that sort of thing), but it is stuff that I don't need mailed to me, and I think at least one or two trees died needlessly for me to get all this paper in my box.
I don't need catalogs sent to me--everybody has an online catalog, and since I'll almost certainly order there (if I order), I might as well browse there too. On the other hand, just because I once ordered something from a company does not mean that I want to continue receiving their catalog for the rest of eternity.
I don't need coupons sent to me. Just put stuff on sale (or don't) but what is it with this whole stupid coupon thing. If we could eradicate the world of coupons I think we'd all be a little happier...the people and the trees (and the landfills!)
I don't need paper bills sent to me--I pay online (don't need return slips) and I check balances online as well, so there again, no need for paper.
I don't need bank statements sent to me--the internet is marvelous.
I don't need checks--please send me money, but direct deposit saves time, trouble, effort, and, oh yes, does a little bit to save the world.

So, today's STW tip is to make an effort to reduce the paper in your life! Sign up for paperless billing wherever possible. Get yourself on the 'no contact' or 'opt-out' lists so that you won't get all the pre-approved offers for credit cards and car insurance. Contact the companies who are sending you catalogs you don't want and get OFF their mailing lists rather than on them. Sign this petition to support creation of a 'do not mail' service in the USA (much like the 'do not call' one we already have).
Pay your bills online. Use a debit card instead of a check. Send emails--not lame forwards (and trust me, forwards are always lame)--but send real letters, personal missives, via email. Or just call people! Make your life a little more about people, and a little less about paper and stuff. (Eww, stuff!)

Seven Deadly Sins

No, not those seven deadly sins, my seven deadly sins. You know, the stuff I do even though I know I probably shouldn't...the stuff that may, in fact, literally kill me? That stuff.

1) reading while walking (have you ever walked into a river because you had your nose in a book? me neither, but I did miss the bridge once and step onto the grass!)
2) staying up too late (usually doing stupid stuff, like dinking around online watching forums for new posts, even though everyone else I know is several time zones ahead of me and has already gone to bed)
3) eating while driving
4) talking with food in my mouth (and also driving or not driving...)
5) even-ing desserts (I'll have to post a photo...I don't really eat whole pieces, I just take a little snitch, and then I even the edge, and then even some more, and some more...)
6) speaking my mind, with or without tact
7) blogging (see #2, 5, and 6 for details)

At least I don't ever EVER talk on the phone while driving. I refuse--even when I had a cell phone.

Another Idea

As we've been road tripping, Hubby and I have come up with another way to save the world:

Boycott golf.
It's not ecologically sound. Planting massive tracts of grass, then cutting it really short (leading it to turn brown), then watering it a ton (leading to more growing, thus more cutting).
Also, it's boring.

Shhh, They're Sleeping

I know it's a dark picture, but I didn't want to wake them (I used the 'low light' setting on the camera, it was actually darker than it looks!)

The Impossible Dream

This song has moved me ever since I first heard it.
You can see/hear it here (but of course it's better live--all musical theatre is).

Lyrics by Joe Darion
Music by Mitch Leigh
from "The Man of La Mancha"

To dream the impossible dream,
to fight the unbeatable foe,
to bear with unbearable sorrow,
to run where the brave dare not go.

To right the unrightable wrong,
to love pure and chaste from afar,
to try when your arms are too weary,
to reach the unreachable star.

This is my quest, to follow that star --
no matter how hopeless, no matter how far.

To fight for the right without question or pause,
to be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause.

And I know if I'll only be true to this glorious quest
that my heart will be peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest.

And the world will be better for this,
that one man scorned and covered with scars
still strove with his last ounce of courage.
To reach the unreachable stars.

I find it very inspiring...and very motivating.

Exfoliating

by way of clarification...
We live in Alaska, and no, we're not moving from there. We traveled back down to Utah this summer to clean out all the stuff we had in storage...we sold off most of it, and now will return to Alaska (sans stuff) feeling much freer.
(We will replace a number of items--beds, table, chairs, etc...they were just too expensive to transport. But we also leaned out a lot of books, movies, music, and clothing, and we will not be replacing those. Let's hear it for the simple life!)
Hubby said it's like exfoliating your life. It's true! It is a little rough to let go of some of these things, but once they are gone, it feels GREAT!