Rhymes with orange

The current political atmosphere in the United States is disturbing. A few years ago, before GW was re-elected, my DH and I considered diasporange. Diasporange is the act fleeing a political jurisdiction to avoid changing political climate.

Canada seemed nice. But we had great friends and good jobs and couldn't quite imagine leaving. And we suffered through 4 more years of politics we didn't agree with. Then Obama was elected and the need to flee diminished. We had hope. For the record, I am still pleased with the things Obama has been able to accomplish. However, the pendulum has swung and and I am considering diasporange again.

For example, this legislation in GA which could conceivably allow women who have miscarriages to be charged criminally. That would make me and most of the women I know potential criminals.

Look at what is happening in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin democrat's flight from the Capitol was a prime example of quorange. Quorange being the act of fleeing a jurisdiction to avoid a legislative quorum. It is similar to diasporange. What are the next steps? Staying informed, not going crazy and plotting potential diasporange are certainly on the agenda.

What?!? An actual post?

Well, sort of. I actually posted here on my other defunct blog. I think I was an early adopter to blogging and I fizzled out due to Facebook. That's ok. Check it out if you'd like to read what I have been up to (assuming of course I still have some readers here).

Recipe - Tostones with Sauce

Tostones Sauce

Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves
~ 1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp white vinegar
8 oz. can of tomato sauce

Directions:
In mortar and pestle, crush garlic and salt into a gooey paste. Add olive oil and white vinegar and stir. Add tomato sauce and stir until well mixed.

Here is a nice little video on making the twice fried tostones: http://video.about.com/latinfood/Fried-Plantains.htm.
The sweet ones are called maduros and the recipe can be found here: http://icuban.com/food/platanos_maduros.html.

Decluttering and found money

It has come to me that decluttering may be a lifelong thing. I mean, I don't really want it to be...but I always seem to have piles of things to clean up. How do I keep the piles from existing in the first place? I still have no idea but I have managed to get better at going through stuff and getting rid of it.

In the past week, I have gone through 3 boxes of stuff. I made mountains of stuff to shred (which I have been doing little by little). This has given me some room on my shelves. I can actually see the back of some of the shelves! (Meaning they are not so piled with stuff that I can't see the back). I have a shelf for sewing stuff and a place for all my music books and equiptment. W even provided me with a hook for my borrowed bass guitar.

Hey! Only 3 years and my office / music room is starting to look better. Sigh...

I found a ton of mula in this decluttering. I found cash! I found gift certificates! I found old, old checks! It is crazy and I have already decided that I am changing the way I handle these type of things as they come into the house. My problem is that I often will leave a check in a card until I have the chance to write a thank you note. My mom pointed out that if I just keep some thank you notes by the mail slot, as soon as I get a check I can just dash off a quick thank you and put the check in my wallet. Voila! I am definitely trying it.

Ok - that is all for now. I will post some photos of the chickens soon.

Chickens

Mariposa
James (front) and Violetta (I think)
Hiro (front), James, Mariposa, Violetta.







We recently got some baby chicks which have astounded us with how fast they grow. W built a cool coop using some old cedar fencing from a friend (thanks D and D). Our chicks are all female despite the names!

During our "chicken investigation" W found a cool blog where a photographer took a picture of his chicks every day for 8 weeks. The blog, 3chicksaday, is awesome. Check out the fantastic photos of Noodle Soup, Salad Sandwich and Pot Pie.(It is also finished - but he just started a new blog, The Occasional Chicken.)

Nature Scavenger Hunt

I love the idea of taking the kids on a Nature Scavenger Hunt. Here are some ideas on how to make it a success. Have you ever done one of these?

Blue Sky

We received a "2008 Blue Sky" report from Pacific Power. If you haven't heard of it, Blue Sky is our local program for supporting renewable energy. We pay a small premium to ensure that we support using Green-e Energy certified renewable energy. Below is text taken directly from a letter from Pacific Power.

Our details:
"Our total 2008 Blue Sky purchase of 12,833 Kilowatt-hours of renewable energy avoided the release of 15,548 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions into the air. This represents environmental benefits equivalent to not driving 15,767 miles. I believe this cost us $100.00."

Blue Sky details:
"67,000 Blue Sky customers supported 490 million kilowatt-hours of Green-e Energy certified renewable energy. That is equal to the output of 107 wind turbines. "

Do you support renewable energy?