Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Simplicity and the Holidays pt 2

So my usual holiday stance of buying as little for people as possible or making gifts has worked out well for many years now, but in the hectic hustle and bustle of traveling cross country and working like a crazy person for 8 months, I have neglected the wee ones in my life. I have a 3 year-old and a 1 year-old that I'm visiting shortly with nothing in hand. But I figure I shall spend the morning (er...early afternoon, sorry, slow start today) here in NYC scouring the city for an eco-friendly toy store. Don't fail me now Google!

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Simplicity and the Holidays

So Ma & Pa didn't seem very much in the festive mood when I rolled into town in the eco-mobile a few days ago. It was thrust upon me to hunt the back 40 to find the tree to cut down this year. After some searching, I realized there was nothing close to being an option. We're talking weaker than a Charlie Brown tree-slim pickens. Plus sawing into a 2 year old spruce would cause a puddle of sap on my mother's den floor that would get me no praise. So I headed off to the local farm (I had every intention of finding a charity lot somewhere but figured supporting a local farm was a fair trade off.) Arriving at the farm tree man hooked me the minute I got out of the car, pointing out the live trees. I'm a sucker for a tree. After peeking at the cut trees, I couldn't justify buying something that was killed just for sake of tradition. So I slapped down the platinum card for the live tree and now it resides at the manor. Parental units not too keen on the prospect of transplanting come spring, being that it took 3 of us to get it out of the borrowed truck and into the house—and not very gracefully at that. (it and it's pot of dirt weigh over 120 lbs. and the diameter of the root ball is about 5 feet wide, and 2 feet deep.) Here it is, all decorated and festive, our little Fraser Fir (I have named him Bruce, every tree needs a good name) I like how the Fraser Fir looks two-toned, green on the top of the needles and white on the bottom. Two trees in one!

Monday, December 11, 2006

On the hunt for the O+ kidney donor

It's been a hard few months for a very good friend of mine—she was diagnosed with anemia and almost out of nowhere, she learned that her kidneys were shutting down, operating only at 12%. A kidney transplant would need to happen...eventually. But as we move along, dialysis is looming and the transplant center suggests that you have your donor lined up before you get started with the delightful process of dialysis. It has really got me thinking, as I would cut my own kidney out for her in a heartbeat (and I don't really believe that I say that only because I am the wrong blood type) but that I would be willing to trade my kidney to a stranger for her. The average waiting time for a kidney is seven years and most on the waiting list die before their name comes up. As we all know, I'm the consummate recycler...is it really so shocking to consider organ donation the most important form of recycling? I'm going to look into various ways to become a Living Donor.
For more information on Living Organ Donation
To find out ways you can help my friend specifically with her medical bills visit Candy Mountain.