Selfishness


explore, investigate, gather, hone, stitch, strength, resolve, process, respect, responsibility, transparency, gentleness...


What word I should I carry with me through 2014? I'm clueless, I'm not even sure what word described 2013 for me. Though parenthood is one of my greatest and most rewarding achievements (motherhood is an exhausting daily delight), I also know I need to be a bit more selfish...put on the oxygen mask first so I can have the strength to help others. Selfishness is not the usual resolution for a mother of 2, but is perhaps the word I need to focus on first.



I do have a fun resolution: hosting 1 dinner party a month. It will give me a chance for fun in the kitchen, the need to deep clean the house, as well as a bit more of a social life. I'll also get to use the opportunity to base a meal around the fresh ingredients we're growing in our yard. And who knows? Maybe some new art will come out of it, flowing from the connection of plant to plate on through the pen.

What did you achieve in 2013? What do you hope to see/feel/grow into in 2014?

A deeper shade of clean


I've been in deep cleaning mode around the house. With Fox crawling and scooting about, the carpets were a top priority so I got out our Bissell. It came with a sample bottle (I can't even remember which carpet cleaner it was, but some Bissell something or other) and the directions call for 2 1/2 ounces of it. Without going into a full description of the gunk that came from our carpet, steam cleaning them was a hugely satisfying experience. The Bissell shampoo, however, has such a strong scent I had a horrible headache before I'd even finished half of the first rug.

Now I didn't expect gentle greatness from a Bissell shampoo, but it was what I had on hand and I figured I'd better use it. Perhaps the lack of sleep from a teething 8 month old impaired my judgement. Whatever the excuse, I hopped on the internet to find an alternative well before the headache subsided.  I was on the search for something without scary ingredients and artificial fragrance.


Here's what I found: Bissell does make an unscented cleaner, but none of their products rate well with the Environmental Working Group website. I found this post (and all the comments that followed...whoa!) and narrowed my options to BioKleen Carpet and Rug Shampoo and Earth Friendly Products Concentrated Carpet Shampoo. There was also a suggestion to check out BabyGanics, but after one incident of blindly buying their sunscreen and then reading the ingredients (it sounds organic, right?!), I think they are the poster child of green washing.

BioKleen: Graded D by ewg.org, though I believe it's partly due to their grading the surfactant as "non-specific".
Water (filtered), Glycerin (vegetable), Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside (plant based surfactant), C10-16 Alkyl Glucoside (plant based), Citrus Terpenes, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Dipropylene Glycol, Benzisothiazolinone, Viable Bacillus Cultures 

Earth Friendly Products: Graded A by ewg.org; available in Bergamot and Sage or odorless
Water, Sodium Citrate (plant-based water softener), Caprylyl/Myristyl Glucoside (plant-based surfactant), Citric Acid (plant-based pH adjuster), Xanthan Gum (plant-based, food grade thickener), Enzyme Blend (soil remover), Potassium Sorbate (plant-based, food grade preservative), Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, Salvia Sclarea (Clary) Oil

The decision? I'm going to get a small bottle of the Earth Friendly version. I'll let you know what I think!




The other day M asked if we could buy food for "the men with signs". How could I say no?  Off we went to a big box store so we could get groceries and socks. Now I know I talk a lot about quality of food here, preach about organic food and all that, but I wanted to get as much food as possible so we could give a few people meals. I also wanted to be mindful of any issues that could be caused by the stress of living on the street. For some reason we tend to forget that the hungry are also human and could have food sensitivities like peanut allergies or stomach ulcers. It's hard to explain to a 4 year old why the hungry man on the side of the road turns down a juicy orange, but he has his reasons and it's probably not because he's begging and choosing.


By the way, we also bought food for women with signs.

Producing produce


I'm pretty sure toddlers don't appreciate the nuance of a handmade gift, but since I have the time, I've been stitching up a storm for my 1 1/2 year old niece.




I bought $4 worth of eco-felt (recycled plastic bottles) and have been making a variety of not so tasty fresh produce for her to play with. I decided the strawberries were too small (thanks to Fox's quick grabbing ability) so they'll go to another favorite little girl (my own). 

Are you making any gifts this year? Last year we did a lot of making, but this year we're not so on top of things. You gotta do what you gotta do to avoid the holiday stress, right?