3 Little birds

There where a momma bird and her 2 babies that have been staying in the nest over the light on the neighbors porch. I noticed yesterday the babies heads higher than I ever saw them. I thought I should get my camera and take my pictures, I might get lucky and see the momma kicking the babies out of the nest. The babies learning to fly.. Well I went to work and worked till 9PM this morning I see no birds... Oh well I started my mini vacay a day to late......

But I have to post this for the running machine, he loves this song he see on Nick Jr all the time. He loves the moose!!



I sing this all the time, when I get to send time with the running machine. He gets all exited to hear me sing... I love it, his big eyes looking at me like I am a rock star.......
This is my message to you...

Water water....

AH that special water is harder to get rid of... But I am researching recipes on line... But I find some interesting sites including this Web MD page that states that the company is being sued for ahem false claims for being "healthy."

BUT They say it has vitamins that help you stay healthy. I tell them about this page and the fact that Web MD says "it is just soda without the bubbles...."

So really would you save calories or sugar if you made tea? I had to look... I found a conversion calculator that would tell you how many teaspoons,  tablespoons or cups from how may grams on the label in that water we will call X water.. X water has 2.5 servings per bottle. Now the nutrition label says that it contains 13 grams of sugar.  The conversion calculator calculated that equals 6.849 teaspoons of sugar for 20 ounces of X water. And how much sugar do you put in a cup of tea? Almost 7 teaspoons? Wow.....

125 calories for X water


Green tea=0 Sugar= 15 per teaspoon (2 teaspoon= 30)


Or better yet here is the calories for sugar:

Sugar (Serving size)	Calories
Table Sugar, 1 level teaspoon (4g)	15
Table Sugar, 1 heaped teaspoon (6g)	25
Table Sugar, 1 cup	770
Table Sugar, average (1 cube)	25
Icing Sugar, 1 average tablespoon (12g)	48

hummmm...

Oh yea better for you cause it has vitamins, take a vitamin with a meal it adsorbs better.....
X water - does deserve the extra X's now does it??? 

Add lemon juice there some vitamin C
Add fruit juice and more vitamins...
Ok might add more calories too
Let see with adding a 1/2 cup of pineapple juice it is adding 60 more calories but 10 more grams of sugar: but that is natural sugar not processed sugar which is easier for your body to digest.

BUT 30 + 60= 90 for fruit green tea.
X water remember has 125.....

Head out on the Highway....

What ever happened to electric cars? So it is the latest thing that  bio-fuel is really not going anywhere due to cost of growing and manufacturing.  So we have  NmG, Zap and few others that are popular. These EV are small around town cars. They look like covered motorcycles. Not good for families. Great commuter  car but not practical for a family. Who can afford to have a extra car? These cars cost more than a regular car they are for the ubber rich green.  Many companies have been talking for years  that they are going to manufacturer a EV  (electric vehicle) but where are they???

Then the main car makers have talked about EV also. Chevy is going to be making the Volt that  was suppose to be out this year now it is next year.  Nissan is talking about Leaf (oh so green sounding). When it that suppose to come out I can't find any date set for release.  Smart cars where going to market a EV also.  Dodge had a EV in the 2009 car show called Circuit. Before that there was one called Demon, but many auto blogs and sites believe that Demon's name was changed to Circuit because they thought that the name wouldn't help sell the car just freak people out.  I have to say Circuit looks like a Demon but with a more sport car polish!!  Nice but again no date and not sure with the fall out of the company what is done with the car.... Sigh...


I love the Electrica  a Korean electric car
But I can't find any more info on these cars. They where suppose to be in production in the UK and coming over to the US in 2009.

Or I see the Fisker car that is planning on producing the Karma at a former General Motors Corp. plant in Wilmington, Del. Kinda looks like Testa Roadster.  

SO I wait for a EV. I also wait to see what is going to happen with Washington and the green action that Obama promised.  Guess we need to get these companies off their buts and build us some save and energy efficient cars....... 

Upcycled Belly Bands

Miss Animal rights has a friend that is pregnant with her second child. When another friend was pregnant she was talking about seeing if she could talk her hubby into letting her spend $30 on a belly band.  I asked what is a belly band and where were they twenty years ago? So I see this piece of material that covers the belly so women can wear their jeans longer or their favorite shirt without showing off the baby bump. Smiley just folded her super low rise jeans down and wore Soldier's shirts.  I wore the daddy's jeans for months. 

Wow $30 for a piece of material? Is there gold strands?  Is it helping to feed starving women and children somewhere? They look at me and told me it was special material that is super stretchy.  I thought;  yea so is exercise wear.  Lycra and even t-shirts. hummmm

Then it hit me that I could find something on line that would tell me how to make a belly band. First I googled belly band and got both maternity and doggy belly bands. Need to check out the How to sites .. then I find the   EHow how to do instructions.

You get a t-shirt that has some stretch or Lycra content. Cut off right under the arms. Measure right above your baby bump. You may have to sew a little more on the seams to help keep it up.  But the instructions have you fold it into a double thickness.... I am not sure I will do that for Miss Animal Rights friend it's been so hot here lately and she is having morning sickness even after 3 months..... SO you can fold over and sew together. And you have a belly band.... If you use t-shirt material with lycra you might not even have to sew the top  cause that type of material doesn't fray.  That is if it isn't to big for the top of the baby bump.

You know you could use that old camisole top with the built in bra shelf; one that the elastic gave out and have a stretchy belly band with little sewing....  Specially the really sweet ones with lace on the bottom.   

I even saw on TV a show that had the fashion wants for a busty band. It is wore under low cut tops for the office.  I thought a tube top or a smaller belly band type sewing project!!  Not going to spend $30 a a tube top for the office!!!!  That's what I wear camisole tops for.
That and I can take my shirt off in the hot car and still have a "top" that doesn't get me arrested for indecent exposure.  But I do get looks when I am taking it off,  I have disappointed many men in the parking lot....... nope not a peak show guys....

OMG!!!

There is BOTTLED WATER in my house.......... yes it is a travesty. Just when I thought that I was getting threw to the kids.... they bring bottled water in my house. Oh to them it's  not bottled water. They tell me it's Special Water. Yes it the magic water that has super good things for you with cool sayings and silly things written on the side of the label. OMG there is even  Twilight special bottles.

Gee they didn't like it when I told them I crush up a vitamin C and drop in a glass for them. Guess that only works for the vitamin packed water not the energy water I was told..... I always can write some stuff on the side of the glass for them.  Like NO MORE bottle water ever....  I could even print a Team hottie pix off the internet....

Tech and Miss Animal Rights tell me that they drink less pop when they have the special  water..


I point out that that special water fancy plastic bottles are filling the land fills... which I was told we recycle it is ok right? Hummm no.... not all plastic get recycled plus many plastic can only be recycled once, Plus the fact that it is damaging the air when they recycle the plastic. I get this blank stare. I quip that is why they send the stuff over seas to make other countries die from the process.  I get a eye roll and a fast walk away.... I know they think I am manic about this....  Ok they know I am manic about this.

I start to make herb planters out of the empty bottles. They think this is a good thing... OMG!   

So I get a bright idea (and I am not reviewing this company!) I make some iced tea with favored green tea.  Green tea has antioxidants.  Plus it gives you some energy;  I mean it has some caffeine in it. You use less sugar then you would get with a can of pop. And no salt like that special water has in it. Oh I think that help Miss Animal Rights come over to the green side, you know what happens to us ladies when we get too much salt.  Specially at the wrong time of the month.

Mind you that just drinking tea is not going to instantly make you ultra healthy. You get out what you put into your body. If you shove a bunch of processed foods with high fructose corn syrup, sodium, bleached foods, and or preservatives you are not going to cure anything.    You can't eat fast food junk everyday and drink green tea and wonder why you don't lose weight.  I am not perfect but we try to cut our junk food down eating more fresh made foods from scratch. 

I found some green teas from Lipton  that say right on the box Super Fruit. With over 100 mg of protective antioxidants. With special super fruits like mangosteen, goji and acai.

Mangosteen is called the Queen of fruits. It is said to cure diarrhea, eczema, thrush, urinary infections and menstrual problems. PLUS  preventing heart disease, improving immune response, treating acne, and even fighting cancer.  All that from a little fruit from Asia.  It about as big as tangerine.   Gee that is Super water or maybe Queen water...

Goji is also known as wolfberry. Another Asian berry plus it also grows in southeastern Europe.  It's also known in the health food circle as a powerful  antioxidant that studies have shown (but not without controversy) to help eyesight, improve sexual function and fertility, improve circulation, strengthen the legs, boost immune function, decrease the risk of developing age-related muscular degeneration, helps prevent glaucoma  and promote longevity. Wow call that Sexy water!! 

Acai is a south American grown berry. It looks like a blueberry. But you may have heard of this berry it is the latest craze for weight loss.  It is said to also increased energy, help with digestion, sleep and mental health. There I found Tech's  energy drink!

Plus the common everyday fruits of peach, raspberry and blueberry are nothing to forget. They help fight free radicals. High in vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants: the local super fruits.  Said to help fight cancer and heart conditions.  The deep colored fruits are colorful because natural made them that way, so they could survive.  Not to shabby for some  little local fruits....

 Favored iced green teas... the new special water..........

DO I smell?

Ah my adventures with deodorants and antiperspirants.

The way  antiperspirant work is by blocking up the pores in the underarm area.  Deodorant kills the odor causing bacteria. Ok maybe it's not proven but it is thought that many of the chemicals in these product can cause cancer. Specially breast cancer. Seeing how there are glands close to your pits. PS some of the ingredients are know to cause problems with hormones. Not a good thing so close to a hormone driven gland!!   

I am trying to find a eco-friendly deodorant and or antiperspirant.  Non-toxic formulas.  This winter I used baking soda with lavender EO essential oil.


Here is some other EOs that have antibacterial qualities:

lavender
lemongrass
Eucalyptus
cinnamon bark
tea tree

But this summer it isn't doing it job. so I try to find something that will help my sweaty pits.
First I try a liquid crystal..I left my pits feeling sticky ... then after I shaved after using it for 3 days I had a rash on my pits that burned like they where on fire.....Was it the deodorant, the shaver or a combination of both??   what can I use now? I looked on line and found suggestions for natural (eco-friendly) deodorants.  Baking soda on a rash... no I don't think so. Witch hazel? Lemon juice? Ouch!! Green tea? Maybe I will try it but then I had to make the tea wait til it cooled and wait for it to dry on my underarms. Yea I went a couple days without deodorant.

Then I read that the liquid crystal is a product that you must use lightly or it can cause irritation. Now you tell me. Maybe I will give it another try but I am kinda scared....  I got another deodorant from the store and it smells ok but it leaves my pits feeling sticky again...  So I add a light coating of the baking soda after I apply the deodorant.  A friend told me "not baking soda try corn starch like we use that for babies bottoms and to help with diaper rash, maybe that will help you and your pits...."  hummm

Music and Trees!

Linkin Park a group that is one of my favorite groups.... their sound is so different it is hard to categorize  it. They are called alternative rock, alternative hard rock and more.

So when I saw that Linkin Park is part of Green Music Group I was impressed!

Every two weeks, a Green Music Group Artist or group has a challenge for us  to make an eco-friendly change in our lives. Linkin Park challenges is to plant a tree. Just plant a tree.
Take a picture. Go to the Green Music Group site and sign up to post your picture; of you planting a tree.  But wait! Before you blow this off, they are picking one lucky winner from all their challenges to win a 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid LX!

Wouldn't that be great a hybrid car! Plus doing something good for the environment