Soft Drink Boycott

If you’ve read my entire post on the Chest Pains, then you know one of my reasons for boycotting certain products….one of which is Soft Drinks....or rather, the Gum Arabic that goes in soft drinks. Anyway, my 2nd reason for the soft drink boycott is in reference to the crimes against humanity in Darfur, Sudan.

Last week, I read an article that listed the top ten dictators on the globe. One of them is Omar Al-Bashir. The article states, “Under Bashir’s rule, the Darfur region of Sudan continues to be the site of a violent power struggle among government forces and allied militia, rebels and bandits. In 2007, Bashir ordered aerial bombing raids that killed dozens of civilians. While Bashir did appoint an official to investigate the human-rights situation in Darfur, the appointee himself has been suspected of war crimes by the International Criminal Court.”

This same article also reveals that the U.S. Link to Sudan and Omar is “The U.S. government has harshly criticized the abuses in Sudan. The Clinton Administration issued trade sanctions in 1997, but it exempted gum arabic, which is used in products ranging from soft drinks and candy to shoe polish and stamps. The U.S. still imports more than 4000 tons of the substance from Sudan annually.”

Some other articles I read that affect my decision.
http://www1.american.edu/TED/gumarab.htm
http://www.amnestyusa.org/darfur/page.do?id=1351050

My first thought upon reading this is that I’m always hearing about the crimes against humanity over there and while I disagree with our government sticking their noses where it doesn’t belong, I do feel sympathetic and would like to do something to help those poor people. I decided that I would no longer support those atrocities with my purchase of soft drinks. Of course, I’ll have to find a way to combat my withdrawal. Arrgggh!

Thanks for reading and feel free to share your thoughts.

Sons and Chores

The Teen came home from school today. He was excited that he had been able to purchase a Playstation 2 from a classmate and he wanted to get it plugged in immediately! I told him no. Actually, his reason was, "I just want to check it out and see if it works." (Ummm, looks like we need a lesson on frugal or wise spending!)

I told him, No, you can't plug it in right now...there are other responsiblities that have priority. To which I received a loud and long, "Maaaaahhhhhhhhmmmmmm!" I proceeded to tell him that his grandfather was waiting next door for Teen to come over and take care of prior committments. Teen's attitude gradually got worse as the afternoon went on.

When he returned home for dinner, he expressed his feelings regarding unfair designation of certain household chores. Meaning, he didn't want to do certain chores anymore because he's ALWAYS the one who has to do it.

Rather than argue with him (as tends to happen quite often), I suggested that he make me a chore chart that more fairly designates the household responsibilities among the members living here that are capable of performing such duties. To my surprise, he returned about an hour later with the requested chart. His idea is to rotate the chores on a daily basis. As it works out, the older household members will have 2 responsibilities at least once a week.

It's really not a bad idea, but it would be hard to remember (especially for me) that today's "Monday" therefore it's my turn to do the dishes and cook dinner.

Finally, the Teen, DH, and I all sat down, looked over the chart, and decided to try it on a trial basis this week just to see if it would improve things. However, now that the chart has been made, it will be MY responsibility to see that everyone is on task. Hmmm....how did this help me?

Training Pain

If I haven't mentioned it before, my brother has asked me to accompany him on the Crescent City Classic 5k. I'm not an athlete by any means but I figured that if I can walk a mile or two right now, then surely I can do a 5k in a month. So, I've been out walking every day this week.

Walking is great exercise but I'm not enjoying it so much right now. It seems that I have developed a problem. First of all, after each walk, my left ankle is throbbing and swollen. Immediately after I get home, I have to get off my feet, prop them up, and place ice bags on each ankle for a few minutes. After icing, the pain subsides and I'm okay but not great.

Yesterday I did 3 miles. Halfway through, the throbbing pain returned. By the time I ended the walk and was at home, I was limping. I came in and did the ice, remaining off my feet the rest of the evening. When I woke up this morning and got out of bed....OUCH!!!...Now I'm limping again and dreading today's walk.

I think I've developed tendonitis but I'm not sure. Also, while walking, I can feel the ankle pop and grind. Most likely an arthritic symptom.

This has happened before and I thought it was just my shoes. So I bought more and then didn't do any walking for over a year resulting in my sedentary lifestyle. I would love to do more exercise and/or walking but I certainly would like for it to be painless....well, painless beyond the normal pain, if you know what I mean.

Does anyone out in bloggy land have any suggestions?!!!???? Help!!!

My "Bucket List"

Hubby and I went out for a walk this morning. We haven't done that in quite a while. Strolling down the road while holding hands and talking. We ventured off into the woods for a bit with him tracking deer tracks. He says this one that we were following is an old stag, his hocks were huge!!! He said he'd like to bag that one someday.

The "someday" got my attention. I told him that lately I've been thinking of lots of things that I would like to accomplish......"someday". I really would like to have experienced "life" before I get too old or arthritic to do certain things. My mom would tell me something similar to, "You're too pessimistic." or "Why would you want to do THAT?". Honestly, my answer would be, "Just because."

I don't necessarily want to do these things "before I die" but I would like to start getting out of the house and experiencing things besides the mall or Walmart. It's been such a beautiful week this week and I've been feeling a bit of cabin fever I suppose. With my next birthday looming in June, I guess I'm also embarking on a little mid-life crisis. It's time for me to get some things done!!!

My first challenge would be to figure out how to do these things while caring for my girls! But for starters, here's 10 things on my list that I'd like to accomplish in the next 8 years.

1. Bicycle the Natchez Trace from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS (edit: not necessarily on one of those itty bitty bike seats. I like mine wide and cushiony!)
2. Horseback ride the length of the Mississippi River starting in New Orleans and going to the start of it.
3. Horseback ride in the footsteps of Lewis & Clark.

(Edited 2/9/09 to rephrase #2 & #3: Cross the United States either N-S or E-W via horse drawn transportation)

4. Attend a Luau in Hawaii.
5. Backpack and camp in Alaska.
6. Horsepack and camp in Montana.
7. See the 7 natural and man made wonders of America.

The Natural Wonders of the U.S.:

• Glacier Bay, Alaska
• Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Arizona - Done in July of 2008
• Grand Tetons, Western Wyoming, South of Yellowstone
• Hawaii Volcanoes, Big Island of Hawaii
• Niagra Falls
• Yellowstone, NW corner of Wyoming
• Yosemite, in the Sierra Nevada of Central California

The Man Made Wonders of the U.S.

• the Brooklyn Bridge, NY
• the Empire State Building, NY
• the Golden Gate Bridge, CA
• the Hoover Dam, NV/AZ
• Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
• Seattle Space Needle, WA
• Washington Monument, DC - done as a child though I didn't go up inside of it

8. See the 7 natural and man made wonders of the World.

The Natural Wonders of the World:

• Aurora Borealis, usually in Alaska but I saw them in Jacksonville, FL in 1988!
• Grand Canyon, AZ - done in July of 2008
• Paricutin, Michoacan, Mexico - the youngest active volcano and the only one whose birth was witnessed by mankind.
• Victoria Falls, Southern Africa, between Zamiba & Zimbabwe.
• Great Barrier Reef, Australia
• Mount Everest
• Harbour of Rio de Janeiro

The Man Made Wonders of the World: I can't seem to find a list of this. I'll have to look later.

9. Visit the areas where Jesus was born, lived, and taught.
10. Rent a beach house for a month on the East coast.

So, far, that's all I'm adding to this list. As I accomplish each item, I plan to cross it off and maybe add another. I truly feel that these things can be accomplished. I did tell hubby to plan for the Natchez bicycling trip this fall. It should only take about 2 weeks to do that one.

Do you have such a list? Please share!

Housecleaning: Day 1

One of my new year's resolutions was to start FLYing using the FlyLady.net method of housekeeping. So, I'm posting a picture of my shiny sink. Since Monday I was thinking that this week's cleaning zone was on the living room. After checking in today, I found I was mistaken and that this week's zone was in fact the kitchen. Well, that's good....because I was failing miserably in keeping the living area picked up but was doing well in the kitchen! How funny is that?

My shiny sink!!! Woo Hoo!!!

Now, for my next project. We enter the house/double-wide-modular-home through the front door after driving and unloading in the muddy front yard. It's awful and stinky!!

Note the white rubber boots, purchased just last night so I could walk without getting my feet wet. I can't find rubber boots for my girls ANYWHERE!! I had to carry them in so they wouldn't get any muddier than they already were. But, that's for another blog.

So, would anyone happen to have any orginzational ideas for this corner of my home?