The Good, The Bad, and the Really, Really, Ugly

The good: 

Mr. GV brought home a huge stack of journals, mail, and other papers from his mailbox at work.  Included in the assortment were the course materials for a certificate program he took 15 years ago.  He doesn't need the materials anymore, and I imagine with the way medicine moves they are out of date anyway. 

From this notebook I salvaged:

-one huge 3-ring binder (will probably offer up on Freecycle, along with a couple others)

-21 dividers that can be reused or if no one wants them I will cut off the tab and use for scrap paper for me/art paper for my nephew

-322 sheets of paper that are only printed on one side so will go next to my printer to be reused for just about everything.  (I just printed out my 2011 mortgage interest statement on a used piece of paper.  I don't think my accountant is going to mind!) 

-And best of all, only 3 sheets of paper are going into the recycling bin, because they were printed on both sides.  

 

 The bad:

Below you see the stack of professional journals, along with a few paper envelopes and medical updates that are sent to Mr. GV at work.  He, along with (dare I say it?) the bulk of medical professionals, never look at these journals.  In my opinion, these particular ones are more like magazines.  They contain ads every few pages (54 total pages in one, 27 which are ads, and 95/44 in a second one, if you include half-page ads with text on the same page.) Most people in Mr. GV's department throw them into the trash.  I told him today if he wanted to let his coworkers know, I would be happy to recycle their copies too. 

 The ugly: 

The plastic bag that comes with almost every single "journal."  This is ridiculous.  Sometimes they are including a second supplement with the first, but the majority are ads for more products! 

I have both emailed and sent back response cards asking to please take Mr. GV off their mailing list, but one company in particular simply will not do it.

I have looked online and cannot find a definitive answer as to whether or not this plastic can be recycled, and there is no recycle number on the bags.  So for now, I will be throwing this in the trash, into the landfill, where it will pollute this planet for as long as any of us can fathom.  Remember---plastic never actually goes away.  It will eventually break down into smaller particles, but it's never actually "gone." 

And so, even though I'm happy to reuse and recycle, what I'd most like to have done here is REFUSE.  And I can't, and that makes this a definite "ugly." 

The little things

A few little things I've been doing recently, green-wise:

Mr. GV attends continuing education every year, and that always means a lot of paper.  Two full binders of paper, as a matter of fact.  All things that he will never reference again.  There are a few sheets that are blank on one side, and they are pulled out and put beside our printer.  We don't do a lot of printing in this house, but there are coupons and a few other things, and I use those papers. 

The pages in this picture are all printed on both sides, and there wasn't much I could do with those, so they have gone to the recycling facility. 

Mr. GV went through the items hanging up in his closet that he hasn't worn in the past 6 months.  He managed to let loose of these 6 shirts, plus one more that I am going to keep for myself, to wear around the house. I'm proud of these 6 that will be leaving our house soon, because it is tough for Mr. GV to let go of things, and I sincerely appreciate it when he does.  These shirts will be headed to Goodwill in the next couple of weeks. 

I had stopped using dryer sheets for a couple of years, but the static is just terrible in the winter.  I found 2 boxes of dryer sheets in my laundry closet, and cut the sheets all in thirds.  That is enough to keep the static down, and as a bonus, one box will last three times as long!

(Dark picture--sorry about that.)  I buy conditioner that comes in a plastic bottle.  Is there any other kind?  I have to be honest--I have finally found a vegan conditioner that makes me happy, so I haven't bothered to check to see if they sell conditioner in a container other than plastic. 

Lately I've been cutting the bottles open and using a spatula to get the last bit out before recycling the bottes. The amount I got out of 2 bottles was enough to do my 'prone to super-tangles' hair a couple of times. 

As I was putting my Christmas decorations back into their tubs for another 11 months, I pulled out a few pieces of which I don't have any sort of attachment.  This includes a stocking I was given when I held a volunteer position, a small Beanie, 3 candle holders (minus one glass that broke), and some bud vases.  I will admit that I am waffling about the vases though, as I kinda love them.  They may not make it to the thrift store, but the rest certainly will. 

I'm not sure if you can really see how big this bag is, but that's a wide doorway between my dining room and kitchen.  There is some heavy-duty bubble wrap in there, the likes of which I have never seen before.  It came with our new microwave, and is extremely sturdy.  The rest of the bag is filled with regular bubble wrap, packing peanuts, and air pockets. 

A few months ago I offered up some bubble wrap and packing peanuts on Freecycle, and the owner of a local used bookstore took them, as they use it all in shipping books and handcrafted wooden items that her husband makes.  I save it up, and whenever I get an assortment together, I take it by.

All on their own, these little things don't seem like very much, but when you add them all together, you can see what a boost the environment is getting from recycling and reusing.  Of course the VERY BEST thing to do is Refuse!  Refuse that plastic bag, refuse to buy that dust collector, etc.  But sometimes we made poor choices in our past, we have no choice in the matter, or darn it--we just don't want to change that one thing that we love so much! 

New Year's Day was a lazy day for some of us. 

Unfortunately Mom had to go to work. Mr. GV, middle sister, and I just hung around the house for the most part. Eventually Mr. GV and I went to visit his parents. 

Later we had a traditional meal of blackeyed peas, cornbread, and greens.  Notice there are no collards on my plate.  That's my New Year's tradition---refusing to eat the greens!  I did have some okra (green--does that count?) and a riblet. 

New Year's Eve 2011

New Year's Eve we had our second annual game night with Mr. GV's brother and his family. 

Casper and Macy, as you can see, were really into it. 

The cats were similarly enthused.  This makes me think of the Princess...er....the Prince and the Pea. 

Nephew and my mom giving clues with Pictionary.

Nephew and ESIL (Essentially Sister-in-Law) preparing to battle it out.

 The men, going up against the women in "Battle of the Sexes." 

 Mom is just a tad bit competative....this is her "SCORE!" move. 

Chicken-Fried Tofu

Mr. GV doesn't do a lot of cooking.  It's not that he isn't a good cook, he just doesn't do a lot of work in the kitchen.  But when he does---wow!  He is good at cooking with his instincts, whereas I am much more a follower of recipes. 

There's a yummy bit of food on the hot bar at Whole Foods called Chicken Fried Tofu.  And it is so good. 

Mr. GV thought he would try his hand at making a similar recipe, and he did a great job of it!  It wasn't exactly the same, but very close, and very delicious. He steamed vegetables and cooked rice to go along with it, and I so enjoyed it!

Chocolate!!

My husband knows me so well.  He filled my stocking with lots of vegan chocolate goodies, all ordered from Vegan Essentials.  VE is a great resource for anyone looking for vegan items for yourself or as a gift.  There are other great online vegan stores out there, but VE is the first one we tried and the one we have ordered from most often.  We also order vitams and other supplements from them as well.  (Notice one of the candy bars is open and one is actually empty--just a wrapper left.  I simply could not wait!)

I'm not getting anything out of mentioning VE.  It's just an online vegan store that we've had good results from, and I want to make sure others know about it. 

Christmas dinner

Our Christmas dinner this year was....breakfast!  It's nice to get a break from the "traditional" Christmas dinner that takes so long to prepare.  And after all, we had pretty much the same thing just a month previously for Thanksgiving. 

I actually remembered the Christmas crackers this year!

 My mil got in on the fun

 as did my mom.

 I even got Mr. GV to pose with me for a picture.  (And immediately after, he took that paper crown off as fast as he could. lol) 

 I'm so glad my in-laws came over for dinner.  We spent so many years running from one house to the next.  Last year was the first year we didn't go to their house on Christmas Day (although we have never missed a Christmas Eve) and the only reason we didn't then was because Mr. GV had to work all day and we were waiting for him in the evening to do our family Christmas.  I see a new pattern developing---the in-laws can now come to us! 

After my sister and her boyfriend left, Macy decided she could finally play with her new toy in peace, and the squeaking commenced. 

Christmas #5

We spent Christmas Eve night with Mom.  Christmas Day morning we Skyped with J and enjoyed his excitement over his Christmas toys plus watched the "unveiling" of the wooden kitchen we got him, and that his dad put together for him.

Around noon we finally got around to opening our gifts.  lol I passed them out this year.  I cracked up at the fact that Macy's toy was put in a Victoria's Secret bag from last year!

This year we all had good cameras on our phone, as evidenced below.

 (I don't have a picture of my sister with her Ipod Touch camera, but it was in play too!)

Mr. GV got a good laugh out of this shirt that Mom got for him.

Mom is not a big reader (the only one in the family, including both son-in-laws and grandson) but she enjoys a good biography every now and then, and she is a big fan of Regis. 

 My sweet old girl.  I'm just thrilled to have her here for another Christmas. I'm missing her brother, Max, bunches right now.  I miss Callie the cat too, but she kept to herself a lot.

 Sparky getting his lion from Mom and his cube from us.

 Again, she was SO OVER all this Christmas stuff.  She was also sitting in the same chair as me, safe from my sister's boyfriend.  Macy is nervous around anyone who she hasn't known from birth.  Seriously.  Well, except for J, and we say that she thinks he is her puppy, because she is protective over him.

She decided to just ignore her toy for the time being. 

Here's Casper with his goose and rope toys.

Casper getting some lovin' from B earlier.

 Mr. GV just hanging out, waiting for the fun to start.

 My toe socks.  Mom gifted my sisters and I each with a pair last Christmas.  I've never had a pair before.  Not so sure how I feel about them---it's kinda like a permanent toe wedgie.  lol

S and B with their stash.

Christmas #4

Christmas Eve evening, we took my Mom with us to my in laws house.  Here's just a few pictures from that evening.

 My mom got an adorable ornament with "Doodlebug" on it, which is the nickname she's had for J since he was born. 

We were having a good laugh over something at this point. 

A Debbie Macomber book--the last in her Cedar Cove series.  *Sob*

Mr. GV explaining to his mom how her new home phone works.

 We decided to drag Mr. GV's dad into the 21st century by giving him his first cell phone!  He's 71 and has a history of heart attack.  I consider it a necessity to have a cell phone for emergencies at this point in his life. 

Christmas #3

Our next quick Christmas celebration was here at our home.  We exchanged our gifts Christmas Eve morning. 

Naturally Macy was looking forward to this part.  lol  Here she is checking out her stocking, which had a bag of treats inside.

Meanwhile Gabby enjoyed her own bit of treats from her stocking.

 Mr. GV enjoyed getting his tablet computer.

 And so did I! (I got the Kindle Fire.)

 If you have dogs, do they know how to get their toys out of gift bags?  All our dogs have always been able.  Matter of fact, Buffy the cocker spaniel, our first dog, would search under the Christmas tree until she found her toy.  lol

Macy seems to enjoy her penguin.  She also got a Lambchomp (like the puppet) from her Nana, and a bone-shaped plush toy from her Grandma.