Is that fog I see?

I think it is! Even though FireStorm 2007 is still in full effect, the air flow is coming off the ocean and for the first day in a week I feel like I might want to go outside! I went to the post office to mail Hadley's birthday gift and the witch hat I made for Susan. Both are very exciting and I hope to get photos of them in action. But what was the real thrill of my day? Yes, taking photos of my adorable dogs was fun, but oh my gosh, I smelled the ocean! The fog was so thick and wonderful I could smell the cool, moist, salty ocean air!

A crisis of mass proportion

Pop!

"Uh, what was that?"

A sad reply, "It was the TV."

The light bulb in our television burned out. I didn't realize that our TV had a light bulb but apparently it does. This light bulb is the life-giving entity of our TV. Without it, THERE IS NO TV.

Now this might not seem like a crisis to you, but you are not Thomas. He was so sad within fifteen minutes of this occurrence he couldn't focus on anything else. Within two hours he was throwing himself across the sofa in dramatic, unrelenting seizures of emotion. OK, maybe it wasn't that extreme, but it was pretty bad.

He loves his TV. If the US allowed marriages between anything other than a man and a woman, I might be in trouble. He spends excessive amounts of time with his television. In the two years and four months he has had with his television that light bulb gifted him 5,276 hours of enjoyment. That's 219 days of television, straight.

But do not worry, the $130 replacement light bulb arrived in the mail. We replaced the bulb and all is well.

It's a rough life

I really don't know how she gets through the day.

See that tan pillow at the base of the bed? That's hers. I sewed it for her when she we picked her out at the shelter. She sleeps on it if something else is in her way on our bed, like us.

Blog Action Day

This year's Blog Action Day topic is the environment. Bloggers can participate by writing about the topic in whatever way suits their blog. Helping the environment is not something we can do over night. Start by choosing one thing that can make a difference.

My choice:

My friend Tess of Made by Tess fame, developed these amazing grocery totes. You take them to the grocery store so you don't have to leave with 1000 petroleum based plastic bags. They're large enough to fit all your veggies, milk and chips. I've loaded mine up to 35 pounds and not a single stitch gave loose! I love these bags, I own two myself and have given more as gifts.

The whole idea of taking your own bag to the store is common in Europe, but never really became part of American culture. Hopefully things will take off soon with people like Julia Roberts getting in on the action.

Photo courtesy of Jezebel.

For quick trips to the store for eggs or chocolate I use a Chico Bag. They're small and they fold up into a self contained pouch for easy purse storage.

So go, find a way to change something in your everyday life. These bags are a great start. In case you're not convinced, here are some frightening statistics about plastic bags from Chicobags.com:

- The average American uses between 300 and 700 plastic bags per year.

- If everyone in the United States tied their annual consumption of plastic bags together in a giant chain, the chain would reach around the Earth not once, but 760 times!

- According to the American Forest and Paper Association, in 1999 the U.S. alone used 10 billion paper grocery bags, requiring 14 million trees to be cut down.

- Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photo-degrade—breaking down into small toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food-chain when mistaken for zooplankton or jellyfish.

It's about time

Suddenly, from the shower, I hear a loud, reverberating, "Oh, man!"

What could have happened I wonder. I didn't hear a clunk or any loud noise, so he's not hurt. Did he accidentally squirt the entire contents of the shampoo bottle down the drain? Did a spider jump on his head? I walk in the bathroom.

"What happened, hon?"

"I, I wasn't thinking," he stammers. "I put my wedding ring on when I woke up this morning!"