1st Annual Brewers for Boobs

The 1st Annual Brewers for Boobs began on Thursday, April 1. This event was supporting the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. Different breweries are offering tasters at local places downtown for donations. The bar/restaurant that raises the most in one night, wins.

How do you get new people involved with fundraisers? Offer food, beer and prizes of course!

And, I can't think of a better way to get men involved...put 'brewer' and 'boobs' in the same sentence. Voila - almost $1400 raised in one evening!

The first stop: East Burn downtown on East Burnside.

Jamie and I had dinner in the restaurant side first. I tasted the beers, while enjoying the food.

Then we went back to the tasting room, hoping to win a door prize or two.

No such luck. But, I enjoyed the evening anyways!

I'm hoping the other nights do just as well for this great cause.

Beautiful at 80

Jamie and I decided to drive down to Garibaldi on Wednesday to surprise Gram for her 80th Birthday!

Mom & Rudy were meeting at her house for Margaritas at 5pm. We arrived in Garibaldi at 4:55pm - perfect timing.

Gram & Momma

a piece of Birthday cake

and presents!

she was excited about her new 'booze bag' from Tam

"the party" - the neighbors joined us too

and then more Margaritas

before heading to dinner at Mazatlan in Rockaway

isn't he cute?

After dinner, we dropped the "old" people off at home and went back to Gram's house. We had a couple of drinks and talked with Gram for a while.

Such special memories I have of this beautiful woman.

Happy 80th Birthday Gram - we love you!

Color me crazy

I love Easter.

Coloring eggs, hiding eggs, finding eggs, candy and more candy.

I probably enjoying coloring eggs more than anything. My mom never really liked having us color eggs as kids, well...because...it's messy.

Makena and I decided to try the Tie-Dye coloring kit this year. Not really fun, but messy!

It's very much a "science" getting all of those colors in there with a small dropper.

Only one egg can be done at a time.

So we did normal coloring too. That's the best, I think.

Makena made an egg for Grandma & Papa.

Happy Easter!

Just Opt-Out

According to the US Postal Service, US companies sent 100 billion pieces of direct (junk) mail in 2005 – that’s more than 300 pieces of bulk mail for every man, woman and child in America. One type of junk mail you may be receiving are credit card and insurance offers. If you’re like us, you might wonder how you continue to be “pre-approved” for cards you had no interest in receiving in the first place.

Well, we did a little digging: Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Consumer Credit Reporting Companies are permitted to include your name on lists used by creditors or insurers to make firm offers of credit or insurance that are not initiated by you. The problem with having your name included on such lists is certainly a mountain of waste, but also a ding to your credit score each time one of these creditors or insurers runs your social security number through their screening process.

There is an upside, however. The FCRA also provides you the right to “Opt-Out”, which prevents Consumer Credit Reporting Companies from providing your credit file information for Firm Offers. That’s right: 2 minutes on a optoutprescreen.com will remove your name from lists provided to insurers and creditors by Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion, helping you reduce the deluge of junk mail flooding your mailbox for at least five years.

When you consider that the annual production and disposal of direct mail consumes more energy than 3 million cars, it’s hard to justify not doing whatever you can to reduce that number, huh? This is one free offer that’s hard to refuse.

I actually had just been reading about this and then found the same information on the Green is Sexy blog. I signed Jamie & I up this morning.

So easy to just Opt-Out.

My Letty Bag has arrived!

Kathy stopped by today to bring my Letty Bag that she made. I love it!

I saw a couple of the bags that she had made, and I knew I had to have one. She kindly agreed to add me to her list. (With very little begging on my part!)

A beautiful, hand-made bag (of my chosen fabrics), for a donation to her Relay For Life of Beaverton team. What a great deal!

I think I was the first person to choose a plain fabric for the outside, but I really like the simplicity of it. It fits me perfectly. And the "Smile" button is the best part!

All the bright, cheering fabrics are there too - they are just hiding inside for me to see. All of the white/black inside are separate pockets for tons of goodies. You know - things that I carry: travel toilet seat covers, band-aids & ointments, a small bottle of sunscreen, a couple of Burt's Bees chapstick tubes, hand sanitizer & travel wipes, extra Zoloft - 'just in case', an extra camera battery, travel kleenex, a bottle opener, and more.

Yes, I usually have all of this stuffed into my bag somewhere. Don't you?

I'll be able to take it to court with me and finally hide all of my CASA files in there now too. And a book. And my camera if need be!

So excited about my Letty Bag. Thanks again Kathy!

PS: Makena already wants me to take her to Jo-Ann Fabrics so she can have a Letty Bag too.

Things to love

I've had this post ready for over almost 2 months and for some reason didn't post it.

A few "new" things around the house to love.

My barbershop cabinet that I got on a shopping trip with my sister in Nehalem.

A Taylor Lautner pillow case that I made Makena.

A new bumper sticker for my truck.

New Skoy sponges - we only use a roll of paper towels every few months, but these sponges make us use even less! They are great to clean the counters with every day.

A new bamboo silverware set for Makena's lunch bag.

Count Down to Earth Hour

Tonight’s the night! At 8:30pm wherever you are, lights around the world will be shut off for one hour to help combat climate change in an event called Earth Hour.

Check out the official Earth Hour 2010 video to see what happened and what is to come. For sixty minutes, people and businesses across the globe will turn off their lights to reduce energy consumption. Created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming. Earth Hour shows that, together, our small actions can make a difference to global warming.

Do your part and join in! Flip the switch at 8:30pm tonight.

Earth Hour 2010

Earth Hour is a global event organized by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF).

Each year, people all over the world turn off their lights and appliance from 8:30pm - 9:30pm local time. It's simple action intended to raise awareness toward the need for climate change.

According to MyEarthHour.org, nearly one billion people participated in Earth Hour 2009 - 4,100 cities in 87 countries on 7 continents.

This coming Saturday, March 27 is Earth Hour 2010. Will you be participating in Earth Hour this year?

Good Things #22

Foods aren't the only things in your kitchen that can harbor harmful ingredients. By now, I'm sure you all know that you should steer clear of certain plastics and not use disinfectants and cleaners that contain poisonous chemicals — but do you know why these things are harmful? It's true that we didn't know how harmful some products were years ago, but because we didn't know, does that really mean you're fine? Do you know exactly what's going into your body these days? Here's a little list to help — these are some of the biggest hormone offenders that could be in your kitchen:

• Bisphenol A (BPA): BPAs are chemical compounds that are added to plastics to make them more durable; they're most commonly found in the linings of food containers, beverage cans, some baby bottles, and drinking bottles, and they can leach out into foods and liquids. Harmful side effects from consuming them can include increased risk of breast and prostate cancers, infertility, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and insulin resistance (which, in turn, can lead to type 2 diabetes). To be safe, store foods in glass containers, drink from stainless steel water bottles, and do your best to avoid canned foods.
  
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs): These major endocrine disruptors are chlorinated chemicals that were used as coolants and lubricants in electrical equipment; they may still be found in old fluorescent light fixtures and some electrical appliances. Because of evidence that they built up in the environment and caused harmful health effects, their manufacture was banned in the United States in 1977. Because of their persistence in the environment, however, farmed salmon and certain freshwater fish have PCBs circulating in their systems. Don't take chances when you eat fish — check the Monterey Bay Aquarium's list of safe fish.
  
• Volatile oranic compounds (VOCs): These are chemical compounds emitted as gases by such seemingly innocent everyday products as paints, plastics, cleansers, solvents, air fresheners, dryer sheets, dry-cleaned clothing, and cosmetics, and they can cause your endocrine system a whole mess of problems. I'm talking nausea, headaches, drowsiness, sore throat, dizziness, memory impairment, and — in the long run — possibly cancer. For kitchen-cleaning projects, switch to all-natural products, such as baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, white vinegar, and lemon juice.
  
• Chlorinated products: We all grew up with them — white paper towels, white paper napkins, and white coffee filters. And most of us don't think twice about what these products mean for our endocrine systems. But it's not good: The Environmental Protection Agency found that dioxins, the by-products of many industrial processes involving chlorine, including pulp and paper bleaching, are 300,000 times more carcinogenic than DDT (a synthetic pesticide now banned in the United States). How's that for a wake-up call? Keep yourself and your family safe and stick to products labeled chlorine-free, or PCF. Your hormones will thank you.
  

Not just another weekend

As Oregonians, we know we have to enjoy the sunshine every chance we get. Yesterday was a beautiful, Spring day in Oregon.

Tshirt and flip-flop day. My favorite.

Jamie and I did a few things around the house and then headed to the spa for a couples massage. It was just what I needed! I'd like to try to 'fit' one in every month from now on. (I know I probably won't be able to, but it's a great thought.)

Then we went downtown to walk around a bit before dinner at El Gaucho. Plenty of time to enjoy Portland and take some pictures.

a game of hacky-sack at Pioneer Courthouse Square

apparently the thieves only needed the tires

We ate so much great food, that we needed to do a bit more walking around afterwords. We stopped at a few spots for dessert, but couldn't decide what we wanted and kept walking.

We found a group of musicians playing some very interesting music. One song they sang was apparently a song that got them kicked-off of America's Got Talent. Makes for a good night. : )

We ended up going to Stanford's for dessert and coffee. Then we went home to watch a few hours of tv.

With Jamie being gone for more than 7 days at a time, our DVR is very full. We plan to spend all day Sunday trying to catch up.

Perfect way to end the weekend. A full day, on the couch, watching tv in my pajamas.

Transformation Update

Today was the last day of week 9 in our Transformation Challenge. We started the Bill Philip's Transformation Challenge 2010 back in January. It's an 18 week challenge and I am SO HAPPY that we are half way through and still going strong!!

I have been to the gym every Monday - Friday for the past 9 weeks and I love how great I feel! I have more energy now and (usually) enjoy my time there.

Jamie has a week to make up. He was gone for a week this month as well as a few days last month. I nagged him about the gym, but he didn't make it. He was not too happy to return to the gym this Wednesday!

We do weights on Monday, Wednesday & Friday and then cardio on Tuesday and Thursday. Most Thursdays I take an Aqua Fit class which I'm also enjoying. Thankfully there is a tv on almost every cardio machine - that way I can't hear myself hyperventilating. We try to rest on Saturday and then do light cardio on Sunday.

I'm down about 10lbs and have lost almost 1 1/2 inches. I'm mostly appreciating how great I'm feeling every day! We're eating tons of protein - hopefully turning our fat to muscle soon. We'll see how things go in another 9 weeks.

For a treat, I've scheduled a couples massage tomorrow afternoon and then we have dinner reservations at El Gaucho's downtown. I can't wait!!

PS: I decided to do this as a "congrats" for the challenge as well as to celebrate our 8 years together. Happy Anniversary Honey! Thank you for your constant support and love.

PPS: I also wanted to take Jamie to El Gaucho's for a great steak as he'll be going in for a colonoscopy on Wednesday. *I'll save the details on that for another post.*

Happy Double-Digits TeaLee!

TeaLee Ann turned 10 on March 12th! We celebrated at Skate World again this year, and then had dinner at Red Robin.

I didn't skate (no way) but most of the kids did. Makena had quite the bruise on her knee the night - she doesn't skate much either.

What they don't say is that there are 6000 grams of sugar in it!

The Birthday Girl - always showing "peace"

Makena & Hailee

Kylah even got a lesson

And here is where the picture at Red Robin should be. I had to take it with my phone (left my camera in the car) and now I can't get the picture off the phone. Ahhh...technology...

Happy 10th Birthday TeaLee!!

Good Things #21

This is part of an article I read by Carrie Sturrock (The Oregonian) this morning...

It was surprising when the Oregon Senate defeated a bill last month to ban the chemical once and for all from the bottles and sippy cups sold here. Washington has done it. So has Minnesota, Connecticut and Maryland. The chemical has been linked to increased risk for breast and prostate cancer.

The Food and Drug Administration says this about BPA: "the National Toxicology Program at the National Institutes of Health and FDA have some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants and young children."

Only recently did I realize that bottles and sippy cups are only part of the problem. Most of the canned food on supermarket shelves sits in a BPA lining. The food processing industry says it hasn't found a low-cost alternative. So I have ingested a lot of BPA over the years. And I know I've fed it to my kids.

But Michael Potter, owner of Eden Foods in Michigan, didn't want to wait after he learned about BPA. He asked the Ball Corporation more than a decade ago to make him a can with a BPA-free lining. Since 1999, he has sold all of his beans in BPA-free cans -- 33 products total. It costs more to do this -- a 7-percent increase in the product's price tag in a competitive environment where a half percent is significant. Granted, it's easier for Potter because he's in an organic market and his customers will pay more. Potter is even shifting to glass jars for some highly acidic food that have an extremely short shelf life in metal cans without the chemical.

Canning manufacturers are looking for BPA-free can linings, but that's a long process, said Erica Hagedorn, a lobbyist for the Northwest Food Processors Association. The current cans prevent spoiling, maintain quality and are cost-effective, she said. "What we're using now has the highest level of food safety and food protection," she said.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has an ongoing $30 million, two-year study of BPA and its impact on human health. And the Oregon Environmental Council isn't giving up the fight, even after two years of making no headway in the Legislature. Last year they championed a bill to require the Oregon Department of Human Services to list chemicals of concern that children are exposed to and disclosure if products contained them. This year they asked for the BPA ban in bottles and cups. The environmental council plans to return with yet another bill.

Eliminating BPA from can linings is also a goal, said Renee Hackenmiller-Paradis of the environmental council. Her advice until then: avoid food from BPA-lined cans, especially women of child-bearing years; frozen or Tetra pak boxed food is much better; fresh is best.

The council is also studying non-legislative ways to ban the chemical from certain products, possibly by tapping the Oregon Department of Human Services, which has the authority to ban chemicals with acute health impacts, Hackenmiller-Paradis said. The council will also work with Head Start and hospitals to ensure the bottles they provide don't contain BPA.