Reducing consumption/reusing....

I just went to my favorite haunt in Singapore the Salvation Army. If I can, and I do tend to forget, I try to find as much of my stuff as possible there. There is nothing more green than reusing old goods.

So, I bought 10 books today. Didn't need them, but I am a book junkie... and at 1 each (buy one get one free sale) I picked up a few. Plus, less that goes into the landfill in Singapore, a good thing. I have also scouted out a few pieces of furnature that we need. A clothing receptical (an armoire) for the guest room and perhaps a teak table for the patio. Which, I think is a good thing, the less teak they cut... the less slash burning... the better we are.

Thrifing rocks!

Home Sweet Home

Well, I am home. It has been a long couple of weeks on the road, and truth be known I am back at it next week. I talked to my mom yesterday and said I look forward to April in my own bed. Good news is that the Jet Lag has been pretty good this time. I am becoming a strong proponant of better living through chemicals when it comes to dealing with Jet Lag. Pop an Ambien on the plane... sleep from LA to Tokyo. Go direct to bed when you get home (not hard considering that it was 3am)...

Next night force yourself to stay up until 9... REALLY HARD... pop an Ambien. The next day (Monday) I was really good until around 2:30 when I got a bit light headed, but it passed and I had very little problem until around 8:30 that night. Stayed up til 10. Pop one more little sleep helper and you know what... today I don't feel tired... just don't want to be working that's all... so a normal night planned for me tonight and digging into the World Without End by Ken Follet.

Ok, back to the grindstone... lots of TI work, plus... tons of FFC stuff to get done too :-)

Yes I really am a Disney Geek

The proof if you needed it~

Busy, Turning 42 and spending time at NUH

First, we had another overnight trip to the hospital. Kiera had another bout of "asthma" which required her to head off to the hospital for a night of nebulizer treatments. She was doing fine, but over the day it got harder and harder for her to breath. He O2 saturation rate went down to around 94/95 so they checked her in. It was 1am before we got upstairs... the doctors were really trying to send her home... and once we hit the room, she was out. It was another hour of processing intake for me....and then every hour they came in to give her meds/check something/fiddle. The best news is the next morning she was fine, as if it never happened and we were able to send her home.

CHA is looming, only 2 weeks. I have most of the big items (except for the catalog) done and now it is just wrapping up what was a long and busy months worth of prep. For the most part everything must be done by Saturday as Faye gets on the plane for a fun vacation before the show... and I finish up the rest of the work.

Oh, and I turned 42. Hard to think of myself as middle aged... but I guess it is creaping up :-) Well a 6 and 4 year old keep me young that is for sure!

Peace~

Happy New Year

The year 2007 has come to a close and as I sit here on the second day of 2008, I think about the pledges I made last year...and failed... and what I can do better for the coming year.

We just moved houses, and our goal is that we don't have to move again for a very long time. I was temped the other day to buy a new table for our outdoor patio, so that we could dine outdoors. I thought better of it for two reasons, first, I should save the money that it would cost to purchase it new when second hand ones are plentiful and don't involve additional deforestation.

I have also purchased new furnature for other parts of the house, including a new Kitchen island, a desk for my office and a TV console. While I would have loved to buy teak, I really don't like the fact that most teak harvested today is not done sustainably and is often done by way of illegal logging. So, while I felt a little bit like Edward Norton's character in the fight club, it was all IKEA for me. I appriciate the fact that IKEA at least tries to work enviromentally and packs goods flat, uses renewable resources, charges for plastic bags... and is consitantly ranked one of the world's most environmental companies. Ok, heritage quality probably not, but at least I can feel good about the purchase.

One of the good things that I strive to do is to work continullly on sourcing local produce and food, eating within the season, purchasing more organic and eating less meat. My gift from my husband for Christmas (in addition to the furnature) was a copy of Jamie at Home, Jamie Oliver's new book on eating fresh grown, seasonal food. While not totally applicable for life in the tropics, inspirational it is. Oh, and did I tell you... since I now have a real patio... a place to grow... I have started some cilantro and basil and will go get myself some peppers, brinjal(that's eggplant for the US folk) and a PAPAYA tree. I can't wait to walk out to the patio and pick my own fruit!

So, no promises, no pledges, just an honest post from someone who is always conflicted, always striving and always learning.

Peace on earth and to you.

Happy New Year!

K