Happy 100Th To Me..

So, in the newly hatched tradition of Blogland I am having a 100th post give-away :)

Leave a comment any time from today until next Saturday and I'll pop your name into the hat to win [drum roll sound] a Words in Stone kit and a stack of gently used books perfect for Summer Reading...

I have one of these kits sitting in the garage waiting for me to work up the nerve to try making adorable Garden Word Stone Thingies...it has been waitin' a while...Along with being Craft Inpaired, I am also Craft Intimidated...

The books are:

Shem Creek by Dorothea Benton Frank

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

The Florabama Ladies' Auxiliary Sewing Circle by Lois Battle

Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch by Haywood Smith

Chamomile Mourning (Tea Shop Mystery #6) by Laura Childs

Bet Your Bottom Dollar by Karin Gillespie (linked that one in case ya'll haven't

heard of it)

I almost threw this into the pot

but it is so darn cute I just couldn't let it go! it is also my first wall pocket...I'm plannin' on painting that screw head (that sounds vulgar) white so it isn't so In Your Face...just picked this up at the Habitat shop for a quarter...unfortunately, once I have 1 darling thing I love, I tend to become obsessed with finding more of the same...another collection I do not need...I should just yank that CUTE wall pocket off the, um, wall and send it packin'...but I won't...because Mr G would have a fit if I had a brand newly painted wall that need a hole patchin' job...

a Lecture, BTW, which I received this morning after asking for the swing arm lamp in our bedroom to be moved yet again...but since I rearranged the bedroom yesterday afternoon the lamp looked kind of silly just sitting all alone out of reach of the bed or chair...and presenting a real hazard when one tried to squeeze by to go to the far side of the bed...

It isn't like the room isn't going to have to be painted again anyway since those bookshelves came off the wall leaving holes that had to be patched...and I cannot for the life of me get the touch-up paint to match the 9 coats of Martha Stewart's Barn red...

I decided not to bring that piece of information into the conversation...ah yes, the Grasshopper can be taught...

Update on Picking 5 More Things to Do for the Environment:

I'm going back & forth over what to move forward with doing for lessening #17's impact on the planet...some things just seem like so much window dressing...others seem so drastic that I'm not sure I could make myself do them much less get the Rest of the Household on board (cloth toilet paper, anyone?)...

But this morning, I did drag 2 large cloth bags...and Mr G...to the H/M (that's my affectionate term for Wal-Mart...I'll leave it to ya'll to figure out what the H stands for) for grocery shopping...

What I learned:

1. always take 1 more bag than you think you'll need

2. go when the grocery store (whichever one you use) isn't busy...because if you turn helping out the planet into a PITA for the checker and the people behind you, you really are going to set their minds against pursuing at least this option...fortunately, we got a checker who was fine with sitting the things on top of the little spinning wheel for me to shove into my cloth bags...and I don't think we slowed her down too much...but I did still end up with 4 plastic bags (see #1)

3. if you're pushing the buggy out the parking lot anyway, don't bag things that just don't really need bagging...for instance...the 10 lb bag of rice...and the soy milk...more than a 2 things of milk in any bag is heavy enough...and I'm always draggin' home at least 3 things of milk...

4. take a partner whenever possible to help when the checker is moving fast

5. just go ahead & hand your receipt to the person at the door (if in H/M) since you'll be wheelin' out with a lot of unbagged stuff...(is unbagged a real word? or am I forging new links in our language tree?)

6. bags with gusseted bottoms (should there be two Ts in gusseted? gussetted? I have no idea...okay, spellcheck says one T) work best...

I do think the whole Takin' Your Own Bags thing works best if you are shoppin' where you can just hand over your bags to the bag boy (bag person?) and let him/her iron out the kinks the easiest way to keep things flowin' along smoothly...

and I noticed this past week...because I bought a few gifts...and did some thriftin'...that most people are pretty used to being told "no bag, please"...I think the problem arises when you wait until after your purchase has been bagged...make sure to go ahead & say it early on in your transaction...like "Hi! No bag, please"...

I'm thinkin' New Step #2 is going to be along the lines of No Plastic Allowed That Isn't a 1 or a 2...our community only recycles 1s & 2s...no 5s...there are a lotta 5s out there...Yogurt has moved onto my No-Buy list because I cannot find a yogurt in a 1 or a 2...I may have to start makin' my own yogurt...

anyhoo...I'll let ya'll know what the 5 New Things End Up Being some time here shortly...I just want to make sure these 5 New Things are Keepers...