Friday, February 23, 2007

It Never Made Sense To Me!

I have always resisted making my bed, figuring you get back in it at night and straighten out the covers. I have argued with my mother, and even my daughter, about making the bed and why I just don't. Well, it turns out I was right all along.

I read an excerpt of a new book by Jeff Bredenberg, How to Cheat at Cleaning outlining "what we really want is to cut corners in every way we possibly can and still be proud of our homes. So I call it cheating."

His advice includes 10 Things to Stop Cleaning Now. Among them: Stop making the bed.

"Dust mites thrive on the moisture in your bed covers and mattress," he writes. The mites cause asthma and other breathing difficulties. "When you leave your bed unmade all day, the moisture escapes and the dust mites die."

So there all you people that yelled at me for never making the bed...


Wednesday, February 07, 2007

I Was A Patches Pal

Growing up in the Seattle area, I was a Patches Pal. There was this tv clown, J.P. Patches who lived in the City Dump. He had some other buddies, including Gertrude and others I don't remember. There is an upcoming event to launch the kickoff of a community-wide drive to create a J.P. Patches statue. Land was donated in the Fremont area, next to the infamous statue of people waiting for the bus. Even the Seattle Mayor is getting involved as a former Patches Pal. The setting of the City Dump may explain my ongoing fascination with trash and dumps (though more politically correct now to call them landfills.)
I was on the show one time when in 2nd or 3rd grade, as I sold alot of Camp Fire Girl mints.That was back in the days when the mint sales were competitive -- prizes for who sold the most. I had sold the second largest amount in my group and got a hug from J.P. in recognition. I really did sell them door-to-door; in those days parents did not take them to work to sell them to co-workers. Go to www.jppatches.com.
Another Seattle kids tv celebrity was Stan Boreson, famous for his side-kick -- Nomo, a beagle. He was very gentle and would sing all kinds of songs on his show.
Getting back to trash -- I read that "Phoenix residents throw away a lot more than most Americans. Each day, every one of the city's nearly 1.5 million residents sends 4.25 pounds of junk to the landfill, 73 percent more than the average American. The reason: year-round yard waste and the extra trash generated by winter visitors. As Phoenix grows, the costs of disposing of all that trash do, too."
As the article in the paper pointed out, we are not running out of space at the landfill yet, but we must try to reduce the amount of trash. That is part of my daily mission. If only everyone felt the same way I do......

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Bears Fans in Uganda

At the end of the Super Bowl, my daughter asked "how do they know which shirts to make?" We told her they make both and she wanted to know where the shirts for the losing team went. We told her we did not know, and she said "that is wasteful."
Well, now I know and I am passing on the information as it made me feel good. The 250 Reebok shirts and hats depicting the Bears as the victors of Super Bowl are donated by the NFL to World Vision. That organization is sending them to Uganda.
Perhaps the Bears will have a farm team there in the future? In reality, the rebels, and the issues surrounding their internal fighting, have created a very serious and ugly situation.

Monday, February 05, 2007

My Take on Super Bowl XVI

As a fan of the Clydesdales, my favorite commerical was the fake Dalmation getting into the Budweiser parade. Perhaps he will be joining the real Dalmation and the donkey on the Clydesdale road tours.
But, my other takeaway from the Super Bowl yesterday was an odd one. It was an article in the newspaper warning people about protecting their identity at their party. The suggestions were to make sure you know all the guests that are coming and , as a precaution, secure your personal information in a locked room to prevent wandering guests from taking more than your beer and chips. I guess you wouldn't really think about this as a concern, but it does make sense.
Several years ago, the concern was that more men hit their wives on Super Bowl Sunday than any other day of the year. Hitting your wife anyday does not make sense; for some reason it escalates on Superbowl Sunday.
As soon as the game was over, I forgot it, except for that it was really raining hard and that Peyton Manning now gets a ring. We didn't get to see him greet his dad after the game -- we were looking forward to that moment. I have never seen a Super Bowl ring in person, but they must be similar to the World Series rings that I covet.

Friday, February 02, 2007

National Wear Red Day -- My Day!!!

I needed no extra encouragement to wear red. My grandmother always said it was my color, so I am always picking red when given color choices. I am wearing my new red leggings that my daughter called "hideous", bright red sleep socks and who knows whatever else red I can find. On the serious side of heart disease, I am off to spin with my new RED and black shoes. I have one of those "Red Dress" pins from the American Heart Association too -- but not sure I will be able to find it before the day ends.....

My favorite e-newsletter (South Beach Diet) reminded me about this topic today:

National Wear Red Day
"Today, February 2, is National Wear Red Day, an observance aimed at raising heart disease awareness. Heart disease remains the number one killer of both American men and women. In fact, many women are surprised to learn that heart disease claims the lives of more women than breast cancer. More specifically, one in three American women will die of heart disease. But it doesn't have to be that way. "Today we have the knowledge and tools to prevent heart attacks and strokes," explains Dr. Agatston, preventive cardiologist and author of The South Beach Diet® and The South Beach Heart Program, his latest, most passionate book."