Not a Time to Panic

OK, so the swine flu pandemic (yes, it is being called a pandemic - which sounds worse than epidemic and epidemic sounds pretty bad) has just been upgraded by the World Health Organization to a level 5 alert on a scale of 1-6 (this still leaves those of us who are a bit jaded from the Homeland Security Department's color coded alert charts maybe less fazed than we should be)- there is still no reason to panic.

There is maybe a reason to be careful though - so the little extra precautions like the hand washing we should all be doing anyway can't hurt. We need to take special care with our children, elderly and anyone with a compromised immune system; basically the people who would have gotten a flu shot if there had been a flu shot.

I am not a panicky type of person, but I do like to prepare for potential emergencies a little bit. After 9/11 our entire family drew up an emergency escape from New Jersey plan (yes, I know everyone living in New Jersey SHOULD already have a different kind of escape plan- like a 'get me the heck out of here already' plan!) including a place to meet up in case of a disaster (although it never got any more specific than west of Hershey, Pennsylvania)- we had packed suitcases in the trunks of our cars for a couple years. The suitcases slowly came unpacked though, as we needed the things that were in them and as the cars that held them were sold until eventually the suitcases ended up back in our closets.

During the bird flu scare we stocked up on water and the canned goods and boxed goods that we do not normally buy, but that stockpile, too, has slowly disappeared as we raided our stash during busy or lazy times when I didn't shop or midnight munchy sprees when we were desperate enough to eat stale boxes of cereal.

This time I am preparing with some Purell hand sanitizer and some common sense. With one eye on the news and one hand on my mouse because I know I can always count on Etsy and the internet to provide all that I need to get me through a pandemic.

1. Heidi Merrick Dress - Remember, there is not enough Tamiflu to go around, so it will be especially important that we look especially cute, even while we are tossing our cookies all over the waiting room, when we get to the hospital
2. RiskyBeads 'Soup' Bracelet- Absolutely equal to chicken soup in a pandemic
3. LoucheLab's Feel Good Pills - In case our little dress fails to get us the Tamiflu these should do the trick
4. AllysonHill's Tissue Carrier - We are much too cool to leave a trail of tissues everywhere we go
5. CutieCakePatissierie's Mocha Sandwich Cookies - No explanation needed - total deliciousness
6. A Private Duty Nurse from The House of Mouse
7. Earmark's Freak Out and Throw Stuff Print -
In case we need permission to do just that
8. Haleah Jet's Pig - To remember it is not the pig's fault - of course, if we really insist on blaming the pig a nice BLT with mayo might make us feel better
A. BumbleBellyDesign's Gorgeous Oink Pillow - So we can get some rest before the next disaster

Time for a Life Swap

Not the cheesy TV show (although if I had a wife, I'd definitely swap her because my house is a total mess).

This swap is a PARTY and we never need a reason to throw another party. With money tighter for many and most of us with more stuff than we need and still coveting our neighbor's turquoise cuisinart (now, I know she probably won't swap her turquoise cuisinart but maybe some hints tossed out pre-party about how orange kitchens are all the rage now, will help you get lucky) a party where you can reduce, reuse, recycle AND land some of your coolest friends coolest stuff - well, where's my invitation! A swap party will get your closets cleaned out and it's much more fun, and less work, than a yard sale!

The key is to set some ground rules for your Life Swap party. Invite friends with similar taste - 10 guests is about right, but if you have alot of cool friends, up to 20 should still be manageable. No hurt feelings if someone brings something someone else has given them- even the best, most thoughtful gifts may need a new home eventually. Be clear about what is swap-worthy. Clean goods, gently used. Guests should bring their own bags to take home their loot. This type of party is perfect for e-vites.

You can have each person bring some finger food or just serve up some easy goodies yourself. I'm going to set this up in the backyard- have the guests drop off their stuff a couple days early - and sort it by type so I can lay everything out like a backyard department store. Clothes, accessories, kids stuff, books, CDs, housewares; maybe nothing bigger than a breadbox (as long as this doesn't leave out that cuisinart!).
Give each guest a name sticker for each item they donate and then they take turns choosing items and attaching their name; limit the number of items per turn to keep it fair and to keep things moving along. Now the idea is NOT to take home a bunch of stuff you can't use and don't want, so have some plans for the leftovers. Plan for the Goodwill, Salvation Army or Dress For Success for clothing or houseware drop-offs. Newborns in Need with gently used newborn items. Books can go to libraries and book and CDs can also go to Books for Soldiers.

There are also some swap sites online if your friends goodies are lame and you want to just skip the party and swap your good stuff outside of your own circle!

Clothing: Rehash, Swapstyle Kids Stuff: Hand Me Downs, The Baby Chain Books, CDS: Bookins, Swaptree Anything Else: Freecycle, Neighborrow, Swap Thing, Title Trader

1. Jessjamesjake - Awesome Vintage Suitcase
2. Elinart - Stunning Fiber Art
3. June Shin - Gorgeous Icarus Earrings
4. ButtonEnvy - Adorable Go Fly A Kite Necklace
5. TwoLeftHands - Amazing Owl Brooch
6. Larimeloom - Dusty Blue Pirate Pants

Moms Gone (Almost) Wild

This may not be a big story everywhere, but in New Jersey whatever happens in New York is a big story and I live in New Jersey, so this is big news. A mom, fed up with her bickering tweens (ages 10 and 12), tossed them out of the car at a downtown suburban shopping district, three miles from their home, and drove off.

One kid made it home on her own. The other was picked up by a good samaritan who found her. Now the mom has been arrested and had a temporary order of protection placed against her. Today, the story gets a slightly different twist because apparently the kid who 'made it home on her own' was picked up by the mom who had circled the block. When the mom couldn't find the other kid, after circling a bit more, she went home, waited awhile for her to show up and then called the police, who were already all set to pay the mom a visit.

Now, this mom could be a wonderful mom who did a really stupid thing (yes, wonderful moms sometimes do really stupid things and our kids are resilient enough to survive those stupid things and not end up the human equivalent of dented cans of green beans) or she could be a bad mom who does really stupid things all the time - I don't know. This story does make most moms uncomfortable though, because we have all dreamed of doing something similar or dreamed of tossing the keys to our oldest (who happens to be eight at the time) and taking a nice leisurely walk, sans children, home ourselves, but of course we haven't actually DONE it.

This reminded me of an incident with my own daughter a ways back. She was about the age of the girls in this story and she was not home on time and it was not the first time she was late. I drove to her friend's house to pick her up- which was a few blocks from our own- and I was mad that she was late again. About half way to her friend's house I spied her, walking along the sidewalk in our small town, like she had all the time in the world.

She got in the car and quickly explained to me that her watch had stopped. I said, "give me the watch" and she did. I could see that the watch had stopped and I could also see that the little, windy knob was pulled out (she had the kind of watch that pulling out the little windy knob would make the watch stop working) and I knew that she was a very clever kid ... so I said "you're right, it's broken" and I tossed it out the moving car's window (I wasn't quite as environmentally responsible in those days). She sat there with her mouth open.

Now, this isn't quite the same as throwing HER out of the window and it is not one of my proudest moments but she did get home on time after that (at least for a while) and luckily there were no police around to arrest me for littering (I did, without telling anyone, go back to that spot that night with a flashlight and look for the watch, but never found it).
Almost Mother's Day - some gift ideas for a wild (or not so wild) mom
1. BarbaraGordon - Mom's Motel
2. EnveJewelry - Lavender Blue Earrings
3. PennyGlassGirl - Purse Hangers
4. SherryTruitt - Believe Necklace
5. DolaMakes - Child Silhouette Plate
6. TannerGlass - Key / Jewelry Holder

3 Things for Earth Day

I have always been a bit of an Earth Day skeptic. Being environmentally focused for 24 hours and then rushing back into our modern, fast-paced, disposal lives seems as fake as those 'green products' that keep popping up and are anything but.

Earth Day does, though, give us an actual date on the calendar to renew our commitment to saving this planet's amazing beauty and diversity for our children and for their children and it does help us to get focused.

Each year we try to commit to 3 new practices (last year we switched to compact fluorescent bulbs, gave up paper towels, paper and plastic bags -and take out containers- when shopping and started composting kitchen scraps more consistently).

This year our 3 new commitments are : 1. Reduce our garbage to 1 bag a week (with a family and two businesses we are continually challenged with this) 2. Send one letter each month to a politician -local, state or federal- concerning an environmental issue (this will also challenge us to be aware of these issues) and 3. grow more of our own fruits and vegetables and can them for colder seasons (I have never done anything even remotely like canning - no idea why this is even called canning when we use glass - we do use glass, right?), so this will be my biggest challenge yet. Hopefully I can do this without putting anyone in the hospital, or at least anyone I like in the hospital.

To celebrate Earth Day I am offering free shipping on any jewelry order in both my shops- Uncorked and Polarity through Friday midnight. Just write Earth Day in the comments to seller section of your order and I will refund your shipping!

1. Artwork by KD - Flower Ring
2. Pouch - Recycled Brooch
3. 2ReVert - Earrings
4. Infusion - Toddler Slippers
5. zJayne - Recycled Wristlet
6. Knitstorm - Tea Cup Cozy