Earth-Friendly Chocolate

Conventional chocolate is often produced by clear-cutting rainforest land, applying chemical pesticides and through the use of child labor in hazardous conditions. However, a number of companies now offer organic, sustainably-grown and "fair trade" varieties that adhere to environmentally and socially responsible production and processing standards. Pictured here: some offerings from Endangered Species Chocolate, Dagoba and others. Photo: Jason Kremkau.

ear EarthTalk: I heard a reference to “Earth-friendly chocolate” and was wondering about what goes into chocolate that would raise environmental concerns.
--Ben Moran, Providence, RI

"Answering the Call", or, Foster Adopt Update #1

Well, I got the introductory packets of information from the AdoptUSKids organization and from the Boys & Girls Aid and hadn't even cracked them open when I recieved an email from the Foster Family Care Network recruiter that they had two children, a brother age three and a sister age four, who needed theraputic foster care and eventual adoption and were we interested?

In a word, yes.

So I have filled out their foster home application for certification and have an appointment with a foster care caseworker on Tuesday. *Think good thoughts!*

From House to Home 2/6/08

• Go room-by-room at night to make sure you have enough illumination, because it gets dark in the winter earlier. You should have a variety of lights for mood as well as reading and working.
• Set aside a place in your home to write letters - not e-mails but the old-fashioned hand-written, send via postal mail type.
• No matter how much you love your home, traveling is always fun, educational and broadening. Keep your favorite travel magazines for future trips, along with pamphlets about places, in a convenient spot for research and planning.
• Place a phone pad and pen or pencil by each phone in the house so all messages are recorded. Consider putting a phone in your living room in a discreet place.
• Flags can be cheerful additions to your yard. Some companies will make special flags with your family name or address. If you have a big enough yard, consider putting in a flagpole, so you can fly your flag in good weather and on special holidays.
• Plan a family meal that requires everyone to pitch in. Young children can prepare a salad or the fixings for ice-cream sundaes.
• For those who live in the colder half of the country, start a craft project that you can do in the evenings while listening to music. Or, open a new puzzle with 1,000 pieces or more.

adoption and life and OMG!

So, DH and I have decided to get the ball rolling to adopt a child (or two). We've talked about it for over a year and we're ready to start the process. Part of that process is shoveling out the front bedroom so that it can be prepared for said child/ren. We have the space in our home for a family of eleven, literally (the previous owners had a nine kids).

So this is pretty big stuff for us. Add to that, on Sunday, while Frank and I were digging out the mess in the front bedroom (read junkroom) we started to ask each other what to do with all the baby stuff from DD7 that we kept "for the next baby" that never came. There's a lot. There's also the baby things that I bought when I was pregnant before we lost the babies. After two miscarriages I lost heart, gave up, and began working outside the home.

How to Prepare for a Natural Disaster

here's no need to just hope for the best when you can plan for the worst. Don't wait until disaster strikes to figure out how to respond. Here's how to prep today so your family will be ready for tomorrow.

Melancholy

I'm getting old. I can tell, because silly things make me cry.

Today, for instance, I got a notice that someone had looked at my profile on classmates.com. Went and looked; it was an old boyfriend of sorts who'd looked me up before, no big thing. But elsewhere on the page, I saw a name, a name I'd sorta been looking for, a name I'd even googled once. For here, I'll call him A. He was...well, I never really said it before today, not even to myself, but he was my first love.

A was brilliant. I mean, really brilliant. I mean, I'm smart and I felt slow around him. I mean, he didn't take calculus in high school; he helped teach calculus. He was sweet. And he was beautiful. Stunningly, amazingly, unconsciously, heartbreakingly beautiful. As much as I love my husband, and as handsome as he is--and friends, my boy is darling--A remains the most beautiful boy I have ever seen. Green eyes, golden hair, swimmers body, perfect teeth. And he liked me, for a little while at least. He was the first boy who ever asked me out, and I worshipped the ground he walked on.

Of course, it didn't end well.

One of my greatest regrets in life is that I had the chance to kiss him, for him to be the first boy I ever kissed, and I blew it. I was in his arms, and we were saying goodnight, and I went to kiss him but I was so nervous I kissed his cheek. And then the moment was gone and I never got another one.

For all I know, he's gay. For all I know, I was just something to pass the time when he came home from college (he was two years older). For all I know, the embarrassed look he gave me as his sneering best friend drove them away the last time I saw him wasn't embarrassment but shame. For all I know, he's never thought of me once since. For all I know, he's thought of me as often as I've thought of him, but I doubt it.

I just wrote him a quick note via classmates. I don't expect to hear back, so I told him what I needed to tell him: That he had been so special to me, and that I hoped he was well and happy.

And now I'm sitting here crying. I'm nearly 47 years old and I'm crying over a boy from high school. I'm getting old.

Candlemas

To celebrate the halfway point between Winter and Spring--St. Bridgid's Day/Candlemas--I gathered up the stubs and waste wax of last year's beeswax candles, melted them down, and poured six tealights and one voitive candle.

DD7 helped some, and now we have seven lovely candles that we will use for our prayers this year. I'm hoping next year to make more, but for now, I'm happy with my homemade candlelight.

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View from the Treadmill February 2008

Submitted by The New Homemaker on Sun, 2008-02-03 14:54.
A New You | Blogs | Community | Home Cooking | Home Decor | Marriage | Motherhood | Parenting

Here's the new VFTT for February. Now that John's home I'm going to be even more accountable, since he's taken my self-care in hand. I sorta need someone to remind me to do stuff like, oh, eat.

2/2: 35 min @ ~2 mph
2/3: 36 min @ ~2 mph

I feel good before, during and after.

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flybabies Feb 2008

Submitted by The New Homemaker on Sat, 2008-02-02 06:43.
Blogs | Community | FlyBabies | Home Cooking | Home Decor | Marriage | Motherhood | Parenting

Good Morning!

Subbed again half day Friday. TGIS(Saturday)!!

PODA
morning routine
read paper
1 load laundry
refill dog prescription
library with DD(her art on display)
bake
sort mail
chill out with movies,magazines,etc with the family
dinner

DD's art teacher selected some kids' artwork to hang in the local library and DD was one of them. I told her last night so we will go see it today. She doesn't even remember what it was! So much for a 6 yo to remember,huh? Maybe I will remember to take my camera and take a picture of her standing by it.

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Quicken This!

Submitted by The New Homemaker on Thu, 2008-01-31 20:43.
Blogs | Community | Home Cooking | Home Decor | Managing Money | Marriage | Motherhood | Parenting

I've been slowly emerging from my funk this winter and one of the things that I now feel like I can cope with is our finances. DH had finally given up on trying to keep track of things when I would not enter my purchases in our old Quicken program. So when I got motivated to start keeping track again, we discovered that our program is too old, it wasn't supported/wouldn't download transactions anymore.

So, we bought the spanking new Quicken 2008 Premier and I've been setting up accounts, entering and downloading txs, reconciling, and stuff since Sunday.

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