Return of Tub Washing and Tub Washing 2: Electric Bugaloo

Liebster Award!

What the heck is this?!  I've been nominated for a Liebster award, for small blogs with less than 200 followers (yeah, I've plateaued at somewhere around 150), by Miriam of My Adventures with My 2 Kids blog (Thanks, Miriam!).  So, in order to pass this nomination on to other blogs deserving of a little recognition (can I get a little recognition, please?!) I have to do some stuff which I will now copy and paste from Miriam's blog:

The rules for the Liebster Award are:
1. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.
2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.
3. Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them about the award.
5. No tag backs.

No tag backs might be hard because I am so indebted to Miriam that I might just tag her back because she is so wonderful!

Here are 11 random facts about myself:

1. I am a Duncan Yo-Yo Champion after winning a city-wide competition in Central Park back when I was 10 years old.

2.  I love the color purple even though I don't own anything that is purple.

3.  I am the first in my family to finish college

4.  I was born on the Epiphany

5.  My favorite movie used to be My Favorite Year but now it is Escape from New York.

6.  I was born and raised in New York City but now I call Florida my home.

7.  I ate Ben & Jerry's Phish Food every night throughout my pregnancy.

8.  I can make one eye wander on command

9.  My alter ego is Mocha La Rouge

10.  The furthest west I've ever been is to Arizona

11.  I am of Hungarian and French descent.

Here are the 11 questions from My Adventures with My 2 Kids:

1. How long have you been blogging?

I have been blogging on The Accidental Environmentalist for 7 years this October (!).

2. If you could turn back time would you and why?

I wouldn't turn back time because even though things have not been totally awesome with the world, it is what it is.  Maybe I would turn back time to put women in charge.

3. What's your favorite time of the year.

Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year and I have a whole playlist of songs in my head during this season which include:

California Dreamin' by the Mamas & Papas

Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkle

Turn! Turn! Turn!  (There is a Season) by the Byrds

4. What is your favorite part of being a mom?

Getting to see my son learn about the world and generate some pretty astute observations about it.

5. If you could have any car in the world what kind would it be?

The Old Man would not agree, my friend Xendawg would be mortified, and every environmental fibre of my being is repulsed by this, but I really, really want a Jeep Wrangler.
6. What would be or would of been your dream job?

Well, my first career goal was Fairy Princess but since that fell through I've settled on being an awesome librarian.

7. Would you prefer Tea or Coffee?

I like both - don't make me choose!

8. What's your favorite TV show?

Star Trek TOS

9. If you could change anything on your appearance what would it be?

I hate to say this, but I would have smaller breasts.

10. If you had one chance to move out of state where would it be?

I would move to the Pacific Northwest.

11. What year was the best time of your life?

I think 2012 was an awesome year for me because I got this great job, my family is doing well, and I have great friends and co-workers.

Now I have to come up with 11 new questions and nominate 11 other blogs with under 200 followers.

Here are my 11 questions for you:

1.  How long have you been blogging?

2.  If we had a third party in the United States, which would it be?

3.  Dr. Pepper or Mr. Pibb?

4.  What is your favorite bird?

5.  What sport do you watch or participate in most regularly?

6.  When you decide to splurge, what do you spend money on?

7.  What is your favorite junk food?

8.  What was your favorite vacation spot ever?

9.  What is your favorite amusement park ride?

10. Do you have pets and if so, what pets do you have?

11.  What era of U.S. history would you most want to be a part?

Here are the blogs I am nominating:

1.  The Good Luck Duck

2.  Jillian Bikes

3.  Jackson Street Books

4.  Accidentally Mommy

5.  What We Need is Here

6.  Midlife Cycling

7.  Tales of a Freeway Blogger

8.  Bats Left/Throws Right

9.  Copenhagenize.com

10.  Alachua Voter Guide

11.  Jockey Street

Wow!  What a pain in the butt!  But this was kind of fun, too.  And I got an award!  Yippee!

Cider vinegar and baking soda for hair

Courtney Cox is my besty.

So, I've been doing a baking soda wash on my scalp, followed by a cider vinegar rinse of my hair, pretty consistently for about a year or two, now. (No, I don't use them at the same time!).  The only times I don't use this washing method is when I'm on vacation and use whatever they have at the hotel, or when I'm at Nancy my stylist's (and yes, even an irascible hippie like me goes to a hair stylist every 5 weeks or so), and she washes my hair.

Have you ever had someone wash your hair for you?  My mom always said it was the height of luxury to have someone else wash your hair, and she's pretty much on the mark.  I love it when I get my hair washed; unfortunately my hair is not as happy.  It literally freaks out for three days after I visit my stylist.  After washing it with baking soda and vinegar a couple of times and I can wash out the hair product, it seems to return to it's normal state.

I like my hair, and it has been good to me.  Sometimes, when I see the college girls walking on campus with their super-shiny hair, though, I get a little wistful for shiny hair; my hair is relatively shiny, but not as eye- blindingly shiny if I were using a commercial shampoo.

It's tempting, sometimes, though, to want to use shampoo that will make my hair shiny, like Courtney Cox's.  That's why when I got this ad in the email today I actually clicked through to see if there were any coupons - since Courtney Cox is going to all the trouble to tell me about this fabulous new addition to the shampoo world, and I see how shiny her hair is, I think "maybe I'll give it a try!"

But then I stop myself and click away (especially when I don't see any coupons), and realize that that's just making a whole mess of trouble for my hair.  It's so used to the baking soda scalp wash and cider vinegar hair rinse that I think all my hair would fall out from the frustration of having to adjust.

It's all small potatoes.

That was the title of my Facebook status update. We're out in the woods behind the cemetery (Evergreen) and things have been so successful with these annual air potato round ups (we've been doing this for awhile) that now the parks department are focusing on this plant (see photo), the name of which currently escapes me. And me, I'm just blogging I'm the woods when I should be picking air potatoes!

Starbucks Reusable Cup

Starbucks is a necessary evil for me, especially on a day where I forgot my coffee cup and need something to make instant coffee in later in the day.  Starbucks just introduced their 1-dollar, reusable cup in a grande size.  Of course I didn't see it until after paying for my soy latte and coffee cake, so I bought it on the side and threw out the cardboard cup when I got my order.  So wasteful!

The cup is also #5 plastic so if you have that recycling in your area it can go in the recycling bin when it gets too skanky to keep using.

P.S. - for some reason this picture will not stay rotated 90-degrees so don't hurt your necks!

Next Christmas

Wow, what a whirlwind the Christmas season this past year has been. Forgot to mention one of my new year's resolutions which has to do with both my non-environmental and environmental goals: 2013 will be the No Gift Christmas. Not quite sure how I'm going handle this with the family - DH is already grumbling that I won't be able to get away without any presents for the family. I'm going to do it - I'm going to ask for nothing and tell folks what I'm up to. It will be an interesting experiment and a practical one, as well.

I'm already feeling conflicted about it, and I haven't even started blathering to everyone I know about this idea. Part of me says, "well, you could buy second-hand or make things for people." I do this every year, to some extent. This year I started a batch of Kahlua that I have yet to finish and the holidays are already over! My point is to see how far I can go without buying gifts. I've ALWAYS been a gift-giver over the holidays, no matter how poor I've been. This next year I expect to be in better financial shape than ever, so why not splurge? I certainly splurged this past Christmas.

My intention is to point out that Christmas is not about giving or receiving, but enjoying the precious moments with your family and friends. You have a harder time enjoying that time when you are scrabbling for gifts or worrying about how much money you're spending doing it. On the other hand, I might find myself being more uncomfortable if I don't participate in the yearly money-toss at businesses, local or otherwise. I'm not sure what's going to happen.

So, my first accidentally environmental project of the New Year will actually take place a little less than a year from now.

And I have to set guidelines for myself, or I'll be slipping and sliding all over the place.