Jonah Lisa Land

Pharmaceuticals in the water supply. Great. Just great.

I guess it's time.  We'll finally just have to move to...I don't know...The Yukon Territory maybe and live in a log cabin we build with our own hands and eat tubers and deer and only drink mountain snow run-off and our own urine.

Here's the AP article that hit today about widespread trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in our drinking water--treated city water and well systems alike. 

It's not just the US.  It's a "growing concern" throughout the developed world.  Europe, Canada, Japan--all are scrambling to adopt proper testing procedures and figure out what the human health risks are.  The United States EPA is asking people to be "calm."  I'm calm. 

But I'm also of the opinion that the ingestion of ANY drug or potentially endless combinations of drugs, not prescribed to me, is a bad thing and a potential health risk to my family.  Damn, even at low, trace levels, you would be getting this on a daily basis over your entire lifetime.  We're talking about trace levels of estrogen, antibiotics, anti-psychotics, anti-coagulants, and heart medicines being taken on a daily basis over decades.  By children.  By pregnant women.  By people with allergies and chemical sensitivities.  By people with cancer and other illnesses.  I don't give a rat's ass that it's trace.  It's THERE and it's there daily! 

I hardly know what to say about this except that it makes me really mad.  Mad at the arrogance of our modern society to think we can just constantly fiddle with things and there won't be any repercussions.

Plus, this news comes on the heels of watching I am Legend just last night.  It's a really good Will Smith popcorn flick about what happens when a miracle cure for cancer built on the measles virus not only starts killing the people it was supposedly curing, but mutates into a really nasty new virus that virtually wipes out the human race.  It's pure science fiction, but that kind of tampering into things on a molecular and virological level isn't. 

I'm not against medical advancement but why do we keep having these collective Homer Simpson moments about what goes on downstream of our tinkering?  <Doh!>  Can't we just take some time and think things through a little bit more?  How can we keep dropping stones in the pond and expecting there not to be ripples?

I thought I was at a loss for words.  But apparently not. 

As of now, the only thing the experts think can filter drugs out of your tap water is a super pricey Reverse Osmosis System.

    <rolling the dice>
    Come on Bush Tax Rebate? 
    Mama needs a new Reverse Osmosis Filtration System!

Brita and Pur simply don't do the trick on this stuff.  And given their sources, and the fact that bottlers don't test for it (yet), buying bottled water doesn't fix the problem either. 

Read the article.  Or just wait for the movie.  It's the next, big, save-the-earth, summer blockbuster waiting to be written. 

There's going to be lots more on this. 

Flannel Board Tutorial

I made this flannel board for our new playroom this weekend.  Huck loves it!  It is so easy and cheap and I bet kids who are old enough to use scissors would be able to help by making the felt shapes for it. 

I had always seen them done with black backgrounds but as I was reading around the internet on flannel boards it seemed that lots of people thought light blue was more versatile.  I had to agree and found this nice cloud-like  light blue flannel at my fabric store that fit the bill.

I also made a simple drawstring bag for all the felt pieces.  I even went the extra (extra crazy) step of lining it with satin so the felt pieces will come out easier.  <eye roll> Don't ask me what I was thinking.

Click "Continue reading" below for a tutorial on how I made ours.  You should be able to click on any of the small thumbnail photos and get a bigger picture if you need to see a little more detail.

**Wanted to add that I'm also thinking of doing a traveling flannel board.  It would basically be a fabric envelope that closes with a zipper.  A fun cotton print on one side and flannel on the other.  Probably some interfacing to make it hold shape.  And, okay, probably lined in satin.  The felt pieces would be kept inside.  Would be great for the car, especially road trips..  Anyway, might be a good idea for anyone not interested in doing a full board for the house.  I'll post when (well, if) I get around to it.

When Organic Moms Go Bad

This is my guilty pleasure.  Strawberry Shortcake. 

Well, it's not REAL strawberry shortcake.  It's only a step above a Twinkie.  I use those sticky Hostess Dessert Cups (they probably glow in the dark), and Rediwhip.  They are real strawberries.  I cut them up, put them in a small bowl and sprinkle them with powdered sugar and a little lemon juice.  It makes a nice syrup and brings out the flavor. 

It's nummy.  But I'm ashamed. 

Well, not that bad...

An early night

I feel asleep at 8:00 pm last night!

I put Huck down and stayed with him in his big boy bed for a while.  He's been sick and fussy and he just needed a little extra love. 

Next thing I knew, it was 4 in the morning and I still had a warm toddler pressed up against me.

The full dishwasher stayed unwashed, the toys didn't get picked up, the blog post didn't get written.  No movies were watched, no books were read, and the internet was not skimmed.  And I don't care a bit.  It was wonderful.  Stephen said that he eventually figured out what happened to me and just decided to let me sleep.  I needed it.  With Huck's cough, the big boy bed still fairly new, and a nice new craft room calling me to the basement, I haven't had a full night's sleep in while.

When I woke at 4 and figured out what happened I briefly considered getting up and doing something or even just going and getting in my own bed, but instead I just rolled over and went back to sleep with Huck.  I'm so glad I did. 

He woke at 7, sat up in bed, rubbed his sleepy eyes and said, pleasantly surprised, "Hi."

I feel rejuvenated.

My Commute: Pt. 2

Well after getting so mad over what I had to pay for gas yesterday, at least I got to see this stuff on my commute home. 

On the Wyoming side...

On the Idaho side...

I've said it before, it beats the Lincoln Tunnel and Dallas Central Expressway by a mile.

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

Come on!  Join me now!  Let's all open our windows and shout it at the top of our lungs! 

Gas prices are crazy!  Gas went to $104 a barrel today. 

I filled up the 16 gallon tank in my little Subaru Forester on my way to work today and it cost me FORTY-FIVE DOLLARS!  That is insane.  Thank God the thing gets about 27 mpg and our other car is a Prius that gets about 47 mpg or I'd have to quit working due to an inability to pay for the gas to get me there. 

How are people with SUVs handling this? 

And in the last few weeks I've noticed that grocery prices have gone up again too in response. 

How are you guys handling inflation?  Are you making cuts in other areas or staying home more due to gas prices?  I'm really curious.  I'm definitely looking at ways to shave money off our monthly budget.

I'm also starting work on a big information post for the coming weeks that's a direct result of this economic climate--Shopping Organic on a Budget. 

Cheap & Easy :: Useful, Homemade Baby/Toddler Toy

I made this toy for Huck--out of necessity--when he was just sitting up and absolutely loved pulling tissues or wipes out of their boxes.  Talk about a pain in the neck but I came up with an idea to keep me from going nuts and allow him the singular pleasure of pulling out tissue after tissue.

I might be pushing the definition a bit but I consider this fast, easy toy project "upcycling."  That's a fancy terms for recycling something into a nicer more useful something instead of just disposing of it or even reusing it for its original purpose.  In this case, I turned a tissue box into a baby toy.

I washed up a bunch of fun fabric scraps and fat quarters and then used pinking sheers to cut them into tissue-sized squares--the pinking will keep the fabric from fraying.  Then I just I stuffed about 30 of them into an empty tissue box.  Boom.  Done. 

It was a huge hit.  A bigger hit than the real thing even because they were colorful!  The next time I needed paper tissue from the store, I was sure to get one box that was really festive and cute and eventually upgraded from the first box.

Huck's a little older now and the original thrill of pulling out and stuffing back all the tissues over and over ad nauseam has worn off.  He still uses the little scraps for other things though--blankets for little animals and people or to pretend to clean things. 

But the reason I bring this all up now is that recently this toy has found a second life (or third or fourth, I guess) back to it's originally intended purpose. Lately we've been using them as...get this...tissues!  Yep, it's like a little box of printed handkerchiefs.  They simply go into the hamper when they're used instead of into the trash like the disposable tissues. 

It's a great, simple toy that can serve many purposes and really last a pretty long time.

If you like this idea here's a little further reading on the adult version of reusable tissues I was inspired to whip up.

Subscribe to my feed!

Comfort Food :: Chili

Any Texan worth their salt will tell you one major fact about chili...IT DOES NOT HAVE BEANS IN IT!

Real Chili was a dish they made out on the range for the ranch hands.  It was simple: sauce and not so choice cuts of beef.  Hence the long cooking time.

This is my mother-in-law's chili recipe.  It is world class. 

The ingredients are so incredibly basic and uninteresting that you'll find yourself wondering how in the world this will be any good.  But I assure you, it is thick and spicy and it is the best chili I've ever had, bar none. 

I get more compliments and recipe requests off this dish than from anything else I make...including the chicken pot pie.  In fact, this meal is the reason we can't give up red meat 100%.  And if industiral supermarket beef skeeves you out, like it does me, green people can connect you with local ranches and farms that sell organic and grass fed beef in your area.

So, click "Continue reading" below for a great family recipe that won't let you down.  There's still enough winter left for many of you to enjoy a night of what we lovingly call "Chili Belly." 

WARNING: May give you nightmares.

Sex Spam: Enlarge your jang today!

Does anyone else get these?  Here's an example of an actual email I get in my inbox...daily:

        SUBJECT: CHICKS CHOOSE GUYS WITH BIG
        SHLONG SIZE PROMPTLY      
        Fellow, I have very amazing thing
        and want to advice you about it. 
        Before I began to use this thing
        my machine was too small,
        so small that I feel shy to speak about the length.   
        But now my life has changed.  I lengthened my jang size,
        women love me too mush that now.  I am glad.   
        P.S. At present I can come 7 times for the night.
        Do you fell the difference?

I'll say!  That's a cut and paste job, folks.  I'm assuming these things are generated in China or something.  And clearly the Chinese have no idea what a woman wants.  Nobody's gonna mush me 7 times a night!

Here's another good one. 

        SUBJECT: CHANGE YOUR INSTRUMENT SIZE   
        Your woman loves enormous machine
        but the problem is that you have small one.
        Don't worry!
        You have marvelous chance to solve this problem.
        Today you can enlarge your device length.
        You will be king of bed surely enough.

It's really getting out of control.  I also get lots of auto-generated emails from randy chicks who are bored and want to be my "friend."

And I can't even blame this crap on Stephen (who will now be referred to as "King of Bed").  No, I'm sure I've brought this on myself.  I do a ton of online research into all manner of things (for business and pleasure) and my insatiable curiosity has me clicking through to all kinds of weird sites that come up within my search parameters. 

I really do know better than to click something that says "horny farm girls."  I know it's not where I'm going find out what I want to know about Biodynamic farming in my area.  But sometimes, I just can't help myself!

I want to know what those farm girls are doing!  What if it's something I should know about? Unfortunately, it's always the same thing the cheerleaders, coeds and Asian chicks are doing--bending over, sucking some guy off and wearing too much eye make-up. 

Why do I always expect it to be different? 

Oh well, at least I've been introduced to the word jang.  I'm not sure how I got by so long without it. 

Craft Room...a work in progress

It's small, but functional.  I'm sure I'll still be changing a few things up.  It's windowless and the lighting sucks so I need to find a funky little table lamp.  And I want to get some inspiration up on the walls and one of those wall-mounted rack thingys for all my thread spools. 

   

Stephen said I moved in so fast, you'd think I was a lesbian.  We heard this joke from a close friend who is a genuine, flesh-and-blood lesbian herself so I don't mind repeating it. 

    What does a lesbian bring to a second date?

    A U-haul.

Anyway, I now have my very own space for creativity and Stephen has been out of town for a few days, so I've been down there plotting my next brilliant idea. 

You'll be the first to know.