To celebrate Earth Day, I bought a new cloth bag to carry groceries home in. I love these bags for many reasons. First of all, I never have to grab a basket or a cart if I’m just getting a few things. Usually I will just fill the bag and go instead of buying more than what I need. Plus, all of the bags I use have long straps, so it is super easy to carry a tote of groceries on each shoulder instead of 10 plastic bags in hand. I try to keep several cloth bags in my car all the time so that I can just take one into any store. Here is some great information about getting rid of plastic bags!
Today I am going to share with you all how to make “yarn” from plastic bags.
Step 1: Lay your plastic bag out flat.
Step 2: Cut off the top (handles) and the bottom. You should have an open cylinder left.
Step 3: Fold this piece of plastic into a flat strip.
Step 4: Cut this strip leaving about 2 inches of space between each cut. You are left with some plastic circles!
Step 5: Lay one plastic circle strip on top of another.
Steps 6 & 7: Connect each piece together using the knots shown above.
Step 8: Pull the knot tight, but be careful not to tear the plastic or you will have to pull the broken plastic pieces out!
Step 9: Roll your “yarn” into a ball and it is ready to use!
Here are a few purses that I made to auction to benefit the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources in 2008:
My dad won a game at the fair and let me pick out this lion. Schroeder seemed to like it; this morning I walked around the corner and caught him batting it around. He looked up and tried to let it go, shaking his paw because his claw was stuck. I said, “it’s OK. You can play with it,” and I smiled at him. Then he just pounced on it!
I had been planning to make him some toys anyway, so tonight I cut open the back and stuffed in some catnip. I stitched up the back and called kitty over. This video was taken shortly after!
I figured that it was time to finally post an entry about this!
This is a blanket that I made for a friend to give her at her baby shower. It didn’t take very long because I used a huge hook, so after watching several episodes of Jon and Kate Plus Eight and everything else on TLC, it was finished. You can’t tell in this picture, but I started to add a stitch or two on the turn around, so the bottom of one side sort of sticks out. Either way, this is the first blanket that I have ever made!
One thing that Sam and I both share a love for is food, and one of our favorite foods is sushi! Although we do live right down the street from an awesome sushi/Thai place with $1 rolls, we have always wanted to try it ourselves. Ever since I learned about bento lunches, I’ve been wanting to buy some sushi rice and try making onigiri. So, last week I went to Whole Foods and bought sushi rice, nori, sesame seeds and other ingredients. VideoJug has some great instructional videos, and so we tried it. In this picture we have some inside-out California rolls (imitation crab meat, avocado and cucumber) and cucumber rolls, some crab rolls, and some ebi (nigiri with boiled shrimp). Everything was wonderful minus the rice. The vinegar solution called for 1/4 cup sugar, but it was way too sweet for our tastes, so next time I’ll use much less. Overall it was fun and delicious!
And here is the bento box that I ordered from J-List! I haven’t gotten this in the mail just yet, but I’m very much looking forward to it. I take my lunch to work almost everyday, and I had been looking for something other than just Tupperware in a grocery bag anyway. I originally bought this to inspire eating better and learning to cook new dishes, but I have been trying to do more of that recently even though I don’t have my box yet.
I’ve been wanting to get healthier for a long time now, and I’m finally really working towards it. I stopped doing my weekly weigh-ins you may have noticed.. but, I really have come to the point where I know it won’t happen if I don’t actively do it. It will take a while, but I have been so inspired lately. I’ve been eating much, much healthier and working out everyday. I like to DVR fitness shows that are on in the mornings and then do at least that 30 minutes right when I get home, and then a few extra moves/lifts while watching any other shows later in the evening. Last night Sam and I had salmon with french-style green beans and brown rice. Instead of using lots of spices, we used the juice of 1/2 a lemon in all of it, and it was so healthy and sooo tasty. And today I had tuna on whole-wheat bread with green peppers. Yumm. I never used to like green peppers as a kid, but now I eat them plenty. Also, I just learned recently that green bell peppers are the unripe ones, and because of that some people won’t eat them or advise against it. Red and yellow varieties are ripe, and thus sweeter. I never liked those as a kid either. Apparently your taste buds change approximately every 10 days, so I need to try them again.
Filed under: Photos, Daily on March 7, 2008 @ 11:21 am
As Schroeder becomes more comfortable with his living space, he also gets more silly. He’s such an odd ball. Every morning when I take a shower, he’ll jump in and try to join me. It’s not so much that he likes the water as it is him being mistifyed by this spraying contraption that I use on a regular basis. If I splash him with water, sometimes he will run off and sometimes he will stay. And after the shower is over, he’ll sit right under the faucet. If it’s still dripping, he paws at the drips and bites at them as they fall. By the time he climbs out of the tub he’ll be soaked. It’s the weirdest thing! I vow to get a video of this and post it one day!
Recently, he has figured out new ways to amuse himself. We keep the bedroom door open at night so that he can come and go as he pleases, but he likes to play with the door. He’ll paw at one side until it opens all of the way, then he runs to the other side, doing this over and over, opening and closing the door, and I’m convinced that he does it because he resents me for sleeping when he is So! Full! of! Energy!
He has also discovered that if he nudges his nose against the kitchen cabinets that he can open them and jump inside. Since the doors open outward (and I have seen him sneak back out as if he is some sort of feline secret agent), I don’t make him stop. I did kitty proof everything so that he can’t harm anything, or more importanly be harmed, so now he can continue his top secret kitchen cabinet investigations to his heart’s content.
At times it’s like I’m older with my out-of-touch teenager, and I watch him and his crazy antics and I am all, “Young ones these days are so different with their crazy gestures and their loud rock music. Why, when I was your age I was expected to do chores while my parents were away, and here you are basking in the sun and yelling at birds out the window all day. Cats have it so easy.” And he is all, “Who are you talking to? I have only napped 6 times so far today, and I lost my catnip toy under the couch. I can’t open the window to actually do anything other than threaten the birds, and there is no one around to snuggle, play with, aggrivate the shit out of, etc. Humans have it so easy.”
And then there are times like last night. As I heard him climb across my keyboard and knock an ink pen off of my desk, I decided I was too lazy/tired to get him to stop (also this only makes him want to do it more). So I called, “Heeere kitty kitty kitty kitty. Come here and cuddle with me, Schroeder. Pleeease.” Next thing I know, he jumps onto the bed, crawls over and plops right down, nuzzling against my chin. And at that moment my heart was so filled up with love that I hardly even noticed that his purring was comparible to the volume of a motorboat.
Filed under: Photos, Daily on December 26, 2007 @ 11:53 pm
Meet Schroeder.
I have been wanting a kitty for quite some time now, and I finally got Sam excited about it. He found a kitten at his work that was starving and so bad off that it could barely move, so he took it to the vet. The poor little guy didn’t make it, but it made us want to find one that we could save. There is an animal shelter about an hour away from us that only has a fee of $20 that I often see postings for when searching on craigslist. I saw a post that showed this little guy, and when I realized he had less than 24 hours to find a home (or be put down) immediately decided to make the drive to go save him.
I love dogs, but I’m really more of a cat person. This is one of the silliest cats I have ever had though. He’s worse than a dog about trying to get to our food because not only does he want the food, but he is agile enough to jump up on the table to our plates. We actually have to close him in another room while we eat most of the time, otherwise he does his little run and jump act, doubling as a bowling ball to our drinks. He doesn’t mind water either. Tonight I was rinsing off some dishes, and he was so curious that he climbed right into the sink in the way. I spashed him a bit to see if he would move, but he just sat there trying to see what was going on (and if there was people food that he could eat, I suspect).
He’s used to being around other animals, so he’s very friendly. He likes to perch on our shoulder or lay on our chest while we watch tv. And he is as affectionate as can be. He is into as much mischief as possible, but he also loves to snuggle anytime, anywhere. I’m trying to adjust to waking up to paws on my face and motorboat type noises in my ear.
All in all, he is a wonderful kitten. Loving, cute and he hasn’t even bothered to knock down my Christmas tree. He’s been curious about the ornaments but hasn’t bothered them much. He has seen Beethoven (our chameleon) but doesn’t care about him, and he hasn’t even noticed Mozart (our hamster).
Now if I can just get him a bow-tie to match that beautiful tux…
I love these bags for many reasons. First of all, I never have to grab a basket or a cart if I’m just getting a few things. Usually I will just fill the bag and go instead of buying more than what I need. Plus, all of the bags I use have long straps, so it is super easy to carry a tote of groceries on each shoulder instead of 10 plastic bags in hand. 
I try to keep several cloth bags in my car all the time so that I can just take one into any store. Here is some great information about getting rid of plastic bags!
In this picture we have some inside-out California rolls (imitation crab meat, avocado and cucumber) and cucumber rolls, some crab rolls, and some ebi (nigiri with boiled shrimp). Everything was wonderful minus the rice. The vinegar solution called for 1/4 cup sugar, but it was way too sweet for our tastes, so next time I’ll use much less. Overall it was fun and delicious! 
And here is the bento box that I ordered from 
I haven’t gotten this in the mail just yet, but I’m very much looking forward to it. I take my lunch to work almost everyday, and I had been looking for something other than just Tupperware in a grocery bag anyway. I originally bought this to inspire eating better and learning to cook new dishes, but I have been trying to do more of that recently even though I don’t have my box yet. 
I’ve been wanting to get healthier for a long time now, and I’m finally really working towards it. I stopped doing my weekly weigh-ins you may have noticed.. but, I really have come to the point where I know it won’t happen if I don’t actively do it. It will take a while, but I have been so inspired lately. I’ve been eating much, much healthier and working out everyday. I like to DVR fitness shows that are on in the mornings and then do at least that 30 minutes right when I get home, and then a few extra moves/lifts while watching any other shows later in the evening. Last night Sam and I had salmon with french-style green beans and brown rice. Instead of using lots of spices, we used the juice of 1/2 a lemon in all of it, and it was so healthy and sooo tasty. And today I had tuna on whole-wheat bread with green peppers. Yumm. 
As Schroeder becomes more comfortable with his living space, he also gets more silly. He’s such an odd ball. Every morning when I take a shower, he’ll jump in and try to join me. It’s not so much that he likes the water as it is him being mistifyed by this spraying contraption that I use on a regular basis. If I splash him with water, sometimes he will run off and sometimes he will stay. And after the shower is over, he’ll sit right under the faucet. If it’s still dripping, he paws at the drips and bites at them as they fall. By the time he climbs out of the tub he’ll be soaked. It’s the weirdest thing! I vow to get a video of this and post it one day! 
He has also discovered that if he nudges his nose against the kitchen cabinets that he can open them and jump inside. Since the doors open outward (and I have seen him sneak back out as if he is some sort of feline secret agent), I don’t make him stop. I did kitty proof everything so that he can’t harm anything, or more importanly be harmed, so now he can continue his top secret kitchen cabinet investigations to his heart’s content. 
I have been wanting a kitty for quite some time now, and I finally got Sam excited about it. He found a kitten at his work that was starving and so bad off that it could barely move, so he took it to the vet. The poor little guy didn’t make it, but it made us want to find one that we could save. There is an animal shelter about an hour away from us that only has a fee of $20 that I often see postings for when searching on 
We actually have to close him in another room while we eat most of the time, otherwise he does his little run and jump act, doubling as a bowling ball to our drinks. He doesn’t mind water either. Tonight I was rinsing off some dishes, and he was so curious that he climbed right into the sink in the way. I spashed him a bit to see if he would move, but he just sat there trying to see what was going on (and if there was people food that he could eat, I suspect). 
