NO PLASTIC BAGS!!!

OK as most of you know I am going Green this year. I have made several changes from my cleaning products, my clothing and bringing my own bags to the store.
Yesterday was like any other trip to good ol Wal Mart except one thing. The cashier.
First she tried to look for price tags on my grocery bags AFTER I told her they were mine and to please use them for my stuff.
I got "the look" then she put my stuff in plastic bags then put them into my bags!
Kinda defeats the purpose of the whole bringing your own bags to the store.
So in the nicest your not a dumb ass voice I said "Oh there is no need to use your plastic bags just put my stuff in my bags"
She stopped gave me "the look" again sighed and I bet that snotty girl rolled her eyes!
Seriously?

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta!

I am playing again! You can too! Just post a Foto and let Candid Carrie know that you are playing!

This one was taken on the last day of school. Seth looks so big and isn't that the cutest little girl you have ever seen?

Love thy neighbor...or so they say

I have been wanting blog about my neighbors for a while now but always feared it would get back to them. But after MUCH consideration I decided what the hell, they are never going to read this and if they do...then screw 'em, I don't care. They piss me off!
We moved into our house a few months after our they did. They have 5 kids and 2 dogs. We have 2 kids no animals.

The husband owns a general carpentry company and she stays at home and does her thing. They are foster parents for infants. They are good people, super devout Christan's. When we met the FIRST thing he said was "We do not drink, we do not swear"

Well then and there I was thinking "Damn that is messed up shit"

See I drink and obviously swear. Working on the swearing but the drinking??? Hum let me think, maybe NEVER. An ice cold beer on a hot Wisconsin day YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY.

By now you are probably wondering how on earth could I could have any issues with these people. No loud parties with biker dudes swearing like sailors, sounds like great neighbors.

Well because they are "good" people does not mean they make OK/good/great neighbors.
They do have their flaws and it has gotten out of control.
Their back yard faces our side yard, make since to you? We have a great deck on the side of our house and we LOVE to sit out there in the warmer weather. We eat out there and drink and swear out there.

Now that you have a somewhat visual let me list the questions I have for them but will never ask unless maybe I am drunk :)

1) Why you have not finished your siding? It has been 7 years and still the siding job you started has not been finished. I am getting sick of seeing your half tan, gold and Tyvek house, it is UGLY! For God's sake you are a carpenter.

2) Why oh why are you kids so flippin rude to mine? Is that something Jesus would do? Not very neighborly if you ask me. Is it because we drink and swear? Well face it you are the minority in the neighborhood. I have drank with most of the neighbors. Remember they guy handing out shots on Halloween? Oh, you don't trick or treat?

3) The pine tree is YOURS! It is/was big I understand, about 30-50 feet if not more. But when 1/2 of the top broke off in a storm 3 years ago you said you were going to take it down. You said the other top half was unstable. Damn you are smart! Because just a month ago the other side broke off during a wind storm. You were quick to clean it up but when you looked at me and said "I don't know what we are going to do with the the other half of the tree that is still standing" Um...I have an answer F#$KING take it down! DUH!

4) Why do you think it is OK to erect a HUGE pool with no sort of fence around it like 12 feet from my property line? IT IS NOT OK! I did not like but handled the little blue blow up thing you had for years but this is to dangerous. Are you that stupid? If the city building inspector calls you it was NOT me ;) And seeing as you placed it close to the half pine tree, i guessed you answered your own question. You are going to do nothing about it, figures.

5) Your trampoline also freaks me out. I thought it was great when you bought the one that has the net around it for safety. I do however think the net is not suppose to hang loose in toward where your children are jumping. just an observation.

6) Your stupid dogs people bark all the time! Your Lab as pretty as she is has been driving me INSANE for years! I sleep with my bedroom window open in the summer and that things barks at EVERYTHING! She wakes me up all the time. Shut her up. Then there is your little dog that bark is like fingers down a chalk board she barks only when the Lab barks ALL THE TIME!

I think that sums it up.

Below is the tree and the pool. You can see their house but only 1 of the colors the others are to the right of tree out of your view.

I swear the calander says May 28th!

Spring, the time all things come to life. The birds are chirping and the flowers are blooming. I have been just dying to start/finish our landscaping, but there is a problem. A big problem something I cannot change, no one can, well maybe God but he is obviously busy with more important things then this.
It is the weather. What the heck is going on? It was 84 degrees Monday. Warm, sunny and just too perfect. Then like a bat out of hell came the wind and bam 42 degrees. KID YOU NOT! Crazy huh? In like 10 minutes it dropped 40 degrees!
Well the forecast for last night called for FROST, yes we were under a FROST ADVISORY at the end of May are you friggin for real? Low of 38? Did I see that right? I would expect this weather if I lived in Alaska and if we had just not endured the longest coldest and snowiest winter ever!!
So this is why I have not planted a darn thing, it has been too cold. Except those few hours that we had summer on Monday
Gotta love spring in Wisconsin, NOT!

Tuesday's Green Tip

I have decided to dedicate Tuesday as Green Tip Day, I challenge you to join along.

Some of you may know that I made it a goal this year to living a more Green life. It has not been difficult at all, in fact it has been ALLOT easier then I thought it would be. Today's tip is ...bring your own bags to the grocery store.

Plastic bags take 1,000 years to decompose in our landfills. Sure some stores have bins for recycling them but only 1% of plastic bags used to hold our goods are recycled! Paper is only good if you recycle it.

The bags I have been using are Envirosax, I LOVE THEM!!! (I went with the Retro colors)They are big, hold up to 2 "Plastic" bags worth of groceries. They are super light weight and fold up neatly in a little pouch so you can carry all 5 bags in your purse! Since using these bags I have not had to use any plastic bags. You can you even carry the bags like a purse meaning less trips between the car and house. I have had at least 1/2 dozen people ask me about them. I saw one of them with the bags last week. I am so happy that I am making a difference, a small one, but a difference none the less.