El Dia de los Muertos

What a beautiful holiday but when translated into english, Day of the Dead, it sounds morbid, creepy and sacrilegious. I'll admit, when Sam's pre-school said that they would be making an altar to honor the dead, I had some questions.  I spoke with her teacher and decided that I need to learn more about the holiday. It took me a while to get past the name, but once I did and learned more about this Mexican custom, the more it intrigued me. In case you're not familiar with this holiday, it is celebrated on November 2nd and is a day to honor those that have passed on, but it is a day of celebration and not morning. Beautiful alters are erected with pictures, flowers, beautifully painted masks and light candles. On top of this, they play the deceased's favorite music and make their favorite foods. In my quest to learn more, I took Sam to the Longmont Museum for their El Dia de los Muertos exhibit, it was beautiful. I was blown away by how elaborate these alters are and the care and love that went into designing them. Thank you to The BellaVita School and the Longmont Museum for your enlightenment. And if you get a chance, check out the altars at the museum, you won't regret it.

All good things must come to an end

I've got to admit, I am the first to complain when you see Christmas decorations out before Halloween, Really? I'm not trying to rush the end of the year but it's time to face facts folks, the tax credits are coming to an end. If you have any home renovation plans in the works it's time to get a move on. The goal here is not to just save money on your bills, although that is a big motivator, but to also leave a little something for those kids we keep making and maybe help the world in the process.  So here is the lowdown on energy savings rebates...for the most part these rebates are for your main residence and not rental properties, the rebate is for 30% of the cost and depending on what you are renovating there may or may not be a limit. What a deal! On top of the government rebates you may be eligible for a little cash from Xcel and just when you thought it couldn't get any better Boulder County may be willing to give it up as well. So with a little research and sweat equity, they may be paying you to do the work! Now I am not suggesting that we all stop shaving our legs, sing kumbya and hug every tree in sight but let's face it, we could all be a little kinder to Momma Earth. So, even if you are not doing a major renovation isn't there something that you could do to give Momma a helping hand? Personally, I just can't bring myself to do the CFL's, let's face it girls, no one looks good under flourescent lighting. Here is what I'm doing...I'm reducing my consumption, no I am not going on a diet, I'm being more careful in  my purchases. It seems to me that by purchasing items with less packaging, than I am going to have less waste. Right? For example, I was buying Costco TP to save a little money, but when I stopped and thought about it, each roll of TP is individually wrapped! That just seems like a whole lot of plastic wrapping going into the landfills. Yesterday I was at the grocery store and picked up a carton of Land O'Lakes eggs, every egg is wrapped in plastic! While I appreciate their tenacity, I would rather have a broken egg than all that gunk in the landfill.  Since my daughter must have everything she eats smothered in orange cheese,  give me the block of Velveeta rather than those slices, each individually wrapped. The moral of my story; Let's stop and think what we are doing to Momma Earth BEFORE we get to the register.

Delicious Autumn

"Delicious autumn, my very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird, I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns" -George Eliot (aka Mary Anne Evans) Last night as I was walking home from a friend's house, the neighborhood was quiet, the air crisp and cool and the leaves were crunching beneath my feet, as I passed the 1,257th political sign my mind began to wonder and I realized just how blessed I am.  I have an amazing family whom I love, and they love me, we are all healthy, able to keep food on the table and even a little wine now and then and we live in an amazing society where you are free to speak your mind and vote for our leaders. Each of us comes from very different experiences which help to form our views and every November we get to wade through all the propaganda, go to the polls (without fear of being killed for the  privilege) and cast our vote for our leaders. And if we screw it up, just a wait a few years, then we can vote that S.O.B. out! God Bless America!