Works for Me Wednesday: Drive Through Trash

Today's Works for Me idea is very simple. It helps me keep my van much cleaner. The garbage cans sit on the driver's side in our garage. So, when I drive in, I stop by them and have the kid's pass up the garbage so I can throw it out the window into the trash. Kind of like the reverse of a fast food stop!

(I also often will give a specific number of items I want each person to bring in when we get home. This helps keep down the accumulation of other items.)

Works for Me!

Be sure to check out more Works for Me Wednesday ideas at Shannon's!

Works For Me Wednesday: Baby Containment

Today's Works for Me Wednesday idea must be credited to my mom. I ran across this baby picture of myself recently, and realized what a great idea it had in it: To keep a creeping/rolling baby from rolling off the blanket when spending time outside, put the blanket and baby in a clean wading pool. How great would this be camping or at the beach, too! My mommy is so smart!

For more great Works for Me ideas, be sure to visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer!

Famous In My Own Lunchtime

Code Yellow Mom tagged me for this meme which originated in New Zealand. If you are into meme history, (And, really, who isn't?) you can check out the original here.

I like when my friends ask me to play, so here goes:

What do you like most about where you live?

I've tried not to be too specific about where I live. And although I could say all kinds of specific things about the city and state where I live, I think I will keep this a bit broader. What do I like most about living in the East, to be exact. I can only narrow it down to three, or maybe four:

The History: the way people lived, the clothing they wore, the buildings they lived in, the ships they sailed in, the brave and amazing things they accomplished, and of course, early church history. Also, the things they left behind in the form of Antiques.

The Diverse and Delicious Food

The Stately and Elegant Architecture. Not just as evidence of history, but also because of how aesthetically pleasing I find it.

Is there anything strange about where you live? Roads seem to be laid out by evil 5 year olds drawing on maps with crayons. There is no other explanation for traffic "circles" and "jug handles".

What's one of your all time favorite music albums, and why? The pressure is on to pick something really cool and impressive so I can wow you all with my musical tastes. Too bad. I pick The Nylon's Happy Together. Because that's what DH and I were when we used to sing along to it and kiss good bye when we were dating.

Did you have a passion for something as a kid that you still have now? (If not - what is one of your passions now?) Besides berry pie a la mode, I'd have to say reading. I don't read as often as I did as a kid, mostly because my passion is so life interfering. When I read, I want to do nothing else till the book is done. But when I do allow myself a good read, it is delicious!

What do you like most about having a blog? I feel less guilt about not scrapbooking or journaling. And it's fun! I also like staying in touch with family, and of course all the MOF's (or is it MOLFs?) I've made. I don't really think of it as an opportunity to increase my writing skills or express myself, because my writing style is so casual and my in real life expressiveness is strong. Just ask my DH and his tired ears. Oh, and obviously I find some kind of recreational value in copying and pasting link locations!

Now I'm going to tag a prolific blogger, Stephanie, so she can avoid any guilt over "I don't know what to post about" issues.

And a blogger who hasn't posted in awhile, Merv.

A blogger I've been reading for a long time, Lei.

And a blogger I've recently found, Sketchy.

And anyone else who want to come out and play!

Another Reason I'm Boycotting Bratz

I've never been a fan of Bratz. My girls don't own them and have never been given them as gifts. They already know if they are ever given them to just politely say thank you. And not to remove it from the package, so we can take it back to the store to exchange it for something more appropriate.

Why? I object to the immodest, sexualized styles of the clothes, obviously, but also to the name itself. "Brats" may not have the connotations for today's girls that it has for me, but I don't care. I think giving a toy focused on young girls a name that connotes snotty, spoiled rotten behavior is irresponsible. Plain and simple.

Today I read something that truly clinched my determination to boycott any Bratz products for my girls. You can read it and the lame excuses the company makes here.

I'm really not surprised. But what really saddens me is that Target is selling and also justifying the stuff. I like liked Target. Now I'm not sure what to do. I know some chain stores have local buyers. Is Target one of them? If so, maybe I can wait to see if my local buyer starts to show such bad judgement before avoiding one of my favorite shopping spots. The fact that I am willing to completely stop shopping there, shows how strongly I feel about this. But, sometimes its a mother's job to put her foot down.