What's Keeping Me Busy

Moso Bags.

Moso bags are occupying my every-other thought these days. Awhile back I suspected that Bunny may have some mold in her room and I freaked out. She kept waking up with a stuffy nose and sore throat. We sell these little air purifying bags at work called Moso Bags. They're bags that are filled with bamboo charcoal that absorbs environmental pollutants and odors. They're one of our big sellers. People kept coming in for them and then coming back to buy them for their sisters and mothers and college kids and classroom and office and so-on. They're only $9.99 so I picked one up for Bunny's room. Within a day of putting it out I noticed a huge difference in the air quality in her bedroom. It just felt lighter and cleaner and easier to breathe. Needless to say, we're satisfied. Even when I hosted V's baby shower, I was sure to include a Moso bag in her gift basket so that baby J would have one for his nursery.

Well, the word is out.

There's a living natural magazine that wrote an article about Moso and listed us as the place to get them. We're just this itsy bitsy little store and we're getting major orders for Moso bags. I'm the shipping person, so I worked to fill as many as I could yesterday and am going in early today to try to get more out... and then looking forward to another shipment arriving (which we should deplete almost immediately. )

Anyway, if you're a stock buying person... buy stock in Moso Bags. And if you are an allergy sufferer... pick up a moso bag.

Bunny Goes Gaga

Lila Is Angry At Imaginary People (In SPANISH)!

1.) Don't mind how messy my house is.

2.) Try to ignore Sidney, who is persistently trying to convince me to put my candid camera down to toss her ball.

3.) I am not sure how much of this is actually Spanish and how much of this is Splila-ish.

Baby Gaga

So, there's a place in London that's making Baby Gaga, an ice cream made from the breast milk of 15 women. That's interesting, right?

Initially, I admit, the thought turned my stomach. I mean, I am not really interested in eating anyone's breast milk. Also, would never have used a wet nurse for my children. It's just not something that I am comfortable with. I'm sure that there are great arguments for wet nurses and I'm not debating that usefulness of them. It's just something that makes me feel uncomfortable. (How many times can I use a variation of the word "comfort" in one paragraph?) I am pretty sure that my discomfort is based in ignorance.

After all, it's not actually any different (outside of being healthier) than drinking cows milk and eating ice cream made from cow's milk. The difference is all mental.

What are your thoughts on this? Would you try it?

The Big Dilemma

Here's the problem, I do not know where I want to live.

Suburb? City?

I think, in part, I get caught up in what-I-think-I-should-want.

There are people out there who will talk your ear off about how the city is no place to raise children. They'll tote the common suburban ideals: safety, big yards, great schools and family community so convincingly that I feel I'm doing my children a grave injustice by living in the city. I feel poor. I feel weird. I feel... well, BAD about our choices. But for every suburban warrior, there is another person who says, "there's nothin' like city living." And of course, this is true. Because we live in the city, my kids are exposed to more culture and more diversity. The trouble is that with this culture and diversity comes a few rude awakenings. They see more poverty, homelessness, drug abuse and other general crime. They deal with crowding. They see people who are clearly nuts and experience the helplessness of not being able to help and the confusion of not understanding why. They live in a smaller space without an attached dwelling (there's no such thing in philly. Everyone shares walls) and don't have a big yard to move around in.

On the other hand, they have an unbeatable charter school in the city. Not only do I feel like my children are getting a top notch education, but I also feel that they are both part of something important. If we moved to the suburbs and lived in Cherry Hill, NJ or Voorhees, there's no doubt that they'd have a good school... but their classmates would be mostly white and come from families that were sitting in an economic middle. Not that this is bad. It's not bad. I just don't think that it's good either. I like the fact that my kids go to school with an incredibly diverse body of children. Some are coming fro extreme poverty and some are coming from extreme wealth. We fall in the middle. I like the fact that rather than making up the status quo, our family becomes part of the diversity. I feel that being exposed to this sort of racial and socioeconomic diversity gives my children an education that goes beyond books and blackboards. They learn culture and they learn social conscience. They learn tolerance and they don't have to stretch themselves far to accept differences because they aren't growing up with a ton of people who come from families that are just like theirs.

And then there's the matter of bedbugs. They're all over this city. If I have to go through it again, I will likely die. DIE. I'm serious. DIE. Bedbugs are the hardest thing that have ever happened to me. And they are spreading like wildfire in this city. Everyone has them or has had them. They're in everyone's neighborhood. They are becoming resistant to the chemicals and people are having a tough time killing them.

What to do... what to do...

Best Dog Treats Ever...

Sidney Holler is not a stereotypical dog who will eat anything and is always hungry. When it comes to food, she's a bit of an elitist. Frankly, I've never seen her like a dog treat. Milkbones are beneath her and Snausages turn her belly.

As a get-well gift I grabbed a box of organic Planet Dog treats from work. They're the first treats that I've ever seen her enjoy. We have been keeping them on the table of the desk that sits next to our couch and I noticed today that she's even started helping herself!

Fun With Egg Cartons

I wasn't feeling so well yesterday, so we spent the whole morning, afternoon and evening at home! We baked cupcakes and found a fun crafting idea!

I've been saving our egg cartons for awhile. I cut them apart and then the girls painted them.

Next we covered a wire hanger with yellow yarn and strung the painted egg cups upside down like flowers.

Lila loves the way this craft livens up her white bedroom wall! Spring is a'comin!