A Greener Christmas

I love Christmas.  I love the trees, the lights, the excitement, the chocolate.  It is, undoubtedly, my very favorite holiday ever.  I don't love the commercialism and materialism that the season brings with it.  The line of screaming children and haggard parents to see Santa at the mall, usually 100 deep, has driven me crazy for years (which is why I am so very grateful that our family photographer, Mandy, had the acumen to schedule Santa photos in her studio by individual family sessions.  Nightmare avoided!).  The thrashing of stores, and my innate OCD need to tidy up when shopping, keeps me purchasing online.  The general attitude of people shopping at this time of year is truly horrific - even the Salvation Army Santas are grumpy butts, I've noticed.  Everyone needs some spiked eggnog and a healthy dose of "chill the f out."

This is Babydoll's first Christmas, and I've taken this as an opportunity to find as many ways to green it up as we can.  Because the stinkerbutt is into everything now, we've decided to go with a live, tabletop tree this year.  When Christmas is over, we'll plant the tree in our backyard.  Hopefully, we will manage not to kill it.

The same gift bags have been circulating in my family for years.  I decided to take the green factor to the next level this year, and we'll be wrapping every one's presents in reusable shopping bags, like these from Envirosax.  Even the kids are getting their own.  No more tissue paper, and to secure the bags, I'm using ribbon remnants from crafts and presents I've received in years past.

I love getting, and giving, consumables.  Wine, coffee, oils, spices, chocolate, are all awesome gifts, especially when tailored to the recipient.  My dad is perfectly content with a bottle (or two...or six) of Riesling.  My mom is a Pinot Noir junkie.  My sister-in-law and I share the same passion for quality chocolate, so even though she's pregnant this year and I can't give her a bottle of Pinot Blanc like I normally do, there's no shortage of presents that will make her happy.  My two brothers are both easy to please - liquor and beer (um, I swear, we are not a family of alcoholics.  We just enjoy adult beverages...a lot).

Shopping for Babydoll has been pretty easy.  We don't want her to have a plethora of crap strewn all over the house, so her presents will be minimal.  A couple Melissa & Doug toys, some books, new BabyLegs, and her big present: a grow-with-me Fisher-Price rocker-tricycle thingie.

For many years, I've skipped the "just because" presents for neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances, etc.  Generally, these are people you only want to spend $5 on, right?  So instead of spending, say, $50 on random folks, why not donate that money to your local food bank?  What to do with the guilt that accompanies a gift from these people?  Squelch it.  Thank the person for their generosity, then explain your donation.  Maybe they'll do the same next year.

I love receiving and displaying Christmas cards - I especially love when a personal note and/or photo is enclosed.  It does go against my hippie nature, the amount of paper used to produce the cards, BUT they can always be recycled, right?

Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or whatever you celebrate, is a great time to gift reusable items to your friends and family.  Water bottles, reusable shopping bags, cloth napkins, kitchen towels and other household items, are almost always appreciated, and are often things that the recipient may not purchase for themselves (steel and aluminum water bottles tend to be pricey).

Most importantly, at Christmas and always, is being able to spend time with family and friends - happy memories are priceless.

Did I really say that?  Good lord.  How about a glass of wine to serve with that cheese?

The IBS Invasion

Last week, BD had a long overdue colonoscopy and endoscopy.  As I'd suspected, the doctor diagnosed him with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  Game over.

After the diagnosis, I immediately consulted Dr. Google.  And my mom, who was my Google long before Google existed.  Medications don't really help the symptoms of IBS, so I knew we'd have to shake up our diet.  And, gasp, start exercising.  We are lazy people.  If laying around on the couch burned calories, we'd be stick figures.

The exercising part, I don't see as too much of a challenge.  Little Babydoll is becoming quite the active monkey and will probably be tearing up the house any minute now.  Cooler weather has finally hit our desert town, making it easier to actually go outside and do stuff.  BD tuned up our bikes a couple weeks ago.  There is a park within five minutes' walking distance of our house.  There is no good excuse why we can't get off our lazy asses and start burning some calories.

I bet you a million dollars we'll find a good excuse.

Back to the diet.  Ugh.  "Diet."  If that's not a four-letter word, I don't know what is.  Let's not use that ugly, ugly word.  We'll say "eating plan," instead.  I thought we were doing pretty well: we eat mostly organic foods and only grass-fed beef.  I should clarify: this is how we eat when I cook.  When left to his own devices, BD chows down on pre-packaged meals, Apple Jacks, hot dogs...you get the picture.  After examining the "what not to eat" lists I found online, I discovered that for my part, I only need to tweak a few things (less fat, mainly) and I just need to make sure there are more options for him at lunch time.  Lunch seems to be his downfall.

The biggest obstacle he'll have to overcome is milk consumption.  He can easily go through four gallons of milk in a week.  Seriously.  We should have just bought our own dairy cow.  But since D-Day, he's already cut way back.  Progress!  Next up, cheese.  We are cheesy people.  Nothing brings a smile to BD's face like a wedge of Brie and a sliced baguette.  It seems our suppers of cheese, bread, salami, fruit and wine are in the past, or, at the very least, will become much more infrequent.  Sad face.

Next up: fiber.  Lots and lots of fiber.  Easy enough.  I'm a label-reader anyway, and I'm always checking the fiber content of cereal, pasta, bread, etc.  Lentils are already one of our staples, and I've been looking up new recipes to use them.  My current favorite use is a lentil soup with kale, carrots, and chicken Andouille.

Sugar.  He's not much of a sweets-eater, but if you're a label-reader like I am, you know that sugar is hidden everywhere.  Cutting back on the milk should definitely help in that department.

Artificial sweeteners.  Here's the hurdle.  He loves Sweet 'n' Low.  I know.  I KNOW.

Caffeine.  Not much of an issue - BD doesn't chug coffee and tea the way I do.

Water.  This is a foreign word to him.  If given the choice between water and expired milk, I bet he'd choose the expired milk.

Probiotics.  We started giving Babydoll Country Life MaxiBaby powder in her yogurt every day to help with her eczema (yes, it's working), and I'd been thinking for awhile that we probably ought to take some, too.  Done and done.

We can do this.  If I can keep him out of the Apple Jacks...