Everyone Has to Start Somewhere (My Inspiration)

After weeks of racking my brain trying to name my blog and getting it ready to publish, I finally get to post...yey!!!  Where am I going to start you ask??  At the beginning, of course, ....

I had always seen the side of my green eyed monster when I heard a story of a person's "turning point" in life.  You see, I've been known to have a pretty freaky memory...I remember crazy things like the time I stuck a bobby pin in an electric outlet when I was four.  I remember my thought process when I was doing this (like I said--freaky!), I couldn't just stick it in the outlet, nope, I had to open it up and stick each end in a hole. Still have the scar on my finger to prove it!!   Or, this is a good one (not that sticking a bobby pin in an electric outlet wasn't),  I had one of those pull-string, talking, Bugs Bunny stuffed animals.  I vividly remember thinking...'what will happen if I pull the string, twist the string until I can't twist anymore and let go?'  Well, before you go experiment on one of your kid's toys, I'll tell you what happens...the string breaks (crazy, huh?).  After what must have been a pretty serious emotional outburst (did I mention it was my favorite toy?), my father and uncle disected Ol' Bugs.  To make a long story short, I ended up with a new Bugs...it was just never the same though :)

Anyways...there's lots more where that came from, but back to my monster.  So, I'm thinking with a well oiled memory like mine, why is it that I never had one of those cool stories to tell about this amazing moment in time that changed my life.  Was it that I had never had one of those experiences?  Who knows, that's one of those things that could cause me some serious couch time, but what I do know is that I finally have my story!!!   

Two and a half years ago, I was teaching a three year old...I'll repeat that...THREE year old Sunday school class (you'll see why I felt the need to repeat that later).  We had a special snack that week to go along with our story and the kids were served juice with the snack.  As I'm mindlessly throwing the empty juice container into the trash can, a little hand reached up and grabbed my arm.  "That's recyclable", the little voice said.  WHAT?!?!?!  Besides the fact that "recyclable" sounded way too cute coming out of the mouth of a child that age, a three year old...yes, THREE, stopped me in my tracks and gave me a "story".

I had one of those moments that feel like an hour, but was really only 3 seconds.  There were recycling bins in my garage...they were buried under a mountain of "important garage stuff".  I had used them once too...spaced just far enough apart, they made a great place to prop up some picture frames I was spray painting.  Now that we actually put them at the end of our driveway every week, I'm surprised how many neighbors want to know why the bottom half of my recycling bins are painted white!! 

So, as a result of my 3 second  moment, I realized that I needed to start being a better steward of not just our environment, but I was wasteful in so many other ways too.  I was horrible at managing our money, we had two gas guzzling pieces of machinery, I squandered my time away at the mall almost on a daily basis, my four year old had more shoes than Stride Rite (not really, but she came in a close second), we left the radio on all day for the cats, eating out was more the norm than actually cooking...please, don't let me go on.  Besides, if a three year old could recycle, why couldn't I?

That folks, was my moment, my "story" and it's just the beginning...the past two and a half years have been an adventure that I can't wait to share.  I've learned (ok, I'm learning) how to garden, we've cut our energy consumption in over half (loving my under $100 electric bills), I bake my own bread (so, YUM...I'll share recipes soon) and so many more fun changes!!  Throw in the economy factor and you have a roller coaster ride with a warning sign that reads "Do not ride if you can't handle 180 degree turns at 200 mph or painfully dead, still stops followed by gravity defying jolts landing within inches of the earth's atomosphere ".

STAY TUNED FOR MY FIRST REAL "EXPERIENCE" in simplification....I'll give you a hint...It has to do with the loss of a very important staple in a Suburban Princess' daily routine.