Sonja's Outdoor World

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Rest in Peace, you were loved

A very important person in my life passed away yesterday. He was a godfather to me, an uncle of sorts, but not related. He played with me and spoiled the dickens out of me when I was young.
I love you Ed, and will remember you always.
I am flying out tomorrow at noon, back to San Jose to help Ed's family with arrangements, to be there for support, and to say goodbye to him.
Ed has left his wonderful wife Lynn, and his beautiful daughter Micky, who turns 13 on Monday.
We will miss him so much.
Rest in Peace.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Hormonal craziness

What is up with my hormones lately. One day I am so in the dumps that Troy thinks I need medical help...or a 6 pack. The next day I am happy as a clam and ready to conquer the world. I admit, I have recently given up dairy, sugar, booze, and tomatoes in hopes of helping Annabelle through some of her nursing issues, but could that be having such a large affect on my mood?

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Foreclosures

Delightful! An article came out in the Denver Post about the number of foreclosures in Colorado. It turns out that in March Colorado had the highest ratio of foreclosures in the country. One out of every 339 homes in Colorado are in some sort of foreclosure state. And...it gets worse. Adams county, the county that I currently reside in, is the highest of all counties. One out of every 128 homes in Adams county is in foreclosure. The national average is one out of every 1,138 homes.
I completely understand why. We had our house on the market for 6 months last year...no sell. It's on again this year, priced over 3,000 lower than what we paid for it 3 years ago and it still hasn't sold. Every ounce of equity earned will go to closing costs and realtor fees, and we will end up forking thousands out of pocket beyond that. We have our ducks in a row and have planned very well, and it looks like we aren't that far ahead of the foreclosure wagon. It makes me so sad when people want...need...to get out of their house and they are stuck...like we are stuck. I know most people don't have the means or the resourcefulness that we do, and they do end up foreclosing on their homes, ruining their credit (a foreclosure is on your credit for 10 years, and you won't be able to purchase another home for 5), and going dead broke in the process.
This situation has made Troy an I extremely adverse to EVER owning another home again. It is so stressed that home ownership is nothing but good...well...NOT TRUE. I absolutely hate the situation that we are in.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Taste of the Cabin

This weekend Troy, Annabelle, Arwen and I traveled to Troy's family cabin to open it up for the year. We weren't sure if the snow would be melted enough to access our 1/8 mile road in, but we were up for an adventure. Turns out there was still too much snow to get in on our road, but our neighbors let us use their road to unpack/pack our stuff in. We then parked the truck close to our gate and walked in. The cabin was as cozy as ever and it weathered through the another winter without any signs of damage. We lazed around most of the weekend... cooking... eating... eating... watching all 6 installments of the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice... ooh and eating. Today was a quick day as we had breakfast, went for a walk, cleaned up the cabin and headed back home. All in all it was very enjoyable. We hope to be able to make it back there in a little over a month. Annabelle had a very fun time tasting all of the outdoor trees and grasses. She loves to taste things lately. I have attached a few photos of her.
Here she is tasting bark from a stick (Troy and I were laughing that her first "solid" was bark):
Here she is tasting some grass:
And here she is playing with a dried reed. She demolished it in about 3 seconds:

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Easter Photos

Here are some Easter photos of the DoodleBug





Monday, April 17, 2006

Mountain Mamas Hike #2

I lead another Mountain Mamas hike today. We had a blast. We did a 1.5 mile look in Red Rocks Park and it was hot hot hot! I lead it at 11am, and then Susan, our other hike leader lead another group at noon. I went ahead and did the loop again with Susans group so I could get in some extra mileage!
I think the moms and babies had a really fun time. It was a gentle loop, allthough it ends with 60+ stairs. All the babies were really content. I am starting to get a "core" group of moms who show up for all of my hikes and stroller walks. Our babies are all close in age so it's been great. We bounce lots of ideas off each other and it's cool because there are a lot of different parenting styles accounted for. It's really reminded me that sometimes I just need to chill out!

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Effective Environmental Choices

Whew, it's been almost 9 days since I wrote. I have been enthralled in a book these last 9 days and now that I am finished I would like to tell you a little bit about it.
The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices
--Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists
by Michael Brower and Warren Leon
This book is a clear, practical and rational overview of the relationship between consumers and the environment. Some choices have a huge impact on the environment, others are negligible. This book outlines which choices are worthy of your time and money when making environmental choices. The book identifies the 4 most significant consumer related environmental problems, the 7 most harmful spending categories, 11 priority actions, and 7 rules for responsible consumption.
I will list them here:
4 Most Significant Consumer Related Environmental Problems
  • Air pollution
  • Global Warming
  • Habitat Alteration
  • Water pollution
7 Most Harmful Consumer Activities
  • Cars and light trucks
  • Meat and poultry
  • Fruit, vegetables, and grains
  • Home heating, hot water, and air conditioning
  • Household appliances and lighting
  • Home construction
  • Household water and sewage
11 Priority Actions for American Consumers
  • Choose a place to live that reduces the need to drive
  • Think twice before purchasing another car
  • Choose a fuel efficient, low-polluting car
  • Set concrete goals for reducing your travel
  • Whenever practical, walk, bicycle, or take public transportation
  • Eat less meat
  • Buy certified organic produce
  • Choose your home carefully
  • Reduce the environmental costs of heating and hot water
  • Install efficient lighting and appliances
  • Choose an electricity supplier offering renewable energy
7 Rules for Responsible Consumption
  • Give special attention to large purchases
  • become a weight watcher (as in the weight of the products you purchase)
  • Analyze your consumption quantitatively
  • Don't worry or feel guilty about unimportant decisions
  • Look for an opportunity to be a leader
  • Buy more of those things that help the environment
  • Think about nonenvironmental reasons for reducing consumption
All and all I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting that in most places in America we don't have a landfill problem, so debating over paper vs plastic vs cloth bag is a moot point. BUT, driving the truck that we do isn't. Also, the jury is still out on cloth diapers vs disposable but which ever way it goes, the choice will make such a small change that it isn't worth the effort. But, purchasing an energy efficient fridge next time you need a fridge is VERY important.
I gained a lot of insight into what decisions are most important when considering a more environmental option.
Great book, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Hiking and Goats...not all at once!

Today I took off early for a trip to Boulder. I needed to scout the hike that I will be leading on Friday for the Mountain Mamas. We are going to do the Tenderfoot loop up on Flagstaff mountain. It's about a 2.3 mile hike with a lot of down, and a lot of up. The views of Indian Peaks and Sugarloaf mountain are awesome...lots of snow.
After the hike I met up with friends and kiddos at the Haystack Dairy to pet goats. It was fun to watch the kids feed the kids (ha ha ha ha...I'm funny). The little ones liked to suck on my finger, which I thought was cute...if only Annabelle was that interested in sucking! It was nice to catch up with friends, quite a few of the moms in the group are prego, and it was neat to see everyone's growing bellies.
Fun day! Annabelle and I passed out together in bed at 4:30 and slept for several hours, then woke up to watch American idol, House, and Boston Legal. Ahhh, I just love Tuesday night TV!
Off to bed!

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Nursing Update

Well, I've been incognito for awhile because Annabelle and I have been working on nursing and healing from our hard week. The lactation consultant at Rose Medical Center was able to help us a ton. She got me set up with a rental electric pump so that I can beef up my milk supply. Then we worked on not forcing the breast and respecting Annie and her desire to nurse. I have guidelines on when to pump, and how long to let Annie go before I offer her a bottle of breast milk. So far things have been much better. I still feel a bit hailed from the whole experience but I think we are getting into the clear again. Thanks to everyone for their kind thoughts and well wishes. And Thank You to my friends for giving me my space while we worked this out, that is what works best for me!
(Hugs)