The Sewing Mom

The Sewingmom has been hearing so much about the energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs.  These bulbs save in so many ways.  These bulbs save money because the use 75% less electricity to get the same amount of light as a conventional light bulb.  The CFL bulbs last up to six times longer than a regular bulb which means a consumer has to buy fewer bulbs, and CFL bulbs do not burn as hot so they add less waste heat to your home or work environment. 

So, is there any disadvantage to using CFLs?  I’ve been asking this for a while now, ever since I learned on the local news that CFLs contain mercury.  The concern is this, what happens when the CFL bulb reaches the end of its useful life and gets tossed into the trash can?  Where does the mercury from inside the light bulb go?  Does it get into the ground in the landfill? 

I found my answer today in the September addition of the Texas Co-Op Power magazine.  The headline reads “Use Care When Disposing of CFLs”.  Okay, this does NOT sound good! Fortunately, the article stated that the level of toxic metal in a CFL’s tubing only about 5 milligrams.  This is a relatively small amount compared to a mercury thermometer which contains about 500 mg.  (Older mercury thermometers contain about 5,000 mg!)  Still, what happens to these CFLs when they are disposed of or even worse, accidentally broken?  Where does the mercury go?

There are definite guidelines for handling CFLs and I think these should be included in the packaging of all CFLs.

If a CFL is broken:

1.  Open windows and sweep up bulb fragments with a broom or vacuum.  DO NOT USE YOUR HANDS!
2. Wipe the area with a damp paper towel to get all the glass fragments.
3. Put all fragments and used paper towels into a plastic bag, seal the bag and place in an outside trash bin.
4. Wash your hands.

When a CFL has reached the end of its useful life:

1. Recycle it or take it to a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Site
2. If #1 can’t be done, seal the bulb in a plastic bag and place it in an outside trash bin.

While I’m still not clear about the level of mercury that will get into our landfills, I do feel somewhat more comfortable knowing there are more advantages than disadvantages to using CFLs.  What do you think?

Linked to Kate - Bite Me

Step #14 is to create unique, quality content and you should spend 99% of your blogging time doing exactly this. When I first opened my blog this morning and thought about what I could write, my initial thought was to write about my previous days activities. Then I realized, thankfully, that for readers this would be about as boring and mundane as watching the grass grow. Nobody wants to read about what the Sewingmom does on a daily basis, everybody else does pretty much the same thing, so it would not be very interesting to read about. However, if something unique happens to you during the day, write about it! We have adopted a rather unique puggle puppy and I do enjoy writing about her. While not unique, I also enjoy including pictures on my site whenever possible, I believe readers find them enjoyable. Another example of unique writing is Marcus’ Interactive Movie Reviews.

I have visited a few sites where I had trouble reading posts due to lack of quality. One tip I would give is once you write your post, read it back to yourself, out loud if possible. This is when you will more than likely catch incomplete sentences and incomplete thoughts. Make sure your thoughts flow and are organized so your reader can follow them and understand what it is you’re trying to say.  The second thing I would highly recommend is to use spell check if you have it. I know Wordpress offers it in their post writing and with a simple click Sewingmom can make sure all words are spelled correctly, making for more enjoyable post reading.

Plinko’s is growing so much and so fast!  She had her 2nd vet visit last week and weight 10 lbs, that almost double what she weighed one month previous.  We are still putting eyedrops in her eyes to help her tear ducts develop, but it’s nothing serious and other than that she’s very healthy.  The vet just loves her, he goes on and on about her when he sees her and likes to hug her!  It’s rather funny since he is an older gentleman to see him gush over her the way he does. 

Her potty training is going pretty well too.  She’s had one accident free day and most days usually only has one or two accidents in the house and they usually tend to be right in front of the back door.  She just needs to figure out that she needs to whine or something so we know she’s at the door!  We did learn at puppy training that it helps to not leave their water out all day and night, so we’ve started picking it up around 7 in the evening.  This is around the time she usually gets pretty hyper and has her accidents, so picking up the water just means she has less liquid to get rid of and it has definitely helped.

Her personality is really coming out, she’s actually very funny.  One thing she does that always makes us laugh is when she watches t.v..  She usually just sits and watches whatever catches her attention, but yesterday a trained dog was on the television and it caught her eye.  I think she wanted to play with this other dog and was mad because she couldn’t get to it.  I snapped a quick picture while we were laughing.

Step #13 is to Give Your Blog it’s Own Unique Voice.  I agree with Marcus, this step is basically a repeat of Step 8 - Let Your Readers See the Real You. At The Coffee House a reader can learn quite a bit about the Sewingmom and learn about better blogging right along with her! When writing posts, be sure to use your own words, your own feelings, your own sentiments. This will allow a reader to feel like they are getting to know you, even if you never meet. This is especially important if you choose to do paid blogging on occasion. Your readers will enjoy reading about you and will accept the fact that you also get paid to blog now and again.

School started here yesterday and today the Sewingmom (me) did my first stint as a volunteer for my daughter’s new school.  I signed up to work as a “copy mom” which means I go in and run copies for teachers and do laminating and miscellaneous clerical type things.  This is a position I did as a volunteer when my daughter was in 1st grade and I did it as a paid employee for the last 5 years as a classroom aide. 

Since moving here in April I have felt out of place and not know anyone, this sewingmom felt somewhat alone.  Even though I’ve had a ton of stuff to do around the house, unpacking, decorating, painting, cleaning, etc., it’s not the same when you’re used to getting up & going to work every day.  Today, I felt back in the swing of things for the first time since we moved.  It made me really glad that I I signed up to do this and even more glad that I was called to do it!  I was assigned to go every Tuesday morning and I think I will look forward to that. 

I signed up for a few other volunteer positions at the school so I’ll have to wait and see if I get called for any of those.  Right now I don’t plan on returning to work, I’d like to enjoy some time off.  I do have a few things I’d like to try for myself and I think this is my opportunity to do those things.  So, for now I feel like the Sewingmom has gotten back on track and I look forward to moving on.

What type of volunteer work do you do?

By the way, I did remember to take 1st day of school pictures yesterday, after school! I could sure use the brand new HP Photosmart Printer being given away in a contest at 5 Minutes for Mom. Go on over and enter, it’s very simple!

Why would anyone write their posts in the 3rd person? I know one blogger who does this and I’ve always wondered why, until today. Snoksred explains that you will see improved google search results if you include your own authors name in your writing instead of using pronouns. This makes sense when you think about it, how many times do you do a google search on the word “I” or “my”? My guess would be NEVER! So, from now on, you may be reading more about Sewingmom on my site instead of “me”!

This was it, the first day of school, my daughter’s first day of 6th grade.  She was so excited, but at the same time nervous.  The two girls she actually met after moving here at the end of the last school year, both moved away.  She was excited about meeting new friends, but nervous about not knowing anyone.  We met her teacher on Friday and got to see her classroom.  She felt even more excited and more comfortable after that.   She’s had her 1st day outfit picked out for 2 weeks!  Can I just say, she looked simply outstanding today!

 I on the other hand didn’t want to let her go today.  You’d think it was her first day of school…ever!  After making her lunch I drove her to school this morning.  I noticed right away that most of the other parents were walking their children into the building so I asked her if I could walk her in and she said no, didn’t even think about it!  So, I proceeded to pull into the “drop off” zone and I was the only car there, everyone else was parked and walking in with their kids.  So, I asked her again and got another quick “no”!  About this time I realized that I’d completely forgotten to take her picture before leaving the house, I felt horrible!  She said, “it’s okay mom, you can take it when I get home”.  Well yea, I can, but it’s just not quite the same now is it?

The dog and I are spending the day together.  While she napped, I sorted through papers, doing some much needed filing.  I can’t wait to pick my daughter up and hear all about her day!

I was visiting Amy at Whatever I Feel Like and discovered this really fun Travel Map. You can see where I’ve been, where I want to go and where I’ve lived. This is exactly the kind of thing my daughter & I have been wanting to put on the back of our full size van, but my husband won’t let us! I know you can get those magnetic maps at RV centers but I think he would refuse to get in the vehicle if he knew it was there. Well, I guess he wouldn’t have to know!!

edit: I have again removed the map as it is causing technical difficulty.

My daughter and I took Plinko to her second puppy class today at PetSmart. My daughter missed last week because she was in California, so she was a little nervous about it today. Plinko on the other hand was so excited, she loves to socialize which she began doing from the moment she set foot inside the store! She wins over the heart of every single person she sees and just approaches anybody. She’s very friendly to say the least.

We got to the store a little bit early so we could purchase a few supplies, including a new collar since she’s all ready just about grown out of the first one we bought her. My daughter also made Plinko her first dog tag, a gold bone,  out of a machine where you type in the information and the machine engraves it right before your eyes. The kids all love this and think it’s fascinating! After making our purchases, we headed off to class.

Plinko was again the biggest dog there, mind you, she weighs a whopping 10 lbs! There were 3 other dogs there today, a 10 week old Beagle named Lacy, a chiwawa named Spike and an Italian greyhound, I didn’t catch it’s name (her owner wasn’t too friendly). All these other dogs are very cute and they’re fun to watch. First we reviewed our lessons from last week, getting the dog to “watch me” or look into your eyes. This is done with bribery of course as are all the lessons in class! Next we went on to teach the “sit” command. I was so happy that my daughter had taken it upon herself yesterday to teach this to Plinko, it made them both look very smart indeed! Finally, we started on loose leash walking. This I know is going to be our challenge, almost as hard as potty training! Plinko wears her leash all day long so we can quickly get outside when we need to, but she doesn’t really like walking with us holding on to the other end and directing where she goes. She likes to choose her own path. Our final instruction today were that by next Saturday, we and our dog should be excellent loose leash walkers. Hmmmm, I see a tough week ahead!

Same as last week, by the time we got home Plinko was bone tired. She’s been asleep for almost 2 hours! All that socializing and learning just wears her out, I wish we could do it every day!!

So, what do you think, would it be better to practice our leash walking in our big back yard or should we take to the road?

No surprise here but Michael Vick is entering into a plea agreement.  He is admitting to being involved in the dog fighting and the killing of dogs who did not perform well according to dog fighting standards.  He is claiming however that he never bet on any of the fights, just bankrolled them.  Hmmmm, he didn’t bet on the fights but put up all the money to sponsor them.  Does that make it any better?  I certainly don’t think so.

The defense attorney is recommending a minimum sentence, a year to 18 months.  The judge can take this into consideration but is not required to follow the recommendation.  The judge could actually sentence Vick to 5 years in prison, the maximum.  Considering that Vick’s story has changed on a regular basis since this story came to light back in April, I personally would be leaning towards the 5 year sentence.  He obviously does not always tell the truth because when the story first broke, Vick said he knew nothing about the dog fights, even though they were on his own property.  Now he is saying that not only did he know about them but he bankrolled them and helped kill dogs!  Guess his story changes whenever it’s convenient for Vick. 

The only thing that bothers me more than Vick and what he has done is the fact that the NFL still has not taken a stand in this case.  They continue to ride the fence.  I think it’s time for the NFL to stand up for itself and show the world that it will not tolerate this kind of behavior.

 What do you think?