Property of HGTV: If Kilowatts Were Raindrops

My 2nd installment on www.hgtv.com/changetheworld



My challenge to my family this last month: Lower the electric bill. This was actually more of a task than I had bargained for as our electric company raised its rates in the middle of our challenge.

Here’s how the conversation went at the dinner table last month…

“Okay, I have our first “Green Challenge” for my blog.”
“What blog?” says my daughter.
“You know, the blog I told you I was writing for HGTV’s Change the World?”
“I don’t remember you telling us about a blog” says my son.
“It was just last night.”

…silence… then not silence….

“What am I hearing in the other room?” I asked.
My son “The TV”.
“Let’s start there shall we?” (My family is not short on irony)

“Anyway… we’re going to be better about turning off lights, not leaving the curling iron plugged in, not leaving the tv on and see if we can lower the electric bill.”

After a few eye rolls I had what I thought was the team spirit. My husband’s task was to change out the old money-sucking lightbulbs to CFL’s, the squiggly-more-expensive-but-less-in-the-long-run-bulbs.

That weekend, the bulbs were replaced. And I began a campaign of interrogation just this side of the Spanish Inquisition. When someone entered the room, I would ask. “Where were you? Did you turn the lights off? Did you make sure the fridge was closed? Is that a radio I hear? Did you shut down the computer?”

Soon my test subjects became conditioned to my badgering and I was only able to eke out half of a question before their response.

“Did you turn off…”
“Yessss” (more eye rolling)

Then it was “Did you t-…”

And soon “Di-…”

And then just a raised eyebrow would do the trick. By George, I think they’ve got it! I had them trained! I was General Patton in front of the American Flag and these were my frightened soldiers heading for the front lines to do battle with the electric bill. Did we win, you ask?

We saved 38 dollars!! God Bless America!

Last night after opening the mail, I gloriously carried the electric bill into the living room for all to celebrate. This was a moment to cherish until my husband asked “Did you leave the light on in the kitchen?”

Property of HGTV: Lovable Chaos

This post is actually from www.hgtv.com/changetheworld I am blogging for my own company (it's like giving it away... yeesh!) My assignment is to document my family's attempts at living green for a year. My call sign? "Gang Green". Here's the first post:


In my home, there is no clutter. The counters are kept clean. The paperwork never piles up. The laundry is immediately folded and put away while still warm. I have a beautifully manicured lawn with flowers that bloom each season. My two children are fed healthy dinners each night and then we read from classic novels before promptly going to bed.

Okay, you’re not buying this are you?

If I really had to describe life in my home in two words or less it would be “lovable chaos”. I have a husband with a home-based business, a 14 year old girl, an 8 year old boy, a large dog, and what seems like an even larger cat.

I am big on preservation and living green. I love this earth and don’t want to leave a big ugly footprint. However, the difficulty of leading that kind of life increases proportionally with the amount of living creatures in your home. So I would say I’m not earning too many green points compared to others.

Each day doors are left ajar, lights are left on, TV’s are left blaring, someone stands staring into the fridge for minutes at a time, my daughter takes 30 minute showers, and I sometimes dry a laundry load twice to fluff it up because I had left it in there so long.

My goal this year is to make my home and my family more earth friendly. This blog will be my witness and confession to the progress I am making as a working mother with her hands overly full who’s trying to “go green”.

For the record, I do have one can for garbage and one can for recycling. That’s about as “earth-conscious” as it gets in my house. However, I once considered switching to cloth napkins. But when the paper napkin package got down to three left, I panicked and drove my SUV to the store for more. Does that count?

The Guilt Fairy

If I am not doing something with even the slightest bit of redeeming value, The Guilt Fairy pays a visit. Once when watching Gilmore Girls, the little fairy appeared on my shoulder and whispered "You could be doing something constructive right now. Are you aware of the exponential growth of laundry that's happening in the hamper as we speak??"

"I'm entitled to a little relaxation!" I say adamantly.

My husband says "Of course you are, Sweetie". Which naturally he would because he's unaware that a guilt fairy even exists. He doesn't show signs of ever having had a visit by The Guilt Fairy. Somehow men are exempt from The Guilt Fairy just as they are exempt from cramps, unforeseen mood swings, carpools, and cleaning the cat litter.

The Guilt Fairy's first visit came fast and hard. It was the first day I dropped my daughter off at daycare and he has never failed to drop in whenever I'm engaged in an activity in which my time could have been better spent or I make some grave error in judgement.

I am constantly looking for ways to outsmart the guilt fairy. One Friday, he got me for forgetting to pack the daily snack in my son's backpack. I realized it just as he waved good-bye to me from the school bus window (because he's only 5 and public displays of affection toward your mother are still accepted at that age).
All day at work I worried and fretted that my poor son would starve from lack of snack. The Guilt Fairy hounded me, distracting me during meetings and phone conferences.

But by 5pm, I had the solution! Pack 5 snacks in his backpack so he'd be set for the week. No worries!

Monday morning came and I proudly packed a glorious variety of granola bars and fruit snacks inside the pocket with the Batman logo stitched on it.
The week went by without a thought to snack time. On Friday night I opened his backpack only to find a note from his kindergarten teacher, "Max was without a snack Tuesday through Friday. Please remember to pack them next week".

"Max!" I called. "What happened to the snacks I packed for you?"
"I don't know", his stock answer to anything I ask.
"Did you eat them?"
"Yeah".
"When?"
"At snack time." Near as I can tell, he ate all 5 snacks on Monday.
"That's a lot of sugar in one day" whispers The Guilt Fairy.
"Don't even start with me" I say.
"I didn't say anything" says my puzzled son.
"I know. You can't hear him."
"Who?"
"Never mind"

The List Maker

How will I honor the war-dead this Memorial weekend, you ask? Catching up on laundry for one. I mean no disrespect, mind you but I face my own war as each week comes to a close and the hampers overflow. I am certain that laundry, when left untouched, multiplies. It also increases exponentially as new humans are added to the household.

But laundry is only one of my many entries on my "What to do this weekend" list. I am an expert list maker. It may well be my greatest talent. I see each weekend as an opportunity for a new to do list... a fresh start at organizing my life. My loftiest ambitions for Saturday and Sunday are layed out for all to see on the kitchen counter pad of paper.

Also making the list are:

Clean out my closet
Clean out the spare bedroom
Clean out the garage
Clean out the sewing room

Notice a pattern here? All areas overflowing as much as the hampers. However, we can't live without clean clothes but we can live without the "sand art" kit that's burried in the back of the spare bedroom just behind the collection of hardened playdough and to the left of my wedding dress from 2005. I have yet to figure out what to do with it but don't worry it's on my list.

So tell me what's on your "to-do" list that never seems to get finished.