Uber early Holiday cards & Compost piles

I know it's crazy, but I already ordered our holiday cards -- last night. They will be in on Monday. I get them at Kodak and they are delivered for free to my local CVS pharmacy.
It's still just mid-November. I don't plan on mailing them until after Thanksgiving, but this way I can have them all addressed and stamped and ready-to-go. The holidays get so crazy at home and work, I was just thinking, if I can do stuff early that's 1 less thing on my "to do" list.

We still don't have our DCFS certification and original homestudy yet, and have some items for our dossier that have to be re-done (the notary expires before January, so if we don't get the dossier out until January, then Washington DC may kick it back.) Since I'll be worrying about our "golden ticket" and dossier in December, I didn't want to have to worry about holiday cards and presents then too. Don't worry, in my crazy-mixed-up mind this all makes sense.

On other news, my mom got a composter!!! Yeah!!!! We always had a compost pile at the farm, but it's really different when you dont' have 80 acres and 400 head of cattle. Now compost piles have to be enclosed and not covered w/ a swarm of hungry flies. Manda was the first to add this green-ness to her house. She's had a nicely constructed compost bin from Gardner's Supply Company for about 2 years now. Only problem was she didn't have the right nitrogen levels so she didn't have much decomp this season. Oh well, I'll get her some super-hot, which is a compost starter mix with the right amounts of each nutrients -- it JUMP STARTS the decomp and ensures you dont' have any bugs (other than the worms which you need.) I got my compost bin from Gardner's Supply Company too, and have had it about 1 year. I have had great luck w/ decomp and with the added leaves this fall, should have "ready" compost in the Spring. I just love the fact that we aren't putting our fruit & veggie cuttings in the garbage disposal, and aren't throwing away our coffee and tea grounds. I even put some recycled papers and cardboard in there and it does great. Grass clippings are the best though, because they really increase the temp and keep everything "cookin'" nicely!

Manda and I both have 99% toxic-free houses and have really seen the benefits. I did not get my annual bouts of pneumonia and bronchitis this year. This is huge in and of itself, because I get these religiously every fall and have since I was a child. I typically crack a rib with the coughing. It was really nice not to go through this. Both Em and Liv have had some respiratory issues/allergies/asthma and HAVE NOT gotten as sick this year. We attribute this to our bodies producing a heartier immune system because we have gone toxic-free. I know this isn't for everyone, esp if you have a little one with a compromised immune system. Toxic-free does often mean more germs in the house, but it also means your body builds up immunity to those germs. I think one of the worst things Americans ever did was go overboard on antibacterial everything. It really cripples the immune system so our bodies don't know how to fight the bugs naturally. It's not this way in Europe and people are much healthier. (I'm also a big proponent of Raw Milk, but that's another post for another time.)

I'm off to client meetings now. Hope it warms up here a bit. Supposed to be the coldest weekend in 8 months.