He is wrinkled, aged, probably a World War II veteran. Old.

He walks with a limp, his head hung low due to the hunch in his back, hobbling across the parking lot. I wonder if he sees what is in front of him or if he can only watch the ground. I wonder when the last time was that he could look up and see the stars.

He makes me think of my Grandparents, all four of them, still living as their ages creep up towards 90. I say a prayer for them, like I do every night, and thank God for the fact that they’re still here; that they got to see me get married; that they get to be in my daughter’s life.

He stands in front of me in line clad in his baseball cap, a members only jacket, wool gray slacks and black orthopedic shoes, and I try not to stare. I try not to wonder about his life. But I can’t help it. I wonder. I wonder if he’s married to the same women he met and fell in love with 50 or 60 years ago. I wonder if she’s still living or if he now spends his evenings alone in an empty house. I wonder how old his children are; his grandchildren. I wonder about the stories he would tell, of the history he must remember, how he feels about the state of our country today.

I watch him hand over money to the cashier and notice his hands are crippled with arthritis. He has a hard time grasping the change she gives back to him and an even harder time replacing the bills in his wallet. I bet he remembers when his lunch only cost him a quarter instead of seven-dollars. I wonder if he’s thinking about that time right now…

I notice him shuffle away from the counter and towards the coffee machine, the yellow ceramic mug gripped in his arthritic hand. Our paths will now part and most likely never cross again. I hope he gets home okay. I hope his children and grandchildren are kind to him. That they help him when he needs help. Even if he doesn’t ask for it.

While I sat in the parking lot with my blinker on prepared to turn into a spot and the big white Buick swung in ahead of me, I was angry. I had been waiting. That was my spot.

Old Man, may you unknowingly steal many more parking spaces in the years you have left. God Bless.

First, while I was composing this post, my Real Simple Daily Finds email arrived in my inbox. I checked it out and there was a link to this. I know that there are some major skeptics out there about organic food. Those of your that have been, “JUST FINE!” eating thirteen different kinds of pesticides and chemical-formed hormones (in just one APPLE) your ENTIRE lives so why change now? You’re JUST FINE. Well, okay. I’m not.

We don’t exactly have a disposable income and things have gotten even tighter with me changing jobs. I can only bill out once a month and those checks take 10-14 days to get here so I have yet to see a paycheck. We are eating a lot more meals at home and I just added coupons.com to my Favorites. It’s definitely more expensive. I will not argue that. However, I can’t justify not shopping in the organics section. Especially for produce.

People have a misconception that organic foods are healthier. Well, they ARE healthier in the sense that they’re not putting unhealthy chemicals into your body, some chemicals that are even proven to cause cancer (I know, I KNOW. Air causes Cancer.), but eating strictly organic isn’t going to make you skinny. I mean, they make Organic cookies! A cookie is a cookie is a cookie is a Ginger Snap. What?

There. I said my piece.

***Descends from soap box***

I feed Lyla 98% organic foods. She’s not deprived of treats. She can have a taste of ice cream or a chocolate chip cookie. I’m not so incredibly anal that I refuse to give her anything unless I’m 100% positive of it’s origin, but I do make a huge effort to feed her organic foods.

Notice I didn’t say healthy.

She’s thirteen-months old. We’re entering the picky phase. She’s not thrilled about trying new things. She insists on feeding herself most of the time which makes it interesting since she hasn’t mastered the shovel technique quite yet. Her staples are yogurt, cheese, cheerios, bananas, blueberries, eggs, macaroni & cheese, plain pasta, turkey hot dogs, sliced ham, applesauce, whole wheat bread, “Mo-Mo” crackers, edamame, and peas.

This past weekend she went on a pea strike. I typically mix them in with her Annie’s Mac & Cheese (of which she’ll only eat the white cheddar, not yellow) and sometimes hide them inside the shells. This weekend she figured out how to separate the noodle from the pea inside her mouth, spit the pea out and swallow the noodle. Give me a break.

She will also eat apples. Though it’s a painfully SLOW process and she needs to do it ALL by herself. Cutting up the apple and putting it on her tray will just result in my picking apple pieces up off the floor. I’m reluctant to give her an apple unless I’m desperate for her to sit still for a few minutes.

She will occasionally eat a pancake or a waffle or a whole wheat english muffin with jam. These items are a total crap shoot though and I never know which way it’ll go when I give them to her. I tend to drop them on her tray and hold my breath.

Last night we tried veggie burgers. There was a lot of screaming. On BOTH of our parts, but I was able to bribe her with Mo-Mo crackers, mash the burger onto a fork that she could hold herself and cram it down her throat gently guide it up to her mouth. Dinner took forty-five minutes and afterward both of us needed a beer bath.

I don’t know where else to turn. I’m a culinary failure and though I managed to make most of her food and succeeded up until she started requiring stuff other than purees, I’m at a loss here. I bought a couple Toddler food cookbooks, but the recipes seem too hard and like they would require a ginormous effort. One I just wouldn’t have the heart to do and then watch her throw it all on the floor.

So what are you feeding your Toddler? What helps you survive meal times with your kids?

Oh and before you get to commenting and yelling at me about my Organic Sense of Entitlement, LOOK! it’s an ADORABLE BAYBEE WITH AN (organic) APPLE!

What are some of the things you do to support the health of our environment? I know there are so many MORE things that I could be doing, but I feel like we’re so much more conscious of the environment now that we ever have been. I know quite a few of your cloth diaper and I commend you for that. However, because I’m a working mother and my daughter attends a daycare facility, they require disposables. (They also require vaccinations and I’m okay with that – do not yell at me.)

There are some things we cannot do because we live in a condo. Even though we own it, we have common areas and there are all sorts of uniformity rules so I couldn’t exactly slap some giant solar panels on the roof and get away with it. I also can’t have a compost pile. The cottage in Maine has one and I felt so good about gathering stuff to compost. This is just another huge positive in the Get New House column. I’ll definitely become a composter (compostee?)

I physically hurt when I need to throw things out and can’t find a recycle bin. I tend to carry trash around in the car for much longer than should ever be allowed just because of this. At home we have recycling pick-up every other week. All of our recyclables go into one bin and we’re pretty diligent about it from soda cans to beer bottles, to laundry detergent containers, cardboard, and milk cartons.

I cut up paper that’s only used on one side and use the other side for little notes I write to myself, my notebooks are all made of recycled paper and I try to keep separate piles of paper at my desk to throw in the recycle bin.

We try to use products that are environmentally friendly such as Clorox Green or Seventh Generation. However, I noticed that sometimes you just need chemicals to do the job. I tried to use the Seventh Generation dishwashing soap and the dishes were NOT getting clean. It was like it just wasn’t made to work with our dishwasher. HUGE clumps of stuck together soap and a bunch of dirty dishes greeted us every morning. Totally not acceptable. And it only causes me to run it again. Hello, purpose, meet defeat. We do run our dishwasher every night and a piece of me dies inside every time I do it, but I just loathe doing dishes by hand and honestly, our schedules really don’t allow the time. (Excuse, excuse). HOWEVER. I love the Seventh Generation laundry detergent (the lavender smells great and doesn’t bother Bean’s skin) and I don’t use dryer-sheets (just these). Someone tweeted a list of 10 of the greenest brands. Some of them surprised me!

I bring my disposable shopping bags not only into the grocery store (most local stores around here credit $.05 per bag), but also into Target and the Mall and anywhere else I might be where I’ll have to carry stuff out. Or in. When I bring more (disposable. GASP!) diapers and wipes into Lyla’s school, they get transported in one of these bags too. If I happen to forget the bags (It happens. I’m not perfect.), I will bag my own groceries (clerks are really good at putting one thing in a bag and calling it full. Um. No.) and at the mall I’ll ask for a shopping bag at the first store I head into and then put every other treasure into that. OR sometimes I just carry stuff in my purse.

If I’m ever asked if I want a receipt (like at the gas station or Dunkin Donuts or the ATM) the answer is no. I can read my bank statement online. No need to kill another tree so I can be reminded of my frivolous spending, am I right?

We’re taking a pretty big step and investigating the possibility of getting a hybrid vehicle. I’m big on space. And I have a little bit of driving anxiety so I definitely feel safest in bigger cars, especially when transporting the kid. There is such a thing as Too Big and you won’t ever see me driving a Suburban or a Navigator (nothing against those that do except that, you know, the OZONE LAYER IS WICKED PISSED AT Y’ALL!), but I do like the comfort/space/safety of a crossover or small SUV. Toyota (on the list of green brand I listed above) makes a hybrid Highlander. Since we have a lease coming due soon, we’re investigating this truck as a possible purchase. Incentive doesn’t stop with the environment, there’s also a pretty big tax benefit to driving a hyrbid. Didja know that? You probably did because you guys are wicked smahties. So anyway, yeah. Perhaps a hybrid is in my future.

We buy mostly organic and locally grown food. I love farmer’s markets, though I haven’t been to nearly enough this year, and orchards, and visiting local farms. When I think about eating organic it’s not only more healthy and better for your insides, but it also means that the food/ingredients weren’t sprayed with chemicals that probably seeped into the ground and/or got into the air so it’s like a bonus for the environmentally conscious.

So like I said, there are definitely more things I could be doing and we could be doing as a family, but I feel pretty good about what we are doing. What are you doing? Tell me. Mainly, so that I can then steal your ideas. Because I’m stealy.

We went to the Girlyman concert at Infinity Hall on Wednesday night. Po’Girl opened for them (Warning: Po’Girl’s site will launch a music player). It was a fantastic show. Their talent is just amazing.

Music is a huge part of my life. I prefer listening to music over television. I’m a fan of many genres, but I think my favorite type of music is just the chill-out, relax, drink wine, and think type. And Girlyman delivers. They have some great upbeat and fun songs too, but really, their lyrics are deep, the harmony is amazing, the musicality is right-on, and they really deliver.

We have a few of their songs on Lyla’s sleep playlists because they’re just so beautiful and relaxing. And I love singing them to her. I did some singing years ago. I never would’ve made it to the final 12 on American Idol, but like Girlyman, my inspiration was harmony singers like Simon & Garfunkel, and The Indigo Girls. I still love these beats and I love singing harmony whenever anyone else is around that can sing with me.

Their music is available on iTunes. If you’re interested, here are some of my favorite songs to download for a taste.

Viola
Amaze Me
Through To Sunrise
Maori
Young James Dean
Kittery Tide

Here’s a video of my absolute favorite, Say Goodbye. It makes me think of people that have lost someone close to them either via a bad break-up, or sadly, death. Despite what may seem like a depressing undertone, the overall feeling isn’t that of sadness. Just, peace.

If you’re feeling totally impulsive, download their Live album, Somewhere Different Now. You’ll get a real taste of who they are as people and as musicians. And you’ll probably laugh a lot, like me.

Overall, if you’re looking for something new to add to your music collection and want to be a little outside the box, Girlyman could be for you!