a peek inside the fishbowl

1. Island Park Bridge, 2. Ready to throw!, 3. There they are!, 4. Watching the bottles, 5. Exploring the riverside, 6. “Look! I’m on an island!”

It’s hard being a mom when your body is playing host to THE SICK. It’s easier when you have a pair of kids who know how to entertain themselves. The girls have been most excellent this past week.

I spent a lot of time lying down, or just sitting, unable to do much of anything.

From time to time I trudged out to get the girls focused on some kind of activity, just to shake it up and get them doing something different. I felt guilty being sick, like I was ruining the last week of their summer holidays. What a mom, eh?

*sigh*

I don’t know where the idea came from, but we decided to do a message in a bottle.

I had actually planned on doing this some time ago. A couple weeks ago I swiped some plastic 1L pop bottles out of someone’s blue box and washed them out.

I know it would have been best if I let each girl write their own message, but frankly, I didn’t have the energy. The girls dictated and I typed. The message included our location, the date, and our email address. I printed two copies of the letter and the girls drew pictures on the bottom and the back of the pages, then rolled them up and tucked one in each bottle.

The other night we went down to the Island Park bridge to set them free. Sarah was a little sad about saying goodbye to her artwork.

It was pretty exciting. The girls dropped them off the bridge (it’s a long way down) and we watched them until we couldn’t see them anymore. It took a very long time for them to disappear out of sight. They reflected the light of the setting sun the whole way down the river.

We wondered where they could end up. The answer is: pretty much anywhere. It will be a miracle if someone finds one, but that’s part of what I like about this kind of thing… the not knowing.

Afterwards we went down the explore the river. I came home with a few bits of beach glass, some smooth river rocks, and goose poop on the cuff of my pants, but I’d say it was a great day overall.

As I write this I am drinking the first coffee I’ve had in about a week. I am enjoying it, although I suspect that in about 30 minutes I’ll be bouncing off the walls. When I’m sick with a cold, the taste of coffee turns me off.

I am feeling better today, which is good, because our long weekend is jam packed and there’s a lot to do today. My eyes still feel gritty and itchy. The girls and I walked down to the neighborhood pharmacy the other day to pick up some eye drops.

Once again, it made me remember why I love this neighborhood so much. I can take a pleasant walk and buy things like eye drops!

Speaking of which…

Walk Score will show you – more or less – how walkable your neighborhood is. The higher the score, the better the “walkability.”A walkable neighborhood = a healthy neighborhood and less dependence on cars. I wish the City of Ottawa had a better grasp of the big picture, and was better at encouraging the development of walkable neighborhoods.

How walkable is your ‘hood?

(found via David Reevely)

Yes. I had gone shopping at Ikea, and this was what causing my shoulders to rip out of their sockets and spurred my reminiscences about the dreaded flexed arm hang. :)

I was carrying stacks of wine glasses for my in-laws anniversary party, along with a bunch of other stuff including these incredibly adorable and fun night-lights. But that’s IKEA for you, isn’t it? Walk in for one thing and come out with stuff you never knew you needed.

Anyway, I had had an epiphany of sorts, over there in the Ikea kitchen department. I suddenly decided to ditch all my plastic food storage containers and replace them with glass ones. I hate my plastic food storage containers. I have a shelf full of them and I don’t even use all of them. I hate them, haaaaaaate them. They are stained, scratched, missing tops and missing bottoms and some are just plain missing. I never put them in the microwave, but we do put them in the dishwater and I have often wondered if the heat of the dishwasher has warped them somehow. [check out this PDF-format “Smart Plastics Guide .”] Are tiny plastic bits getting into our food? Plastic molecules wreaking havoc in our bodies? Some say yes. Others say no.

Is there a difference between those dollar store containers and the name brand ones I bought at the big name grocery store? They’re both probably made overseas (in China, which has suddenly become a dirty word). Should I trust it? Should I trust the people who designed it and manufactured it, those who were responsible for the blue dye in the lids, and should I trust the people who were on that assembly line and those who were involved in shipping and purchasing too? That’s a lot of people to trust.

I thought that leaching only occured when a plastic container is heated in the microwave. Turns out I’m wrong. This, from that PDF I mentioned above:

“Leaching increases when plastic comes in contact with oily or fatty foods, during heating and from old or scratched plastic. Types of plastics shown to leach toxic chemicals are polycarbonate, PVC and styrene. This does not imply that other plastics are entirely safe. These plastics have just been studied more.”

Gives one pause to think, does it not?

I stood in that kitchen section for awhile thinking about all this stuff. I discovered that Ikea has a series of great looking glass storage containers in their 365+ line. I bought the last two of the smaller size, and one was from a high display shelf.

They are a great size, with a silicone seal, and, as a bonus, are totally stackable. Although they aren’t ovenproof, they are safe to take from the fridge to the microwave, and the container can go in the dishwasher afterwards. Pretty convenient huh? So I’ve taken out all of our plastic food storage containers (minus the ones I use for the girls lunches … that’s next) and put them on a shelf in the basement. I need to keep a couple of the very large ones, but I think I’m ready to pitch the others.

Our cupboard looks pretty bare right now. I am thinking of going back to Ikea and buying a few more of the larger size. Question is, how many food storage containers does an average family of four really need? What do you think of the plastic & food storage issue?