It's not easy being green....

So Friday was moving day. We were up bright and early (okay, maybe we weren't so bright.....we'd only had a few hours of sleep each), and the "relocation engineers" (apparently the new PC term for Mover) were right on time. The next seven hours were a blur of boxes, paper, tape and bad eighties rock music (the "relocation engineer's" choice) and all of our possessions are now in a crate in a warehouse somewhere waiting to set sail to Israel. Well, besides the other 90% of our possessions which have already been in storage somewhere in Albuquerque for the last year.



Then we were presented with the daunting task of cleaning out the refrigerator (see Phil, I spelled it Right this time!), extra food in the pantry and mountains of trash. Now this whole process ended up to be quite disturbing to me. See I wouldn't exactly call myself a Tree Hugger, however, I am quite concerned about the state of our environment today and the utter disregard with which many people treat it. Must be Portland's hippie influence on me. But over the past year I have become increasingly more green. I always use my reusable bags at the grocery store, I switched to all natural/non-toxic cleaners and energy efficient light bulbs, I'm a recycling fiend, and yes, I even wash and reuse my plastic baggies and tin foil. Yes, I know, a little bit scary.



But back to my point. Now since we are shipping our stuff over seas we could not ship ANY food. Luckily a couple of our eco-loving friends came by and picked up all our unopened food which they said they would either use or take to a local food bank for us. They also took a lot of our opened food items but there was still a lot to dispose of. So I set to work dumping jars and bottles of mayo and soy sauce down the drain, so that the containers could be recycled, all the while thinking of the starving children in Africa and wondering if I could possibly ship my half eaten crackers and half used block of cheese to them. Because this is how my crazy mind works.



After the food, came an even more scary task. Lotions and potions, which because they are liquid could also not be shipped. Now like any girl out there I have accumulated a LOT of these items over the past years. Either I have received them as gifts or dropped large amounts of money on the newest lotion that was supposed to make my thighs tanned and cellulite free. (Just in case you are wondering, it didn't) Most of these items were half used so could not be donated and quite frankly who wants a box full of half used, 5 year old products that don't work. So I couldn't decide what would be the better option. Just chuck everything into the landfill to sit there and leach chemicals into the ground and never ever biodegrade, or flush some of the toxic chemicals down the drain into our precious drinking water and recycle the bottles. You see my eco-dilemma? So in the end I ended up splitting it up half and half, and Phil and I set to work emptying and rinsing little bottles of lotion and shower gel. (Thanks Hubby, for humoring me!) All the while I apologized profusely to Mother Earth and promised never, ever to do this again. So here, with my friends and family as my witnesses, I raise my right hand and do solemnly swear that "I shall not by another beauty product until I run out of the ones that I already have." Oy Vey. Phil is going to hold me to this one I am sure!



So enough of my environmental dilemma. We finished cleaning out the apartment and settled in for a few hours sleep before we had to wake up at 3:45 to catch our plane to Florida. Surprisingly, despite our tiredness, the five very large checked bags and four carry on items (including Pumpkin), the trip went quite smoothly. Pumpkin was scared but calm and doesn't seem to totally hate us for life. Yet. Just wait until the really long trip tomorrow. We are at Phil's folk's place in Florida where they have prepared a lovely brunch in our honor this morning. (Thanks a bunch!) And with that I shall go join the family instead of holing up in the computer room like an anti-social computer geek.



Next time you hear from me, we should be in Israel!