I had two hours

(note: please don't feel like I'm trying to reprimand anybody! This is mostly the school's problem...)



Remember this place?

I wrote this post on it about a week ago. The recycling guys still haven't come, and it got worse. A lot worse- mostly because new people are still unpacking gigantic boxes. In fact the boxes (many of which were full of stuff) were almost reaching the entrance by Monday morning, and all the side bins were full of mixed recycling, not to mention some garbage. ( I didn't take a picture, sorry.)

Maybe it was my need to organize, or maybe I was inspired by seeing other neighbors occasionally shoveling the sidewalks for everyone else, but I was feeling ambitious that morning.


Joseph was home on Monday- thanks to the holiday- so while he watched the baby, I took Elora and Josh out to play in the snow. I brought my trusty box cutter into the shed to do some business. Did I mention I worked in the mail room of a very large company for a few years in Seattle? You better believe I can wield a mean box cutter.

Despite my awesome box-cutting skilz, it still took two hours to flatten most of the boxes:




and separate the plastic/metal:



from the paper and cardboard:



Yeah, those boxes aren't flattened because they're completely full of paper. Remember the one bin for paper? Still definitely not enough room. I had to empty the boxes before I refilled them, because they also had plastic and garbage that needed weeding out.



Now all we need is for someone to come pick this stuff up, and my work will be complete. I feel much better now.

Back to the basic portrait

Remember those portraits I was doing for my friend...the 13 or so grandkids that I was working on for quite a few months? Well, he has more grandkids, and the project continues!

In the last while I've been working on bigger portraits than normal, so while this was an 8x10, I forgot that I could scan it and instead took pictures with my camera. This doesn't capture the detail as well, and the color is somewhat off too, but each method of recording has its drawbacks.

This little boy has big brown eyes:



A cute little smile, and a bright red shirt...I recall doing a lot of other red shirts too, it must be this family's favorite color.




the photos still have the same problem as my scanner: they don't pick up all the subtle detail and colors in this drawing. Now I see why you're supposed to get a professional to photograph your artwork for magazines.


This one is the closest to the actual drawing.. just know that there is also green, purple, orange, blue, yellow and all the other fun colors in his face. Trust me.

And its my first portrait for 2010. Hooray!

Well Your MOM Recycles

One benefit we have from living on a college campus is the use of their recycling facility. For our little cul-de-sac of 24 families, the school has provided a recycling shed, which supposedly should supply enough space for a weeks worth of recycling for all who live in these apartments.

But the whole time we have resided here, there seem to be constant problems with the recycling program. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that it is there at all! But I can see it from my living room window, and sometimes the pile-up of mess really rubs me the wrong way.

The problem really lies with both the school and the residents. For one thing, the school employees don't pick up the stuff as often as they should. Apparently we're at the very end of their pickup route and if they don't have room they either don't stop, or only pick up a minimum amount of the recycling. Hello, 24 families with two to four kids each, remember?

Thus the shed slowly fills up until occasionally they'll make a special run to our street to do a special clean up before it explodes. This problem is compounded by the transient nature of student housing. When a family moves in our out (we get a few each semester) the recycle shed is very convenient...but as you know, there are a lot of boxes to get rid of after you move. Observe:




Yeah, we got a few new families over Christmas break. I think its great that they're recycling their boxes-yay! But do people really not know about flattening boxes to make more room? Not to mention that they're probably not going to pick up your boxes if they're not flattened? I totally agree with this policy, by the way- why should they do your job? Hopefully, the new people will all catch on soon enough.

The other thing that gets me, is the sorting. There is a giant built-in bin in the back for boxes. Then on one side of the shed are containers with this sign:




And on the other side the containers have signs like this:





Again the school compounded the problem by removing all but ONE bin for paper- seriously, 24 families only need one bin for paper? Yeah right. But what drives me nuts is when people mix stuff together, like this:




And I guarantee there is more plastic in that paper bin if you dig down. I don't blame anyone who doesn't speak English, but come on everyone else. Often I hear the excuse that its because kids are taking out the garbage, which may be the case on occasion- but seeing the shed from my window, I can vouch for the fact that there are plenty of adults who do the same. And most the kids who take the trash out can also read, so is that really an excuse?

The recycling facility needs to work more on education, in my opinion. I have a feeling people don't know you're not supposed to recycle cardboard that actually has food on it...like this doughnut box and pizza box. Garbage, not recycling.



And....an electric appliance? I've seen worse than this too...garbage, not recycling, unless you have a highly specialized facility that can take it apart, etc....which we DON'T have.



anyway. Now everyone knows what I'm venting about when I mention this on facebook. Thanks for listening, I feel much better now!

Random November and December

Here are some December photos that I never blogged about....

Jonah's new bouncer! It isn't that great for a four month old (way too big), but it amuses him for short periods of time. And it amuses the other two as well, obviously.



Two brothers on the couch. Daddy took about ten pictures of them, and this was one of the best. "What's that over there, Josh?"



Decorating on Jonah's first Christmas:




Jonah in his cute new monkey suit a neighbor gave us, asleep in the swing. We've had a few very freezing days lately, but there were some that weren't too bad.




However, Josh will attest that they were still pretty cold days!



Josh doing his fancy splits trick. He thinks he's so cool.




And Elora making a snow angel. They are soooo happy they have winter gloves now!




Jonah in the bathroom sink. Yeah, we did this with our other two kids too, so Jonah just had to be part of the tradition before he was too big to fit.





Making doughnuts with daddy.





Elora making her first Christmas countdown chain. She got the stuff from her preschool class, then I showed her how to do the first two and she did the rest herself!



Drawing pictures in the hall with daddy. Don't worry, both kids do have paper, they're not drawing on shirts and walls. At least not in this picture.