Friday, December 04, 2009
To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Sunday, November 01, 2009
$7 bucks a day...
Can you cut your daily food budget to just $7?
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091028/NEWS01/710289751&news01ad=1
By Julie Muhlstein
Herald Columnist / Everett, Wash.
October 28, 2009
Laura Pentz is used to eating on the cheap. In college, her food staples were pasta and baby carrots.
Now with AmeriCorps VISTA, the 21-year-old lives in a rented room on a modest monthly stipend, about $900. And she gets $166 per month in food stamps — about $5.50 per day for food.
The aim of the national service program is to fight poverty, and its volunteers get firsthand experience. “My stipend is about 105 percent of the poverty level in Washington,” said Pentz, a University of California Davis graduate who’s working this year with United Way of Snohomish County.
As the local United Way throws down a challenge to raise hunger awareness, Pentz is up to the task.
With its Hunger Challenge the week of Nov. 1-7, United Way of Snohomish County asks that people try spending no more than $7 per day per person for meals. That’s the maximum amount food stamp recipients in Washington’s Basic Food program get, said Deborah Squires, spokeswoman for the nonprofit agency.
“Try walking in someone else’s shoes for a week,” Squires said Tuesday. And $7 per person is more than what many on food stamps get. The state Basic Food program takes into consideration family size and other variables, Squires said.
Squires said the challenge is intended partly to bolster United Way donations to help the needy. “We want people who try it to give $10 and tell 10 people,” she said.
Pentz has signed on to try the Hunger Challenge, which is new to Snohomish County but has been tried in other places.
How does she do it, for not much more than $5 per day? Breakfast is oatmeal or some other cereal. She packs lunches, and doesn’t eat much meat. As thrifty as she is, Hunger Challenge rules will make meal planning even tougher.
Participants are asked not to use any groceries they already have. Except for salt and pepper, all seasonings, condiments, oils and other staples must be counted in a meal’s cost. Also, those who try it aren’t supposed to accept food from family or friends, or even munch on supermarket samples. Another goal is to include fresh produce and protein each day.
For the poor, the problem isn’t only financial. It’s also the lack of access to nutritious foods.
“Obesity tends to hit our low-income families hard. What are the cheapest things? And where are the grocery stores?” Squires said.
Peggy Kurtz, a member of the United Way Families Matter council, tried the Hunger Challenge about a month ago with her husband, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge David Kurtz.
A Spanish teacher at Kamiak High School, Peggy Kurtz said she heard about the challenge at a United Way breakfast. “The planning is really difficult,” she said. They made casseroles and chili, and ate leftovers. “You can’t have something different every day,” she said.
Little extras add up. Kurtz said her husband likes to snack on cashews, and likes raisins on cereal. Guests for dinner? That was out of the question.
They were unaware of the limits on spices, so they used what they had. One container of cinnamon could have easily blown a day’s budget.
At Trinity Lutheran College in downtown Everett, Betsi Little taught a class last year in nutrition and behavior. Little, the college’s dean of students and chairwoman of the psychology department, said students created meals from what’s available at 7-Eleven stores. They were assigned to make meals plans for poor families, budgeting $21 per week per person.
They visited affluent neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods in Seattle, comparing what foods were available. They saw why so many poor people eat at McDonald’s, Little said.
By the second to the last day of their Hunger Challenge, Peggy Kurtz said her husband was asking, “When do we get to start eating again?”
United Way hopes to make the point that for many people, “eating again” the way I take it for granted is not possible.
Will I take the Hunger Challenge? Truthfully, I don’t think so. I could live on scrambled eggs, yogurt and canned soup, but I don’t want my 11-year-old doing it. I don’t think I have the time or the culinary skills to keep him well fed for school and sports on $7 a day. I’m lucky. I have the choice.
“It’s meant to be an eye-opener,” Squires said. “Many people have to do it.”
Give it a try
United Way of Snohomish County is asking that people try spending just $7 per day per person for food Nov. 1-7 as part of its Hunger Challenge awareness campaign. To learn more: www.uwsc.org/hungerchallenge.php.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091028/NEWS01/710289751&news01ad=1
By Julie Muhlstein
Herald Columnist / Everett, Wash.
October 28, 2009
Laura Pentz is used to eating on the cheap. In college, her food staples were pasta and baby carrots.
Now with AmeriCorps VISTA, the 21-year-old lives in a rented room on a modest monthly stipend, about $900. And she gets $166 per month in food stamps — about $5.50 per day for food.
The aim of the national service program is to fight poverty, and its volunteers get firsthand experience. “My stipend is about 105 percent of the poverty level in Washington,” said Pentz, a University of California Davis graduate who’s working this year with United Way of Snohomish County.
As the local United Way throws down a challenge to raise hunger awareness, Pentz is up to the task.
With its Hunger Challenge the week of Nov. 1-7, United Way of Snohomish County asks that people try spending no more than $7 per day per person for meals. That’s the maximum amount food stamp recipients in Washington’s Basic Food program get, said Deborah Squires, spokeswoman for the nonprofit agency.
“Try walking in someone else’s shoes for a week,” Squires said Tuesday. And $7 per person is more than what many on food stamps get. The state Basic Food program takes into consideration family size and other variables, Squires said.
Squires said the challenge is intended partly to bolster United Way donations to help the needy. “We want people who try it to give $10 and tell 10 people,” she said.
Pentz has signed on to try the Hunger Challenge, which is new to Snohomish County but has been tried in other places.
How does she do it, for not much more than $5 per day? Breakfast is oatmeal or some other cereal. She packs lunches, and doesn’t eat much meat. As thrifty as she is, Hunger Challenge rules will make meal planning even tougher.
Participants are asked not to use any groceries they already have. Except for salt and pepper, all seasonings, condiments, oils and other staples must be counted in a meal’s cost. Also, those who try it aren’t supposed to accept food from family or friends, or even munch on supermarket samples. Another goal is to include fresh produce and protein each day.
For the poor, the problem isn’t only financial. It’s also the lack of access to nutritious foods.
“Obesity tends to hit our low-income families hard. What are the cheapest things? And where are the grocery stores?” Squires said.
Peggy Kurtz, a member of the United Way Families Matter council, tried the Hunger Challenge about a month ago with her husband, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge David Kurtz.
A Spanish teacher at Kamiak High School, Peggy Kurtz said she heard about the challenge at a United Way breakfast. “The planning is really difficult,” she said. They made casseroles and chili, and ate leftovers. “You can’t have something different every day,” she said.
Little extras add up. Kurtz said her husband likes to snack on cashews, and likes raisins on cereal. Guests for dinner? That was out of the question.
They were unaware of the limits on spices, so they used what they had. One container of cinnamon could have easily blown a day’s budget.
At Trinity Lutheran College in downtown Everett, Betsi Little taught a class last year in nutrition and behavior. Little, the college’s dean of students and chairwoman of the psychology department, said students created meals from what’s available at 7-Eleven stores. They were assigned to make meals plans for poor families, budgeting $21 per week per person.
They visited affluent neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods in Seattle, comparing what foods were available. They saw why so many poor people eat at McDonald’s, Little said.
By the second to the last day of their Hunger Challenge, Peggy Kurtz said her husband was asking, “When do we get to start eating again?”
United Way hopes to make the point that for many people, “eating again” the way I take it for granted is not possible.
Will I take the Hunger Challenge? Truthfully, I don’t think so. I could live on scrambled eggs, yogurt and canned soup, but I don’t want my 11-year-old doing it. I don’t think I have the time or the culinary skills to keep him well fed for school and sports on $7 a day. I’m lucky. I have the choice.
“It’s meant to be an eye-opener,” Squires said. “Many people have to do it.”
Give it a try
United Way of Snohomish County is asking that people try spending just $7 per day per person for food Nov. 1-7 as part of its Hunger Challenge awareness campaign. To learn more: www.uwsc.org/hungerchallenge.php.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA
Friday, October 23, 2009
i dont write much anymore
not that i dont want to write anymore, far from it...mostly i just blogpost in my head while i am trying to sleep...its not that i dont want to write here or letcha all read the drivel i spew, but it seems that my working 60 hr weeks has caught up with all this magical free time i used to have...it seems adding an extra 20 hours out of the house means i have no time to do jack/squat.
i dont think i have had time to scrapbook anything since may.
i havent had time to clean anything in months.
my house looks wretched.
dale does a fantastic job of juggling all the cleaning and schlepping of kids, and errand (not erin) running-but all those things that i always did regularly i just dont have time to do anymore. I dont have time to clean the toilets every 2 weeks...i dont think the toilet has been cleaned in over a month, im not home enough to care (or at least i get home and just pee in the dark so i dont have to see it).
i am reasonably sure the tub has not been cleaned in 3 months. thank goodness the plug broke 6 months ago and has not yet been fixed....at least no one is actually taking a bath, just showering off.
i am not sure what lives under my bed.
i have a pile of 15 books to read, i have never been so far behind. (aside: if you know me at all you know i can crack through a book a day, if i get through 1 a week, im lucky....).
my feet hurt cause i am wearing substandard shoes to work. while i recognize that i need better shoes and that the fact that i am wearing shit shoes means my feet hurt more/never get better...the Target cash is supposed to be the "gravy" cash, not buying 80.00 shoes cash. that somehow seems to be too selfish to me.
my punctuation and spelling in the post are abysmal. i think conanne the grammarian would kill me if she even could have read this far without pulling out her hair over the awful state of this post....once again, too tired to fix. (why am i still awake at midnight? i dont sleep very well anymore.)
i'm antsy and weird at work. seems like so many changes keep happening more quickly than i can process the 1st change. so i always feel off step and not on an even keel by any means. i cant find those sealegs quick enough.
i also find that malinda is repeating many of the (Not mistakes) behaviors her mother made at "that age" and knowing the outcome as i do, i am sad.
mya is repeating many of the (Not mistakes) behaviors that her father made at "that age", and see above....
owen needs to stop peeing his pants at night. i am sick of buying pull ups for a 5 yr old.
good stuff going on? at all?
yes, a bit.
dale had a phone interview (the 1st one in 6 months) and has a second phone interview on Monday. Outwardly I am really positive and peppy for his sake. Inside I am a nervous wreck wanting this to just work out so i can go back and resume my regular programming. Mostly I just feel happy and sick to my stomach all at the same time. when this works out (and i cant think of it any other way or i will get less sleep) i am throwing one hell of a party...there will be punch and pie...and wine.
what else?
my hair is clean, thats a plus.
i dont have the swine flu-bonus mouse.
i got to watch Glee on DVR...and rewind Puck singing "Sweet Caroline" about 5 times. yummers.
seriously though, i have to drag myself to bed (which means walking up the stairs, not tripping over the cat, and finding jammies in the dark) or Ill never get up at 7 tomorrow.
a quick list though:
things i would rather be doing:
*sitting on a beach on the isle of Santorini
*camping with ryan
*reading a book
*that thing i used to do before i was married with kids, i believe it was called stay up til 4am, buy fresh doughnuts at pick n save, eat them, go to sleep with dale until 1 or 2pm the next day-rinse and repeat.
*facial
*sleep, sleep, sleep.
night kiddos, better tomorrows await.
i dont think i have had time to scrapbook anything since may.
i havent had time to clean anything in months.
my house looks wretched.
dale does a fantastic job of juggling all the cleaning and schlepping of kids, and errand (not erin) running-but all those things that i always did regularly i just dont have time to do anymore. I dont have time to clean the toilets every 2 weeks...i dont think the toilet has been cleaned in over a month, im not home enough to care (or at least i get home and just pee in the dark so i dont have to see it).
i am reasonably sure the tub has not been cleaned in 3 months. thank goodness the plug broke 6 months ago and has not yet been fixed....at least no one is actually taking a bath, just showering off.
i am not sure what lives under my bed.
i have a pile of 15 books to read, i have never been so far behind. (aside: if you know me at all you know i can crack through a book a day, if i get through 1 a week, im lucky....).
my feet hurt cause i am wearing substandard shoes to work. while i recognize that i need better shoes and that the fact that i am wearing shit shoes means my feet hurt more/never get better...the Target cash is supposed to be the "gravy" cash, not buying 80.00 shoes cash. that somehow seems to be too selfish to me.
my punctuation and spelling in the post are abysmal. i think conanne the grammarian would kill me if she even could have read this far without pulling out her hair over the awful state of this post....once again, too tired to fix. (why am i still awake at midnight? i dont sleep very well anymore.)
i'm antsy and weird at work. seems like so many changes keep happening more quickly than i can process the 1st change. so i always feel off step and not on an even keel by any means. i cant find those sealegs quick enough.
i also find that malinda is repeating many of the (Not mistakes) behaviors her mother made at "that age" and knowing the outcome as i do, i am sad.
mya is repeating many of the (Not mistakes) behaviors that her father made at "that age", and see above....
owen needs to stop peeing his pants at night. i am sick of buying pull ups for a 5 yr old.
good stuff going on? at all?
yes, a bit.
dale had a phone interview (the 1st one in 6 months) and has a second phone interview on Monday. Outwardly I am really positive and peppy for his sake. Inside I am a nervous wreck wanting this to just work out so i can go back and resume my regular programming. Mostly I just feel happy and sick to my stomach all at the same time. when this works out (and i cant think of it any other way or i will get less sleep) i am throwing one hell of a party...there will be punch and pie...and wine.
what else?
my hair is clean, thats a plus.
i dont have the swine flu-bonus mouse.
i got to watch Glee on DVR...and rewind Puck singing "Sweet Caroline" about 5 times. yummers.
seriously though, i have to drag myself to bed (which means walking up the stairs, not tripping over the cat, and finding jammies in the dark) or Ill never get up at 7 tomorrow.
a quick list though:
things i would rather be doing:
*sitting on a beach on the isle of Santorini
*camping with ryan
*reading a book
*that thing i used to do before i was married with kids, i believe it was called stay up til 4am, buy fresh doughnuts at pick n save, eat them, go to sleep with dale until 1 or 2pm the next day-rinse and repeat.
*facial
*sleep, sleep, sleep.
night kiddos, better tomorrows await.
Monday, October 12, 2009
To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
FW: IMG00122.jpg
This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!
To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.
Friday, August 21, 2009
To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.
