If the shoe fits

Whenever I have time to organize things I always find things that are either going to Goodwill or things that have reached the end of their useful life. I always try to find a way to recycle but in the past have been lazy and if I don't find something right away, I end up throwing it away. But no more! This morning I had some time as the baby was down for a nap and I decided to try and do some organizing in the "room of no return" as I call it, that is, the room where everything gets tossed and the door closed. I hate having that room like that and I intend to organize it once and for all! Anyway... I had just started organizing when I found a cute pair of wedge shoes that Drake had chewed on. It's a good thing I don't buy expensive, name brand shoes because more often than not they have become a chew toy. And it's only my shoes! He won't touch Marc's shoes! So the one or two times I've forgotten to put my shoes away, Drake gives them an all too early retirement. Well, I thought that there has to be somewhere that recycles shoes that are no longer wearable. So, I grabbed the trusty MacBook and ran a search. It turned out it wasn't as easy as I was hoping. Several blogs offered suggestions like "give them to a thrift store" or reputable organizations like SoulsforSoles, all good suggestions for shoes that still have life in them, but I'm pretty sure someone's not going to appreciate shoes with gnaw marks on them. I did find that Nike has a program to recycle old athletic shoes called Reuse-a-shoe This is actually great because during my short organization moment, I also found an old pair of tennis shoes that would be put to better use as interlocking gym floor, playground surfacing or other athletic surfaces than on someone's feet. So, one goal down... now what to do with those chewed on wedges? Another website suggested making them into small planters

I thought that was a really neat idea except that I really have no where to put them where Drake won't be able to reach and they definitely wouldn't last very long as planter or shoe in that scenario and then I'm back to square one. So I'm determined to find somewhere and someway to recycle them. Anybody have any suggestions!?

Well, there went my chance to organize because the baby woke up!

Field Day

No, this wasn't the field day at the end of the school year where we played egg toss or ran a three legged race (which my sister and I rocked at by the way), this was me trying to get back into the field at an archaeology dig! Yes, I was excited as it has been quiet a while since I've dusted off my old trowel but ti was waiting with dirt from my last archaeological adventure. Sunday I volunteered at a dig right near my home at Chatfield State Park. It was a mammoth dig! Don't get too excited, it wasn't an entire mammoth, but currently they have revealed a mammoth tusk and the day before I was on site, a mammoth tooth. It's all a part of a bigger project of scientists from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to discover and reexamine mammoth sites and collections in order to gain more evidence that humans reached North America much earlier than what is widely accepted. This project is led by Dr. Steven Holen who I got to meet briefly at the site.

Well, getting back into the field was definitely fun, but Sunday was a HOT day. Because I'm still nursing I ended up leaving halfway through the day so as not to get dehydrated. I was disappointed that I wasn't able to finish the day but I had to remind myself that I'm literally taking baby steps back into these kinds of things. I did enjoy getting my trowel dirty and got to see mammoth bones in situ that have been there for several millennia so it was a good experience.

My next task is to find a way to gain some contacts so that I can market and network my skills! Hmmm... where to start?!

Sad Day

Yesterday was a very sad day here in Colorado. A young man decided he needed to take the lives of innocent people and to physically and emotionally wound those who somehow escaped his murderous rampage. There is no use in trying to determine why this was done. Only one person knows and that would be the shooter. God doesn't even know why people do such things. Twelve people lost their lives, the youngest being a 6 year old girl. My heart aches for the victims and their families. As I read about people those who lost their lives they all had so much life to live and it was just taken from them in an instant. Those who survived, no doubt will carry a heartache that I can't imagine. I pray for them all.

I look at my baby girl sleeping peacefully in her crib and think about what her future holds in such a world. But I can't think like that. I have always felt that each and every moment we have on this Earth to be a blessing. Jessica Ghawi, one of the victims shared the same view. So although we like to prepare for future events, the future is not guaranteed. Take each moment, be thankful in that moment.

Say a prayer and remember and celebrate life and the lives of those who lost theirs yesterday.