"Going Green" is making me "See Red"

Is is just me, or is anyone getting sick of continually hearing the term "going green"? It's so youthfully trendy - the new "buzz term". It's everywhere - on the news, at work, at the store - the only place I haven't heard it yet is at church and if I do, there is no telling what I'll do.
I've decided that it's my age that is making me "going green" intolerant. Today's kids come home from school with ideas on how they can make their environment better. I think that is great. But when I was in school, it was all we could do to learn to read the Dick and Jane books and a little writin' & 'rithmatec.
I have taken some abuse over the past year or so from Jessica and her friends for not recycling. I did a good job of ignoring them for a long time, until all this talk of "going green" came about. After trying to ignore it, I realize it's not going away. I decided that what is really bugging me is the term, "going green", but being environmentally responsible is something that I am agreeable to. I am not averse to doing my part to help out Mother Earth. After some reflection (and a few trips to the dump with Gordon) I've decided that I can do my small part to be ER (environmentally responsible), rather than n"GG". I decided to start by recycling at least the pop cans. Many of you know that there are enough coke cans around our house to build an outbuilding in the backyard. So, I began saving the cans and made a special hanging place for a garbage bag right outside the door to the garage. How quickly it filled up! I needed to do something with the cans! So Monday came and the recycling truck pulled into the neighborhood. I grabbed the bag of cans and went running after them. (I don't have a "recycle bin" since one of my boys took it to make a sled to go down Simplot hill several years back). When I finally reached them, I asked if they could take the cans; they looked at me like I was some recycle- illiterate (I am) and said that they could dump the cans into their bin. I asked if I could get a recycle bin from them and they asked, "Did you order one?" (they are $20.00) and I answered pathetically, "No, I didn't know I was supposed to". I must have looked very pathetic standing there with my bag of cans and so they opened the side of their truck and handed me a shiny new recycle bin.
I'm off to a great start!

The Phone Call!

We got to talk to Scott today for Mother's Day! It was great, although he made us a little nervous because he hadn't called to set it up. We were wondering if it was really going to happen. But while we were at church, he left a message to call him at 5:00 our time. He was at a member's house and one of their phone batteries was dead, so we were on speaker phone in their kitchen. Talk about wierd, having an entire family and his companion listening in on the conversation. Then the member lady kept asking him to get off of the phone so they could eat dinner. We did get to talk for 45 minutes though, and Gordon conferenced Ben and James in but it was brief. Then, to our surprise about 20 minutes later the phone rang and it was Scott again. He had gone to another member's home and called us back and we got another hour with him. Gordon conferenced Ben and James in again for some more talk time. Rich and Jo were here and got to talk too. It was fantastic! He sounds so good and he still has that great sense of humor that we all love about him. He was just transferred to North Sacramento and will get a new Lao companion this next week to train. They are going to re-open the Lao work in North Sac. He loves it there. He loves the traditional Laotian food and especially the "sticky rice" and the really spicy food.

There is no greater present for a mother than talking to her missionary:)

M&M's - What Have They Done?

Most of you know that I have always had a love affair with M&M's. They are the perfect candy for two reasons. One is that they are the perfect after dinner chocolate fix and two, they are so little that a woman can convince herself that she is only eating a "little" chocolate while consuming a half a bag, and the psyche never even realizes it (but the thighs do....)

I have two rules for eating them:
1 - Only one at a time.
2 - Let them melt in your mouth, don't chew them. (Actually, you suck on it until the candy shell begins to melt, then chew the shell and then let the chocolate melt).

I love them all: milk chocolate, peanut, peanut butter, almond center and dark chocolate. I love the holiday M&M's because they are the freshest.
But I can't believe what they have done to MINT M&M's. They have ruined my very favorite candy. The highlight of my candy eating was waiting with anticipation for the one time a year I could get them. As usual, I waited this last year until November 1st (the day after Halloween, when they put out the Christmas candy) to go to the store and get my first bag of mint M&M's. Just for good measure, I grabbed five. But much to my dismay, when I got home and opened one of the bags, they were different. For some reason they decided to make them bigger (why mess with a perfect thing?) and the candy shell was about as hard as a tortoise shell. There is no breaking it down to chew on before you suck on the chocolate. As a matter of fact, it was hard. I never made it through the first bag. I tried, but it was ruined for me. The worst part is that I have lost my taste for most M&M's in general. I just don't crave them like I used to. Last month I saw a bag of "raspberry dark chocolate". When I went to grab a bag, I could tell they were the big ones with the tortoise shells. I never tried them.
Does the M&M company realize that a major consumer has lost it? I alone accounted for a great number of yearly sales. They are probably sitting in their corporate offices asking themselves, "Why are sales down in Boise, Idaho?" I have the answer if they would just ask......