The Eco Dad

I just noticed it's been approximately 2 months since my last entry. That's pretty piss poor consistency. It's not like I haven't been busy either. I'm sure I had lots to blog about, and out of all that I'm going to provide a vapid post about how I saved money on boxing day - one of the prime consumer 'holidays' next to Black Friday. God help us all. Lately I've been in a creative mood. I've made a refined, personalized coaster using a piece of firewood, a wood burning kit and stain/lacquer (picture not attached). I've tried my hand at making healthy treats, such as vegan, gluten-free mint chocolate bark (picture on my  Instagram account ). I've also made vegetarian (used whey protein powder), gluten-free protein brownies (also on my Instagram account). Maybe I'll post recipes and try to dig up some photos of the coaster, but until then you get the post about fixing jeans. I am sooooo sorry. So, on Boxing Day, instead of going out...

Over the past two days, little by little, I have endeavoured to make my best friend a trophy. Why? Because she deserves it. She has served her country for twenty years and I am fortunate to have been her partner (officially and unofficially, on and off) for almost the last four of them. I could go on and on about how awesome she is, but that's not the purpose of this blog. The trophy I made - that's why I'm writing today. So yeah, she's served her country for twenty years as an officer and there will be no pin, no plaque, no handshake, nothing. In fact she had to plan her own celebratory lunch. While I'm up for that, I wanted her to have something other than a full belly. My immediate thought was a gag gift - a used softball trophy from Value Village, likely a 1997 Pee Wee 'AA' Championship. It wasn't that I was looking for a softball trophy, I just figure that's the sorta trophy that gets thrown out. Having it used also keeps in step with my year ...

While I've pledged to refrain from buying new things for a year, my wife has not, and that's okay. She spends enough time with a start-up company and mothering our kids that she doesn't have the same amount of time I do to research and find second hand clothes, especially when she needs an emergency pair of shoes. I did make the absolute most out of the situation though. I took some time and sat down with my three year old this morning and made him a garage for his cars ... from mom's shoe box. Waste not, want not? Constructing/decorating the garage didn't take much time. I think I got 15 minutes of quality time with the boy on this one, but it was 15 minutes of him and I working together. He got to place some stickers and then park his cars in the garage. Lately we've been playing a lot of cars, so I thought this particular craft would be fun ... and it was. We'll likely be playing with it this afternoon when he gets up from his nap. Time to use th...