How 'bout some more randomosity?

Yes, I am still trying to get "randomosity" into the dictionary, thanks for asking!
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My new niece is here, Amelia Rae. 7 and a half pounds, and perfect. Healthy and everyone who has seen her says she is very cute. I can't wait to go home and see her. We had a bit of a scare with Jess, my brother's fiance, though. After the baby was born they could not get her to stop bleeding and had to do emergency surgery. They were afraid they would lose her. They managed to save her, but she cannot have any more kids...which is hard to take at 19 years old. We are all glad she's doing much better.
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My new favorite website is CakeWrecks.com. Laughs for hours, I promise. Try it.
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I made a pledge this month (well, not at the beginning of the month, but I made the pledge for one month)...for Earth Day. I did not do this because I love Earth Day, I am kind of indifferent to it. I did it because it was a suggestion for a writing prompt that my class was doing.

I pledged to give up disposable plastic water bottles (Pure Life, how I miss you...). For anyone who knows me, this is major. I drink a lot of water...and I like it cold. So tap water has always been difficult, since its not cold. I have tried keeping a pitcher in the fridge, but its hard to remember to keep it filled, plus its not portable. But, I have always felt a little guilty about the billions of pounds of plastic water bottles in landfills and floating in the ocean. So, I made it my pledge.

Now, I have bought many reusable water bottles...I've never liked them. There are many reasons why, depending on the bottle. I dislike stainless steel bottles because they tinge the water with a metallic taste, and feel horrible against my teeth. I dislike bottles with lids you have to screw off to drink from, the wide mouth usually results in spills and they are hard to drink out of when driving. I dislike pop up spouts because I tend to chew on them and ruin the bottle. I dislike loop top bottles because they are hard to manuever. I dislike bottlew with the flexi-straw that you can cover up and then expose, because if they are removable you lose them and if they aren't I think you can't really clean them. I hate bottles with rubber rings in the lids that fall out all the time, eventually getting lost and then the bottle leaks from under the lid rim onto your shirt.

This dislike of reusable bottles adds to the problem of not buying water.

However, for Donald's birthday, one of the things I got him was this new water bottle from WalMart's Earth Day line.

I got it for him in blue, not green (it also comes in clear). Occasionally, I drink out of it. I found that I really, really like it!

It's the perfect water bottle. I'm in love with it. I bought myself and my para each one, also. (I got blue but with a light blue top to distinguish it from Donald's bright blue top. Deloris's is clear with a bright blue top.) I liked it enough I went back and got 2 more (another blue with light blue lid and a clear with bright blue lid.) This is to meet my need for cold water. I can fill them at night, put them in the fridge and then take them to school and put them in the fridge there and have cold water all day. With only one, I ran out of cold water at 11 am and had to fill it with not cold water, chill it, then drink it. Pain in the butt. Also, I have a feeling that since these were "Earth Day" bottles that they are in limited quantity and I would hate to buy only one, lose it/forget it/break it and never be able to get another.

Here's my case for it being the perfect water bottle (which Deloris feels that it is too. She keeps saying, "I love my water bottle Thanks so much."):
It holds 32 oz, which is a good amount for taking with me somewhere, meaning I don't run out 15 minutes into drinking it, but its not like carrying around a pitcher. It's hard plastic, not the softer, bendier kind that absorbs smells. It has a rubber ring that cannot be removed, so it will never be lost. It has a curved middle, making holding it easier. It has a loop on the top (hard plastic, not flimsy like the loop top bottles, and its not holding the lid on, its part of the lid), which I have found makes it easy to carry with one finger when my hands are full. It comes in blue (yes, to me, this really really matters). But I think what makes it perfect for me is the straw/spout hybrid. There is a straw inside, not flexible but rigid, that is removable and a hard plastic spout on top you drink from. It lets you drink like a straw, rather than tipping the bottle, so no drips and spills, but it gets rid of all the issues I have had with straw bottles.

So, my pledge is very do-able now, because I have the perfect bottles.
(My only complaint is that they say "reduce reuse recycle" on them for earth day, but luckily its not written on, its part of the plastic, so its the same color and blends in well.)

So, if you are needing a water bottle, and have never found just the right one, this is my recommendation to you- GET ONE OF THESE! (If you hate it, you can always rehome it with me...) The walmart on independence is out of them, but the one on sunshine had a lot of them.
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Donald turned 30 last week, I did not blog about it because he did not want to be reminded of it.
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Donald started a new job last Monday, he has really enjoyed it and been very happy, which is a HUGE blessing. Also, it has given me a new enjoyable hobby...matching ties to dress shirts. I found that I really like to do this. It makes me happy inside. I like to hold 50 ties up to a shirt, weed out the noncontenders and then deciding on the best one. Yes, I am strange....but you knew that already.
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Less than 30 school days left. WOOHOO!