Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and ReStore

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I know most people are familiar with Habitat for Humanity, but how many of you are familiar with the Habitat for Humanity ReStores?

I had driven by the ReStore in our area several times. I assumed it was some type of warehouse for Habitat for Humanity projects and really thought nothing of it. Yesterday, I learned a little more.

I became aware of Habitat for Humanity when it became "newsworthy" as a passion for Jimmy Carter in 1984. I knew that the organization built homes for families in need and that the owner/partners had to put in some sweat equity. And that is about all I knew.

Today I learned that Habitat for Humanity was actually started 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller and that the concept that grew into Habitat for Humanity International was born at Koinonia Farm (a small, interracial, Christian farming community founded in 1942 outside of Americus, Ga., by farmer and biblical scholar Clarence Jordan). At Koinonia, Jordan and Fuller developed the concept of "partnership housing," where those in need of adequate shelter would work side by side with volunteers to build simple, decent houses.

Habitat houses are built with no profit added and no interest charged. Building is financed by a revolving Fund for Humanity. The fund's money comes from the new homeowners' house payments, donations and no-interest loans provided by supporters and money earned by fund-raising activities. The monies in the Fund for Humanity are used to build more houses.

So why all of this information on Habitat for Humanity? Well, when Cam and I showed up at church to volunteer for the food bank project, we learned that it wasn't an option this week. There are usually about 200 people that show up to serve, so there are always 7-10 different opportunities, however many of the family friendly options are environments that require interaction with elderly or mentally handicapped - not something Cam is willing to do at this point - but there was one that involved work in our local Habitat ReStore. Cam and I decided that was a good fit.

In addition to sorting and stocking several hundred drawer/cabinet knobs and pulls and moving/loading larger items people had purchased (the projects Cam and I worked on), I also discovered a wonderful community resource.

From the ReStore website:

ReStore is a building materials reuse center benefiting Habitat for Humanity. ReStore accepts donated new and gently used goods from retailers, manufacturers, distributors, contractors and homeowners. Building supplies are then sold, at greatly reduced prices, to the general public. The store's operation generates funds to support Habitat’s house building program, while reducing the amount of material that would otherwise go to overflowing landfills.

At ReStore, we’re keeping stuff out of landfills, raising money to build homes, and making low-cost materials available to those who otherwise may not be able to afford them.

Unfortunately, many of us live in homes that don't realize there is an economic downturn right now - repairs are a very real part of home ownership. The Habitat ReStores offer new and reusable building supplies at about 60% of retail. Not only are you able to save money, but the money you spend goes directly to the continued works of Habitat for Humanity and keeps reusable supplies out of the landfills.

Clicking [HERE] will take you to a listing of Habitat ReStores. Click on your state to see if this is a resource available in your community!

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Have you had "The Talk"?

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Recently, Harris Interactive conducted a Sex Talk Survey on behalf of Seventeen and O (not that O, The Oprah Magazine). This was an online survey and included 1,122 girls ages 15 to 22 and 1,098 mothers who have daughters ages 15-22. Not a large sample group, and not a good sample group for accurate statistical data (i.e. no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated because there was no scientific methodology used) but the results were interesting.

For example ...

• Fifty-six percent of the girls who are no longer virgins said they’ve had sex without any form of birth control and two-thirds of them (66 percent) kept it a secret from their mothers.
• Nearly one-third (30 percent) of the 15-18 year olds in the survey said they had oral sex; about double the number mothers of girls in that age group know about—or even suspected (14 percent).
• Three-quarters of teen girls who have lost their virginity say they’ve engaged in sex without a condom.
• One-third of sexually active students reported engaging in vaginal or anal sex without a condom within the past three months, and one-fourth had four or more partners.

Maybe these results don't surprise you - this is an "older" age group. I'm not surprised 22 year olds are having sex, but I am a little disturbed at the extremely high number of girls having unprotected sex. Interestingly enough, do you know which group of people are seeing the greatest increase in the number of AIDS cases? Yes ... heterosexual women.

The other side of this study addressed girls who had "The Talk" with their mothers - three in five of respondents saying it “influenced” their sexual choices positively.

For example, of the teens who had talked to their mothers prior to having sex ...

• Sixty percent said it influenced them.
• About one-quarter (26 percent) of girls said having “The Talk” with their mothers has made them practice (or plan to practice) safe sex. The same number said it made them wait (or plan to wait) longer to have it.
• Eighteen percent of girls said talking to their mothers made them use (or plan to use) hormonal birth control.

Are we, as parents, not talking to our girls (and boys) about sex? These results, although not scientific in nature, would indicate that we aren't, but that maybe we should be.

Remember that Birds, Bees and Purity post I did? Cam and I have had several open discussions about sex since then. Not only have we talked about the reasons it is best to wait to have sex, but we've talked about what to do if he doesn't wait. We've talked about masturbation (a topic I think we tend to see as taboo in this society - especially for our girls). We've talked about the importance of condoms - ALWAYS!

Are these difficult discussions to have with our kids? Absolutely, but the days of herpes being our greatest concern are long gone. I believe kids need to have accurate and honest information to make the best decision they are capable of making. No one wants their 15 year old daughter to come home and announce she is pregnant, nor have their 15 year old son come home and announce that he is going to be a father. And those are not, by any means, the most dreadful outcomes.

Talk to your kids about sex - before they make uninformed decisions on their own. Trust me, if you don't talk to them, their peers will, and that, if nothing else, should scare you into action.

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Friday Wrap-Up

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A quick answer to Maeve's HNT Comment yesterday. She wrote:

I've never notice that birthmark(is it? I thought it was a tattoo on the first pic) before on you!

Well, it is a tattoo ... a very old tattoo (20 years old in fact) that has a great deal of sentimental value. I know I've mentioned this before, but my husband – the one who committed suicide - used to bring me "Thursday gifts." Sometimes they were little things, sometimes they were handmade things, and one time it was a trip to the tattoo parlor. The simple rose is very elementary body art by today's standards, and although the definition and color have faded, the memories haven't, and I just can't bring myself to have anything changed on it.

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Speaking of HNT, I see that some of you have been snooping around found my HNT only blog. For now, it is serving as the archive for all previous HNT's (that was a *hint* in case you need help finding it), but I may eventually post HNT's exclusively on that blog. We'll see. One of the things I've always liked about this blog is that it doesn't fit any of those neat little boxes people like to use. It isn't a mommy blog - it isn't a sex blog - it isn't a news blog - it isn't a humor blog. No ... it's kind of a momsexnewsmor blog! I'd hate to give that up!

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Cam and I will be playing with frozen meat again on Saturday. It's that time of the month when we head to the food bank distribution center, sort and re-box tons of frozen meat - literally. Our group of 30 volunteers processed 2.5 tons of frozen meat in three hours last month. I’ve also decided that I will continue volunteering on the same projects as Cam as it has become quite clear that he really does think it's kind of cool (in his "I only want people to know you’re my mom if I tell them you are" way) that I spend the time with him.

It will be Easter church service on Saturday night, then ... I don't know ... maybe White Castle for Easter dinner? With no family to celebrate the holidays with, I do my best to make the day special - and nothing says special Easter dinner quite like sliders!

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Unless you live in Tampa or Chicago, you probably aren't aware that Walgreens pulled the special-edition Chia Obama from its shelves saying, "it's not our image."

Chia Pet creator Joseph Pedott (76) told FOX news, "I'm sick about it," disputing any suggestion that Chia Obama's Chia hair was mocking the Afro hairstyle.

"Obama had an Afro - does that make him racist?" Pedott said. "So how the hell do you get racist out of it? And number one, you can give him a haircut."

OK ... so no one really thought the Chia Pet creator was going to be well-spoken, did they?

Odd coincidence, Cam and I were just in a Walgreens about a week ago and saw the Chia Obama and I thought to myself, "Someone is going to make a big stink over that." Cam wanted to buy one, but the thought of spending $19.99 on a grass growing bust of a president I didn't vote for just didn't sit well with me. Ahhh ... ssuuush! I bought him the Obama baseball cap that he wanted and I even let him wear it when he's riding in the car with me!

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