To due clickititus in my pointer finger, it is very hard to write this blog.  I am chicken pecking with my other nine fingers.  Speaking of chickens, had a Chicken Coop Consultant over last night.  I am totally going to build one.  Plus he is hot.

Off to not click anymore, I bet I saved at least 20 acres of forest while on that conference call. - Jen

Why is it so difficult to buy gifts for Dads?

I took a little informal survey amongst my friends, asking if it was easier to buy for Moms or Dads, and – no great surprise here - got the following replies:

“Dude.  Moms are just easier – mainly because you can just send flowers.”

“It’s harder to figure out what dads even LIKE for some reason.”

“Oh Sh-*!  It’s Father’s Day soon???!”

I’ve always been at a loss to know what to buy for my dad.  In part, I’m sure it’s because he’s relatively easily pleased.  He’d be as happy with a set of golf balls as he would with a trip to a beach or a homemade painting.  In a weird way – with everything as an option - gift-giving gets complicated. 

So – since my dad reads this blog (and clearly, I can’t tell you all what I am getting him) – why don’t you share your own great green gift ideas for father’s day?  (Or just give my dad a shout-out for being our #1 Biter Dad, since he works for us for free…)

-Heather... off to put my air conditioner in my bedroom window… ugh, summer has arrived…

Once my brother and I, when we were little, devised this incredibly stupid plan to take the money our parents gave us to put in the church offering plate.  Then we were even more stupid to talk about it in the same room where my mom was supposedly asleep. We are 8 and 10, but that was my introduction to charitable taking (and then taking a spanking).

Then I got into this 'armchair activist' mode and wanted to do more than give money (yes, I gave money to one charity a quarter, usually WWF or some animal related charity, and when I was at IBM it was great b/c they would match it).  I got pretty active with 20/20 Vision and before I knew it they had some TV producers coming out to follow me around my NYC office, back on the subway, back to my home where I whipped out my laptop and wrote my congressman a very pointed letter that really showed I did my research (or at least showed I could plagiarize the cliff notes 20/20 provided pretty damn well). 

Yes, thought it would be my big break into the world of eco-entertainment, which would have been much better than high-tech startups that I was into, but alas, it never made it off the cutting room floor.  It was 2000, so maybe a tad early.  I bet it would make it now. We are at a tipping point...anyone else feel it?

Off to tip to bed.. Jen

I grew up in the middle of the Rockies, but I honestly never went hiking until I was about 10 or so. My best friend's dad took us on a hike, and I remember - at first - thinking that it seemed stupid to walk at a slow pace through the woods, no real destination in sight.

But somewhere on that aimless walk, I understood that call to the woods. It made some sort of inexplicable sense to me.

Years later, sweaty Brooklyn summer, I received a heart-wrenching call. My best friend's dad - a dad of sorts to me - had died unexpectedly. My heart broke mainly for my friend. But a little piece of it mourned for me - for that loss of the first person who really showed me the woods.

That first lost Father's Day, I bought a plot of trees from the American Forests in memoriam. To this day, it might be the best money I ever think I spent.

This fall, I'm heading to that best friend's wedding in Italy. And we are doing a hike in honor of her dad.

A little Montana Rockies blending into the Italian peaks, and again, I think it's fitting.

-Heather... off to look at old photo albums...

OK, I really can't stomach writing about credit cards in today's blog, because trust me - I have a heady relationship with my credit cards already and think about them too much. Instead, let's celebrate the dawn of a new year...

Yep. Yesterday was the start of the Lunar New Year. The Year of the Dog, as the Chinese would have it. 

Not being a huge fan of dogs (well, except for Cricket and Harlow, of course), I'd be inclined to think that the Year of the Dog would be a sort of boring year - slobbery and whining.

But I gotta say, I am looking forward to it (because while the Year of the Rooster was truly transforming and amazing for me, it was also a bit of a thrilling and bloody cockfight, and I'm looking forward to some snuggled-up warm fuzzies instead). 

• Loyalty
• Unconditionality
• Goodness
• Playfulness

Do you know the notion of “stuff-stress”?  You know, where all your STUFF is causing you stress?  You have to care for stuff, store stuff, clean stuff, find stuff, dust stuff, move stuff, maintain stuff, unload stuff, re-organize stuff, shuffle stuff around to find other stuff. WHEW.  That’s a lot of doing stuff to stuff.

I tend to date some strange characters. One of my boyfriends, after living a few years with me in NYC, decided to absolutely disavow materialism, and even gave up his shoes! Of course this made for a great topic of catty conversation with the girlfriends, but down deep I really understood… you have to look for shoes, clean you shoes, tie you shoes. 

Maybe it is my age, or maybe where I am in the ‘socio-economic’ non-cosmic order, but I feel that most of those around me have ENOUGH STUFF.  My favorite gifts to give are acts of service…. a car wash for my Dad, doing a little water color painting for my friend, a massage for my lover, and yes, a tree or a panda in my mom’s name.

I know it is hard not to give a physically wrapped something, but it is kind of like a diet… it gets easier as you wean yourself from stuff, wanting it less, and needing it less to be representative of how much you care for someone.  If anyone has noticed the same, or has ideas on how to make the leap from STUFF to NONSTUFF for the holidays, chime in!

Off to fill out the Panda gift card… naming it Poopsie after my mom… her nickname.

Happy Holidays everyone! Jen