With Earth Day just passing us the debate over cloth vs. disposeable diapers heats up. On the cloth side there there is less waste being put into landfills as well as less trees cut down to produce them and less plastic produced. And less cost in actual diapers after initial purchase. The cons to cloth are more the ickyness factor of rinsing out diapers, cost of water ( and this is a big one for us in Poway!), and more chemicals down the drain and into the wat er system from detergents. So I guess the final say is where you want to be green and where you want to spend your money. If you opt for disposeable, don't buy just one brand. Buy thre ones that are on sale or have the best coupon. Buying them online at Amazon.com or from the manufacturer direst can also give big savings. Water I think is probably the deciding factor to us in Poway. Why can't they produce a biodegradeable disposeable? They were working on one several years ago with a main ingredient of baking soda. Where did that go?

If you want to check out sites for cloth options here are a few: http://www.miraclediapers.com
Another site is:http://www.diaperdecisions.com orhttp://www.modernmommygear.com. For disposeable deals check out buying them off :http://www.amazon.com or http://www.ebay.com. You can aslo looks for deal like $10 off your first order at: http://www.diapers.com. For coupons and special offers sign up for the newsletters at: http://www.huggiesbabynetwork.com or http://www.pampers.com.

In case you would like to see where cases of swine flu are popping up go to:http://maps.google.com/maps/. Or just go to google map swine flu.

Utah was one of the states that reported samonella in the alphalfa sprouts. Continue to stay away from those.

Health Alert!!

Just to make sure everyone knows about the latest health concerns in our State I am adding them to my blog. First is the swine flu outbreak in Mexico City. We now have confirmed cases in California, so if you are sick, stay home. Cover your mouth when you sneeze and wash your hands ALOT! You can also go to The Center for Disease Control for updates and what to look for at:http://www.cdc.gov.

You will also be able to find the latest on the samonella outbreak in a new fresh food, alphalfa sprouts at the same site. We have been told to NOT EAT alphalfa until furthur notice.

Actually this government web site is a very good place to look when you have health related issues.

In the Honolulu Advertiser i read an article entitiled,"In midst of recession, moochers emerge". In it there were a few good websites for getting free stuff for you and your family and some tips.Check out: http://MeTime.com, http://The Motherhood.com, 5minutesformom.com. And finally check out,HeyItsFree.net. Apparently being a moocher is a good thing now!

The authors tips are,Don't expect to get big thing for free. uSUALLY IT'S SHAMPOO, CANDY BARS, TEE SHIRTS AND THE LIKE. Don't give out more than your email address or home address so they can mail something to you. And finally if they ask a lot of questions it's probably not a safe site to use. Check 'em out!

Though I am in Hawaii for the next 2 weeks I have not forgotten you! To make you feel a little better I thought giving you some of the prices on necessary items, (ok, some not so necessary!) at the grocery stores in Kauai might make you feel better about your food budget. Here goes!
Red bell pepper 5.89 lb
cherry tomatoes 5.59 for 10 oz. pkg
Near East Pilaf 3.39 box
Berensteins dressing 16 oz. 5.39
Dairyland Milk 2% 4.99 a gallon
Betty Crocker brownies 3.99
Dreyer Fruit juice bars 6.39 for 6 bars
Walleds Pita Chips 5.49
So do not despair! Someone has it harder than you do!