There are some great deals on Zulily today. Enjoy!

A new Costco membership OR renewal plus some freebies is only $55.00. I am all over this one personally. I have been going with a friend and using her membership for the past couple years but this has increasingly become a hassle and we would like one of our own. We like to buy bulk coconut water, coffee, and rechargeable batteries there mostly but they also have lots of organic offerings.

KidCraft Wood Toys – Trains sets, sandboxes, dollhouses, puppet theaters and lots of other good stuff. My daughter has the Glitz & Glamour Dollhouse and it is very high quality and will last for many, many years.

Slyvan Products - Great for homeschool or for summer learning. We have used (and enjoyed) several of their products in years past.

Sprout Non Toxic Nail Polish – Conventional nail polish has all sorts of toxic nasties in it so I always try to buy safer, non toxic versions for my daughter. Sprout is one brand I have not tried yet but perhaps today is the day to order some. :)

The hybrid versus the non hybrid. It is something I think about often because we all know that a hybrid makes better sense environmentally but it become unclear when you consider the economics. For years I have wrestled with justifying a hybrid purchase and not been able to do so. It all comes down to how much money you are willing to put behind your green ideals and theoretically we might all like to think we could put our money where our mouth is but some of us just don’t have the money to do so. Sadly hybrids are out of reach for a great many people. Thus they have to choose the best car they can with the resources they have and that is unlikely to be a hybrid, as shown by this infographic below.

What do you think? When you have a limited budget can you justify the purchase of a hybrid over a regular sedan with great fuel economy?

A guest post by Sam Peters

Even though my husband set me up with an amazing aromatherapy massage and seaweed wrap for Mother’s Day, he insists that all he wants for Father’s Day is the laughter of his little girls. Sweet sentiment, but he’s still getting gifts. I went to my daughters for their ideas: my youngest insisted that we get him a tiger and my oldest swore up and down that he told her that he wanted a tuutuu, bless her little lying heart. My girls are a trip.

My husband, the father of the year in my opinion, who takes time off work to be a room “mother” with me and tosses a football around out with my daughters calling them Lil Namath and Lil Montana deserves a something extra special on the day designed to honor him. I’ve been busy choosing between a wide variety of great gifts that don’t dent the earth and suit his personality.

Recycled Golfballs

Dixon Golf out of Tempe, AZ produces an eco-friendly line of balls called Dixon Earth. The balls are 100% recyclable. Dixon pays for returned balls. Sustainability informs everything that this company does, they encourage their employees to carpool to work and have outfitted their manufacturing facility with LED lightbulbs and low-VOC paint. Dixon even encourages golfers to go after that sliced ball by providing up to a $6 return for a dozen used golf balls.

Animal Adoption

Even though my daughter insists there is room for a tiger in the treehouse out back, I believe the laws in our jurisdiction against the keeping of exotic animals prevent her dreams of tiger ownership from becoming a reality. As a compromise, I found that the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) offers the adoption of endangered and threatened animals. On making a donation we may help protect and symbolically adopt a tiger or a three toed sloth or a host of other animals. Donations go to support WWF’s mission to prevent threats like poachers, deforestation, and global climate change from impacting the biodiversity of the planet.

Sweet Treats

If you look at my husband’s dental chart, all of his teeth are sweet teeth. Shari’s Berries has an amazing line of chocolate covered strawberries and delicious cookies  available to be shipped right to your door, including some super cute strawberries dipped to look like baseballs, footballs, and basketballs for Father’s Day!

Homemade

My girls decided to collect and recycle pretty paper they received throughout the year. The paper makes great handmade greeting cards, but they decided to use it to make a sweet little scrapbook full of collages of their favorite memories with their dad. So far the book includes learning to ride bicycles, playing hide and seek, and my husband flexing his muscles. They think it’s hilarious!

My girls and I plan a great Father’s Day in addition to the gift giving. After a pancake breakfast, we’re going to go on a long family hike on a nearby trail. We look forward to lavishing him with praise and pampering. Hope your holiday with your husbands and fathers is a great one!

Did you know that there was a National Clean Out Your Purse Day? Neither did I, until I saw a few tweets about it this morning. Ever the joiner I decided to get busy with the purse cleaning outing. It probably would have been far more useful to me if it were national scrub your kitchen floor day since mine is currently sticky as all get out but I guess perhaps I need to drum up the motivation for that one on my own today.

Anyway my purse is actually in pretty decent condition. Its part of my dedication to minimalism that I carry a very small purse. It only has room for a wallet, phone, keys, and my Sony Walkman MP3 Player pretty much. Sometimes I might carry a pen. I can tell right away if I am carrying excess stuff because it begins to bulge and look funny thus indicating I need to go through it and declutter. I own two purses/handbags total and both are tiny. They are also both thrift store finds. It works for me. I never have a hard time locating anything in my purse. :)

As you can see the only items that did not belong are the receipt, the business card from the awesome guy who recently fixed my 12 year old’s iPod Touch, a movie ticket stub (Oblivion – which was okay but not great), about $1.30 in spare change, and two mint candies from Olive Garden. I forgot they were in there and they were slightly melty.

Even though it was an easy job I am feeling rather accomplished now on this great day of purse cleaning. How about you? If you clean out your purse and write a blog post about it or if  you share a photo via social media leave a link below!

The big C. Cancer.

I have quite a bit to say about cancer actually because it became a big part of my life 6 years ago next month. I clearly remember the moment when they told me it was cancer that had been making so sick for he previous months. I was so relieved to finally KNOW why I was so sick that I think my doctors thought I was not facing up to facts. I had stage three cancer for sure and they feared that it might have spread to my liver. I went under the knife knowing that I might wake up to hear that it had and my cancer would be fatal. The news was ultimately good though. They removed a large section of my colon and most of my lower lymph nodes but since I was so young they were optimistic that I would be able to fly through chemo and put the cancer chapter behind me.

It wasn’t so easy in real life though. I was lucky to have a fantastic support system and I was lucky that I did not need to work to survive and take care of my three kids, one of whom was just a baby. Every day I was so grateful for what I had and the people in my life because every day I sat next to people (in treatment) who didn’t have these things. I saw who folks who had to work 40 hours a week while undergoing chemo or end up jobless and thus without insurance for their care. I saw others who had to leave treatment altogether because they no longer had the money or insurance for it. It made me so angry that only people of means could get the care they needed. You hear certain politicians talking all the time about how everyone has access to healthcare in this country regardless of means. In actuality they mean that everyone has access to emergency healthcare. A chronic disease does not apply. I found out I had cancer and I had options. Many, many others do not.

These days I have a lot to say about cancer organizations, what they do, and where the money goes. I have a lot to say about whether or not they are actually looking for a cure or a way to keep the disease atm machine alive and kicking. No matter what side of the fence I am on though I cannot deny that they do try to provide better access for those without means. They try to provide screening for those that cannot afford it and that they have a place to stay while going through their ordeal and that they have rides to get there and back. I sat alongside many people helped by organizations like these.

One of these is The American Cancer Society. They turn 100 years old this year and have played a role in nearly every cancer research breakthrough in recent history. What impresses me most though is all that they have done and continue to do to help those with limited means.

American Cancer Society Goals

• Continue to ensure lifesaving cancer research gets funded.
• Undertake a historic research study called the Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3) that will help us understand how to prevent cancer and save lives. The goal is to enroll at least 300,000 adults from various racial/ethnic backgrounds from across the US by the end of this year.
• Make sure that people facing cancer have the help they need, like a free place to stay during treatment and a ride to get there.
• Keep fighting for everyone to have access to quality health care, lifesaving screenings, clean air and more.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored by the American Cancer Society.