Cupcakes & FreeCycle

Hi All,

Yesterday we went to our annual Corn beef & Cabbage dinner at the McCarthy-Egan's house. For those of you who don't know who the McCarthy Egans are they are like my 2nd family. Megan McCarthy-Egan is one of my oldest friends (from grammar school) and her parents are like my 2nd set of parents. Over the years, my mom has become good friends with her parents so Klou (my mom)was there too. Anyway, I decided to make cupcakes for the party and Kyle suggested I do something to make them somewhat St. Patty's dayish hence the green sprinkles and green jellybeans. The came out great and were just so pretty that of course I had to have Kyle take a picture of them :) It was taken on my cell phone so it isn't the greatest quality. I also have to add that this was my first time ever making cupcakes, so I was pretty impressed with myself. I have to give Kyle credit for frosting them as he did a great job. He's much more of a perfectionist than me with certain things. They were a big hit and really delicious.

We had our last visit with our Social Worker today. Now the waiting game begins. We have to wait to hear back from the U.S. government to get approved to adopt a foreign born orphan. Once we get that approval, we both have to get fingerprinted. We are also working on getting our passports. We are making progress and are both really excited :)

My friend Tony sent me the article below that I pasted from The Boston Globe. I thought it was really cool and wanted to share it with everyone. Basically it is a site that lists free stuff that people want to get rid of. Check out the site and see if they have a group in your area. I looked up our area and there is a group in Weymouth, which is the next town over. I thought this might be a good thing to check out to see if you need anything. Joie since you are a new homeowner you might be able to find some stuff for your house. Who knows? Check out the link & article below.

http://www.freecycle.org/

Don't toss it, Freecycle it
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March 5, 2008
Kathy Ann Purdy of Beverly used to be a yard-sale devotee; now she's a Freecycle fiend. Purdy was working on a house renovation a few years ago when she heard about the website - "a place to give or receive what you have and don't need or what you need and don't have," according to the site. She went online and scooped up free beds, furniture, new carpet, and a stove, among other things.
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Today Purdy, 44, checks the site daily. "It's addictive," she says.
She and her husband, Michael, have also found a five-piece cherry wood bedroom set, a snowblower, patio furniture, a sink and toilet, even seashells that became wedding favors. They've also contributed items, such as an antique writer's desk and a gothic-style bed.
When Purdy heard about a young Beverly couple who lost everything in a fire, she posted their plight on Freecycle, and they got almost everything they needed. "It makes you feel like you've done something great for a neighbor," Purdy says.
It's also a way to do something great for the environment. According to founder Deron Beal of Tucson, Ariz., Freecycle keeps about 400 tons of trash out of landfills every day. Beal started the site in 2003 when he was working for a nonprofit group helping people who were down on their luck. The group accumulated a lot of excess stuff as it collected donations, and one day Beal e-mailed about 40 friends to help him find a home for it. Word got around, and the network of 40 became 800. Today, he says, "We have 10,000 local volunteers, including 500 leadership coordinators, 4.5 million users, and one staffer - me."
As Beal knows all too well, "The mass of waste in our culture is mind-boggling." So the next time you're thinking of hauling a chair or TV out to the curb, consider adding it to the free cycle instead.
[Harriet Blake]
GREEN TIPS: Send questions and ideas to hlblake@aol.com.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
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