It’s here and you can celebrate with me for three reasons. First, we get to save the planet today like Batman or Super Why. Second, there is still a ton of free stuff up for grabs over at Seattle Mom Blogs for anyone in the US to win. Third, today is the last day I’ll be talking about green things for a while. After today I will go back to blogging my kids’ vomit and my adventures in parking.

It seems like for every good thing I’m doing, there are ten more things I feel like I should be doing and then half the good things I’m doing turn out to be not as good as I thought they were. I think I’ve taught Laylee pretty well just to do her best and that her best is good enough for me. I guess my best should be good enough for me too. Here are a few things I’m focusing on this year.

1. Buying more whole foods and cooking from scratch, organic when the price is affordable. I can afford more organic if I plan carefully and don’t let produce rot as much. I frequently end up throwing away food because I over-buy or under-eat the good stuff. When I can’t buy organic (which is more than half the time), I wash produce carefully in diluted vinegar to remove surface pesticides and other contamination.

2. Buying more gifts from local artists and craftspeople instead of stockpiling sale gifts I may or may not WANT to give from my gift drawer when occasions arise.

3. Buying less of everything and being mindful of where things come from. I plan to do more with freecycle, eBay and Good Will this year and shop at one of the many antique stores in my area.

4. Figuring out what to do with my composter so I can build my very own useful landfill in the back yard for the benefit of my garden.

5. Growing a successful container garden that actually lives long enough to produce something edible.

6. Remembering my reusable grocery sacks at least half the time.

7. Turning off the water while I’m brushing my teeth.

8. Finding a way to wean off bleach by 2010.

9. Buying at least one fair trade item this year and research my favorite companies to see which of them have responsible business practices and treat their production employees well.

10. Walking to the library instead of driving. Teaching the kids to think it’s fun that we’re walking to the library instead of driving.

12. Turning the heater down 2 degrees next winter.

11. Buying thousands of hamsters to run in little wheels that will power my computer for blogging purposes.

If you’re interested in getting a free copy of Gorgeously Green (which I highly recommend), I now have 4 copies to give away at SMB.com. There are also gDiapers, Klutter Katchers, Belli Facial Care, and Method Baby products. Today’s the last day to put your name in the running.

I’m feeling a bit better today, one million supplements later and a trip to the naturopath that scored me a prescription for antibiotics — ear infection. I didn’t even know grownups could get ear infections, nor did I expect to be put on antibiotics by my uber-natural naturopath but I suppose I need them so there you go.

My post today at Parenting is about my sickness and woes and how the kids are dealing with it. They’re actually dealing quite well. I applaud their bouce-backishness. I’m bouncing back too, thanks to a little help from someone I’ll hereafter refer to as The Pregnant Cleaning Lady. I call her this only because she is pregnant and a cleaning lady.

Stephanie told me that a friend of hers was having a rough time and really needed work cleaning houses. I’ve never hired anyone to clean my house but I wanted to help her out and I guess I’ve been wanting to help her out subconsciously for weeks now because between the road trip and the plagues, it’s been far too long since my house has come in contact with a cleanly hand.

Enter pregnant cleaning lady. It was a strange sort of feeling to hire a woman in her late second trimester to clean my house. I knew she needed the work and I knew I needed help but it was very strange and guilt-inducing to have someone in that state scrubbin’ away at the mess I’d built up because I had a case of the sniffles (and an earache people, let’s not forget the ear ache… and the fever… and the sore throat… and the chapped lips… and the adult acne.) But even with all my infirmities, it still felt wrong to have a pregnant person cleaning my house. If she’s pregnant, she probably has all those infirmities and many many more and they’re all normal because, you know, she’s pregnant.

So I showed her where my supplies were and gave her strict instructions not to bend much or pick up anything too heavy or do anything that made her the least bit uncomfortable. Then I headed to Costco with the kids. When I came home, it was like a fairy godmother of joy had vomited pixie dust all over my house. The entire main floor was spotless. In 2.5 hours she had cleaned my kitchen and dining room from top to bottom, including buffing things that are supposed to be shiny but never are, scrubbed the bathroom, dusted, vacuumed, washed windows and straightened up everything.

Now as I blog in my immaculate house, what earlier today felt so wrong is starting to feel so very very right and addictive. If only I had the money to do this every week. My word, it would be fantastic.

Lots of fun is happening at Seattle Mom Blogs this weekend. We currently have a book giveaway and a great set of organizing bags for kids’ toys. In the next few days we’ll be giving away gDiapers, Method products, luxurious pregnancy-friendly Belli facial care items and more. Keep checking it.

Also, my lovely friend and neighbor the homeopath has made her blogging debut in honor of Earth Day. If you have a moment, please go give her some comment love.

If you’ve read this blog for long, you know I’m not the stereotypical Seattle Eco-Mom, rallied round my family with a pocket full of granola. I’m acutally not sure anyone is that mom. I am trying to do better though. I’m making baby steps to a minty green type of life.

It’s exciting and I want to talk about it without driving everybody crazy or giving the impression that I’m an all-or-nothing Al Gore disciple. I just want to be healthy. I just want to feel like every aspect of my life is reaching towards harmony with my moral code.

If I truly believe that people should treat each other well and that the earth we live in is a gift, then I should be trying to buy more products that are produced fairly and with less pollution and less toll on the earth’s resources. It’s hard to do because I’m not rolling in money but I do lots of hard things. I think it’s possible to be healthy and have a positive impact on the planet without my brains exploding because I’m thinking too hard or draining my life savings.

I need help though. That’s where you come in. Starting today on SeattleMomBlogs.com, we’re counting down to Earth Day next Tuesday by encouraging women across the blogosphere to write about ways they’re being more mindful of the environment in their homes and in the world. Are you saving the planet, even just a little bit more than you were yesterday? Click over and find out what you can do to help. Throughout the week we’ll be giving away gDiapers, Method products, Gorgeously Green and more.

I’m holding a giveaway of a set of awesome GreenPans over at Seattle Mom Blogs.

They are the first line of cookware using a non-stick coating that’s free of toxic chemicals that can be released into your food and into the air. They can cook at temperatures up to 800F without releasing anything harmful. I find this awesome because not only do they meet my criteria for healthier cooking, but they’re also dishwasher safe, something that drives me nuts about my current non-stick cookware.

Head on over there and enter to win a 6-piece set.

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It’s been much too long since I pimped my Seattle Mom Blogs site. It’s really turned into an awesome group blog and not just for women living in the Emerald City. We’ve got some great writers over there.

Although I signed up to write a food column, I get sidetracked a lot and today I’m sharing a fun Easter craft idea from my next door neighbor. Check it out.

ABBA on broadway?!! Transported to Seattle?!!

I am ridiculously excited for this chance to go out for a night on the town with my ladies and see Mamma Mia! at the Paramount.

If you live in the Seattle area and want to join us for opening night, get your tickets and let me know. We’ll meet up for desert or something.

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Jenny, Eve and I stayed up WAY too late in Chicago and came up with all kinds of ideas. We decided to make up songs and sing in an atonal vibrato. We decided to jump from bed to bed wearing capes. And we decided to set up a community to encourage and promote moms who blog in the Greater Seattle Area.

If you’re a mom who blogs from anywhere in or around Seattle, please join us as we try to connect, support each other and undoubtedly take over the world.

Anyone is free to go over and nominate one of your favorite posts for the month. The post does not need to be by a Seattle blogger. The nominator does not need to be a Seattle blogger. However, only the academy of Seattle bloggers will be able to vote on the winner. We’d love your nominations!