Today is Blog Action Day and the topic of choice is The Environment. The idea is for folks to discuss the environment as it relates to our current blog topic. Since my blog topic is….well….me this is going to be easy.

After some thoughtful discussion with John, I’ve decided to share where I think we, as a home-based business owners and a homeschool family, do in our daily lives to reduce our impact on the environment.

During the morning news we hear all about the traffic jams for those commuting to their place of work. In our business we commute from our downstairs bedroom to our upstairs offices. The only traffic jam you’ll find in our home is at the coffee pot. Just try putting your coffee cup in before mine and you’ll get an earful. Same as you would if you tried to cut me off on the freeway.

All kidding aside, because we don’t participate in the mad dash to an office outside of our home we as a single family are doing our part to help the environment. This is not to say that we never leave the house. Of course we do. We have outside appointments and our kids have outside activities. However when we travel is entirely up to us. It’s not often that you find us in rush hour traffic. We try to schedule morning appointments after 9am and afternoon appointments before 4:30pm.

I know that working from home is not an option for everyone. But there is an alternative to everyone traveling to work at the same time. Companies could stagger their employee arrival/exit times to alleviate traffic. Some folks are naturally early birds and others not so much. Those who are chirpy in the a.m. could work the 7am-3pm schedule and then others from 8am-4pm and lastly the night owls could wander in from 9am-6pm.

Scheduling employees into their natural productive time would be an additional bonus. I for example am the night owl in the group. While my sister Jackie is chirpy in the early a.m. hours. It would make sense to slot us into different work schedules since we are both productive at different times of the day.

What does this have to do with the environment? With less folks stuck in traffic at the same time there would be less smog, less stress and happier people overall. So I would be interested to hear what you are doing in your family to help with the environment.

Those of us familiar with The Princess Bride will remember these words uttered by Inigo Montoya. So much had happened and there was just not enough time to share the details. So began the “summing up”. In my case there is no Prince Humperdinck scheming and plotting to ruin things. If anything, I’ve got “Miracle Max” in my corner giving me a magical and tasty chocolate-covered nut to bring me through.

SUM-UP #1: The last we chatted, I was embarking on the 30 Day Challenge. I’ll sum up my challenge by stating that by day 16 the real world had stepped up some challenges and that was the end of that. It so happens that was right about the time that Web 2.0 put a little hiccup in the project. I won’t elaborate further except to reiterate an earlier message board post, ” Spam is spam no matter what platform you are using.” That’s not to say folks weren’t successful. On the contrary there were a few folks who did quite well.

To me the amazing thing was that the folks who were the most successful at it used the 30DC & the Web 2.0 tools they learned about to enhance their existing businesses. The reason I think it was amazing to me was due to the fact that I have an existing business and have been using Web 2.0 tools for some time. Yet, I had never put the two things together. It was a bit of a V-8 moment for me.

SUM-UP #2: This Texas Gal has been busy with all the New Media/Social Media/Tech opportunities. From Co-Working to BarCamps to Blogtoberfest to a Halo3 Pre-Launch at Microsoft. I’m here to tell you there is a growing interest in what we’ve been doing for the last 2 years. I only wish I could participate in all the new and exciting events that are happening in Dallas, Houston, Austin. I get to as many events as I can and love it! I’ll admit I’ve drunk the kool-aid and being able to hang out with others in the New/Social Media arena is just grand! The folks I’ve met continue to amaze and motivate me. I’m looking forward to meeting the folks I haven’t met yet. If that’s you, then send me a line or better yet find me on Twitter.

SUM-UP #3: During this time of the year our family & business rotates around football. Our oldest son plays in a 6-Man Football team, the San Antonio FEAST Patriots and has since it’s inception 3 years ago. With practice 4-5 days a week plus weekly games, half of which are anywhere from a 1-3 hour drive. Well you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that equals up to a lot of time. It seems like the season is so very long but when it’s over we are always sad to see it end. We really are blessed to have the opportunity to fellowship with the other FEAST families thru football. I call it “Football & Felllowship” We see our families grow and change with each season. I wouldn’t change it for anything.

SUM-UP#4: The Morning BrewCast has been through a slow period while Jackie and I were otherwise engaged. We tried our best to produce at least one show each month during this time. You all were patient and supportive. We think we have some of the best listeners in the Pod-O-Sphere. We’re back in the swing and are back to producing shows on a more frequent basis. If you’ve got a topic you’ve been dying to hear, then send us a comment at the Morning BrewCast. We’d love to hear from you!

This concludes the “Summing Up”. Feel free to drop me a line jennifer AT jennifernavarrete.com Yeah, I know it’s long, but hey it’s my name and that’s that. Or you can send me a voice mail by using the CALL ME button on the left side of the site. Until next time…… remember, “I have spent the last few years building an immunity to iocane powder and am not someone to be trifled with.”

While we all have a mental image of what that is for each one of us, for me it’s more about freedom.

Your probably asking yourself, ” Freedom….what does she mean?”

As someone living in America in the 21st century I probably have more freedom than a lot of folks around the world. Yes it’s true I am fortunate to be able to work, live, eat, vacation, drive, shop, etc… whenever and wherever I choose. And it’s great! But that is not what I mean. No, to me “Living the Dream” is more about Time Freedom.

The time to do the things I’m passionate and interested in. The time to pursue new interests while still living fairly well. I’m not drinking my coffee with my pinkie sticking up nor do I drive the latest and greatest car, but what I do have is a relatively easy going lifestyle. Sure, I’d like to get a new car every two years, but the car I have now works great. It’s a trooper and still going strong. Now why would I get rid of something that has given me faithful service all these years? As a matter of fact I’m about to hand over the keys to my son.

But, I digress. To me living the dream involves several things.