Carbon Fast, Day 2

I looked around for ideas on what to do this Lent--what to give up or what to add. Meaningful choices in the past were giving up meat (not so bad), alcohol (pretty easy), or sugar (incredibly, massively hard). I also wanted it to be something we could do as a family.

The UCC emails talked about a carbon fast, but in such nebulous terms that I couldn't grasp it (carbon is in everything alive; we're certainly not giving up food, nor giving up breathing out carbon dioxide). Then a friend sent me a link to a series of small steps one could take this Lent.

I skipped the first step--I love my light, although I'm thinking of replacing a bulb with a CF (which I current don't much care for--I'm clumsy, and breaking these means spilling a tiny amount of mercury, the safe level of which has never been established). But I did go home at lunch yesterday, and came back on my bike. And when we went to the Ash Wednesday service at my church, we walked instead of driving. Win!

This morning, I got us out of the house in time to walk to school, getting DS there 5 minutes before the bell. Took the dogs with us. Several wins: kid to school on time, kid gets morning exercise, car doesn't get driven, dogs get exercise, I get exercise, dog poop in a trash can instead of our yard, and I get back home in time to be able to bike to work.

I love any incentive to make a change that improves our life, and the world.

One Fewer Thing Each Day--Day 3

On Day 1, I got rid of my Borders Rewards card from my keychain (our store closed), and two charger cords from my car.

On Day 2, I chose two skeins of sock yarn that I just did NOT love for the swap we'll do at Spinning Night next.

Day 3... well, I did find a box of things in the basement that I keep moving out of my way, moving moving moving, but not getting rid of. Think I'll bag up those items for a lovely Salvation Army dropoff.

Am loving this.

Ashland wish lists

Anna

4GB PSP Memory Card (Used just fine—available on Amazon.com for around $10)

Subscription to Shonen Jump (https://secure2.palmcoastd.com/pub/shnj/newSHPTT.asp)

Bleach #18 and up (Bleach is a Japanese graphic novel series)

Gift cards:

· Kohl’s

· Macy’s

· Gamestop

· Barnes & Noble

Anna also has a wish list posted on Knit Picks.

Jack

iTunes Gift Cards

Xbox 360 controllers. Need two altogether. Wireless preferred, but will accept wired. Used absolutely OK! New, I think the wireless are $40 each and the wired are $20. Used should be about half that much.

On Jack’s list, but pretty ignorable due to price:

· Halo:Reach (game) $60

· Rock Band 2 (game) $100

· Cry Baby Wah Pedal for an electric guitar $100

Zippered Hooded Sweatshirt Jacket (double lined or extra warm, somehow) in a dark color

Woven boxers (they have some cute ones at Old Navy!) He is a size 34.

Maura

I have a Knit Picks Wish List.

I’d like a gift certificate to Webs for a large folding blocking mat

3 Wicker storage boxes from Ikea: Branas 32x35x32 cm (13x14x13”) item number 774.392.12

Bamboo wooden spoons—regular wooden spoon size, not the big (wide) ones (easier to fit in the drawer!)

Baggallini small zip out shopping bags in black or orange.(around $20) Sold at Travel Essentials in Ashland!

Baggallini Zip Out Shopping Bag Small

Folds up into itself Perfect for a trip to the market Water resistant A durable and stylish small shopping bag that zips and folds down into its own compact front pocket when not in use, the Baggallini Zip Out Shopping Bag Small is perfect for a trip to the beach, the grocery store, or the trip home from France with your unforeseen treasures. Measuring 15 x 18 x 6 inches when fully expanded, the Baggallini Zip Out Shopping Bag Small folds down to an 7 x 7 x 1 inch pouch and weighs only 8 ounces. Made of lightweight, durable water-resistant rip-stop nylon lined with PVC for added durability.

Wish list, December 2010

New: Sony DVD player with WiFi

Costco has an Indian food cookbook for $9.99 that looked great; they also have the Sudoku Page-a-day calendar for maybe $8.

Any of the dark rovings by WildHare

Drawer handles and cabinet knobs

Some more BE makeup

New subscription to Interweave Knits

Beginner's Lockpick kit (yes, really: I've always wanted to know how to do this)

I love vanilla, lavender, and citrus scents (especially grapefruit)

Gift Certificate to Knit Picks, Elann, Webs, or Little Knits

Eddie Izzard on my TomTom GPS

stocking: cinnamon toothpaste or floss, knitting row counters or stitch markers

We'd both love a water polo ball to practice with (on sale now!) (reserved)

Graham/Charlie:

DS games--Spongebob: Truth or Square; Shrek Forever After

Simpsons Page-a-Day Calendar
How To Train Your Dragon boxed set $39.99
The Argyle Sweater Page-a-Day Calendar (Costco; about $9)

stocking: wild berry floss

Letter to Barbara Boxer re: TSA pat-down searches

Dear Senator Boxer,

I understand the TSA have approved pat-down searches for children. This, with the full-body scans on scanners that have the capability of storing and exporting scans, goes too far--and doesn't protect us.

With the flimsy hiring protocols for TSA scanners, offering constant views of passengers' nude bodies, including those of their children, nauseates me almost as much as the idea of my ten-year-old son enduring a pat-down search by a TSA employee with a questionable background.

We're giving up so much liberty to gain so very little. We need to instead look at the scanning and profiling techniques in use by Israel. Their techniques are vastly different and highly effective. They are also similar to those recommended by Gavin deBecker in his book, "The Gift of Fear." Theirs is a more sensible approach with better training of screeners, who would be hired with more exacting standards.

Let's move FORWARD rather than BACKWARD! Having a stranger grope my child in front of me is not moving forward. It's moving backward, to the age where one never talked about child molestation because it could embarrass the MOLESTER.

I am a constituent of yours who has supported you for a long while now. Please be worthy of that support. Thank you.

Take THAT, clutter!

This post got me thinking.

I was wallowing in the clutter hell that my house and yard had become. I ignored it as much as I could, made a half-hearted effort to do some things, and that was about it.

Then, I had it. I sent a note out about the yard, offering $10 an hour for basic clean-up work. A friend asked me to hire her out-of-work husband and he's been getting things done.

And I looked forward on my calendar, and extrovert that I am, I want to have a goddamned Christmas party. (Ooh! Or after-Christmas White Elephant party!) So I divided my house into areas, and wrote out a list (it got lengthy) of what needed to be done, where.

And I've been working on it. Some things are so frustrating, but as the post says, perfect isn't really the goal; progress is. So when I find things all on the ground around the coat tree, I try not to blow my top, but remind my kid again that he needs to hang up his jacket and backpack. And I either put my jackets away or move them so they don't fall off.

Last weekend, I worked really hard on the undercounter spaces in my kitchen. One had lots of random dog crap in it (mostly dog toys, but some bowls and other things), and the other had 3 paper bags of things I'd been ignoring for a few years.

Now, one problem I have with cleaning and decluttering is follow-through. Does this ring true for anyone else? I start cleaning, go to put something away where it belongs, do a little reorganization there, and the first area is not only not clean, it's messier with the piles of things that go here and there. So this time, I really pushed myself to finish the job. I threw away the CD holders and took the old computer backup CDs to work to shred. I emptied the bags out completely and settled in to sort through the papers--recycle, shred, and keep (which was like 3 papers). I filed the papers I kept. I moved the recycle bin back to where it belonged. I put the shred bag back by the front door (my sister has a shredding service and invited me to bring a bag of shreddables rather than take the time at home).

I swept out both places, and found that my dog's dishes (on their boot tray, a trick I learned from other Lab owners to contain the drool as they drink and the food as they eat) fit in one of the knee holes, so they don't have to be out on the floor! I put my son's art bin back in the other knee hole, but it may find a home elsewhere. I'm starting to dislike things being on the floor when they don't need to.

That was one of maybe 45 things on the list, but I did it. And finished it.

And it feels great. Honestly, just great.

Walking trip in France

I was doing some planning for a walking trip in France last night, and getting more and more excited. I looked at some hostels in various places, and they are located everywhere! One drawback is the lack of security; another one, at a well-located hostel in Paris, is overbooking and poor service. One gal was moved at 2:30AM to another bed! Talk about insupportable.

At least the reviews are online, so I can get an idea ahead of time. And at least with the reservation I made stateside, the deposit is so small that if we have to cancel, it's not a huge deal.

So far, I've decided we'll go for about 3 weeks. One week in Paris--so one week at a hostel or a nicer place with a kitchen that we'll share with my mom, if she wants to join us--and then 2 weeks in the countryside, mostly in Brittany.

I had G go through a touristy book on France and mark the pages he thought looked interesting. Many of the coastal photos got marked, which is why I'm concentrating on hikes/walks on the coast of Brittany for that part of our trip. I found a Grande Randonnée that goes right along the coast from Mont St. Michel toCancale and then St-Malo, and then one that goes south from there to a town called Dinan. Mom and I visited all of these when we were there before G appeared on the scene, and I'd love to show him these areas.

From Dinan, we'd take 3 trains (!) to Vannes (through Rennes, which seems like a good place to stop for a bit and tour), pick up another GR trail and walk to Quiberon, the "Presqu'ile" (nearly an island--a very narrow peninsula), and then take a ferry over to Belle Île, which was highly recommended by a former French coworker. Mom and I tried to visit Belle Île when we were there, but the ferry could take us but not our car, and we didn't want to tour on foot (Mom's knees were very painful at the time). We settled for a nice dinner in Quiberon. This trail goes through Carnac, which includes a lot of standing stones (in which G has expressed an interest), and another site said there's an enchanted forest that would be fun for kids.

From Belle Île, we'll return to Paris and then home.

What I'd love to also do is to visit the beaches at Normandy for the historical aspect, to show G the Dordogne area (he did mark a Dordogne photo), and to show him the Loire Valley that I was fortunate to see with my French teacher in 1981 on a class tour. Perhaps for a future visit.

So much sadness this week

I Facebooked about our dog's trials this week, and how she is affecting our household. My son is upset by the things she's destroyed, and I'm affected by his sadness as well as her pacing. I ended up shutting her out of my bedroom night-before-last, as the mild tranquilizers the vet had suggested did not do enough. Thankfully, I got a good night's sleep last night; I guess her gut is finally comfortable.

(I did get gently woken by the sensation of a small dog burrowing into the covers at my back; our little Chug, Chester, had decided the front room just wasn't warm enough any more and had come to sleep with me. I was dreaming a Corgi was digging into the clothes at my back until I woke up enough to realize it was Chester. I smiled and went to sleep after he turned around and settled into the warmth.)

At church, I was still so down on Sunday that I nearly asked for a prayer. But prayers about one's pets, when others are dealing with cancer, unemployment, and health concerns, seem so secondary. So I prayed quietly.

After the service, I noticed a fellow choir member was really emotional. Her daughter has an ongoing vision loss, and the song we sang, "The Prayer," is apparently an anthem for the blind. "We pray we'll find your light...".

Then I noticed our minister talking to another member on the stairs, who was in tears. I felt like there was just so much sadness in our church that day. I just sent a note to our minister, thanking her for holding all of us up. It must be so hard, and she is so sweet and kind and thoughtful, and such a good listener.

I'm praying that things lighten up for us all, even on this day of Remembrance for those kids who thought that their only solution for being bullied for GLBT issues was suicide. Healing for all.

Kid makes another step toward organization

My sister spotted this bookcase on sale at Target, and recognized that it compared favorably to the Expedit system at IKEA, especially at the sale price. With 7 cloth baskets, it all came to $90 with tax (even including the green monkey-faced one, which G discovered has an opening that closes with magnets. He's decided it will house fun things--things that you "monkey around" with).

We got it late Saturday, after a very successful Give Hockey A Try Day (lots of participants left saying they were going to sign up! Yeah!) and a trip to Mountain Mike's for pizza and socializing, another new thing this GHATD. Target closed at 11 and we arrived shortly after 10:30PM. Fortunately, I'd brought the ad and an employee was able to direct lead me right to it.

I left it in my car that night, as I'm still nursing a back injury (sooo close to being fine, but don't want to chance it), but had to take it out today to drive a friend's kids to a church event. I offered to G, earlier this evening, to either watch a movie together OR to put the organizer together. To my surprise, not only did he want to put it together (my kid, turn down a movie? Wow), but he insisted on doing the lion's share of the work. I only ended up directing the flow of the work (by reading the directions) and showing him how to use the wooden dowels so common in today's furniture. He did 99% of the screw-driving (I merely seated a few recalcitrant ones), and 99.5% of the hammering (the bookcase has black cardboard backing for 5 of the 9 openings, as is so common these days; and each one took 12 nails). I am so proud of him, doing all the work!

I got him started getting his things organized and in the bins--on which I put temporary labels for him to write on; we'll make more permanent-style labels when things settle into clear categories. He was working so hard that I looked up at the time after a while and whisked him away to a trip to the ice-cream store. So proud of my kid.