I feel inspired today. I don't really know why. I just feel today like anything is possible. It's a good place to be.
I've been feeling very guilty about taking a monthly trip to Las Vegas to shop for my Etsy store after my class is done. In my current state of inspiration, I came up with something that I think will offset the environmental damage of that 500 mile round trip. We have no recycling up here in the mountains. That sounds so backward, like saying we have no indoor toilets or that we bathe in the crick. There are recycling centers in Las Vegas that will take household recycling and actually pay you for it.
So I am collecting our recyclables and I'll be trucking them down with us every month. Is that extreme? I think maybe a little. I'm hoping that it doesn't stink, because once we're about halfway there the heat kicks in. They'll pay me 60 cents a pound for cans, 10 cents a pound for plastic and 4 cents a pound for paper and cardboard. I forgot to ask about glass.
Kevin and I had a big old talk the other night that was instigated by my announcement that I was going to start saving our trash and load it up in our van once a month. He pointed out that nothing we do is without impact. My answer is that it isn't supposed to be. We're supposed to make an impact, otherwise why are we here? For whatever reason, humans developed with the ability to think and invent and we are definitely supposed to use that ability, IMO. But we are also supposed to be responsible and try to make our impact as positive as possible. Maybe we'll be the only recyclers in White Pine County. That's okay. Maybe we'll be an inspiration to someone else to follow our lead.
I've been writing, too. I think that's a direct contributor to my feeling very inspired right now. I'm working on a short story that I want to submit to Ellora's Cave tonight. Yes, I am outing myself as a writer of spicy stories. Spicy Spice, that's me. I have another idea in my head fully formed, which is the best way for ideas to come. I have a hard time writing when I only have the beginning and I'm just wondering around trying to figure out the end. Have I ever mentioned that I read the end of books first? Yeah. I do. I'm a spicy-story-writing-end-of-the-book-reader. I'm not scared to admit it.
My seedlings are doing so well. I'm really excited about my garden. We can't plant out here until mid-June for things that can't handle a frost. I think I can put in peas and cabbage outside the first of June. I'm heading to the nursery when I go to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. I want some berries and apple trees.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Slow and Easy
I'm taking a slow-and-easy approach to life lately. At least I'm trying. It doesn't come naturally to me.
What I want to do is make elaborate plans to lose 100 pounds, pay off $10,000 in credit card debt, and write the Great American Novel by my birthday. I do this to myself every. single. year. And guess what? Nothing gets done. Worse, a little gets done, but when I burn out it gets undone and then some. So I have more than 100 pounds to lose, and I've used my credit cards because I sent too much of my cash to pay off debt so I'm $11,000 in debt by my birthday. Oh yeah, and I have three pages of 92 different novels stored in my hard drive.
Slow and easy. That's my motto. Kevin and I figured out the other day that if we just pay the minimums on our credit cards, plus $50 a week as a booster, and roll over the paid-off cards amount to the next card, we can be totally out of debt (including our car and doctors bills) in four years. Easy. It isn't some spectacular plan, but it is workable. We easily spend $50 on fast food a week (nice way to pick away at those 100 pounds, huh? Send the McDonald's money to the Visa card.) It won't hurt. It won't make anyone anxious or induce spending binges. Just...Kevin deposits his tokes on Saturday night, comes home and pays the Target bill $50. Easy peasy.
We're supposed to get our stimulus check on Monday, right? Kevin has a low last two digits of his social security. Our plan is to catch up on some bills, put a little in savings, and stock up on groceries.
I'm way freaked out by the world food situation. It's so easy not to see it when you're doing it day after day after day. But I went to Las Vegas last weekend and went to Sunflower Market. A year ago I could buy organic unbleached flour there for 69 cents a pound. Last weekend it was 1.49 a pound. A year ago I could buy Couscous for 89 cents a pound. Last weekend it was 2.49 a pound. Holy shit. The price of Couscous has more than doubled? Yikes.
I've been trying to think of what we could have stored that would make a real food crisis more easily handled. Here's what I've come up with:
Rice
Flour
Potatoes (They'll last a good long time in my unheated laundry room)
Apples (see above)
Beans
Sugar
Canned shortening (yuck...but it doesn't spoil)
Salt
Honey
Dried fruits
Canned vegetables and beans
Powdered milk
Canned meats
Baking mix
Pancake mix (just add water)
Pasta and pasta sauce (the cheap stuff)
Macaroni and cheese (the cheap stuff, again)
Peanut butter
Oatmeal
Canned and powdered soups
So some of our stimulus money is going to stock up on these things that we can rotate into our everyday meals, but that will last a while and will make me feel less like we're on the brink of disaster.
What I want to do is make elaborate plans to lose 100 pounds, pay off $10,000 in credit card debt, and write the Great American Novel by my birthday. I do this to myself every. single. year. And guess what? Nothing gets done. Worse, a little gets done, but when I burn out it gets undone and then some. So I have more than 100 pounds to lose, and I've used my credit cards because I sent too much of my cash to pay off debt so I'm $11,000 in debt by my birthday. Oh yeah, and I have three pages of 92 different novels stored in my hard drive.
Slow and easy. That's my motto. Kevin and I figured out the other day that if we just pay the minimums on our credit cards, plus $50 a week as a booster, and roll over the paid-off cards amount to the next card, we can be totally out of debt (including our car and doctors bills) in four years. Easy. It isn't some spectacular plan, but it is workable. We easily spend $50 on fast food a week (nice way to pick away at those 100 pounds, huh? Send the McDonald's money to the Visa card.) It won't hurt. It won't make anyone anxious or induce spending binges. Just...Kevin deposits his tokes on Saturday night, comes home and pays the Target bill $50. Easy peasy.
We're supposed to get our stimulus check on Monday, right? Kevin has a low last two digits of his social security. Our plan is to catch up on some bills, put a little in savings, and stock up on groceries.
I'm way freaked out by the world food situation. It's so easy not to see it when you're doing it day after day after day. But I went to Las Vegas last weekend and went to Sunflower Market. A year ago I could buy organic unbleached flour there for 69 cents a pound. Last weekend it was 1.49 a pound. A year ago I could buy Couscous for 89 cents a pound. Last weekend it was 2.49 a pound. Holy shit. The price of Couscous has more than doubled? Yikes.
I've been trying to think of what we could have stored that would make a real food crisis more easily handled. Here's what I've come up with:
Rice
Flour
Potatoes (They'll last a good long time in my unheated laundry room)
Apples (see above)
Beans
Sugar
Canned shortening (yuck...but it doesn't spoil)
Salt
Honey
Dried fruits
Canned vegetables and beans
Powdered milk
Canned meats
Baking mix
Pancake mix (just add water)
Pasta and pasta sauce (the cheap stuff)
Macaroni and cheese (the cheap stuff, again)
Peanut butter
Oatmeal
Canned and powdered soups
So some of our stimulus money is going to stock up on these things that we can rotate into our everyday meals, but that will last a while and will make me feel less like we're on the brink of disaster.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The Final Stretch
I had a meeting at the high school today, with the goal of setting up a transition plan for Nick.
First, can I say that there is nothing worse that remember you have a meeting when you see the teacher walking into the school whilst you are dropping your daughter off for her ungodly-early Jazz Band class and are wearing the same clothes you wore to work the day before, flip flops, and a pony tail. Yeah. I went the "pretend there is nothing wrong with the way you look" route and decided I didn't give a damn anyway.
My main goal for Nick going into the ninth grade is for him to have some success. For school not to be a torture chamber for him anymore. For teachers and students to get him and be willing to support him. For him to graduate and go to college and have a fantastic life.
He'll be taking regular classes, all the core classes (English, pre-algebra, computers, and biology.) Plus art and Spanish. Please send some good vibes to my Nick. He's been shoved down the cracks of public school for nine years. He deserves this last stretch to be a different experience.
The principal is going to let me put something together to present to the teacher's Nick will have next year, to help them be more aware of and understanding of Autism. That's a good thing, if you look past the fact that no one at the school has had any previous Autism training. I'm looking past that, to the future. What choice do I have?
P.S. George Bush just came on my TV and said that we aren't in a recession, we're in a SLOWDOWN. Unbelievable. Really. Look at his face when he says it.
First, can I say that there is nothing worse that remember you have a meeting when you see the teacher walking into the school whilst you are dropping your daughter off for her ungodly-early Jazz Band class and are wearing the same clothes you wore to work the day before, flip flops, and a pony tail. Yeah. I went the "pretend there is nothing wrong with the way you look" route and decided I didn't give a damn anyway.
My main goal for Nick going into the ninth grade is for him to have some success. For school not to be a torture chamber for him anymore. For teachers and students to get him and be willing to support him. For him to graduate and go to college and have a fantastic life.
He'll be taking regular classes, all the core classes (English, pre-algebra, computers, and biology.) Plus art and Spanish. Please send some good vibes to my Nick. He's been shoved down the cracks of public school for nine years. He deserves this last stretch to be a different experience.
The principal is going to let me put something together to present to the teacher's Nick will have next year, to help them be more aware of and understanding of Autism. That's a good thing, if you look past the fact that no one at the school has had any previous Autism training. I'm looking past that, to the future. What choice do I have?
P.S. George Bush just came on my TV and said that we aren't in a recession, we're in a SLOWDOWN. Unbelievable. Really. Look at his face when he says it.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
On the Slow Road
I watched the season finale of Biggest Loser with Kevin last night. The winner was a woman who lost nearly 50 percent of her body weight (over 100 pounds) in six months. She was reed thin and incredibly proud of herself. As she should have been, I suppose.
This really got me thinking though. About myself. I have this tendency to want to barrel into whatever I do. I jump in with both feet and take off at a sprint, then run out of steam before I even really give getting started a chance. Shows like Biggest Loser really highlight the fact that I'm clearly not the only American who has this tendency. We're brought up to believe that big things can happen very quickly to some people, and that in the Land of the Free, that some people could be you! It's the American Dream, right?
But what if the new American dream is to slow down a bit? Be the tortoise instead of the hare. I'll be forty in three and a half years. (Yes, when we're counting down to the big four oh, that half does in deed matter!) If I lost just one pound a week from this week until that one, I won't be overweight anymore. It won't happen in six months, but I'll get there. Maybe losing ten pounds a week isn't really all that necessary in the long run.
And if I just sit down and write a page a day, I can write a couple of novels by my 40th birthday.
If I save $1 a day, I can celebrate my fortieth as a fit novelist on a beach somewhere in a bikini.
Slow and steady. That's my new motto. One little day at a time.
This really got me thinking though. About myself. I have this tendency to want to barrel into whatever I do. I jump in with both feet and take off at a sprint, then run out of steam before I even really give getting started a chance. Shows like Biggest Loser really highlight the fact that I'm clearly not the only American who has this tendency. We're brought up to believe that big things can happen very quickly to some people, and that in the Land of the Free, that some people could be you! It's the American Dream, right?
But what if the new American dream is to slow down a bit? Be the tortoise instead of the hare. I'll be forty in three and a half years. (Yes, when we're counting down to the big four oh, that half does in deed matter!) If I lost just one pound a week from this week until that one, I won't be overweight anymore. It won't happen in six months, but I'll get there. Maybe losing ten pounds a week isn't really all that necessary in the long run.
And if I just sit down and write a page a day, I can write a couple of novels by my 40th birthday.
If I save $1 a day, I can celebrate my fortieth as a fit novelist on a beach somewhere in a bikini.
Slow and steady. That's my new motto. One little day at a time.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Home
There is nothing quite like coming home after a trip. It just feels so good. (Especially if you have a husband like mine, who treats you to a spotless home when you get there!)
The Partners class was as interesting as it was last month. This month the class focused on education, specifically the IEP process. It really brought up a lot of stuff for me that I hadn't thought of in a really long time. It took me to that place, you know, where you feel completely exposed and vulnerable. I hate that place.
I noticed something that I think is pretty interesting. Nearly everyone in my class is overweight, several by quite a lot. There is one woman who is real thin, and it turns out she had gastric bypass surgery. They showed pictures of last years class, and it was the same thing. Funny though, none of the presenters are heavy. They're typically about 10 years past their class experience, they're children are grown. Could it be that raising a child with a disability is stressful and that we all need lots of ice cream and chocolate at the end of the day? Yeah, I'd say so. Noticing that has really changed my perspective. I need a better stress reliever than food.
On a lighter note (HA!), I came home with my van jam packed with great vintage stuff for my shop. Come on by and check it out. Please. I gotta sell some of this stuff! My house looks like the coolest thrift store on the planet exploded all over it.
Plus, I really, really, really don't want to go back to substituting. Really bad.
The Partners class was as interesting as it was last month. This month the class focused on education, specifically the IEP process. It really brought up a lot of stuff for me that I hadn't thought of in a really long time. It took me to that place, you know, where you feel completely exposed and vulnerable. I hate that place.
I noticed something that I think is pretty interesting. Nearly everyone in my class is overweight, several by quite a lot. There is one woman who is real thin, and it turns out she had gastric bypass surgery. They showed pictures of last years class, and it was the same thing. Funny though, none of the presenters are heavy. They're typically about 10 years past their class experience, they're children are grown. Could it be that raising a child with a disability is stressful and that we all need lots of ice cream and chocolate at the end of the day? Yeah, I'd say so. Noticing that has really changed my perspective. I need a better stress reliever than food.
On a lighter note (HA!), I came home with my van jam packed with great vintage stuff for my shop. Come on by and check it out. Please. I gotta sell some of this stuff! My house looks like the coolest thrift store on the planet exploded all over it.
Plus, I really, really, really don't want to go back to substituting. Really bad.
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