NIM: The Trash List

Okay, so here's the list of trash collected from yesterday. Things went well until the end of the day, when two huge boxes of Christmas presents arrived from Southern California (they had to be shipped because all the stuff couldn't fit in our suitcases!). Anyway, that was a lot of packaging. Bummer.

The List

q-tip (you already knew about that one. And yes, it was for my ears)
tea bag and wrapper
tissue (this is a weird one, because I usually use hankies. Hmmm).
2 Lindt chocolate wrappers (yum!)
gum wrapper and gum
cough drop wrapper
yogurt stick wrapper
string cheese wrapper
chicken nuggets bag rip-top
ore-ida fries package
a shit-ton of Christmas packaging

So, a couple of things: this really isn't that much (other than the anomalous xmas stuff). But if I was going to make some long-term changes, it would probably be along the lines of...

MAKING MORE FOOD FROM SCRATCH!

Which is something I've been thinking about anyway. Here are the two current obstacles:

1. I'm not a good cook. I'm trying, and there are a few things I make well, but I'm not good. I botch things regularly (and, to be honest, I don't like handling raw meat. So we might have the wean the girls from nugs). I've ordered a few (vegan) cookbooks and will keep practicing. I would say about 30% of our dinners come from packages (like the fries and nuggets); if I could cut that down, that would be great for our budget, our health, and the amount of trash in the can.

2. Convenience rocks. Yesterday, I got both girls home and, while the fries and nugs cooked in the oven, we had a dance party. On nights when I make a more time-intensive meal, there is no time for a dancy party before dinner. Especially on stressful work-days, the convenience meals are handy.

Summary: Find some easy recipes that can be made quickly from scratch, and begin to think about buying some stuff in bulk, with less (or no) packaging.

Coming Up: No Impact Man Project

If you've read this blog for a while, you probably know that I'm keenly interested in the alternative hedonism approach to environmental behavior change promoted by Colin Beavan, who calls himself No Impact Man. You might also know that Beavan has launched the No Impact Project, a social experiment of sorts that is an effort to scale up his experiment to others and perhaps, in the process, spread positive social change. And I'm presenting a few papers on NIM at the Western States Communication Association conference in Anchorage in March (and yes, I realize that flying to Alaska to present papers is not a positive ecological behavior. I'm working on it).

In any case, in preparation for finalizing those papers and thinking more about the NIM franchise, I'm going to be participating in the No Impact Man Project next week, and I'll be blogging about it a bit here. I'll be collecting my trash today in preparation for the experiment. Collected so far: a q-tip.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does your husband know you're about to do this?
No.

How will he react?
With eye-rolling.

How will you teach your children about what you're doing?
Self-righteous lecturing.

Is it a good idea to try to do this during the first week of classes?
No. But I'm doing it anyway.


Keep an eye out for those posts, folks, or--better yet--join me and we can commiserate!

Balance. Beam.

I think every house has a "sweet spot," a place where the light and the space and the feel is just right. it draws you in. For me, our house's sweet spot is our bedroom, where I wake up every morning, the soft light from the skylights filtering in as the sun rises, and the color of the day is breaking through the trees. The light moves around the room in these incredible rectangles throughout the day, and sometimes I follow it, like a cat, moving my laptop around to catch its warmth as I work. Sweet. Spot.

Anyway, the real thing driving me to write this morning is that I had a full-on taste of that elusive thing called balance last night, and it filled me with joy and wonder and I wanted to catalog it and reflect on it in hopes of getting more of it.

See, yesterday was the first full day back at work, and you could probably tell I was dreading it a little. Last semester just felt so unsatisfying, and I was having all sorts of doubts about my abilities and whether this career was really what I wanted and even wondering if I (and my colleagues and students) wouldn't be better off if I figured all this out and stayed home (or something). I felt torn up over it.

But then, this: I worked a good day yesterday, got some good things done (even with Addie around) and felt reasonably pleased with the whole thing. Addie and I picked Nolie up, Eric made it home in time for dinner (taco night--yum) and then, I worked.

For an hour.

It didn't feel stressful. I didn't feel like I took time away from anyone (myself or my family). I didn't loathe doing it. I got to put my girls to bed, do yoga, and knit. And I got a lot done in that hour. Work shifted from being in the unmanageable failure category to the I-think-I-can-do-this category.

The thing now is to figure out if I can do this, if not every night, most nights, and if it will continue to make the same difference. Will it be the difference between me feeling behind at work and able to cope? Will the work time start to bleed into the family time and I'll feel off-kilter again?

Whatever. I'll figure it out. But it felt good, let me tell you, to have such a significant part of my life not feel so, I don't know, in limbo. Such a drain. It was a weight lifted, that's for sure.

On the Inside

Today is all about easing back into full-time work--the last round of reviews on manuscripts for the journal are all in, and I need to pen an introduction this week, among other things. But, a quick break to say:

My little one just went with her papa back to school, and oh, did I feel so sad at seeing her go. My big girl is still here at home with me today and tomorrow, thanks to some in-service days at her school, and she is reading quietly next to me in bed while I type. In the past, I've been ready to shoo these girls out the door at the end of vacation, so I could get back to my "real" work. Of course, I see now that there are multiple "real" works, and I have loved these last few weeks immersed in the mommy kind. I'm glad to be getting back to the paid kind, too, but will miss the long days with these kids.

I don't think I'm the only one feeling this way, over this particular winter break, but join a bunch of others who are wishing for a few more days, or a change in the overall rhthym and requirements of things that allow for more space, peace, quiet, family, all the time.

The frost is still on our balcony railing, the snow still on some branches, and geese are honking loudly overhead. It's only inside that things are changing.

News on the Noles

We're having a bit of a slow start on the morning around here--Eric brought me coffee and the Times in bed this morning, which is my idea of heaven, and I put in another few rows on my current knitting project, then straightened things up, took a shower, and am about to head to an uber-long luxury massage (one of my favorite Christmas presents, hallelujah and amen!).

But before I head down for 10am bowl of granola and raisin bran, I wanted to give a quick update on the Nolie sleeping situation. She is sleeping in her very own big-girl bed, same as Addie's, in Addie's room. Which is now the girls' room. I would say that 5 out of 7 days a week both girls are sleeping through the night, which feels like a major accomplishment. Once or twice a week Nolie is still waking up, inconsolable, at about 3:30 in the morning, and though we try to put her back to bed, we quickly give up and bring her into our bed because we just plain need the sleep.

Still, this feels like a very good record.

It's been a winning proposition for the girls, too. We converted Nolie's bedroom into a playroom, which they seem to like a lot, and we've also noticed a considerable improvement in their relationship. Maybe this is coincidence, maybe they're just tired of fighting all the time. But there have been much longer and more frequent periods of playing together well, better communication, and more fun. An unexpected and welcome side effect, I'd say.

I'm not sucker enough to say this will last for any period of time. Nolie changes sleep patterns like I change hobbies. But for now, a gentle detente.

Lush at Home

During our San Diego visit, I was complaining to Eric's stepmom that she's always introducing me to these great new foods and things that I can't easily get in Denver. The teas, the nut spreads, the crackers...all delicious! But I haven't been able to find them here in the Rocky Mountains. "Well," she said, "you know, I order most of my food online!"

I wasn't really bothered by this--the woman eats about 3oz per meal, so her ordering stuff online in bulk is probably not such a bad deal for the environment, compared to others (like us). At my house, for example, we go through some serious food, and ordering online would be prohibitively expensive. But it got me to thinking about some other things, and how I order things online without much thought or worry. I wonder how I can begin to change this?

One mantra that I've really liked this last year, but haven't followed as often as I should, is Do I have to buy that? Can I make it instead? This has worked amazingly well for my clothing addiction--I almost never go to a mall or retail store anymore, preferring instead thrift store browsing, upcycling, or making my clothes. This has been liberating for my spirit and my wallet!

But other retail addictions linger. For example, the awesome facial scrub, pictured above, is from Lush. They use organic ingredients, handmake all their stuff--it's luxurious and effective toiletries. And we all know I'm a sucker for the toiletries. But the rub is, the closest Lush store is in Boulder, and it's hard to justify driving a half-hour to buy face wash, right? Otherwise, I have to order online, which adds $7 in shipping and is probably a little ridiculous from an environmental and practical perspective as well.

So I got to looking on the ingredients list for this little puppy and, lo and behold, it contained mostly stuff we had around the house: a bunch of salts, lime, vodka, lanolin, essential oils.... So I figured, what the heck? I had a little mixing session in the kitchen, through in some olive oil (most of the online recipes for face scrubs contain it, so why not?) and, voila! A perfectly serviceable facial scrub that helps keep those pesky little milia all over my face at bay, smells good, and leaves my skin feeling moisturized.

This post is a bit obnoxious, I realize. Making your own facial scrub is very small potatoes (or small salt crystals, really), but for me it's about figuring out ways I can make my purchasing and lifestyle choices just a tad less expensive and absurd, environmentally and practically.

Here's the thing: I have to balance practicality with change. E and I work full time, we raise kids, we like convenience. So change has to happen slowly and incrementally. For us, having to make an extra trip to a different grocery store (say, Whole Foods) every week is just enough of a disincentive to keep us from buying things in bulk. But maybe we can begin making enough small changes that we'll eventually be able to make that transition cheaply and easily without making ourselves crazy and stressed and bagging on the whole thing.

So, what are the little things you do to try to live more locally, or sustainably, or economically, or self-sustainingly (whichever justification works for you)? I'm open to ideas for our next small change.

If you have ideas, in particular, for how I can love ordering books from Amazon's used marketplace a bit less, I'd be ever so grateful :). More library maybe...

Wishes for the New Year

As you may remember, we have a New Year's ritual, given to us many years ago by our friends Kim and Anondo (who, by the way, are moving from NYC back to Colorado! Yay!). The ritual is to make twelve wishes on New Year's eve, eating a grape (or, in our case, blueberries) for each one. Eric and I alternate writing each one, and when the kids get older, I imagine they'll pitch in, too.

I keep the wishes posted on our bulletin board year round and check them over occasionally. They're not always wishes, but it's interesting to track them from year to year. Here are last year's, most of which came true!:

12 Wishes for 2009

1. A happy healthy family.
2. Consume less, give more.
3. Explore more.
4. Spend more time together (less TV!) [Editor's note: we watched more TV this year, I think, but at least we watched it together! And it often made us talk and laugh as we watched Jon Stewart while I did my pilates :)].
5. More music.
6. Foster inner peace.
7. Spend more time with friends and family.
8. More fulfilling work [Editor's note: This came especially true for Eric, eh?].
9. Get outside!
10. Patience with kids. Gentleness!
11. Make gifts for others [Errr...]
12. Eat good food and drink more water.

And for this year...

12 Wishes for 2010

1. Happy, healthy family.
2. Find joy at work.
3. Enjoy kids' enthusiasm.
4. Show compassion to kids.
5. Make time for things we enjoy.
6. Feel fit and strong.
7. Play!
8. More sincerity, less sarcasm.
9. Enjoy libations w/out excess.
10. Make AND be!
11. Relax.
12. More family fun and travel.

Sense a theme here? Maybe that old balance thing coming up a time or two?

The other cool thing about doing these is that I write them down on these really old postcards that were my great-grandmother's. Most are sort of Art Nouveau in style, and I think they're beautiful. I think I'll make a book out of the wishes some time soon.



The colors don't look right in this picture--it really is much prettier in person. I chose this one this year because we got a new car (whose name, by the way, is Shakira. Eric refuses to call it this, preferring "Paco Cinco," but the girls and I think that is utter nonsense. Long live Shakira!