Definitely been feeling thankful lately and am constantly reminding myself to appreciate the little things in life. Here are some of the things that have been gracing my life and mind:
--Butterflies in the air
--Racoon families crossing the road
--Weekends spent BBQing with friends and lounging on the river shores
--Long weekends up ahead to celebrate our nation's independence
--The know-how to search for jobs for our move back to Oregon
--Enough previous contacts to help me network back in Oregon
--Tomatoes purchased at the local, tiny farmer's market
--Grocery store runs with the hub
--Evenings reading in bed (Committed was a great sociological and personal look at marriage; Friday Night Knitting Club is looking good)
--Ten miles covered in running shoes last week (all with the companionship of the doggies)
--Jalapenos & bell peppers continuing to grow
--Excitement at the upcoming visit from mom and granny
--Email exchanges with dear friends
--The boss being a boss
--The dead beatle on display in my office
--Bins of recyclying
--Lady's purrs
--New mineral eyeshadow sets arriving in the mail
--Sending cards & summer mail love to others
--Phone visits with my father
--Pictures & photo worthy moments of life
--Orange & pink moths near the front door
--New Itunes music purchased by a wonderful gift card from a coworker
--Patience yet the ability to look long term
--Afternoon thunderstorms & a rainstorm that actually dropped us 10 degrees
--Daydream believers
--Free bang trim from another military wife
--Quick housecleaning on an early Friday evening
--Sharing moments with friends
--Commitment big and small
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Breakfast Variety
Breakfast. A meal that I never indulged in ten years ago, yet a meal I consistently enjoy on a daily basis at this stage in my life. It has been called the meal of champions. It has been determined to increase one's ability to learn and to set the stage for physical endurance.
Lately I've been getting a lot of questions from people about foods pertaining to what are healthy meals and snacks, etc, and I've been thinking a lot about my new love of breakfast. One thing that I absolutely enjoy though is a great variety in my food. The husband has taught me a great love of breakfast for dinner and we tend to indulge in pancakes at least once on most weekend mornings. The great thing about pancakes is that you can make so many different types and add so many different toppings. We've had buckwheat, blue berry, whole wheat, pecan, and regular. We've put peanut butter, butter, whipped cream, various fruits, and syrup on top. Not all together of course. ;)
However, when we're not indulging in a weekend morning of pancakes, I scrounge together my own variety of breakfast during the week. Since I only have about 15-20 minutes most mornings to throw something together, eat it, and move on to the next morning task, most breakfasts are pretty straightforward and simple. Even with simple meals though, I try to pack them as full of healthy nutrients as possible.
So these are some of the breakfasts I eat on a regular basis:
Fruit Smoothie (this actually gets made and consumed at least 3-4 times a week at other times too)
--one banana and a handful of frozen fruit
--couple Tbs of nuts and honey
--dash of cinnamon, one Emergency packet, & about a teaspoon of flax seed
--enough soy milk to just about cover the ingredients pre-blending
--blend and enjoy
Quinoa
---1/2 cup rinsed quinoa, 1 cup water, bring to boil, cover, and reduce to low for 15 minutes
--put half in a bowl w/ cut fruit, syrup, and soy milk
(sometimes I make this with organic yogurt instead of soymilk)
Kashi Cereal w/ soymilk
Omelet w/ Cheese and a cut tomato or salsa on top
Yogurt w/ fruit, nuts, cinnamon, & honey OR museli
Banana w/ peanut butter & a glass of soymilk
Bagel w/ cream cheese
In winter: Oatmeal w/ brown sugar, soymilk, & pecans.
On the weekends we also sometimes eat french toast and/or breakfast burritos. And always the morning starts out with my Klean Kanteen full of coffee/espresso and creamer/soymilk for transport to work.
If you're facing a breakfast rut, maybe one of these suggestions will help. What do you eat for breakfast?!
Lately I've been getting a lot of questions from people about foods pertaining to what are healthy meals and snacks, etc, and I've been thinking a lot about my new love of breakfast. One thing that I absolutely enjoy though is a great variety in my food. The husband has taught me a great love of breakfast for dinner and we tend to indulge in pancakes at least once on most weekend mornings. The great thing about pancakes is that you can make so many different types and add so many different toppings. We've had buckwheat, blue berry, whole wheat, pecan, and regular. We've put peanut butter, butter, whipped cream, various fruits, and syrup on top. Not all together of course. ;)
However, when we're not indulging in a weekend morning of pancakes, I scrounge together my own variety of breakfast during the week. Since I only have about 15-20 minutes most mornings to throw something together, eat it, and move on to the next morning task, most breakfasts are pretty straightforward and simple. Even with simple meals though, I try to pack them as full of healthy nutrients as possible.
So these are some of the breakfasts I eat on a regular basis:
Fruit Smoothie (this actually gets made and consumed at least 3-4 times a week at other times too)
--one banana and a handful of frozen fruit
--couple Tbs of nuts and honey
--dash of cinnamon, one Emergency packet, & about a teaspoon of flax seed
--enough soy milk to just about cover the ingredients pre-blending
--blend and enjoy
Quinoa
---1/2 cup rinsed quinoa, 1 cup water, bring to boil, cover, and reduce to low for 15 minutes
--put half in a bowl w/ cut fruit, syrup, and soy milk
(sometimes I make this with organic yogurt instead of soymilk)
Kashi Cereal w/ soymilk
Omelet w/ Cheese and a cut tomato or salsa on top
Yogurt w/ fruit, nuts, cinnamon, & honey OR museli
Banana w/ peanut butter & a glass of soymilk
Bagel w/ cream cheese
In winter: Oatmeal w/ brown sugar, soymilk, & pecans.
On the weekends we also sometimes eat french toast and/or breakfast burritos. And always the morning starts out with my Klean Kanteen full of coffee/espresso and creamer/soymilk for transport to work.
If you're facing a breakfast rut, maybe one of these suggestions will help. What do you eat for breakfast?!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
What I Learned..From a Few Days of Limited Internet
1) Regardless of whether or not I check my email and whether or not people are frustrated that I will be unreachable by email for a few days, almost no one sends one. ;) Well except for a wonderful one from my father and a few regular list-serv & duty things---but none of those were urgent by any means.
2) The internet has made the normal things so much easier to do. No internet meant I couldn't look up potential recipes to make for dinner and google has long been my fast answer machine to all sorts of random questions. Technically I lost the challenge because I used the internet at work to look up a distance from Mississippi to our house.....BECAUSE my aunt surprised us with a visit as she traveled through! It was so great to have her stop by and it was quite the surprise. Ironically I'd just gotten the guest room situated last weekend so it was pretty easy to have her here, and as I hadn't seen her in about three years it was really great just to catch up (and have her meet my husband)!
3) I've come to the conclusion that I use the internet & Facebook to fill empty slots of time and to attempt to connect me to some world that exists outside of where we currently are located.......however that time could also be much better utilized doing things outside, reading, enjoying more of the simpler moments, and attempting to increase connections here. As the days progressed, I also felt myself relax, slow down slightly, and appreciate more. I got to sleep in for an extra 20 minutes each morning as I wasn't able to check email & news before work---the extra snooze was great!
4) I've realized that I use Facebook for work networking too. I use it to communicate with the coworkers I had who have relocated and to hunt down job options for clients by using my friends and their connections as information resources. Just goes to show that networking truly can be 90% of the job hunt.
5) And lastly, while the husband was still able to access the Internet on his computer and Iphone when he was home, I didn't really touch the TV. The lessened technology did increase our communication though and our general feeling of satisfaction spending time together. We're talking about instituting one night a week without internet or TV on both sides----I think it'd be a good idea!
It was a busy (and HOT--high 90s and low 100s) week, but an interesting challenge all the same!
2) The internet has made the normal things so much easier to do. No internet meant I couldn't look up potential recipes to make for dinner and google has long been my fast answer machine to all sorts of random questions. Technically I lost the challenge because I used the internet at work to look up a distance from Mississippi to our house.....BECAUSE my aunt surprised us with a visit as she traveled through! It was so great to have her stop by and it was quite the surprise. Ironically I'd just gotten the guest room situated last weekend so it was pretty easy to have her here, and as I hadn't seen her in about three years it was really great just to catch up (and have her meet my husband)!
3) I've come to the conclusion that I use the internet & Facebook to fill empty slots of time and to attempt to connect me to some world that exists outside of where we currently are located.......however that time could also be much better utilized doing things outside, reading, enjoying more of the simpler moments, and attempting to increase connections here. As the days progressed, I also felt myself relax, slow down slightly, and appreciate more. I got to sleep in for an extra 20 minutes each morning as I wasn't able to check email & news before work---the extra snooze was great!
4) I've realized that I use Facebook for work networking too. I use it to communicate with the coworkers I had who have relocated and to hunt down job options for clients by using my friends and their connections as information resources. Just goes to show that networking truly can be 90% of the job hunt.
5) And lastly, while the husband was still able to access the Internet on his computer and Iphone when he was home, I didn't really touch the TV. The lessened technology did increase our communication though and our general feeling of satisfaction spending time together. We're talking about instituting one night a week without internet or TV on both sides----I think it'd be a good idea!
It was a busy (and HOT--high 90s and low 100s) week, but an interesting challenge all the same!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Work Quotes
Just in case any of you have actually been missing some of my random postings or thoughts, I've created a time released posting for mid-no-internet-week! :)
Each week I post a new quote on a white board in my office. Thus far the quotes have all been about the work environment (I am a career counselor after all!) and all have come from the Quote Garden at www.quotegarden.com/jobs Most are entertaining or at least thought provoking based on the individuals that I work with at times.
"Find a job you like and you add five days to every week."--H. Jackson Browne
"The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play."--Arnold Toynbee
"It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles."--Niccolo Machiavelli
"There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes."--William J. Bennett, The Book of Virtues
"The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form."--Stanley J. Randall
"Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties."--Doug Larson
Each week I post a new quote on a white board in my office. Thus far the quotes have all been about the work environment (I am a career counselor after all!) and all have come from the Quote Garden at www.quotegarden.com/jobs Most are entertaining or at least thought provoking based on the individuals that I work with at times.
"Find a job you like and you add five days to every week."--H. Jackson Browne
"The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play."--Arnold Toynbee
"It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles."--Niccolo Machiavelli
"There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes."--William J. Bennett, The Book of Virtues
"The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form."--Stanley J. Randall
"Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties."--Doug Larson
Monday, June 14, 2010
Summer of Mail Love & A Personal Challenge
Now don't worry from an environmental stand-point, I try to send things that can easily be re-used, used in their entirety, or recycled. Any packaging from me should should be able to be recycled and most the gifts I send should be able to be used (personal care products, food, etc). If there's something that isn't to your liking but you know of someone else who would enjoy it---then pass it on! I'm a huge proponent of re-gifting!
Now on a side note: The husband and I are participating in our own small challenge this week. He is giving up access to the TV from tomorrow until Friday evening and I'm giving up internet usage (except for when I have to use it for my job). We both like to point out each other's addiction to technology, so hopefully this will teach us something and if anything we'll probably read and play with the doggies more! Not that most of you aren't used to my lack of postings or blog comments most weeks, but at least this time you know why! ;) Enjoy your own week!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Southern Manners & The Thank You
One of the books I purchased on my Natchitoches excusion a few weeks back was Suck Your Stomach In & Put Some Color On! by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson (The Belle of All Things Southern). Southerners are renowned for their manners and charm and the book itself I found to be really pretty entertaining. Many of the examples in the book reminded me of one of my coworkers who is a born & bred Louisiana woman and per her request I intend to loan the book out to her in the next week. Being here in the south has definitely made me realize that I will NEVER be capable of being a Southern belle (my husband is wonderful at honestly letting me know that I lack a certain amount of tact at times and I will never desire to wear lipstick, fry my food, or add body to my perpetually flat hair), but I found it interesting that several of the elements of what it takes to be a Southern belle are in fact general manners and hospitality that have been taught in my non-Southern family. (Although I was reminded of several things that I should be practicing to be a better person and a better hostess.)
My mother was a wonderful example of welcoming guests into our home and always offering to get them something to eat or drink upon arrival. Containers of left overs were sent home with dinner guests and while dad was in the military the home was kept in pristine guest ready condition at all times in the event that someone would be dropping by. I've mentioned before how important it is to me to have comfortable guest settings both as a potential guest and for those that visit my home---a comfortable, clean place to lay their heads, clean sheets and towels, organized and clean bathrooms, and in prepartion for granny's visit we're working on better behaving pets!
Additionally, granny instilled in me her own lessons. Every morning upon waking up, you put your face on and get yourself ready regardless of what you're doing during the day. Its worth getting yourself ready even if its just for yourself. Cussing is a sign of a lack of education (although sigh, being around the military even I've slacked on my own rule on this one....) You always fix a bit extra in case of a potential extra mouth.....or for your own left overs! Your clothing should match, cover everything it needs to, and be age and weather appropriate. You don't talk back to your elders and you respect them. Attempt to be nice to all people. But probably one of the biggest lessons Granny taught all of us was that of the thinking of you card and thank you! We were to send thank you notes within a reasonable amount of time and she wanted it to include information about what we had been up to too.
The thank you note is something I feel is being lost in our current society. I will readily admit that at times I have fallen down on it myself and its been months late in the coming, but nothing frustrates me more than sending wedding or baby gifts and not having any indication of it even being received. Because not only does the thank you note demonstrate gratitude but it also lets the sender know that the recepient did indeed receive the gift. In this day and age, I will readily admit that if my main communication with that individual has been via email then I'm in full support of sending and receiving email thank you messages. But if I'm needing to express my gratitude to anyone in a more formal setting, then the thank you is always sent in the form of a hand-written note. I send thank yous for gifts, for interviews, for scholarships, for networking opportunities, for supportive friendship, etc. And I definitely agree with the need to follow the set thank you pattern. Thank the sender for the exact item sent, express what you intend to do with or how said item benefitted you, express interest and care in the individual who sent it, and sign off with some sort of sign of gratitude/affection.
These thoughts about thank yous are some that have come up even in my line of work recently, as a client debated in a recent workshop about the current necessity of sending a thank you for a job inteview. I explained to this client that the thank you demonstrates your ability to be be an appreciative employee and to be part of a team. And I gave the example of one of my closest and longest friends who has never failed to get a job she interviewed for because a) she's a fabulous interview preparer and b) she follows the gratitude/thank you card to a T. Thus this week I've been glad to be the receipent of three thank you notes. Two from my care package receipents: my sister-in-law and a fellow blogger friend, and one from my nephew that had been misplaced by my sister (I'm pretty sure this was one of the few thank yous I've received from him!). Nothing makes my day at work more than a client who takes the time to send an emailed note of appreciation.
Its my sincerest desire that we should keep the thank you note alive! Why shouldn't we take the time to let others know how much we appreciate them, regardless of whether its for a routine event, unexpected item or demonstration, or just for being them? Let's keep the the gift of appreciation alive....keep sending those thank yous!
My mother was a wonderful example of welcoming guests into our home and always offering to get them something to eat or drink upon arrival. Containers of left overs were sent home with dinner guests and while dad was in the military the home was kept in pristine guest ready condition at all times in the event that someone would be dropping by. I've mentioned before how important it is to me to have comfortable guest settings both as a potential guest and for those that visit my home---a comfortable, clean place to lay their heads, clean sheets and towels, organized and clean bathrooms, and in prepartion for granny's visit we're working on better behaving pets!
Additionally, granny instilled in me her own lessons. Every morning upon waking up, you put your face on and get yourself ready regardless of what you're doing during the day. Its worth getting yourself ready even if its just for yourself. Cussing is a sign of a lack of education (although sigh, being around the military even I've slacked on my own rule on this one....) You always fix a bit extra in case of a potential extra mouth.....or for your own left overs! Your clothing should match, cover everything it needs to, and be age and weather appropriate. You don't talk back to your elders and you respect them. Attempt to be nice to all people. But probably one of the biggest lessons Granny taught all of us was that of the thinking of you card and thank you! We were to send thank you notes within a reasonable amount of time and she wanted it to include information about what we had been up to too.
The thank you note is something I feel is being lost in our current society. I will readily admit that at times I have fallen down on it myself and its been months late in the coming, but nothing frustrates me more than sending wedding or baby gifts and not having any indication of it even being received. Because not only does the thank you note demonstrate gratitude but it also lets the sender know that the recepient did indeed receive the gift. In this day and age, I will readily admit that if my main communication with that individual has been via email then I'm in full support of sending and receiving email thank you messages. But if I'm needing to express my gratitude to anyone in a more formal setting, then the thank you is always sent in the form of a hand-written note. I send thank yous for gifts, for interviews, for scholarships, for networking opportunities, for supportive friendship, etc. And I definitely agree with the need to follow the set thank you pattern. Thank the sender for the exact item sent, express what you intend to do with or how said item benefitted you, express interest and care in the individual who sent it, and sign off with some sort of sign of gratitude/affection.
These thoughts about thank yous are some that have come up even in my line of work recently, as a client debated in a recent workshop about the current necessity of sending a thank you for a job inteview. I explained to this client that the thank you demonstrates your ability to be be an appreciative employee and to be part of a team. And I gave the example of one of my closest and longest friends who has never failed to get a job she interviewed for because a) she's a fabulous interview preparer and b) she follows the gratitude/thank you card to a T. Thus this week I've been glad to be the receipent of three thank you notes. Two from my care package receipents: my sister-in-law and a fellow blogger friend, and one from my nephew that had been misplaced by my sister (I'm pretty sure this was one of the few thank yous I've received from him!). Nothing makes my day at work more than a client who takes the time to send an emailed note of appreciation.
Its my sincerest desire that we should keep the thank you note alive! Why shouldn't we take the time to let others know how much we appreciate them, regardless of whether its for a routine event, unexpected item or demonstration, or just for being them? Let's keep the the gift of appreciation alive....keep sending those thank yous!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Personal Enviro and Health Highlights
Just some wonderful environmental and healthy highlights:
1) We got our monthly electricity consumption report today. If you remember, our housing covers all of our utilities, but recently the privatized company has decided to pay up to a certain amount of usage and charge/reward for differences in the average consumption amount. (While I definitely agree with energy conservation, I don't agree with how they are calculating averages on this nor the fact that there's no true baseline amount but rather the rates of usage of some of the other homes like yours. PS Have I mentioned our homes have old, leaky alumnium windows and no insulation?!) The hub and I do a really good job of attempting to conserve energy: keeping lights off in rooms that we're not in, drawing most of the blinds during the day to keep down cooling/heating costs, hanging 60% of our wash on clothes lines to dry, washing in warm/cold, filling the dishwasher to the max before running, turning off the outside porch lights except when needed, recently flipping a power cord switch for the TV some nights, and this summer we're keeping the AC at a much more reasonable temp. While we're definitely major conservers in comparison to most of our friends here, we're still always within a few dollars of the comparison amounts---some months we're over and some we're under. Today we finally broke away from the pack and our consumption difference equalled about $20 less!!! While I can't guarantee it'll stay low, I'm thrilled to at least finally see some proof in the pudding!
2) It dawned on me the last few weeks that very slight environmental changes have been happening at work. While there's no official recycling program on post for offices, I did drop a recycling container in the kitchen. I've never really mentioned it, but even my coworkers who aren't huge recyclers are dropping their plastic bottles (I haven't exactly lectured on this to all of them! :)) into the bin. There's still a lot of what I consider to be recyclables that end up in the trash, but it's so nice to see the contributions and attempts! Every other week, I bring home the bag of recyclable plastics and a bag of paper from our shredder. And usage of the real plates and silverware is up too!
3) So far this week, I've ran 7 miles in three days. Not big to some, but a huge step in the right direction toward my newest goal and I'm definitely proving to myself that having a motivational goal is the ticket! I haven't exactly figured out how to approach the working out conversation with my coworkers, but I think I've realized that solo running after work is part of my individual self-care needs. I need the time to be alone, to think and process, to focus and yet meditate, to breath and pace as necessary......and its hard to do that when I'm not running (or swimming) or when I'm trying to meet the work out needs of another. I'm sure it'll come up sooner rather than later however. ;)
1) We got our monthly electricity consumption report today. If you remember, our housing covers all of our utilities, but recently the privatized company has decided to pay up to a certain amount of usage and charge/reward for differences in the average consumption amount. (While I definitely agree with energy conservation, I don't agree with how they are calculating averages on this nor the fact that there's no true baseline amount but rather the rates of usage of some of the other homes like yours. PS Have I mentioned our homes have old, leaky alumnium windows and no insulation?!) The hub and I do a really good job of attempting to conserve energy: keeping lights off in rooms that we're not in, drawing most of the blinds during the day to keep down cooling/heating costs, hanging 60% of our wash on clothes lines to dry, washing in warm/cold, filling the dishwasher to the max before running, turning off the outside porch lights except when needed, recently flipping a power cord switch for the TV some nights, and this summer we're keeping the AC at a much more reasonable temp. While we're definitely major conservers in comparison to most of our friends here, we're still always within a few dollars of the comparison amounts---some months we're over and some we're under. Today we finally broke away from the pack and our consumption difference equalled about $20 less!!! While I can't guarantee it'll stay low, I'm thrilled to at least finally see some proof in the pudding!
2) It dawned on me the last few weeks that very slight environmental changes have been happening at work. While there's no official recycling program on post for offices, I did drop a recycling container in the kitchen. I've never really mentioned it, but even my coworkers who aren't huge recyclers are dropping their plastic bottles (I haven't exactly lectured on this to all of them! :)) into the bin. There's still a lot of what I consider to be recyclables that end up in the trash, but it's so nice to see the contributions and attempts! Every other week, I bring home the bag of recyclable plastics and a bag of paper from our shredder. And usage of the real plates and silverware is up too!
3) So far this week, I've ran 7 miles in three days. Not big to some, but a huge step in the right direction toward my newest goal and I'm definitely proving to myself that having a motivational goal is the ticket! I haven't exactly figured out how to approach the working out conversation with my coworkers, but I think I've realized that solo running after work is part of my individual self-care needs. I need the time to be alone, to think and process, to focus and yet meditate, to breath and pace as necessary......and its hard to do that when I'm not running (or swimming) or when I'm trying to meet the work out needs of another. I'm sure it'll come up sooner rather than later however. ;)
Monday, June 7, 2010
Interesting Links & Resources for June 6
Ran out of time this weekend, so just titles this time:
Why Buy, When You Can Borrow? ---Whole Living magazine
10 Everyday Rituals for a More Meaningful Life---presented on Yahoo Shine
5 Toxic Chemicals That are Everywhere--CNN and definitely worth checking out....along with their entire Toxic America series
Real Change is Coming blog post by Rhonda at Down to Earth
Sun, Sea, and...Orphans? A Vacation with a Difference in Thailand---CNN and something I've always wanted to do.
Why Buy, When You Can Borrow? ---Whole Living magazine
10 Everyday Rituals for a More Meaningful Life---presented on Yahoo Shine
5 Toxic Chemicals That are Everywhere--CNN and definitely worth checking out....along with their entire Toxic America series
Real Change is Coming blog post by Rhonda at Down to Earth
Sun, Sea, and...Orphans? A Vacation with a Difference in Thailand---CNN and something I've always wanted to do.
Sent to us at work via email. Sad to see that others can so readily turn a blind eye to the grief of another and instead focus on themselves.... Washington Post's Seeing a Fallen Soldier Home
Mississippi Looks to Iran for Rural Health Care Model---interesting given the recent health care debates and our current relationship with the Middle East.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Weekend Trip to the River
We met up with some friends at the river yesterday afternoon. We'd woken up to rainy skies, but eventually it cleared off into sunshine. We took the grill out, floated around in the river, and had a small fire. And as you can see from the second picture, most the other couples we know have two dogs as well. (One is not pictured here and the French bulldog pictured stole my heart.) Our girls have been absolutely passed out sleeping all day today! And no worries, that cup was picked up before it got washed down river!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Goals, Gratitudes, & Update
The last few weeks have been all over the place but there is much to be thankful for and much that has been accomplished:
---2 care packages constructed and 2 notes sent off (all of which definitely lifted my mood)
---2 pairs of holey, old running shoes sent to Nike-Reuse-A-Shoe. If they were in better condition I would have sent them to one of the organizations that provides shoes to lower income countries....but they were pretty beat up. So this way their parts can hopefully be reused!
---New furniture is settled: Last weekend we got the king sized bed and yesterday the hub picked up our sectional. Unfortunately it appears I ordered the wrong lay-out of the sectional, so we'll have to rearrange the furniture yet again to make it all fit correctly, but I suppose flexibility is the key. And we finally have all the furniture that we need. Might be a couple more shelves/desk but that's it. It's nice to have those purchases completed!
---Got the discount applied to our car insurance for the state of Louisiana and paid the six month premium in full yesterday. Spent some time yesterday better organizing a calendar of when my paychecks will arrive and which one is designated to my student loan payment.
---This is the first week of my 7-10 mile goal, and I made it! Even though I didn't necessarily want to run the last two days....the goal got me there. Although I'm pretty sure it wasn't much over 7 miles, but maybe 8. My muscles are tightening in different ways now.
---Am looking forward to visits from friends and family. We purchased tickets for my mom and Granny to come out in August. Granny turns 99 and will finally make it the Big Easy (NOLA: New Orleans). Due to work/conference schedules, I'm going to miss a buddy of mine who is there next week but he's talking about visiting here for a bit in Oct/Nov! Another friend will be presenting at a conference in Austin in Sept, so work schedules presenting we might try to meet up with him again. And lastly one of my MPH gals landed a CDC fellowship in Atlanta (awesome!!) and may be able to stop by on her move in Sept/Oct. Definitely exciting!
--I just discovered Tom's Shoes.....and may be ordering a pair. I'm a lil nervous though as my ankles are really thin and have a tendency to pull out of closed back shoes......I wish there was a pair of mules...
---The dogs continue to keep us occupied with tons of smiles and love! I actually just looked out the back window and saw the two dogs and Major all sitting in a triangle. I'm also cat-sitting for a coworker who has been on vacation this week.
---The hub has a new road bike and has taken up biking with several of the other guys in his group. This week they covered over 30 some miles in one ride. Its nice to see him working out other than his required physical training, even if this means I'll never get a P90X partner!
---Pulled my first vine-ripened tomato yesterday!! We have about three more turning. I've picked two jalapenos and there are quite a few just about ready. The bush beans are just about done, but I'm pretty impressed with the handful I was able to get! And the basil has bolted which I'm not entirely sure why it did that....plan on finally ordering the worms this week. The grass in the backyard continues to spread....and we had glorious rain pours yesterday!!
---I'm also thinking about doing some postings on job searching and resumes.....
---I spent the most amazing solo evening on Thursday: red wine, cheese pizza, dark chocolates, smiling dogs, the second CNN toxin special, and then Its Complicated--a chick flick and very entertaining! Simple evenings are the ones that replenish my soul and keep me feeling alive.....
Hope everyone has had a great week! Enjoy your weekend!
---2 care packages constructed and 2 notes sent off (all of which definitely lifted my mood)
---2 pairs of holey, old running shoes sent to Nike-Reuse-A-Shoe. If they were in better condition I would have sent them to one of the organizations that provides shoes to lower income countries....but they were pretty beat up. So this way their parts can hopefully be reused!
---New furniture is settled: Last weekend we got the king sized bed and yesterday the hub picked up our sectional. Unfortunately it appears I ordered the wrong lay-out of the sectional, so we'll have to rearrange the furniture yet again to make it all fit correctly, but I suppose flexibility is the key. And we finally have all the furniture that we need. Might be a couple more shelves/desk but that's it. It's nice to have those purchases completed!
---Got the discount applied to our car insurance for the state of Louisiana and paid the six month premium in full yesterday. Spent some time yesterday better organizing a calendar of when my paychecks will arrive and which one is designated to my student loan payment.
---This is the first week of my 7-10 mile goal, and I made it! Even though I didn't necessarily want to run the last two days....the goal got me there. Although I'm pretty sure it wasn't much over 7 miles, but maybe 8. My muscles are tightening in different ways now.
---Am looking forward to visits from friends and family. We purchased tickets for my mom and Granny to come out in August. Granny turns 99 and will finally make it the Big Easy (NOLA: New Orleans). Due to work/conference schedules, I'm going to miss a buddy of mine who is there next week but he's talking about visiting here for a bit in Oct/Nov! Another friend will be presenting at a conference in Austin in Sept, so work schedules presenting we might try to meet up with him again. And lastly one of my MPH gals landed a CDC fellowship in Atlanta (awesome!!) and may be able to stop by on her move in Sept/Oct. Definitely exciting!
--I just discovered Tom's Shoes.....and may be ordering a pair. I'm a lil nervous though as my ankles are really thin and have a tendency to pull out of closed back shoes......I wish there was a pair of mules...
---The dogs continue to keep us occupied with tons of smiles and love! I actually just looked out the back window and saw the two dogs and Major all sitting in a triangle. I'm also cat-sitting for a coworker who has been on vacation this week.
---The hub has a new road bike and has taken up biking with several of the other guys in his group. This week they covered over 30 some miles in one ride. Its nice to see him working out other than his required physical training, even if this means I'll never get a P90X partner!
---Pulled my first vine-ripened tomato yesterday!! We have about three more turning. I've picked two jalapenos and there are quite a few just about ready. The bush beans are just about done, but I'm pretty impressed with the handful I was able to get! And the basil has bolted which I'm not entirely sure why it did that....plan on finally ordering the worms this week. The grass in the backyard continues to spread....and we had glorious rain pours yesterday!!
---I'm also thinking about doing some postings on job searching and resumes.....
---I spent the most amazing solo evening on Thursday: red wine, cheese pizza, dark chocolates, smiling dogs, the second CNN toxin special, and then Its Complicated--a chick flick and very entertaining! Simple evenings are the ones that replenish my soul and keep me feeling alive.....
Hope everyone has had a great week! Enjoy your weekend!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Community Conversations on Toxic Chemicals and Health
For the last two nights CNN has been airing a TOXIC AMERICA series. I was able to catch the last 15 minutes of the initial special on Weds and then last night I watched the one on Toxic Childhood. So amazing to see CNN covering these topics in depth and trying to raise national awareness of how the unregulated chemical industry impacts human health.
Conversations on toxic chemicals and health are happening all over the nation, including formalized events. If you're able to attend one of the following conversations in Oregon then I highly suggest it---get involved and show your support. Join the conversation!
This was sent to me by CHE-Oregon (Center for Health and the Environment's Oregon state chapter):
Conversations on toxic chemicals and health are happening all over the nation, including formalized events. If you're able to attend one of the following conversations in Oregon then I highly suggest it---get involved and show your support. Join the conversation!
This was sent to me by CHE-Oregon (Center for Health and the Environment's Oregon state chapter):
Community Conversations on Toxic Chemicals and Health
The Oregon Environmental Council, Oregon Toxics Alliance, and the Oregon Chapter of the Physician’s for Social Responsibility are teaming up to hold forums throughout the state to get public input about how toxic chemicals are affecting people’s health. The forums are part of a two-year project by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to strengthen the nation’s approach to protecting the public from chemical exposures in air, water, soil, and consumer products throughout the country.
Upcoming Community Conversations:
Eugene
Monday, June 7, 6:15-7:45 pm
Eugene Public Library Tykeson Room
Contact larkin@oregontoxics.org for more information
Hood River
Thursday, June 10, 5:00 pm-7:00 pm
Hood River County Museum
300 E. Port Marina Drive
Contact maye@oregonpsr.org for more information
Gresham
Sunday, June 13, 12:30-2:30
Gresham Library
Contact reneep@oeconline.org for more information
Astoria
Sunday, June 20, 5:30 - 7:00 pm
Blue Scorcher Bakery Café
1493 Duane Street, Astoria
Contact maye@oregonpsr.org for more information
For more information about the community conversations, go to:http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/nationalconversation/community_conversations.html
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Increasing the Distance
After starting to run again in January, I finally decided today that it'd be a good idea to alter my running goals. My previous goal focused on running 3-5 times each week, primarily as a means to decrease and regulate my weight. The first several months were a definite struggle, but in the last month or so I've felt my body relax back into running. I'm able to now regulate my breathing and switch up my stride as needed in order to push myself farther and/or longer. Thus rather than just focus on getting myself out there in my running shoes, I'm going to now focus more on increasing my mileage. Initially these thoughts stemmed from a conversation I had with a woman in my neighborhood about two weeks back. She had stopped me in my backyard to ask about my running technique and how long I'd been at it, as she has been hoping to slide into an easier groove like the one I have reached. It was incredibly nice to just chat with someone over a similar interest, and her questions influenced me to begin to think about how to increase my running distance.
However, as much as I want to increase distance, I also don't want to take the fun out of it all! The hub and I had measured some neighborhood routes in January. Most of them that I have been running equate to 1.5 to 3 miles, with my most regular two running routes being about 1.5-2 miles. Although when I run on the treadmill (which may be more common during coming hot summer months) I'm averaging slightly over 3 miles (although I never think treadmill running is equal to nor as difficult as running terrain outside). However my apparent motivation with running appears to be the desire to achieve my goal, which up til now has just been 3-5 times a week (equal to 4.5-8 miles a week). When I started to calculate how far I've run in six months.....well I was less than impressed. I definitely have the capacity to go farther and push myself more (although probably not too far over an average run of 3-4 miles as even when I ran cross country that was a good day for me). Yet I usually choose not to do more because there's nothing motivating me to go the extra mile--literally!
Interestingly side notes: I've discovered that I run much better without music & headphones and so for the last two months I have been running mainly just focusing on my breathing, my surroundings, and processing my thoughts from the days activities. Ironically, I also still run best in the middle of the afternoon---something that seems to be ingrained in me from high school practice times, which were always held directly after school.
So my new goal will be for me to run 7-10 miles a week, in whatever form that entails. I figure this increases my range by about 2 miles on either side, which makes for a good push for the coming month or so until I see how it all pans out. I also recognize that I could choose to run at least twice a week at 3.5 miles or I could run 5 days in a week at 1.5 miles and still make it in my goal range for that week. I like that it still allows for flexibility, while pushing my competitive side to up the ante slightly.
We'll see how it goes---but always good to readjust those goals!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Just One of Those Days
Do you ever have those days when regardless of how much you try, you just wake up annoyed with the world? Maybe you're annoyed with the injustice that exists, the prejudice, the lack of industrial regulation, the pissing matches politically, the current state of national and global affairs? Or maybe its on a more individual and personal level--you're annoyed with your inability to trust important individuals, you feel rushed, you feel that no one truly understands, or maybe you're wondering if somewhere you've lost pieces of yourself?
It's on these mornings that I always wake up with the old Monica song floating through my head (maybe it's a throwback to teenage angst?!) "Just one those days that a girl goes through, when she's merry inside...don't wanna take it out on you.." Or something along those lines...
So I have to admit, I've been hiding away in my office today. Definitely glad to be at work where I'm here to help others that might need it however....and that's just the ticket I realized. Nothing makes me feel better at times than to help others. So in an effort to cheer myself up, I'm making care packages--something I used to do on a routine basis, but got away from doing in order to save a buck..or two. But in reading a post over at the Simple-Green-Frugal Co-Op, I've realized to feel more at ease, I need to do more than to focus on myself. This is the comment I posted in regards to Frugal Trenches great post "Somehow it surprises me that people would think that the simple life is only about the individual person's needs. While I definitely agree it can "simplify" to think only of oneself, I somehow thought that part of authentic, simple living was to get to the point where you're living generously. To me volunteering or giving of one's self is a greater reward--even if it's just the smallest thing. "Volunteering" to give someone a lift to the airport, sponsoring a scarf drive for homeless in winter, donating an afternoon at a carwash... I think I'm a much happier, simpler, and authentic person when I'm giving more freely of myself to others."
And so I'm putting my own comment...back into practice. Hopefully it does the trick.
It's on these mornings that I always wake up with the old Monica song floating through my head (maybe it's a throwback to teenage angst?!) "Just one those days that a girl goes through, when she's merry inside...don't wanna take it out on you.." Or something along those lines...
So I have to admit, I've been hiding away in my office today. Definitely glad to be at work where I'm here to help others that might need it however....and that's just the ticket I realized. Nothing makes me feel better at times than to help others. So in an effort to cheer myself up, I'm making care packages--something I used to do on a routine basis, but got away from doing in order to save a buck..or two. But in reading a post over at the Simple-Green-Frugal Co-Op, I've realized to feel more at ease, I need to do more than to focus on myself. This is the comment I posted in regards to Frugal Trenches great post "Somehow it surprises me that people would think that the simple life is only about the individual person's needs. While I definitely agree it can "simplify" to think only of oneself, I somehow thought that part of authentic, simple living was to get to the point where you're living generously. To me volunteering or giving of one's self is a greater reward--even if it's just the smallest thing. "Volunteering" to give someone a lift to the airport, sponsoring a scarf drive for homeless in winter, donating an afternoon at a carwash... I think I'm a much happier, simpler, and authentic person when I'm giving more freely of myself to others."
And so I'm putting my own comment...back into practice. Hopefully it does the trick.
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