Hugging the Midline

Once You Go Green...

Since it's the last day of January, I thought I'd sum up the green changes I made this month, with updates on some of them:

Green change #1 - Reduced the Junk Mail - Signed up for Catalog Choice, a website that lets me opt out of catalogs I don't want to receive. I've kept opting out of new catalogs as I've received them. I also later signed up to stop getting unwanted credit card and insurance offers. I can't remember which blog I found this on, so thanks for the tip, whoever it was.

Green change #2 - Reduced the Junk Bags - Started using reusable bags for grocery shopping. I've remembered to do this about 75 percent of the time; so has Glen. I hate it when I get out to the car and remember that I've forgotten to use them. Funny thing is, I almost always remember at Hy-Vee and almost always forget when I make a special trip to Everybody's to buy something organic or non-toxic, so I guess I'm about canceling myself out with those purchases. At least we keep improving!

Green change #3 - Reduced the Junk Packaging - Used reusable packaging for a gift exchange.

Green change #4 - Reduced the Junk Receipts - Declined receipts at both the ATM and the gas station; I've kept that one up.

Green change #5 - Reduced/Reused/Recycled Office Paper - Reduced by keeping my printing to the bare minimum. Reused by giving Jack my discarded office papers for coloring. Recycled by sending office paper out in the recycling bin instead of the trash. They're still picking it up at the curb, although I just saw another ad in the Fairfield Ledger yesterday saying that they won't!

Green change #6 - Reduced the Packaging and Artificial Ingredients - Made my own 100% juice popsicles.

Green change #7 - Recycled Everywhere - Started checking the upstairs and office garbages for recyclables and bringing them down to the kitchen recycling bin. Glen has started doing this, too.

Green change #8 - Reused an Old Magazine - Made a recycled magazine coaster. I still have only one coaster, but I plan to finish the set one of these days. I may even try making one of the cool recycled magazine baskets I've seen.

Green change #9 - Reduced Meat Consumption - Make one organic vegetarian meal each week. I haven't cooked tofu since that first night, but we've remembered how much we love breakfast for dinner and we've started having eggs (cage-free, of course) for dinner about once a week.

Green change #10 - Reduced Power Consumption - Unplugged appliances we don't use much to stop using phantom power; have also started turning off our two computers and printer at night. I'm curious to see if this makes a difference on our next power bill; I'll report back.

Green change #11 - Reduced Junk Batteries - Bought and started using a battery charger and rechargeable batteries. Used them to replace batteries in the camera and one of the remotes when they ran out.

Green change #12 - Gained a Green Ally - Had a conversation with Glen about approaching all of our purchases with a green mindset.

Getting to my twelve green changes this month was really pretty easy once it became top-of-mind. And we're keeping it up! I'll write about some of the additional things we've done tomorrow.

I Wish the Same for You

My weekly commute to Des Moines has become one of my favorite rituals; the drive is a kind of a meditation. I find that lots of ideas come to me and I end up calling my voice mail with half a dozen quick messages: blog post ideas, gift ideas, general to-do list items I don't want to forget, all kinds of mini-inspirations. And that time alone for quiet reflection always leaves me feeling grateful:

49. The Perfect Playlist — I recently made a mixed CD for my friends Brian and Dave, and I think it's pretty close to perfect. I used to brag that I made the world's best depressing CD; I still like the occasional sad song, but I think it's a good sign that my musical tastes are mostly upbeat these days (sorry, Cowboy Junkies!). I listened to this mix most of the way to Des Moines this morning and most of the way back home:
    
    Silver Lining, Rilo Kiley (thanks, Jana)
    Big Yellow Taxi, Counting Crows & Vanessa Carlton
    Hey Julie, Fountains of Wayne (thanks, Glen)
    When Doves Cry, The Be Good Tonyas
    Gamble Everything for Love, Ben Lee
    1234, Feist
    I Hate Everyone, Get Set Go (thanks again, Jana!)
    The Heart of the Matter, India Arie
    Just Pretend, The Bens
    Only a Fool Would Say That, Ivy (thanks again, Glen!)
    Handle With Care, Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins (thanks Andy; and happy engagement!)
    Smile, Lily Allen
    We Walk the Same Line, Everything But the Girl (the song isn't in iTunes; here's the link to the album Amplified Heart on Amazon)
    Fidelity, Regina Spektor
    Baby I Can't Please You, Sam Phillips
    The Underdog, Spoon
    Since U Been Gone, Ted Leo (this one isn't available on iTunes; the link is to a site where you can download it for free)
    Beautiful, Clem Snide
    California Stars, Wilco
    Landed, Ben Folds
    I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Gypsy Soul



50. A Great Walk — I wrote a crabby post on Saturday about how the cold gray weather is cutting in on my walks, and then I was blessed with sunny skies and 50 degree temps on Sunday, perfect walking weather. Thanks to whomever helped arrange that for me...



51. No More Drama — Last night Glen and I watched two reality shows on VH1 that were drama drama drama — I'm not going to strain my pinkies looking up the exact titles, but one features an 80s hairband guy looking for love in a houseful of cat-fighting ladies, and the other follows the trainwreck marriage of one of the Brady Bunch kids and his much younger centerfold wife. (Please come back, writers!) Afterward my honey and I turned to each other and said: thank God that's not us. I've had my share of drama, for sure: love life, work life, friend life, you name it. But these days my relationships are pretty peaceful and easy — and my interior life is feeling equally serene.



52. Except for the Good Stuff... — Our favorite TV show Lost finally starts this week — the good kind of drama!



53. A Safe Drive — The deer population in southeast Iowa is out-of-control. This morning I had to come to a near stop to avoid hitting two deer crossing the highway in front of me. Glen and my sister Jana have both hit deer near Fairfield within the last few years. I'm so grateful that I've avoided a similar accident, and even more grateful that Glen and Jana were both uninjured in theirs.

Feeling Like a Queen

48. I didn't have to do a thing at dinner tonight — Glen cooked and Jack set the table (approximately the 500th milestone this week for our little guy; it's fun to watch his development take off so suddenly).

Me and My Shadow

When Jo spends the weekend at our house, she will never be lonely!

I plan to do something on my blog one of these days other than post kid pics, but what's a girl to do when they're so darn cute?

Beauty in the Broken

I've been crabby this week. I can't put my finger on an exact reason for the blahs, but I think contributing factors were COLD, snow, COLD, gray skies, COLD, an obstinate toddler with a runny nose, and COLD. Eight months out of the year I live for my after-dinner walks pushing Jack in the stroller; once I've gone a month or two without those walks, I guess life starts to feel a little rougher around the edges.

I think maybe a few things broke down this week at our house, but I've already forgotten what they were. Yesterday I was stomping around, pouting and complaining to Glen that everything is broken!, which made him break into the song of that title by Bob Dylan. I didn't know the song, so we played the snippet of it on iTunes, which then recommended that I might also like the song Beauty in the Broken. I didn't actually care for the song that much, but I like the idea; it served as a little kick in the pants to remind me that everything in life isn't always going to be perfect, but I need to keep being grateful for what I've got, even when things feel broken.

So here are a couple things I'm grateful for tonight:

45. Feeling Better, Thank You — The crabbies are mostly gone tonight. I don't know what brought the feeling on, or exactly what lifted it. I think it helped that I got a really good night's sleep last night, and on my day off today I barely touched a computer.



46. Jack's Nurturing Side — It's taking me longer than usual to write this post tonight, because I'm cracking up listening to Jack over the baby monitor. He's been playing daddy to his stuffed Elmo and Grover all day, carrying them everywhere, giving them kisses, reading them stories. Now he has them upstairs in his crib and I can hear him saying, Nighnight Gogo, nighnight Elmo. Dada (Jack) hold Elmo. Mo hug, Gogo. He's been asking Glen and I for mo hug a lot lately, too, and as you can imagine, that's a request we never refuse.



47. Something to Look Forward To — Glen and I are taking Jo to A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum tomorrow at the new Fairfield Convention Center. It's nice to have a little treat to look forward to on a cold January Saturday. 

Every Day is Christmas at Our House

Jack is only interested in one DVD these days, which he calls "Elmo CreeCree!" It's about how Elmo gets three wishes and uses one of them to wish for every day to be Christmas, thereby ruining the holiday for everyone. My son fails to see the irony in this.

Cold Night, Warm Heart

As I was getting ready to publish the gratitude list I just spent over an hour on, my computer had a little meltdown, which has made me conclude that that particular post wasn't meant to be. It may or may not have mentioned things like my great telecommuting schedule, the joy of melting into the floor at the end of an especially hard and wonderful yoga practice, the joy of indulging in a spiked mug of hot chocolate with my sweetie on an especially cold winter night. I'm still just as grateful for all of the good stuff, and feeling no need to join my computer in meltdown mode, which is something to be grateful for in itself (#44). I think I'll quit while I'm ahead.

My Baby Still

Jack loves wearing his big sister's hat, even during naps.

Another First

Jack suddenly refuses to sit in his high chair or booster chair, and wants to sit at the dining room table on a big chair like mom and dad. Here he is enjoying his oatmeal this morning; he can barely see into the bowl.

 

It Feels Like the First Time

Jack had his first haircut last night. Most little boys probably don't make it this close to two without a trim, but Jack's mama couldn't bear to cut his sweet little golden ringlets until his bangs were in his eyes and a little rat tail hung past his shoulderblades.

Glen cut his hair last night in the tub, with me supervising closely to make sure no more hair was taken than absolutely necessary; I've heard too many stories of first haircuts taking the last of the baby curls, never to be seen again.

Here's Jack post haircut, not much different, just a little neater, and I think the curls are actually curlier (#41). See why I couldn't stand to lose these precious curls?

Here's the curl I'm keeping for the baby book. I lack the photography skills and/or equipment to take good closeup shots. Instead of a lock of hair, this ended up looking like a little halo, which I think is (mostly) appropriate...

After the haircut, I was feeling a little wistful that Jack has already passed so many important firsts: first smile, first steps, first word, now first trim. Of course, it didn't take long to remember that there are so many firsts yet to come (#42): first day of shool, first time driving a car, all of the little boy and young adult and adult milestones still to come.

That made me remember all of the wonderful firsts I've experienced in the last few years (#43): meeting Glen for the first time and feeling like we were already friends since we corresponded for a while before we met in person; the sureness of sharing wedding vows; the happy surprise of finding out I was pregnant; the exhiliration of seeing Jack's face for the first time. Then there are the firsts that are less notable, but that help bring joy to everyday life: finally managing to kick my legs up against the wall in yoga class for my first handstand; my first time trying sushi and wishing I could have it for every meal for the rest of my life; the first time Glen dedicated a song to me on the radio; experiencing every little milestone along with Jack.

What are your most memorable firsts?