One Small Change - Week Nine

At this moment, in my garden, there are weeds taller than Thing Two.

Of course, I blame you and all your wonderful blogs.

My small change this week - one hour, first thing every morning, before I am awake enough to realize what I am doing, I will spend it working in the yard.

Do you notice how my computer time is dwindling? No more evenings on the computer. One less hour in the morning.

Hmm. When do the little people go back to school? Maybe you will see me more then.

One Small Change - Week Eight

The Brita Water Filter. It makes our perfectly good tap water taste better.
This is another ridiculously simple change that will make a big difference to us, and a small difference to the world. No more lugging gallons of water from the grocery. Four less giant water bottles going into the recycling bin each week. Much more cost effective.
When I think about it, I am embarassed that we did not make this change before. Why on earth were we BUYING water?!

One Small Change - Week Seven

Yes, I know, for those of you keeping track, this is technically Week Eight, and I skipped Week Seven, but I am sure you will give me a pass.

I was debating about making this the week that I started composting the kitchen waste, but then:

Last night, instead of spending the evening reading blogs and stalking my Etsy shop, I sat on the sofa with a pile of glass beads and some memory wire (working on some inexpensive things for my market stand) and watched television with Geoff. He looked at me like I had given him a gift, "You are actually going to sit here with me?"

So, Week Seven's change - no more computer after 8PM. You may notice it takes me awhile to get to your latest posts, but I will read them eventually. From now on, after 8PM I can be found on the sofa, watching whatever it is my husband is watching. Even if it is some horrid reality show. I may have a pliers in my hand, but I will be there, on the sofa, keeping him company.

One Small Change - Week Six

I am a little late with this - we were in Cleveland all weekend visiting Geoff's family. I don't know what it means that I am desperate to get back to my computer after a weekend away, but it can't be a good sign.

After last week's embarrassingly simple change, I thought it was time for something tough. I found the perfect challenge for myself with One Local Summer. One Local Summer is a challenge to prepare one meal a week that is entirely made from local foods. You then share a description of the meal (and photos if you can) with the other participants. I became interested in the idea of eating more local food after reading two different and compelling blog reviews of Barbara Kingsolver's new book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. One review was by my favorite book blogger, 50 Books and I am sad to report that I do not remember who wrote the other review I read. If it was you, please let me know and I will add a link. My interest in obtaining our food locally has only been increased by my participation in Lancaster's Eastern Market, which is, as far as I know, the only market in Lancaster where the vendors are selling only produce they have grown themselves.

The real challenge in this change is not finding local food, as I am lucky enough to be living in a county that contains "the most fertile non-irrigated farmland in the country."* The challenge for me will be planning a new meal around what is in season, rather than relying on my usual meal rotation which usually involves canned beans, pasta or something frozen. I signed up for this challenge just before it was closed, although obviously anyone can take up this challenge without linking through the Pocket Farm blog.


*This quote is loosely translated from something I read at the local children's museum. My point is that you cannot drive two miles without hitting a farm stand, and if you sit in my yard at 5PM on a weekday, eventually an Amish boy will come by with his little red wagon and try to sell you some eggs and a bag full of whatever vegetable happens to have been picked that day.

One Small Change - Week Five

Look at this terrific shopping tote made just for me by Maia of the Etsy shop Glass Beach. It is upcycled from plastic shopping bags. She used a tutorial on the Etsy Lab's blog. I love the trees and the pink handles. Isn't she clever? It will be perfect for my potentially messy purchases at the Farmer's Market.
In other updates, I have had no problem giving up soda. This is very strange and I wonder what magic has occured, but I honestly have not craved it all week. And I have not really substituted anything - just water.
So, on to the new. Judging from my inability to keep up with my kitchen goal, I have decided to aim smaller on the cleaning front: make my bed every morning when I get out of it.

One Small Change: Week Four

Okay, this is the tough one.
No more soda. (Oh Coca-Cola, how I love you......)
It makes a huge difference when I give it up, but it is nearly impossible for me to stick to my guns on this one.

One Small Change: Week Three

Okay, the kitchen thing - not so much. Better than before I publicly announced my good intentions, but still, anything that I don't really feel like doing is probably not going to happen once the kids are in bed.

Now, Change Number Two - shopping for a new shopping bag. There is a challenge made for me! "Oh no, please don't make me go shopping on Etsy! And you want me to shop for BAGS?! Oh the horror!"

So, I found lots of stuff I loved, and ended up buying the bag you see here, made by zerkahloostrah. Isn't it sweet? Can't you just see a baguette sticking out of there? And I am hoping Maia might be working on a bag for the potentially messy purchases - a fused plastic bag made from recycled grocery bags. How terrific is that?

And for this week's change: I joined the gym!

This is something I have been wanting to do since we moved here. There is a really great gym nearby that has wonderful kids activities, so I can go and exercise while my kids have fun and get exercise too. Because, as I mentioned above, I can plan to exercise after they go to sleep but it WILL NOT happen. We have not been able to afford a membership, but starting this month I am adding a baby to my little home daycare (2 days a week I watch my cousin's daughter, and now she is a big sister, so I will have 2 of them under age 2, plus my own kids - I must be nuts!) and the extra income will cover the membership. Whoohoo! I am so excited!

The plan is to go at least 3 times a week.

And it occured to me that these "One Small Change" posts could have a new name: "Steph: Cleaner, Greener and Leaner!"

(please don't throw things.)

One Small Change: Week Two

Your Life is 40% Green

You're on the right track to living a green life, and you're definitely doing your part to help out. You care about the earth, and hopefully this quiz has given you some ideas on how you can do more!

How Green Is Your Life?

Well, I thought for sure I was doing better than that!

I have thought about using cloth bags for shopping, but here is the thing. We do not buy trash bags for our house. We use the grocery bags as our trash bags. So I think that kind of cancels out the fact that we do not use cloth bags. Although, I could use a cloth bag when I go to the farmer's market.

So, my new small change this week is to hunt down (hopefully on Etsy) and start using a cloth bag for market day.

And, I am sad to report that last week's change will have to carry into this week's change, because I only cleaned my kitchen one night out of seven. There are so many pathetic excuses for my slackness. Let's just say I am going to try better this week!

One Small Change: Week One

Inspired by this post by Gillian (of Gilfling), I am going to strive to make one small change in myself/my life every week, with the hope that in a year's time I will be a new, improved Steph.
My first change stems from something I read in this interview with Julie of Puffluna fame. She said, "...if you can't clean the whole house because you are too busy working, just make sure the kitchen is clean." And as I read this I realized that I feel stressed when my kitchen is a mess, but the rest doesn't really bother me. Sooooo..........

My first small change is to clean the kitchen before bed.
Every night.
No dishes in the sink.
Clean counters, clean floor.
Every night.

I'll report back in a week.