Works in Progress

The semester is winding down and coming to an end.  Many students have summer jobs and internships lined up while others prepare to spend the next four months having fun, partying and relaxing...  I get to do none or all of that.  Due to a minor (and by that I mean major) mix up with the administration I was unable to lock in an internship or related job offer, and so it'll be another mind-numbing summer of temporary (most likely retail) work. Oh joy.  But maybe I"ll luck out and get something awesome. Who knows.  One thing I DO know is that regardless of what kind of job I find I have a lot of other things to work on this summer as well: some for myself personally, some in regards to my son, and others that apply to my way-of-life in general--which are as follows:

Personal Works in Progress:

• Read!!  I get ZERO personal/enjoyable reading during the semester, and only get to read books I WANT to read during breaks...thus far my To-Read stack numbers around 30 (and I cannot wait to dive into it!! (There are a few rereads in there)).
• Stop drinking Pop!!  It is my only addiction, and for someone who's never even tried ANY drug, (I'll toot my own horn here) that's impressive.  However I drink only cans (not very eco-friendly of me) and between 3-6 a day.  That's a lot of unneeded sugar and resources used!
• Tone-up/Lose weight... going off of the last one and my insane consumption of my beloved Pepsi... but I'm also very housebound in the winter, so it'd time to get my bikini body back!!Also, I am so very  tired of being single (and since many find me intimidating, a smoking bod will have to make up for the lost ground)--got to reel the fellas in!  :)
• Think of new adventures to take Gabriel on!!  I have to keep that little brain working and open! None of this sitting around at home nonsense, it's time to explore the world & captivate that imagination!

Works in Progress for Gabriel:

• POTTY TRAINING!!  Oh I rejoice the upcoming banishment of disposable underpants!!  Not to mention the money that'll remain in my bank account thereafter! Just FYI to those who aren't parents yet: Pull-ups are 4-5x as expensive as diapers!!  $20 for a week-10 day supply! I could make a mega box of diapers (around the same price) last a month!
• Dressing himself.  Who doesn't love having someone do things for them? Who doesn't love doing things yourself and not needing someone else to do them for you? My son plays for both teams... and I'm looking to convert him to Team Independence!  He tries... usually.  Guess its time to start working some bribes!
• Eating family meals.  I could not have anticipated how irritating it is to fix a child a separate meal... not as far as timing goes, as far as "I'm not eating that!" goes.  This child loves chicken nuggets (what child doesn't?) but refuses any other kind of meat save for a hot dog!  So we're going to be pushing new foods hard-core this summer!  Lucky for me he LOVES fruit and vegetables (score!), now we just have to get him on board with other staples like meat, & pasta etc.

Lifestyle Changes:
As eco-conscious as I already am, no one is perfect and we can all do more to lessen our impact on the Earth.  Many of my shortcomings are induced by a lack of monetary cushion so-to-speak, never-the-less we're going to try to implement some small & large changes in the coming months.

• Farmer's Markets.  Now that they are up and open I'm going to try to buy most (if not all) of my produce locally (hopefully even organically).  Hopefully Gabriel will cooperate/go along and view it as a new adventure (with food!).
• Green cleaners!  So My goal is to phase-out conventional cleaners and start making my own green cleaners, I already have the 'recipes' so now it's just a matter of getting the supplies, mixing them up and labeling the bottles--and then it's onward with chemical-free cleaning!!  "Hooray," rejoices the OCD side of me!  Hopefully this will help out with little man's allergies too!  natural-cleaning recipes
• Reducing waste/recycling.  As mentioned above I intend to seriously cut down on my consumption of the oh-so-delicious (but essentially liquified corn) Pepsi--if not completely cut it out, reducing both my consumption of resources and cutting all of that out of the cycle.  On top of that we're going to work at buying in bulk and therefore reducing the waste in packaging associated.
• Laundry.  I've used dryer balls for years, but somehow--much like socks--my dryer seems to enjoy eating them.  So I have to get more (and spares), in addition I'm going to shell out the $40-ish for the balls you toss into the dryer that deodorize/ionize and aerate the water (allowing detergent to work better and therefore requiring considerably less of it, if any at all).  **All balls available at www.greenfeet.com** Furthermore, I'm going to get one of those static sticks that you stick in your dryer as opposed to the ridiculously wasteful dryer sheets.  And lastly, hang drying more clothing.

 These are just personal things that I am going to be working on this summer (before things get hectic and chaotic with the start of a new semester).  I will keep you updated on my progress and any further undertakings!  For those of you only in this for the class/semester: Have a good and safe summer!

**These are the Environmental books I'm re/reading this summer.   How Much is Enough by Durning is a great book to read!  The Sacred Balance is one of my favorite books, and if you only read one of Suzuki's books I'd go with this one (though they are all fantastic, as are all of E.O Wilson's books)