Small Changes

I recently watched a documentary called No Impact Man. It was about a man in his mid-30's who, along with his wife and toddler, lived a year of "no environmental impact" in the heart of New York City. They only ate food from their local farmers' market, never bought anything new, eschewed store-bought cleaning products and toilet paper, got rid of their electricity, and only rode bicycles and self-powered scooters.

His quest was obviously extreme, but it got me thinking -- what would I be willing to give up in the name of responsible living? Would I sacrifice electricity or give up driving my car? Raising a family in Southern California, those are both impossibilities.

I decided one thing I could do was stop buying disposable K-Cups for my single-cup coffee brewer. I was throwing away one, two or three of those little plastic coffee shots every day.

Instead, I have committed to using the washable, re-fillable version. I fill it each time with new coffee, and it only adds another minute or so to the coffee-making process. It is also cheaper. One great thing about being environmentally friendly is that it usually costs less!

That's only a small change, but I will find more ways to reduce my environmental impact. Hitting the local farmers' market is definitely on my list of priorities.

Now I'd like to hear from you. What change -- big or small -- are you willing to make in the interest of sustainable living? Let us know, and inspire us to follow in your shoes!

BBQ Chicken Anyone?

I wonder if they see the irony in this situation.

Funnies

Feeling like Debbie Downer after that last post, so thought I'd change the mood:

Food to Satisfy Body and Soul?

It's after 1am and I can't sleep, so I'm watching "Food Inc."

(Thank God for Netflix instant-watch movies, or I'd be numbing my brain on infomercials yet again.)

This is a documentary that shows us where our food actually comes from. I've made it through industrial chicken and beef farming, and am literally feeling sick to my stomach. The truth is, very little of the food choices that are available to us at the supermarket are produced in such a way that we would be proud to eat them. Nor are they terribly healthy or nourishing for our bodies.

This wouldn't be as discouraging, except that I had just finished watching "Supersize Me" (the documentary where a guy eats nothing but McDonald's for four weeks and has his health monitored by a team of doctors throughout).

I finished that movie thinking "Okay, well that was a good reminder of how important it is to eat homemade foods as often as possible. No problem, I can continue to work on that. I've got bananas in the freezer. Tomorrow: homemade banana bread for the kids. We've got nothing to worry about."

"Food Inc." is showing me that I have more to be worried about than fast food. I need to learn more about what I am buying at the grocery store, and maybe stop buying certain things altogether. Not only for the health consequences, but out of disgust for the way the animals are treated. I was a vegetarian for six years for those very reasons, but had forgotten them in the convenience and pleasure of buying and cooking whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.

Our small garden only has some lettuce, swiss chard and sugar snap peas ready right now, and the chickens haven't started laying yet, so we're a far cry from self-sufficiency.

I don't have any answers yet on what our options are, but I'm not done thinking about it. More on this later.

Pecking Order

Even Ginger knows that she is at the bottom of the pecking order when it comes to getting the chickens' treats. She patiently waits her turn, in case they leave any crumbs on the ground.

I wonder if she'd be so patient if they were eating pork chops instead of corn.

Balance is the New Black

We're still in the midst of half-marathon training at the YMCA, and our thrice-weekly runs always begin with what we call the Valli Moment (Valli is our coach and mentor). We all stand in a circle, some of us still stretching and feeling out our muscles from the last run, and answer whatever question Valli throws at us for the day.

Today, the question was "What is one of your personal goals for the new year -- and it can't be a physical or athletic one."

We all went around, giving our own answers, but there was a prevailing theme in almost every one of the response: Achieve balance in our lives.

For some of us, that would take the form of:

• saying "no" more often
• spending more time playing with the kids
• making more time for our spouse
• spending less time shopping for unnecessary items

All twenty or so of us were feeling the need to re-evaluate our priorities, and make a conscious effort to achieve a healthy balance between work (for some), obligations and family.

For me, it's the first one -- saying "no" more often. I am always willing to say "yes" to a request to help or volunteer -- at school, at church, at the kids' activities. And sometimes in the process, my family gets the shaft because too much of my time is spent on these obligations, and I am saying to them "no, I can't help you with that craft right now" or "sorry, it's cereal for dinner again". I am making a conscious decision to carefully evaluate each request in light of my personal goals, my family's needs, and my desire to give back.

But let's be honest -- taking on projects and juggling obligations is a huge ego boost. And for someone who finds her self-worth in her accomplishments, this will be an adjustment for me. But I am willing to give it a try in the name of balance.

That being said, it's frozen pizza for dinner tonight because I'm off to another meeting.

Minimalist Thought for the Day

The fewer things I have, the fewer things I have to wash, dust, tidy, straighten, or put away.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree

...two posts in one day... sorry, but this is priceless:

William's first knitting project:

A scarf for Snow Angel.

Weeding and Feeding

The carrots in the garden were never thinned out and were turning into a hodge-podge of feathery leaves. William set to thinning them out this morning, thinking he'd just be pulling up some spindly roots.

But we were surprised to unearth some baby carrots that, although a little anemic-looking, were still delicious. Now we're excited for the rest of them to grow some more!

Even William likes to eat these fresh-grown carrots. For parents whose kids won't eat veggies -- it's true that it works to have them grow veggies themselves! They taste sooooo much better than what you get at the grocery store, and the kids are so proud of their achievements! If William with eat them, any kid will.

Do I Look Drunk to You?

The girls hit a new low yesterday evening... they pushed the beer tap to the "on" position so that when Phil went to pull himself a pint after work, the keg was empty -- having drained all over the patio.

They had better start laying eggs soon, because I've got a great Chicken Cacciatore recipe...

Poultry Stand-Off

When the chickens first made a little niche for themselves on the patio bookshelf, I thought it was charming. What have you got there on the bookshelf? A blanket, some backyard toys, art supplies, and a couple chickens. Nothing weird about that.

But the birds grew, and so did the mess they left in their wake. They knocked flower pots and glass jars off the shelf, covered the blanket with dust, not to mention the poop everywhere.

I was thrilled when Phil completed the coop. Now the girls had a warm, cozy place to sleep at night. They would be so happy in their new digs.

But they wouldn't give up the bookshelf. No matter how many times I shooed them off the patio, or put treats by their coop.

Today I shop-vac'd and hosed down the patio - again - and cleaned the bookshelf. And as soon as dusk hit, the chickens were right back on it. So I came up with what I thought was a genius plan: face the bookshelf backward. They would soon realize it was of no use to them anymore, and would find a new place to roost -- hopefully the coop. And then I would face the bookshelf forward again, and have my blissful patio to myself again.

I had outsmarted the birds. I was feeling pretty smug. They stared at the back of the shelf for a while, a look of perplexion on their beaky faces. I figured it was only a matter of time before they high-tailed it off the patio to find somewhere else to hunker down.

I was naive to think the chickens would take this lying down.

They retaliated in a way that hit below the belt:

They took the kegerator hostage.

Enough

It's been 2011 for about an hour and a half now, and the house is blissfully quiet. The kids are sound asleep, and hopefully Phil is too. I don't hear him hacking up a lung right now, so maybe he finally drifted off -- and maybe he will be on the upswing of his cold tomorrow.

With this rare bit of peace, I've been thinking about the new year, and what my goals are. Not resolutions -- they are too constricting -- but goals. What would I like to achieve; where can I improve; how can I be a better mom/wife/daughter/sister/friend.

Now that the kids are getting older -- William is going on 9! -- it's become more important for me to parent with purpose. To really think about what example we are setting for the kids, what values we are imparting to them, and what we are teaching them about how to engage with the world.

One key concept I've been mulling around is the notion of consuming less. The minimalist movement seems to be gaining momentum. But here in Southern California, it's like swimming against the tide to want to have less, buy less, need less. It's definitely a struggle within myself too. Just coming out of the Christmas season, it's obvious to me that I haven't quite internalized the concept. But this excerpt from missminimalist.com explains its allure so eloquently:

Minimalism is determining when you have enough, so you can do something extraordinary with the excess.

That may mean working fewer hours so you can spend more time with your kids; buying less stuff to preserve more of the Earth’s resources; or ... spending less money on material goods and donating more to those in need.

In short, living with less means you have more to give.

That’s the beauty of enough – and that’s how minimalism can change the world.

In 2011, my goal is to know what is enough. And to use what's left -- of my time and my resources -- to do more.