Extra! Noumenia, A New Month

Welcome to another new month, dear readers!  The moon is growing and visible again.  And it's time to go over goals achieved and make new ones for the coming month.

Am I a slacker?  Yes, I am. 

Daily tasks/goals:  I am still not completely following my schedule.  I will make an effort to this month or at least rework them so that they can fit.  I tend to currently do about half a week, then I forget about them.

No Plastic:  I am at about the same point I was last month.  I did some back sliding when I ran out of syrup and forgot to buy new when I went grocery shopping.  So I had to run to the store quickly and the store I went to didn't have glass bottles.

Meatless Mondays:  Uhm...  Yeah, it didn't happen this month.  I haven't been making any sort of dinner planning lately.  As I stated, I want to have at least one meal a week without meat, instead of definitely being Monday, but I'm still stuck in the 'oh, I don't have to do that on Monday' attitude which translates to doing nothing.  Bah.

My goal for next month?  To have my living room unpacked.

Extra! Noumenia, A New Month

This post is late, but I have been stuck at home without internet for the past two days.  Ames, as some of you may know from national news, has been struck with an abundance of water... and none to drink.  This is a link to our local newspaper and more information.  Suffice to say, I'm very happy the rain and river waters went down, but I really hope the water main leaks get fixed soon.

Welcome the new month!  A lot of people in my town are starting over this month after the flooding.  I'm going to be trying even harder this month to get my schedule back in order. 

Daily goals:  I have slightly failed at following this this month.  I'm still not officially unpacked and I have gotten stuck in the 'when I get unpacked, I'll do this' mentality.  This past week I have been better.  I worked on writing on Tuesday.  Thursday I worked on craft stuff around the house I have put off.  I'm getting better, just need a little more work.

No Plastic:  I think I've done well this month.  I found syrup in a glass container that didn't come from too far away.  I also spent triple the amount of a plastic 2 liter on four glass 12oz bottles of ginger ale.  It was good though, so I think I'll do it again.  (Although I found a recipe to make my own.  Squee!!!!)  Unfortunately, I failed in that I have six gallons of drinking water and a 24 pack of 12oz bottles.  I know I shouldn't have, but it's easier for my son.  And in the rush of the store, I grabbed it just in case.  I was taking the bus and thought it would be easier to carry.

Meatless Monday:  Yeah.  I haven't followed this one very well.  I did the first two weeks, but then I realized that I was making myself miserable by limiting it and I had a talk with a friend.  She suggested that such rigid goals should be put aside for just a goal.  I believe that I will try to do one day a week of meatless-ness, but if I am really really craving meat on a Monday, I probably may eat meat.

New Goal!
On the Neokoroi yahoo group, they have started working through the Maxims from Long for Wisdom:  The Message of the Maxims by Allyson Szabo.  There is a different chapter/maxim each week to work on.  So I will be ordering the book tonight (if I get to a computer) or this weekend and working off the list.  It should be interesting.

Have a great month!

Extra! Noumenia, A New Month

Welcome back, Moon!

Noumenia marks the day where the first sliver of the waxing crescent moon can be seen after the new moon.  To Hellenists, this is the day to honor the household gods and spirits of the house.  To this blog, it is a day to reflect on the previous month and make goals for the next.

This month I'm starting something a little different.  This blog was started as a way to keep myself organized with my ideas and creativity.  So I am going to try to use the Noumenia post as a way to keep myself organized with different life habits.

I come across so many different things I think I should do, so many groups to join, so many different causes to champion and take part in.  I get confused and forget about half of them.  I get frustrated that I goofed up or forgot the date for something.

So join me on my journey to change.  Feel free to send me things I haven't seen or information on what you are doing.

Meatless Monday:  This past month I have decided to try the Meatless Mondays as I have already been trying to do one meatless meal a week.  I mostly succeeded in the two weeks I've been doing this.  I decided I didn't want to blog every Monday about what I was cooking as my dinner plans can change as soon as I get home so it's hard to know in the morning what the plan is.

6/28/10 - Cereal and Nutella Toast, Egg salad bagel and salad/mac 'n cheese for the kiddo, and Grilled cheese and fries.
07/05/10->07/06/10 - Switched to Tuesday because Sunday plans became Monday plans.  Almonds and a muffin, Chinese restaurant for lunch (some meat but I felt bad so I stuck with veggies the rest of the time), black bean burritos with roasted veggies and salad.
07/12/10 - Bagel with honey cream cheese, veggie burrito (that turned into a salad), cheese pizza which I added fresh veggies too.

No Plastic:  Inspired by The Chestnut House, the Save My Oceans challenge and videos, and my own sense of using too much plastic, I have decided to try seriously to cut back on my plastic habit.  I already try.  For instance, I try to use reusable bags, I use tupperware and cloth napkins, and I wash and reuse the ziploc bags I have.  But yet I put my trash in a plastic bag.  I buy condiments in plastic containers.  So while I don't think I can live without plastic just yet, I'm trying to make an effort to cut down my consumption.

My son helped me with this already.  He's excited about the challenge and depressed that so much plastic does get used.  (He's really upset about the oil spill and that plastic comes from oil.)  I was looking for a new salad dressing, trying to be adventurous and branch out from my norm.  I picked up one and then he said something about there being glass jars of dressing.  So we got one of those.

On another shopping trip I had decided on a peanut butter, was getting ready to put it in my cart, and noticed that there was a glass jar for a dollar more.  I immediately switched out the peanut butter in my hand for the glass one.  I think a dollar more isn't too bad a price for the jar.  Plus, it's more useful to me later when it's empty.

Day Tasks:  I went through and listed the things I wanted to accomplish each week and then assigned them to a day.  I have done this in the past and it's worked pretty well to be able to focus on one thing and know that I will work on something else another day.  It gives me time to be able to focus on multiple things without them getting in each other's way.  I only make up this new list at the end of last week, so I haven't really been working on it yet.  It starts yesterday!

There are a couple more things that I think I might work on or add to this month post, like being active in the Neokoroi, joining Hellenion or a local group, the Compact, or even working on getting writing sent out to publications.  But I think I rambled on enough in this post!

What are your goals for the coming month?

Oh.  And today is my birthday!