Stuff I'm Thinking About

I have a whole mish-mash of thoughts running through my head today, on a wide variety of issues, ideas and plans.

I'm definitely going to buy the stuff and try my hand at making one of these - how pretty is that?

I live in a dark basement where no plants can survive, but I've become a houseplant evangelist overnight, and as soon as I move to someplace that has light again, I'm going to buy a whole bunch.  In fact, I'm going to start by getting several for my office.  Why, you ask?  I read this article last night, that informed me that sometimes the air inside of the building is more toxic than the air outside, and that houseplants, and in particular certain plants, do an incredible job of removing those toxins from the air.  Very cool.

And, since I've been all about finding ways to live simply and "green" lately, as soon as I have a place of my own again, I'm going to give making my own household cleaners a try too.  I have some friends who have started doing that lately, and had good results, so I think I'll give it a shot.  I was always doubtful that you could properly clean something without chemicals, but it seems like investing in having less toxins in the air is probably good, not only for the environment in general, but for me, since I tend to be a bit chemically sensitive.  I found an article here with recipes for a bunch of basic homemade cleaning products, and I'm going to give it a shot.

I'm amazed by this story about how a volcanic erruption in Iceland is wreaking havoc on European air travel, and I'm thinking about a friend who flew through Heathrow the other day, and will be coming back through next week.

I'm scheming about ways to save money on groceries for a little while, and still eat healthy and I think I'm going to attempt to buy minimally and really use up the stuff I've collected in the pantry and freezer.  As best I can figure, I should really only have to buy some fresh veggies and fruit, and maybe some bread and chicken (just to break up the monotony of beef and pork that's in my freezer) for a while.  Maybe even a month or two.  Sweet.

I'm pondering how much harder it has been to keep up the habits of eating healthy since moving into Grandma's house because of the poorly equipped kitchen and the general lack of motivation to cook while being closely watched by my rather nosy Grandmother, and I'm trying to come up with ways around that, since I've definitely noticed the difference in how well I feel as my healthier habits have taken a nosedive.  I'm remembering how well it worked to cook two meals at once earlier this week and just stash them in the fridge for the remainder of the week, and I'm considering the merits of batch cooking and freezing a whole bunch of individual meals for myself.  If any of you are in Calgary and are interested in getting together some Saturday to cook several meals for freezing and easy access later, let me know, I'd love to cook with you!

Living in what has been an extremely challenging, and often toxic environment for the last nearly two months has left me thinking a lot again about what I want when I finally manage to have a home of my own.  Simple, and as enviromentally friendly as possible are what I'm leaning towards.

Also, I want to garden.  I want to grow herbs, and maybe some of my own vegetables, or check into Community Supported Agriculture, or at least patronize the Farmer's Market more regularly again.  That last one should be easier to do soon.  I'm within a week of having a car that is driveable again.

And with that, I'd better dive back into the many things demanding my attention.