On sleep

Some of you may know that my husband (who now blogs) and I work at the same company.  Which definitely has it's perks.  One of the non-perks is that the office is 52 miles one way from our house.  And the traffic is terrible.  So, we get up at 5AM to get into work by 7.  Fortunately, I get to work from home 4 days a week, so when my husband wakes up at that horribly early hour, I don't even hear his alarm.  I just snuggle down for a few more hours of restful sleep. 

However, as I've been pondering what I should give up for Lent this year, it occurred to me that perhaps I should give up my sleeping in.  My darling husband drags himself out of bed most days of the week, and manages to come home after a long day at work, make me dinner, and play with our daughter.  So, I'll be giving up sleeping in order to live in solidarity with my husband during Lent. 

And since I'll have an extra 2 hours in my day that is normally spent dreaming, I plan on taking that time to finally start exercising, which has been on my list of things I want to do for a few years now and which I think I'll need to do first thing to ensure I don't just crash on the couch after he heads to work,  and to spend time reading and/or meditating, none of which I really have much time for in my current day.

So.  The rules. (Rules are very important as once they are written down I can't change them or pretend I had different rules).

1. The Lenten fast will begin Weds, Feb 17. and will extend until Good Friday, at which time I reserve the right to continue the habits that I've hopefully acquired.
2. I will get up when my husband gets up - for the purposes of going to work.  
1. If husband is getting up early to take care of our daughter, this does not apply (the sleep-in day rules apply here)
2. If we are on vacation, then the rules do not apply.
3. I will spend at least the first 30-45 mins of my waking day engaged in some sort of physical activity
4. The second hour of my extra time will be spent doing some quiet activity that does not involve my computer, tv or iphone.  I may listen to a meditative podcast if I choose - but no politics.

So what are you giving up for Lent?

Merry Christmas!

So I know I am totally late, but I really hope everyone had a great holiday season.

Snowy Fence, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

We got snow for Christmas! It was in the upper 70s the day before. And Christmas Eve, snow on the fence. Unbelievable. It's apparently been something like 50 years since TX got snow for Christmas.

We got all bundled up and went out and played in it. The snow wasn't that great for building snow people, but we still had lots of fun playing in it. And then went inside for a nice cup of hot chocolate.

Hoping you and yours had a great holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone was able to enjoy good food and got to spend time with family, both those you chose, and those you didn't. We had a great visit with my mom and Richard, and we also got to spend the Thursday meal with friends. Jason went all out on the cooking, and everything turned out really well - except that I burned the bottom of the bread (I attempted to bake it at the same time as the turkey and the shelf ended up being too close to the bottom). Still, everything was great, and so are the leftovers :)

Here's a great little video from the last glee episode that just made my heart happy (ok the vocal effects are WAY overdone on this show, but bear with me...)

Well, I'm off to enjoy the rest of our time off and this gorgeous weather we've been having lately. Have a good one!

344/366

344/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Got our first Christmas card. Thank you Dick and Joan! :)

Organic vs. Conventional

I know, I know, yet another green post... but really, knitting washcloths just isn't very interesting. I'm making progress though, 2 more down, making my total finished come to 5/16... phew!

Ok, on to the green stuff...

Here's an interesting and quite informative article re: one writer's cataloging of shopping for their Thanksgiving meal both organically and conventionally. Here are a few tips at the end of the article that I think are great to help you make decisions as to how much you will make your holiday meal organic.

1. If you can't afford to buy everything organic, prioritize those pesticide-laden pieces of produce.
2. To stretch your dollars further, consider axing one item from your menu -- do you really need mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes? The money you save on sweet potatoes could go into organic potatoes.
3. If you can't find an organic version of something you want, don't panic or run all over town trying to find it. Instead, buy the conventional, and write a letter or send an email to your supermarket to encourage them to stock more variety.

And above all else: don't wait until Wednesday night to do your shopping! Buy everything except perishables before Wednesday -- then you can get the few last items you need and check out via the express line.