Irony Thy Name is Paper Company

So a week ago or so, I ordered some recycled paper, and today it arrived in a cardboard box stuffed with STYROFOAM balls.

It's .. paper. It's not even fragile. Why would anyone package RECYCLED paper with STYROFOAM?

Why "Freeze Yer Buns" Isn't So Arduous

It was a sunny 85 degrees in Los Angeles yesterday. Ha ha! We may be a city full of gridlock and plastic surgery, but on the flip side, we occasionally get 80 degree days in December.

(I think that's actually our official motto. LA: it's not that cold.)

Anyway, after a week of freezing my buns off and wondering if I was going to make it through this challenge, it was so nice to come home to an apartment that wasn't icy cold but warm, warm, warm. In fact it was a little too warm. And then I thought, hey, I committed to turning off my heat, I didn't say anything about my A/C. I can run that thing all night long.

I'm kidding! I'm kidding! I didn't turn on my A/C. I didn't even crack a window. Instead I revelled in not being cold, made myself dinner, talked on the phone to a few friends, and went to bed in just a tee-shirt.

It was heaven.

Oh yeah, so far DeSloFooMo is going really well! I actually find myself *excited* to cook. Of course it's only been five days, so who knows if the novelty will wear off. But for now, I'm enjoying this challenge very much.

One is Silver and the Other's Gold

So, I'm having a Christmas gift problem. I've basically figured out my gifts, except that my 11 year-old cousin has a book on his Christmas list. As the resident book lover in the family, I usually tend to buy the books off his list. And I'd love to do that this year ... except, I'm having "issues" with myself. See, while I CAN buy gifts for people, it seems so silly to me to NOT buy a used book when used books are such an easy thing to get. And yet, I feel guilty. It's Christmas! Does a used book say, "I'm cheap?"

And then I remembered an incident with my grandfather when I was about my cousin's age. I was at their home in India, and it was early morning and I was reading. Several books were piled around me on either side. I had been given a bunch of used books by some family friend and I was excited to pour through them all.

My grandfather picked up one of the books that was particularly old- it was a small, yellowed paperback, and the binding had come undone; the front cover was hanging on by a thread. "This book needs repairing," he declared. "Let me take it to be fixed, and I'll bring it back when I come home from work."

I had never heard of BOOKS being repaired. And I was loathe to part with my book. I half suspected my grandfather would throw it out, or forget about it, or that it would need to be "repaired" for weeks, and I wouldn't get the book back. But my grandfather was not really someone who I could argue with, so I gave it to him.

And sure enough, that night he came home with my newly-repaired book. The binding was fixed. The cover was newly laminated. The book looked perfect! My joy and amazement at seeing my old book repaired was far greater than it would have been, had my grandfather just gone out and bought me a new copy.

I think most people would probably just toss an old paperback, rather than get it fixed. That moment with my grandfather was a "teaching moment." He probably didn't intend it to be- for him, repairing paperbacks was probably the norm, and not so unusual. To me, though, that was a small reminder that sometimes fixing something used is better than buying something new.

So maybe I will get my cousin the used book. Possibly he won't notice. Most of the used books I've bought have been in excellent condition. But if he does notice, maybe I'll explain to him why I bought a used book. And one day, many years from now, he might think of that used book and remember that sometimes buying something used is better than buying something new.

Easy Green #2

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, from time to time I'm going to post easy things to do to "green up" your life. While they may not seem like very big things, I am a believer (or at least I try to be) that every little change can make a difference.

One easy change I made a few months ago- bringing my own dishes and utensils to work. I like to eat my cereal at work while I check my morning email. Because my office has a stock of plastic dishes and utensils in the kitchen, I would use a plastic bowl and a plastic spoon each morning and then throw them away. Looking back, I can't believe it took me so long just to bring in my own bowl and spoon.

Holy %$@&

I just got my electric bill for the past two months, and it's LESS THAN HALF the cost of my last bill. Of course this bill is for September 14th through November 15th, which means that the last period was in the height of the summer. So most of the decrease is probably from not running the A/C. But still.

DeSloFooMo- 1st Shopping Excursion

Part of the reason that I started eating almost entirely pre-packaged meals was because I suffer from moldy potato syndrome. It goes like this. You go shopping, and you decide that you are going to be Healthy and so you buy all these vegetables- potatoes, tomatoes, cauliflower, spinach. And then you throw in a frozen pizza because one cannot be healthy all the time. And then two weeks later, you want something to eat, you open your fridge, and you find a bunch of bad vegetables and nothing else. (You ate the frozen pizza 12 days ago.)

Gradually, I decided that buying fresh vegetables was a waste. I never seemed to finish them before they went bad. I would buy a cauliflower intending to cook it, but then I would always pass up the cauliflower in favor of some mac and cheese. Because it was easier. So I reasoned, if that's the way it is, that's the way it is. I could delude myself into buying fresh vegetables and then never eat them, or I could just buy ready made salads and chicken wraps from Trader Joe's and at least then I'd be getting some veggies in me.

But with this challenge, I am endeavoring to find a third way. I don't want to buy a lot of things and have them go to waste. And yet, I also don't want to have to eat the same thing every day. This is the problem of living alone, and another reason I don't cook. Four to six servings is not much for a family, but for an individual, it's four to six meals!

I knew I needed to plan. I sat down with a few cookbooks, and came up with a few meals to eat this week whose ingredients somewhat overlapped. Then I quickly listed everything I needed for these planned meals- omelets, turkey burgers, turkey sloppy joes, lasagna, and spaghetti. And after THAT, I went shopping.

I always walk to the grocery store, and I also always shop in my bags. This prevents me from mindlessly throwing things into my cart that I don't really need. Yesterday, only two things not on my list went into my cart- ketchup and mustard that I realized I didn't have and would definitely need for turkey burgers. Aside from that, it was all on my list. I mostly bought organic when I could, though I couldn't quite stop stressing about the prices.

Finally, I was done. I chatted with the nice lady at the check-out counter (Trader Joe's has the NICEST employees), and kept glancing fearfully at the register as my items rang up. Finally, my final total. $64.57.

Not bad considering all the staples I had to buy.

And then I went home, and made myself an omelet.

It was delicious.

What Have I Decided to Do?!

Okay, I think this month's challenge might be a little harder than I anticipated.

Just so you can see what I'm working with, here are the current contents of my fridge. That's face lotion in the corner, and I think the lemonade is probably old.

And this is my fridge door. Probably half the condiments and the soda need to be tossed.

Okay, and while I know my freezer looks incriminating, I'm not a lush. I swear! I just happen to throw a lot of get togethers at my house.

And my pantry. Don't ask me how long I've had that random tin of water chestnuts on the top shelf. Or why I purchased a random tin of water chestnuts in the first place.

Clearly I have my work cut out for me. Sigh.