January 7 (on January 8)

The Genius of Meal Planning: How it is changing my life and my bank account

Before having our third child, C, I made almost seven trips to the grocery store each week. In the morning, I would put H and N in the car, get my morning coffee at Starbucks and let them wander around Whole Foods with me foraging for our dinner. Each of these trips would cost about 30 dollars. Additionally, I would make a weekend trip to the grocery for weekly items like milk, cheese, and lunch meat.

After C was born, suddenly these morning trips lacked their luster. I was forced to do some thinking ahead of time about what my family would eat and when we would eat it. Now, each Sunday I plan our meals for the upcoming week and make a list of all ingredients that we need as I am planning. In one of her books, Ina Garten suggests dividing your grocery list up into categories for more efficient shopping. I found this extremely helpful since I am NOT an organized thinker. Instead of going to the dry foods section every time one comes up on my list, I make one trip there. This sounds elementary to most, but it was indeed revolutionary to me.

Meal planning, aside from saving me several trips to the grocery store, has had some unintended, but desirable, consequences for us. First of all, it is saving us a tremendous amount of money. I am not quite sure why this is happening, but it is. Sure, I pick up far fewer impulse buys, but this does not account for the hundreds of dollars it is saving us. It could be because we are actually using all of the food that we buy and not buying more than we need--which leads me to the next desirable consequence. We are throwing away far less unused food. Gone are the days of the wilted vegetable browning at the back of the vegetable drawer. Additionally, I have found ways to better use the food that we do have--I make chicken stock, for example, out of chicken bones rather than buy it.

There are many Sundays that I just don't want to write out the plan~I am too tired, too sad, too_______, but I know that the quality of my week will be dramatically different if I don't. So I do.

January 6: Wednesday Reviews

In an effort to bring a little rhythym into my blogging life, I am going to be doing some regular posts throughout the month of January. Once Upon A Parent and I are going to cook up a new recipe each week and post about it on Mondays. She already has one going over there. Yummm. I will start next week.

Wednesdays are for book reviews. Most of my posts will likely cover parenting or children's books because those two categories cover nearly everything that I read these days, but I thought I would start with one that I just finished: The Happiness Trap.

My therapist recommended this book to me about a year ago. I bought it immediately and it sat on my shelf for over 10 months as I suffered through the most powerful, most potent depression of my life. It is a self-help book and, in general, I have thought those silly, somewhat frivolous. The cover scared me even more. I should not have been scared.

The book is well written and easy to read. The author is and Acceptance and Commitent therapist, a practice based on mindfulness. The author suggests ways to breathe into your emotion, ways to defuse negative thoughts. He helps you clarify your life values and set goals that are attainable. It has taken me nearly a month to finish this book because there was a lot of thinking that had to be done along the way, a lot of good work. A lot more of that good work ahead of me.

For now, I am thankful for some ideas.

January 5 {Handmade} Hand Me Down

The first sweater I made (that the recipient could actually wear) was for H a couple of summers ago. I knit out of Blue Sky Alpaca Dyed Cotton (and posted about it here). That sweater hung on the back of Harvey's bedroom door for months, and the cool Portland summer kept it alive for longer than I had ever thought.

Now that very same sweater is on our youngest (who is significantly younger than H was when we wore it). I can feel the dampness, the fecundity of Portland in its fabric. Funny how homemade clothes can transport you back to another time and place. Alas, this third baby is so large that it won't be on him for long. Little C is writing still more of the history of this little sweater.

January 4

I was waiting for a good shot of my last knitting project, N's shawl, to post about it, but alas that shot never came. This daughter of mine has very specific ideas of what sorts of garments that she wants to put on her body. The shawl had to be pink and it had to have a hood.

I settled on Knitting Pure and Simple's Children's Poncho and knit it out of some handspun cotton that I found at our local yarn store. The end product is possibly, no definitely, the most beautiful thing I have ever made. Because I made it in December around our Christmas tree, little bits on tinsel, shimmery silver threads, are knit right into the fabric.

It sparkles just like the little girl who wears it.

January 3

I have been a (inconsistent) cloth diaperer for about 2 and a half years now. When H was 6 months old, I got infected with the cloth diapering obsession. I spent much internet time here. I tried many, many diapers and then finally settled (for a short while) on the Bumgenius All-In-Ones. They were relatively easy, poops literally would fall right off of them into the toilet and they were pretty darn cute as well.
The plot thickens here... Every time H peed, the diapers stank. Not like pee though. Or #2. Like ammonia and body fluid. And I could not make it go away. I tried different detergents, I tried stripping the diapers, I tried hot water, I tried cold water. Still. stinky. So I moved on to gdiapers. These were also cute, but very expensive and quite cumbersome. I might have stuck with these had it not been for my husband's very VERY loud protests each time he changed one child or another. We moved on to Seventh Generation and stuck with those until the birth of C.

I knew I wanted to give cloth another chance with him. I also knew that in order for these diapers to work for us, they had to be easy to use. For us this meant good, old fashioned Chinese prefolds (like the kinds our mothers used) and a plastic wrap (or wool diaper cover) around them. No pins, no snaps, no other inserts. I love them. I love having organic cotton so close to C's body, I love the cost, I love the sustainability. And there's no stink! I am not sure if this is because we are using a front loading washing machine now or if it is because the prefolds are all-natural fibers (Bumgenius are made of synthetics). Funny how the system that actually worked for us was the simplest and least expensive.
I knit the diaper cover on C here with Malabrigo out of this pattern.

January 2

More for 2010:

{keep trying 1-2 new recipes a week}
{work on positive discipline without timeouts and threats}
{reuse my Starbucks cups}
{sew clothes for the kids}
{slow down}
{breathe more}
{take a moment at the end of the day for gratefulness}
{pay attention to myself}
{think before I speak, breathe}
{keep on working on me}
{get stronger}
{carry on}
{be me}
{respond}
{set limits}{don't hide behind them}
{be present}
{give up control}
{love.love.love. be guided by it}

January 1

in 2010, I want to
{stay connected with friends}
{knit something for myself}
{finish that sweater for Brian}
{take a photography class}
{meditate}
{continue meal planning}
{eat more veggies}
{eat less at night and more during the day}
{breathe}
{be authentic, always, despite the consequences}
{garden}
{blog more}
{run}
{stay put}
{drink more water}
{go camping with the kids}
{go to a fiber festival}
{spend time in upstate NY}
{and again, stay connected}
{look presentable}
{entertain}