Day 5 and I wish I could post onto FB how tired I am of rain.
It has rained, and rained, and rained this summer and I am so very, VERY tired of it! Our days of sun AND warmth have been few and far between this spring/summer and I feel like we're in this never ending tunnel of cold, rainy, dark days. Today is June 5 and our high is supposed to be 61. Thank God I don't live in Seattle.
So what have I done instead of waste time on social media? Well, yesterday I baked all day. A friend gave me Amish Friendship Bread starter a while back and yesterday was bread baking day. I had two starters going so I had four loaves of bread to bake. My family loves that stuff; one loaf is almost gone already!! Instead of four large loaves, I baked two large and four small loaves and sent two of the small loaves to Garry. We have eaten enough of that stuff already.
I'm also baking cookies for the guys while Lily and I go to Raleigh, and to send to my dad for Father's Day. I got a batch of chocolate chip baked yesterday and today I'm baking white chocolate macadamia nut and peanut butter.
I also made chicken noodle soup yesterday. It's been soup kind of weather; I'm even considering some chili!!!
I'm listening to a book on CD while I'm baking and cooking and cleaning. It's The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, who is one of my favorite authors. It's historical fiction about the US and Mexico in the 1930's and I'm completely engrossed in it. In a way, I'm sort of glad to be stuck at home because I have an excuse to be in and listen to my book.
I do keep receiving email reminders from FB about my friend's birthdays and about posts to groups that I'm part of. I haven't read the post reminders because that feels like I'm checking FB.
Wouldn't it be great to be a cat? Sleep, eat, sleep, eat all day. Of course, I would want to be a cat in my house. Or be a cat in my friends Monica's or Stacy's house.....we are all good cat parents. Being a cat in one of our houses would be my dream life.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
Day 3 Social Media is.......
Day 3 of no social media.....
But what exactly is social media? Does it include blogs? Emails? Yahoo home page?
Social media generally refers to those sites that are more like a social setting where there is interaction amongst the participants. Facebook would be the granddaddy of all SM sites and probably the biggest time waster in the history of the world. Not only can one interact with people one had never actually met, one can also play worthless games and give fake, as well as real, gifts.
I never was a huge FB game player. I did the garden thing for a while, and also that bar game. But I was never a Mafia Wars or Farmville fan. I keep receiving invites to play this new Candy Crush game (or something like that....I don't pay much attention to the names) and I see the notifications that so and so reached a new high score in some game. Good grief, FB wastes enough of my time - I don't need some game to suck me in, too!!!
Yesterday, I cleaned out my pantry area. It had needed it for a LONG time, and now I'm not embarrassed for someone to use the trash can in the side of it. I also got my floor mopped, ran 3 miles, did two yoga classes, cooked dinner, and did laundry. It's amazing what can be accomplished when I'm not searching Pinterest for some new Grumpy Cat meme.
(But I do miss Grumpy Cat. She's my hero.)
I am not including blogs in my social media fast. I'm not one who reads a lot of blogs anyway and those that I do follow I don't read every day. Email is a necessity in this day and age, and because my job and my child's school communicate that way, I couldn't give that up. And the Yahoo home page is usually where I get my news and check the weather, plus it's not really interactive. My belief is that none of the above - blogs, email, and Yahoo - are social media and I will continue to use these during my month.
I did hear a guy on NPR about two weeks ago who gave the up the Internet for a year. It was an interesting idea and his review of his year was fascinating; how his life was so very different having to rely on snail mail and the old research methods of reading books (gasp!). But he did say that it wasn't realistic for most people to be able to go Internet free in this day and age. Most people who have a job or are students could not go without the Internet, especially since most communication is accomplished via email. My college kids receive grades and do homework on their school's sites, and they have so many papers to write that research would be too time consuming without Internet research. (Some classes even require Internet research.)
Social media is as far as I will go for a fast, at least for now. Giving up more may come later.....maybe I'll even go live by a pond for a year.
But what exactly is social media? Does it include blogs? Emails? Yahoo home page?
Social media generally refers to those sites that are more like a social setting where there is interaction amongst the participants. Facebook would be the granddaddy of all SM sites and probably the biggest time waster in the history of the world. Not only can one interact with people one had never actually met, one can also play worthless games and give fake, as well as real, gifts.
I never was a huge FB game player. I did the garden thing for a while, and also that bar game. But I was never a Mafia Wars or Farmville fan. I keep receiving invites to play this new Candy Crush game (or something like that....I don't pay much attention to the names) and I see the notifications that so and so reached a new high score in some game. Good grief, FB wastes enough of my time - I don't need some game to suck me in, too!!!
Yesterday, I cleaned out my pantry area. It had needed it for a LONG time, and now I'm not embarrassed for someone to use the trash can in the side of it. I also got my floor mopped, ran 3 miles, did two yoga classes, cooked dinner, and did laundry. It's amazing what can be accomplished when I'm not searching Pinterest for some new Grumpy Cat meme.
(But I do miss Grumpy Cat. She's my hero.)
I am not including blogs in my social media fast. I'm not one who reads a lot of blogs anyway and those that I do follow I don't read every day. Email is a necessity in this day and age, and because my job and my child's school communicate that way, I couldn't give that up. And the Yahoo home page is usually where I get my news and check the weather, plus it's not really interactive. My belief is that none of the above - blogs, email, and Yahoo - are social media and I will continue to use these during my month.
I did hear a guy on NPR about two weeks ago who gave the up the Internet for a year. It was an interesting idea and his review of his year was fascinating; how his life was so very different having to rely on snail mail and the old research methods of reading books (gasp!). But he did say that it wasn't realistic for most people to be able to go Internet free in this day and age. Most people who have a job or are students could not go without the Internet, especially since most communication is accomplished via email. My college kids receive grades and do homework on their school's sites, and they have so many papers to write that research would be too time consuming without Internet research. (Some classes even require Internet research.)
Social media is as far as I will go for a fast, at least for now. Giving up more may come later.....maybe I'll even go live by a pond for a year.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Day 2 - No Social Media.....
It is day 2 of my no social media month and I'm thus far experiencing no withdrawal pangs and have not had the shakes or any other adverse effects. Apparently there is life after Facebook.
Since I don't have Facebook to vent, I will start with my rant here....
It's REALLY cold again! June 2, and I'm wearing layers and sitting under a blanket because it's so stinking cold! Today is Ride the Drive in Madison, a Sunday when the city of Madison closes down many of the downtown streets and people can ride their bikes or run or whatever without fear of being hit by a car. There are all kinds of music stages and other activities set up and it's really fun. Lily and I were going to go, but I don't think it's warm enough. Right now at almost 11 AM, it's 48 degrees. And cloudy and windy. Yuck....
One bad thing about no Facebook is that I am going to be missing birthdays. Today is my sister-in-law's birthday and I'm going to have to email her...such a bother! Hahahaha!!! I know a few birthdays this month - like my BFF Monica - but I know I'll miss some and I'm sorry if I miss yours.
This is the last week of school. I am so looking forward to not fighting with Lily every morning to get her up and ready. I have a feeling she is going to get bored pretty quickly, though. She is dancing and playing softball and taking piano lessons, and she has a writing camp in August, but she likes to be busy. It's going to be a challenge to keep her engaged all summer.
I did some weeding yesterday, but it barely made a dent. With all of the rain we've had, the weeds are going nuts. And those awful helicopter seed pods are EVERYWHERE right now! UGH!!! I was hoping to get some more weeding done today. I will have to dig out the long underwear if I'm going to spend any time outside, though.....
I just realized....I hope I don't need any of my recipes from Pinterest this month....
Since I don't have Facebook to vent, I will start with my rant here....
It's REALLY cold again! June 2, and I'm wearing layers and sitting under a blanket because it's so stinking cold! Today is Ride the Drive in Madison, a Sunday when the city of Madison closes down many of the downtown streets and people can ride their bikes or run or whatever without fear of being hit by a car. There are all kinds of music stages and other activities set up and it's really fun. Lily and I were going to go, but I don't think it's warm enough. Right now at almost 11 AM, it's 48 degrees. And cloudy and windy. Yuck....
One bad thing about no Facebook is that I am going to be missing birthdays. Today is my sister-in-law's birthday and I'm going to have to email her...such a bother! Hahahaha!!! I know a few birthdays this month - like my BFF Monica - but I know I'll miss some and I'm sorry if I miss yours.
This is the last week of school. I am so looking forward to not fighting with Lily every morning to get her up and ready. I have a feeling she is going to get bored pretty quickly, though. She is dancing and playing softball and taking piano lessons, and she has a writing camp in August, but she likes to be busy. It's going to be a challenge to keep her engaged all summer.
I did some weeding yesterday, but it barely made a dent. With all of the rain we've had, the weeds are going nuts. And those awful helicopter seed pods are EVERYWHERE right now! UGH!!! I was hoping to get some more weeding done today. I will have to dig out the long underwear if I'm going to spend any time outside, though.....
I just realized....I hope I don't need any of my recipes from Pinterest this month....
Friday, May 31, 2013
A new challenge
Tomorrow is June 1 and the beginning of a new challenge. But, first a recap of the Love Your Greens challenge....
I found this to be not really a challenge and I'm kind of mad at myself for doing it. I knew it was sort of lame when I started....after whole 30, eating some greens every day wasn't really a big deal. And I already eat a lot of greens, so I didn't really need to add any.
Recipes were sent each day for a new smoothie to try and, quite honestly, most of them were pretty gross. Some of them weren't even what I would consider a smoothie, but more just juice. Drinking a green juice drink wasn't very filling, and I'm of the mindset that juice is NOT all that good for you. It spikes your blood sugar and makes you hungrier. I sort of made up my own concoctions and drank them sometimes, but mostly I just ate greens.
I don't feel any different than I did when I started the month, and I haven't increased the amount of greens I'm eating. All in all, it was pretty much a bust of a challenge. Oh well....live and learn!!
Tomorrow starts the No Social Media challenge. I don't have Instagram and I don't ever use my Twitter account, so this will be mostly a Facebook and Pinterest fast. I will continue to blog and check email, so if you want to leave a message for me on my blog or email me at helengjones88@gmail.com you can reach me that way. I will be posting my thoughts on Facebook on July 1, so you can find me then.
Until we meet again on Facebook or you find me on Pinterest, I say to you.....Namaste....
I found this to be not really a challenge and I'm kind of mad at myself for doing it. I knew it was sort of lame when I started....after whole 30, eating some greens every day wasn't really a big deal. And I already eat a lot of greens, so I didn't really need to add any.
Recipes were sent each day for a new smoothie to try and, quite honestly, most of them were pretty gross. Some of them weren't even what I would consider a smoothie, but more just juice. Drinking a green juice drink wasn't very filling, and I'm of the mindset that juice is NOT all that good for you. It spikes your blood sugar and makes you hungrier. I sort of made up my own concoctions and drank them sometimes, but mostly I just ate greens.
I don't feel any different than I did when I started the month, and I haven't increased the amount of greens I'm eating. All in all, it was pretty much a bust of a challenge. Oh well....live and learn!!
Tomorrow starts the No Social Media challenge. I don't have Instagram and I don't ever use my Twitter account, so this will be mostly a Facebook and Pinterest fast. I will continue to blog and check email, so if you want to leave a message for me on my blog or email me at helengjones88@gmail.com you can reach me that way. I will be posting my thoughts on Facebook on July 1, so you can find me then.
Until we meet again on Facebook or you find me on Pinterest, I say to you.....Namaste....
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Day 28....it's almost over
Day 28 of this month's challenge...
This month's challenge has really bitten the dust the past week. I haven't been eating many greens and I totally gave up on the smoothies. It has been so cold here in the tundra and those smoothies freeze my body. I was sitting under a blanket, shivering after drinking my frozen concoction one morning and I thought, "This is dumb. I don't even like smoothies." I found the recipes that I was getting everyday to be pretty gross....I gagged drinking one of them. So, this challenge was a complete bust.
There are only a few days left in May, which requires a decision on the next challenge. I have decided that June will be a no social media challenge, meaning no Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. I will continue to blog, but if you want to read about how I'm doing, you will have to actually go to my blog everyday as I won't be posting to FB. I don't have an Instagram account and I never use my Twitter account, so it's really just Facebook and Pinterest that are my big time suckers.
It's really cold this morning....54 and damp. It poured down rain for a couple of hours, but now that damp cold is in the air....and it's May 28. I swear it feels like October. I have packed away all of the winter clothes and coats, but I'm thinking I need to bring them all back upstairs. Maybe if I did, it would warm up.
I'm going to a Bikram sequence hot yoga class this morning to try to warm up. Then I'm going to drink some hot coffee. And if that doesn't work, I'm chucking it all and moving to Phoenix.
This month's challenge has really bitten the dust the past week. I haven't been eating many greens and I totally gave up on the smoothies. It has been so cold here in the tundra and those smoothies freeze my body. I was sitting under a blanket, shivering after drinking my frozen concoction one morning and I thought, "This is dumb. I don't even like smoothies." I found the recipes that I was getting everyday to be pretty gross....I gagged drinking one of them. So, this challenge was a complete bust.
There are only a few days left in May, which requires a decision on the next challenge. I have decided that June will be a no social media challenge, meaning no Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. I will continue to blog, but if you want to read about how I'm doing, you will have to actually go to my blog everyday as I won't be posting to FB. I don't have an Instagram account and I never use my Twitter account, so it's really just Facebook and Pinterest that are my big time suckers.
It's really cold this morning....54 and damp. It poured down rain for a couple of hours, but now that damp cold is in the air....and it's May 28. I swear it feels like October. I have packed away all of the winter clothes and coats, but I'm thinking I need to bring them all back upstairs. Maybe if I did, it would warm up.
I'm going to a Bikram sequence hot yoga class this morning to try to warm up. Then I'm going to drink some hot coffee. And if that doesn't work, I'm chucking it all and moving to Phoenix.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Day 23 Junk is everywhere
Day 23 of loving my greens.
First, I have pretty much stopped the smoothies and am just eating the greens. The smoothie recipes have been more juice than anything else lately and don't do anything for me. I need real food in the morning; drinking the smoothies have just left me hungry.
It is FREEZING here in the tundra. The low tonight is to be in the upper THIRTIES. Yes, you read that right, it's the end of May and lows are to be around 37. The high Saturday is only going to be in the 50's. I may need to dig out the winter stuff again. It's so cold and rainy, which is another reason I don't want smoothies in the morning.
This morning I was thinking about all of this healthy eating and changing our diets and I realized that food is not the only junk in my life. Junk lurks everywhere....junk mail, junk TV, junk Internet sites, junk clothing, junk movies.....you name it. While purging the junk food out of the house, I think it's time to purge all of the junk. The junk clutters up bodies and lives and daily living, and zaps energy in different ways.
I would LOVE to start with purging the junk from our home and lives by dumping the cable TV. There is truly nothing decent on TV now and it's hard to justify spending over $100 a month on something that does nothing but allow us to waste time and clutter our minds with crap. The guys in my house are the biggest sports fanatics ever and I don't know that I can get them on board with cable-less living, especially during football season. If it weren't for sports, the cable would have been gone long ago.
The next thing that I would really love to get rid of is Facebook. It's not a necessity, but I'm not sure how to keep in touch with so many people in any other way in this day and age. Again, FB is a huge time waster and there is so much junk on it now! I do think a clean up and purge of my "Likes" and friends list is in order.
Lastly, there is just too much stuff in my house. We all need to get rid of stuff. Holding on to some of it for sentimental reasons is ridiculous; it's in boxes in my basement that no one has looked at in years, so none of it can be all that important. The summer long project here is to get rid of half of all of it.
Getting rid of the junk and clutter in my life has led me to my next challenge; for June, I'm going social media free for the month. Now, as I'm blogging about my challenges, I will continue to update via blogger (and hopefully be more motivated to keep it more up to date) and I have to keep up with email as most people communicate that way these days, especially the schools. But for June there will be no Facebook, Pinterest, or any other social media. (I have a Twitter account, but I never use it.) Maybe it will go so well that I will get rid of all the Internet junk!!
First, I have pretty much stopped the smoothies and am just eating the greens. The smoothie recipes have been more juice than anything else lately and don't do anything for me. I need real food in the morning; drinking the smoothies have just left me hungry.
It is FREEZING here in the tundra. The low tonight is to be in the upper THIRTIES. Yes, you read that right, it's the end of May and lows are to be around 37. The high Saturday is only going to be in the 50's. I may need to dig out the winter stuff again. It's so cold and rainy, which is another reason I don't want smoothies in the morning.
This morning I was thinking about all of this healthy eating and changing our diets and I realized that food is not the only junk in my life. Junk lurks everywhere....junk mail, junk TV, junk Internet sites, junk clothing, junk movies.....you name it. While purging the junk food out of the house, I think it's time to purge all of the junk. The junk clutters up bodies and lives and daily living, and zaps energy in different ways.
I would LOVE to start with purging the junk from our home and lives by dumping the cable TV. There is truly nothing decent on TV now and it's hard to justify spending over $100 a month on something that does nothing but allow us to waste time and clutter our minds with crap. The guys in my house are the biggest sports fanatics ever and I don't know that I can get them on board with cable-less living, especially during football season. If it weren't for sports, the cable would have been gone long ago.
The next thing that I would really love to get rid of is Facebook. It's not a necessity, but I'm not sure how to keep in touch with so many people in any other way in this day and age. Again, FB is a huge time waster and there is so much junk on it now! I do think a clean up and purge of my "Likes" and friends list is in order.
Lastly, there is just too much stuff in my house. We all need to get rid of stuff. Holding on to some of it for sentimental reasons is ridiculous; it's in boxes in my basement that no one has looked at in years, so none of it can be all that important. The summer long project here is to get rid of half of all of it.
Getting rid of the junk and clutter in my life has led me to my next challenge; for June, I'm going social media free for the month. Now, as I'm blogging about my challenges, I will continue to update via blogger (and hopefully be more motivated to keep it more up to date) and I have to keep up with email as most people communicate that way these days, especially the schools. But for June there will be no Facebook, Pinterest, or any other social media. (I have a Twitter account, but I never use it.) Maybe it will go so well that I will get rid of all the Internet junk!!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Day 16 Greens times two and My Pintrest Addiction
Day 16
I had greens twice yesterday; once in my morning smoothie and then again for dinner last night. I almost always use spinach in smoothies because it blends better and is sweeter than other greens, so that was in the smoothie. Then I cooked kale for dinner last night using my favorite method and it was totally delish.....I would rather eat cooked greens than drink green smoothies any day!
Here is my basic recipe for kale and chard......
2 bunches of kale or chard, large stem removed and chopped (I always use organic greens)
4 or so pieces of bacon, diced
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
Cook diced bacon in a large pan until beginning to crisp. Add greens and cook until wilted. Top with several shakes of balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. Adjust seasonings according to your taste.
That's it! Very simple and oh so good! I have never tried other greens this way, but I suppose you could use them. Cooking times would vary, and I know that kale and chard cook quickly, so I always use those.
I have pretty much been following my own smoothie recipes for this challenge because so many of the recipes I've been sent have been disgusting. Either that or I have forgotten to get something at the store, so I just improvise. I'm looking forward to the end of the month so I don't have to drink a green smoothie every day anymore and can go back to some eggs or paleo pancakes.
Can I just bore you for a moment with my Pintrest addiction? OMG, why did I ever start visiting that site? I probably have thousands of different everything pinned already!! I have used some recipes that I found on there and a couple of craft ideas, but I probably will never get to everything I've pinned, and I just keep pinning. I feel like I need a support group, or maybe TLC can do a show on Pintrest addictions and I can be first up. I even pin really dumb things, like owl tattoos and pictures of wrinkled old people and memes with Grumpy Cat. Maybe I will do a 30 day no Pintrest challenge, although I might need therapy after about two days. I could probably spend an entire day just pinning crap and drinking tea and be completely satisfied. How sad......
And thus far, green smoothies have had no affect on the Pintrest problem. They do NOT solve everything.
I had greens twice yesterday; once in my morning smoothie and then again for dinner last night. I almost always use spinach in smoothies because it blends better and is sweeter than other greens, so that was in the smoothie. Then I cooked kale for dinner last night using my favorite method and it was totally delish.....I would rather eat cooked greens than drink green smoothies any day!
Here is my basic recipe for kale and chard......
2 bunches of kale or chard, large stem removed and chopped (I always use organic greens)
4 or so pieces of bacon, diced
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
Cook diced bacon in a large pan until beginning to crisp. Add greens and cook until wilted. Top with several shakes of balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. Adjust seasonings according to your taste.
That's it! Very simple and oh so good! I have never tried other greens this way, but I suppose you could use them. Cooking times would vary, and I know that kale and chard cook quickly, so I always use those.
I have pretty much been following my own smoothie recipes for this challenge because so many of the recipes I've been sent have been disgusting. Either that or I have forgotten to get something at the store, so I just improvise. I'm looking forward to the end of the month so I don't have to drink a green smoothie every day anymore and can go back to some eggs or paleo pancakes.
Can I just bore you for a moment with my Pintrest addiction? OMG, why did I ever start visiting that site? I probably have thousands of different everything pinned already!! I have used some recipes that I found on there and a couple of craft ideas, but I probably will never get to everything I've pinned, and I just keep pinning. I feel like I need a support group, or maybe TLC can do a show on Pintrest addictions and I can be first up. I even pin really dumb things, like owl tattoos and pictures of wrinkled old people and memes with Grumpy Cat. Maybe I will do a 30 day no Pintrest challenge, although I might need therapy after about two days. I could probably spend an entire day just pinning crap and drinking tea and be completely satisfied. How sad......
And thus far, green smoothies have had no affect on the Pintrest problem. They do NOT solve everything.
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