Sucess or (lack thereof?) on goals

1. Despite my awesome success last week in walking to the store, I caved and drove yesterday. My excuse is that I had too many groceries to bike there and with John home on the weekend I wasn't going to walk there by myself with the wagon. Monday and Tuesday are filled with activities, so I can't walk either of those days and I needed groceries before then. So, anyway, hopefully next week I can do "better".

2. I've been reading (not just looking at the recipes but actually reading the stories that go with them) a cookbook called Extending the Table. I bought this several months ago and was pretty disappointed. I bought it mainly to be able to cook what is in season, like the cookbook Simply in Season and instead, it was a cookbook with a variety of recipes from different countries. I pretty much blew it off as a waste without even looking at it. But the other day I picked it up and started to read it. I've found a lot of good recipes I can't wait to try and even more than that, I've found some great philosophy around food. Being grateful for what we have and trying to make meals more meaningful. Trying to make the actual act of eating and receiving food into one's body a spiritual experience. One thing I've gain from it is to start to "pray" before meals "I receive this food with thanks". It is a play on a Japanese tradition and it basically means to remember and recognize that this food came from other people's hard work, from the ground, and from God. I find it much more meaningful than "Bless this food and nourish it to our bodies".

3. I've been cooking better. We had a dish last week with dried white beans in it (I cooked them of course) and yesterday had a pretty yummy chicken stew served over couscous. It had 5 different veggies, chickpeas and whole wheat couscous (plus lots of ethnic spices, which I like). You can't get much healthier than that.

4. I got a book from the library on simple and natural housekeeping. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but was a good read nonetheless. I have another book on hold on the same subject that I'm waiting for to come in.

5. I have started to get my house in order and clean. Last week, and next week, I focused on cleaning, tidying and decluttering one room of the house each day. I feel like I'm making a lot of headway. I finally washed the floors, which is a really difficult task for me to accomplish for some reason, and they look so much better, which just makes me feel better. There were piles and piles of clothes on the landing and they are finally gone and put away, again, making me feel so much better. Hopefully I can keep this organization and tidiness going.

All in all, staying home is going well. The week was very long, but I feel more peaceful. I have some really, what I view, important goals I'm working on-for myself physically, for my family with eating and housekeeping, and for the environment. I feel much more connected to my earth and universe this week. Plus, with 2 extra days home each week and no paperwork to do over naps, I have a lot of time to journal, read and accomplish little projects that I've been putting off since she was born. I won't say staying home is without negatives. I do find that depression creeps on more easily, but I'm trying to go out with at least one other mom friend a week, and that helps. Plus we have 2 days where she has classes that take up the whole morning, so that helps too. Wish me luck as I continue on this journey!