Just recently I’ve noticed the little triangular recycling symbol many more places than I had ever before. I’m not sure if they are actually more places, or if I have never spotted them before, or what.  But they are appearing a lot more lately!

Just several months ago I realized that my small plastic contact cases have a little recycling symbol on them.  It’s about a millimeter in size; no wonder I never saw it before.  Now I recycle them.  I also use my daily contacts for two days.  It helps me save money, and save contacts.

I started looking at other things, and look at all of these other symbols I’ve found.

Two #4 plastics, and one #2.  Here’s what the symbols were on:

A bag that grapes came in.

A blue Best Buy bag.  It even specifically says “Please reuse or recycle this bag.”  Nicely done, Best Buy.

And a bag of navel oranges!

Remember, avoid plastics 3,6, and 7.  If it’s plastic, look REALLY hard to find the plastic recycling symbol.  It’s probably there.

Speaking of green, check out the “hallway” of my gastroenerologist’s office:

There are even rain forest noises and fountains and stuff.  It’s crazy.

I had wanted to do a meat cleanse for the month of April, and in fact, I started it a few days early!  The last meat I’ve had has been on Saturday, so I figured Sunday was a good day to start because it’s the beginning of the week.

I have decided that fish will be allowed, because people are concerned about my not getting enough protein.  I thought this was an actual concern, but then I realized that I have TVP (texturized vegetable protein).  I did a google search, and according to this site, 1/4 cup TVP (which makes about 1/2 cup wet and is the perfect amount for me) is 59 calories, and has 11g of protein.  I did some research, and I need between 70 and 90g of protein because I am an “athlete”.  That’s a big difference, but I keep finding different numbers on different sites.

I get 18g from my 3/4 cup egg whites.  My protein burgers have 13g.  I have Kashi Go Lean cereal that has 11g!  I’m looking for a yogurt that has high protein, such as Better Whey which has 15-17 grams of protein!  However, they only sell it at Whole Foods near here, and that’s about an hour away.  Perhaps if I do get a chance to go, I’ll try to stock up!

Anyway, I’m giving up meat until May 9th - the day of my half marathon.  Should be an interested experiment.

*

Yesterday was a 3 mile run, and it was raining all day so I had to do it on the treadmill.  I did the whole 3 miles without stopping once.  It was great!  But really, it was very hard, and the gym was very hot, and I was sweating, and I was tired and wanted to stop.  It wasn’t really that I was tired or sore, but I just wanted to stop because I was bored.  Today is a rest day, and I forgot to wear my pedometer when I went to my practicum, and also when I went to pick up trash.  So today will be a stepless day on my exercise calendar.

*

Jeanne called me and joined Niles and I in our trash pick up afternoon.  Niles also brought along his friend Jackie.  On our way up the street, we found Chris (who hangs with us for Lost).  We got to the house we really wanted to clean (it’s vacant, and a mess), and a girl across the street yelled out her window, “You guys are doing a great job.  Thank you!”  And I yelled “Come and help!!”  And she did.  Then, a friend of Niles’ or Chris’ drove by, then called Niles to find out if we needed help.  Yes.  His name was John, and he came back, and even helped us after Niles and Chris had both left.  It was a good day for picking up trash, and I think we filled about 12 bags.  At the busiest time, there were seven of us!

Running is going very well - I did my four miles on Wednesday, and my five miles on Thursday.  The five was actually a LOT better, and I’m not sure if it is because I went a better route - I combined two routes that I normally do.  I had already done two miles when I started up my regular route (where I usually run), so it kind of felt like I had just started my run, when really I had already ran two miles!  Then I just had my regular 3 mile run to do, for a total of five!

Tomorrow is 8 miles, and I’m a bit worried about where to go.  Roots, my local organic foods store is 4.5 miles away.  I can run there, and run 3.5 miles back, and then walk the last mile.  Or, I could try to run the whole thing, or stop when I’m almost at Roots.  Or, I could figure out another route all together.  I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do.  I do, however, want to be completed with my run by noon.  I’m dragging the whole family off to pick up trash in the afternoon!

*

Speaking of trash, my trash pickup afternoon yesterday was FANTASTIC.  Niles and I headed out, but not before I facebooked my friends Bria and Rob to ask them to help.  I also ran into Rob while I was running and told him to join, he promised he would after he got out of work.  I dragged a wheel barrow and trash can on wheels (I had the trash can in the wheel barrow, which was also filled with orange DPW cones) the .6 miles to Pearl Street, where the clean up was to be held.  On my way, I called my friend Dave and asked him to help.

Niles and I started, and one of the neighbors asked if we were on parole.  No, just cleaning up the environment. He watched us for a little while, then started picking up trash in front of his house, then slowly moved across the street to help us.  His name was Scott, and he’ll be important later.

A local jogger ran by and told us we were doing a great job. Then he paused, and said “You know, I’ll help you out.”  He grabbed a trash bag and headed up the hill.  Then were then joined by Bria and Rob.  Then Dave stopped by after a bit.  At one time, there were SIX of us cleaning up Pearl Street.  It was absolutely wonderful.  There were several other people who stopped and asked why we were cleaning up the streets.  One of Rob’s friends pulled over in his car, and when he asked “For what?”  I replied “For the environment.”  Everyone thought we were in a club, or were a part of a program.  Really, we were just kids who wanted to clean up the street.

(This is Rob)

The afternoon ended with Bria, Rob, Niles and I, and we were left with many trashbags. We had spent two hours picking up trash.

Bria ran down to get her car, but on the way stopped and asked Scott if he could help us.  He didn’t hesitate, and pulled his station wagon around and loaded everything inside, including my wheel barrow, my trash can, and me!  He drove everything back to my house, because my trash day was the next morning.

We talked about looking at what trash day it is in the city, and doing that area the day before.  That way, we don’t have trash sitting around for a long time.  Thursdays seem to be a good day for everyone, so we might make it Trash Thursday.  Bria and I were trying to think of a slogan, and I thought of “We’re Young, But We Care.”  We should get it printed on T-shirts we wear while out.  And we can make them bright neon so we stand out and don’t get struck by traffic.

Nice and clean.  I walked by there today with my mom (she was going to City Hall, I was walking to the grocery store), and I felt so proud of what we had accomplished.  I really do have great friends.

When I got home, Niles grabbed a table from the neighbor’s house to put in his backyard (reuse), and as I went to drive him home, I REALIZED I HAD LOST MY KEYS PICKING UP TRASH.

I grabbed my spares, and Niles and I went to look for them.  We were climbing up and down that hill (see photo above), and Niles and I went and searched the hill.  We had given up and were returning to my car when I looked up and spotted them!!!!!  See the boulder?  And then that tree right above the boulder?  They were up near that tree!!!  I took a picture of them before I grabbed them:

Thank God I have that bright green Vera Bradley wallet thing attached, or they would be long gone.  It was easy to spot now that the hill was so clean.

Thanks to my friends who helped me clean up Fitchburg.  It makes me feel proud not only as a person, but as a citizen of this town.  If anyone wanted to help tomorrow afternoon, I think I’ll be picking up trash around 1pm, and dragging my mom, dad, and brother with me!  Feel free to join in.   More people really does make it go by a lot quicker, and you certainly get more done.

I should mention that Olivia, the baby in the picture from yesterday, is not my daughter.  I just nanny for her and her brothers every week.  I call her “my baby” cause she is my baby that I watch.  I also call her “the cutest baby in the whole world”  because she is!

*

I’m thinking that since my half marathon is on May 9th, and I was planning on making April “Eat No Meat” month, that I would just extend it to May 9th.  I will try to do a whole body cleanse of all bad things, so I will also be removing diet soda.  I was thinking that I would also not drink any alcohol, but I don’t drink a lot of alcohol, so I don’t really think that is a problem.  And if I want to drink the occasional half glass of red wine at Niles’ house for Lost, then I think that’s ok.

April 1 through May 9th   - No meat (fish is ok, I’ll be a pescetarian), and no diet soda or other diet drinks.

The only thing I’m concerned about is my weekly Monday night class, where I have to bring my dinner.  I’ve been bringing a ham sandwich because it’s easy to transport, and doesn’t need to be heated up.  What could I bring instead?  I like peanut butter and jelly, but I’m not sure if I’d want that.  Megan, I also don’t want any suggestions for “a cheese sandwich.”  I know they may be delicious, but I think I would like more substance than that.  For a usual night in class I bring:  a ham sandwich loaded with lettuce, yogurt with fresh fruit, a spinach salad, carrots and other vegetables to snack on, and an apple and an orange.  I eat a lot of food, yes.  I love to eat.  I was thinking a eggplant parmesan sandwich… but it’d be best warm.  Any thoughts?  I guess I could have tuna, because that’s fish.

*

I got a blister on my hip yesterday from running with my iPhone holster.  Today I’ll have to switch what side it’s on while I run.  I run with lots of gadgets: my iPhone, my pedometer, and my iPod shuffle.  Larry says that at least it makes me look important!

(the green at the top is my sweatshirt, and the grey is my pajama pants. )

*

Niles is helping me pick up trash today at 2pm!  I am going to drag along with me a trash can on wheels for all of the material that can be recycled.

Today is a five mile run.  Yesterday was a rest day, and Monday I did 3 miles.  Actually it was only 2.81 because for some reason, my 3 mile route that I mapped turned out to be only 2.81 according to my iPhone.  Close enough.

I’m doing my 5 miles to end up at the library.  I’m going to help them with work, and then I have my Friends meeting at 5:30.  I’ll be stinky at the library, and sweaty and stuff, but I’m alright with that.  I gave my mom my Friends info, and my bottle of water for when I’m done.  I had a hard time figuring out my trip, because I wanted to end at the library, and I also wanted to have it be fairly flat.

I spent both Monday and Tuesday at City Hall helping out Trevor in the IT department, but he’s going on vacation starting tomorrow.  I’ll see if my dad needs any help in his office while Trevor is gone.

I walked to Larry’s last night to watch the City Council meeting, and it was a 1.5 mile walk that I went “the long way” and made it over 2 miles.  I took a lot of nice pictures on my walk, and I even SAW THREE DEER!  It was absolutely amazing, and I would never have seen them if I hadn’t been walking.  I even said an aloud, “Thank You” to Mother Earth.  I also saw so much trash.  It makes me extremely sad.  I am going this afternoon to the DPW to get some orange cones so I can pick up trash on a busy road and not worry about getting hit by cars.  The area on Pearl St is VERY hilly, and I don’t want to fall in the road and get run over!  They also said they would give me some reflective vests for my friends and I.  Will I wear those?  Only if I’m picking up trash at night (not likely).

Now, I just need some friends to help me.  I plan on picking up trash on Thursday, Friday, AND Saturday afternoons.  I’m recruiting my parents on Saturday.  Please let me know if you are available.

This is my next quest. Right near the college. It’s a busy road so I want to see if the DPW can loan me orange cones so I don’t get hit by a car.

Who wants to help?

This post is for Megan.  Back when I was cleaning house, I talked about getting rid of tons of magazines, books, and probably some other stuff too.  well, I had been keeping all of my discarded clothes in Megan’s room, because that’s where I keep all of the stuff that won’t fit in my room.  Her room now smells nicely of feet because I keep two big boxes of shoes in there.  There are been many times where I go in and I go “Ugh!” and I open a window.  I even brought one of those reed diffusers in there the other day, and it seems to have helped.  But perhaps because it is my feet that stink up these shoes; maybe I’m kind of immune to the smell.  If anyone wants to come over and smell her room, you’re more than welcome.  Megan, did you notice your room smelled like feet when you were home in December?

But anyway.  I’ve been collecting these clothes in Megan’s room because I wanted to take a picture of them before donating them so Megan could see all the stuff I am getting rid of.  She’s been telling me for years that I have way too much stuff, so I’m finally get rid of a lot of it!  In the top left hand corner is a pile of 6 Destare shirts.  Lance screwed up when he got the sizes, and they are all size XXL or 1X.  The t-shirts that are that size are obviously huge, but the tank tops aren’t so bad.  For instance, I usually wear a small or extra small at Old Navy, but the Destare tank that fits me is a size Large.  So someone who would wear a medium would need an Extra Large.  But anyway, he didn’t want the shirts anymore, they had been in his office for months and months.  So he said I could have them (he would have thrown them away).  Of course they ended up in my closet for months and months.  I filtered out all the huge sizes, and I figured I’d offer them up on FreeCycle first, to offer them to anyone who loves Destare.  The smaller sizes I will offer them up to the girls who still work there (Caroline, Brianna, Lindsey)  They’re very nice shirts and they’re quite sparkly.

And of course, in the spirit of not getting rid of things, I got a new bread machine on FreeCycle.

I told my brother via AIM, and the conversation went like this:

Usually he doesn’t agree with me all that quickly (if at all), but he too saw the wisdom in having another bread machine.  Now he can have one at his apartment, and we can have one here.  Or, I can move in with my cats, and someone else can have the other machine.  Plus, I saved it from the landfill.  To test it, I’m going to make my famous white loaf to see if it’s as good as the machine we have now.  Trevor picked it up for me, so it’s currently in the trunk of his car.  As soon as I test its awesomeness, I’ll report back.

It’s 3pm, and I’m suppose to be going on a hike with Niles through the one foot of snow we got.  He wants to hike up in the woods somewhere, but I’m afraid that we will die.  We could slip into a pond or river that is covered by ice, and we could freeze to death.  Niles looked at my like I was crazy when I suggested that we might die, and Megan, upon telling her my fears, told me she was pretty sure I wouldn’t die.  But I’ll take her advice to “be careful, just in case.”

I ordered a Diva Cup through our local organic foods store.  It ended up costing me $31.  On Amazon.com they’re only $17.50, but I figured with shipping, it’d be close to $25, and for the extra $6, it’s best for me to support a local business.  I’m excited to try it out, and hope it goes well.  I’ve heard lots of good things about them, especially on all the green chic blogs I’ve been reading lately.

First thing I saw this morning was that the stone house where Megan had her wedding reception this summer burned down!!!  It’s the stone house in this beautiful park in southern Fitchburg.  The park was devastated after the ice storm, and it has been locked up ever since.  When the fire officials got there, the fire had already been burning for several hours, and it was at the point where it had burned up all the wood, and there was nothing left but the stone.  I took a picture of the paper and e-mailed it to Megan because I thought that she’d want to know.  Her reply:  “That SUCKS!!!”

Here’s what the house used to look like.  It was very beautiful, and very unique.

I had to babysit today, and we had a winter storm all day.  Luckily, my car is pretty good in the snow, and I had no problems as long as I went super slow.  On my way home, I drove by my doctor’s office, and remembered I had an appointment scheduled for tomorrow at 2:45.  I decided that I’d stop by today and see if they had any cancellations.  I had a book with me, and I was okay with hanging out for a bit and waiting.  The lady checked me in, and I was seen within 5 minutes!  I didn’t get a chance to read hardly any of my book!!  The nurse practitioner I had the appointment with (tomorrow)  was in between appointments, and luckily I just had to chat with her for a bit.  It was perfect timing, and now I don’t have to trek out into Leominster tomorrow.  It was a great idea on my part, and another way that I cut down on driving.

When I came home from the doctors, there was about 6 or 7 inches of snow in the driveway.  I went inside, changed my clothes, ate an orange for fuel, and went out to face the snow.  It took me a couple tries, but I finally figured out how to start the snow blower.  I finished the driveway, and did all of our sidewalks and the paths to both our doors.  It took me exactly 50 minutes.  It was a good workout, but the snow had turned into freezing rain, and then regular rain, so I got a bit wet in the process.  My parents walked in the door about 10 minutes after I had finished, and as they opened the door, I heard my mom say “Do you think Robin did it?”  They didn’t know who had done the drive way!  Our neighbor had done it previously, and they weren’t sure if he was at it again!  But she walked inside and she asked if I had done it, and I told them yes. Not only had my mom gotten to leave work early (at 5pm, instead of 7pm), but both of my parents were able to come home and not have to go right back out to shovel.  It was nice that I was able to help them.  They were extremely thankful.  They even asked what they could make me for dinner!  I must admit, there was a moment when I was outside shoveling where I thought “screw making dinner, let’s get take out.”  But that thought didn’t last long.

At 6, I started to make dinner.  Last night, I made shrimp scampi for my dad and me, and mom ate it sans shrimp.  It was very good, and my mom loved the recipe.  Tonight, I made pasta e fagioli.  It was a very easy recipe, and maybe only took 15 minutes of prep.  The rest was just waiting for it to cook!  Both of my parents really liked it, but next time, I want to double the beans (two cans instead of one), and add less pasta.  But it was really good, and it was a recipe I had never made before!  My mom said this one was a keeper, as well.   (It thickened in the fridge a bit, that’s why it doesn’t look very soupy in the picture).

At 7:50, I left the house for Niles’.  Every Wednesday a bunch of us go over to his house to watch LOST.  It’s great fun.  Tonight, because the weather was so crappy, and because I had already done my fair share of driving, and not enough walking, I decided to walk.  It wasn’t too far of a walk, perhaps a mile.  But I made sure that I bundled up, and I brought an extra pair of pants and slippers just in case.  The slippers came in handy because my socks got wet and I put them on his radiator to dry (they didn’t).

My feet got VERY wet on the way home (I need wellies, not stupid snow boots that aren’t water proof). While walking home, there were 5 people in front of me, and each person had a dog.  I thought it was very strange.  But then I thought “Hmm… I wonder if they have some dog walking club.”  And then I thought that was a very neat idea.  Get a bunch of neighbors together who have dogs, and walk them together.  That’d be a nice way to spend time together, plus give your dog a walk and get a little exercise.  If I liked dogs (which I do not), then that’d be a cool idea.  I like the same idea with little babies and mom with strollers.

I really liked walking to Niles’ house.  I have been trying to drive less, and walk more, especially if it’s somewhere close by (mostly the gym, I haven’t treked to the grocery store yet this winter, but when it was warm out, I did a couple times).  But walking to Niles’ house tonight made me feel very British.  I like how they walk everywhere.  Even if it’s crappy out, or raining, they have to walk, because they (at least Mac and Megan) don’t own cars!  Your choice is to either stay home, or walk in the rain.  I have also decided that in my little house, I don’t want to ever have paper towels, a TV, or a microwave.  I can get by pretty well without a microwave.  While babysitting, I was thinking “Wow, I don’t remember the last time that I needed to use a microwave.  Except…. 5 minutes ago when I made this cup of tea.”  But I could easily make a cup of tea with an electric kettle or on the stove.  But other than today’s rare cup of tea (which I want to drink more of, and I bought I Love Lemon herb tea today!), I never use the microwave.  It’s pretty great.

And it’s about to get a lot colder.

Here’s Thursday’s forcast:

In Celsius (for Megan, and other peeps who use the metric system - stupid American and their English system.  If it’s called the English system, then why don’t the English use it?), that’s a high of -10, and a low of -19.

Wow, that’s cold.  But do you know what is colder than that?

Friday’s weather.

In Celsius, that’s a high of -13, and a low of -22.

Right now, it’s 24 out, and it’s 68 in the house.  But I have long underwear on, pants over those, a long sleeve shirt, and two hooded sweatshirts.  And a blanket on top of all of that.

I wonder what it will be like when it’s thirty degrees colder?

I was reading in the Boston Globe today that living in the city is bad for your brain.  I guess that nature is very beneficial for the brain.  They’ve done studies that say that hospital patients do better when they can see trees from their window.

It says “While people have searched high and low for ways to improve cognitive performance, from doping themselves with Red Bull to redesigning the layout of offices, it appears that few of these treatments are as effective as taking a walk in a natural place.”

They even said that a long time ago, they realized this, and that is why Central Park is in the middle of New York City.  People need trees and nature.

This is why I think it would be absolutely wonderful to live in a tiny little house out in a field somewhere.

This house is only 681 square feet.  That’s pretty little.  It has two bedrooms, and is a little bigger than their teeny tiny houses, which are around 100-200 square feet.  I would want enough room to not feel claustrophobic, and also enough room to entertain for dinner.  I think the first floor would need to be an open layout for entertaining.  I would love to live in South Carolina, and grow my own fruits and vegetables.  I think these houses only cost about $20,000 to build (and $700 for the plans), so that’s a very tiny mortgage!  Also, I think I read that it’s only about $60 in heating and electricity bills.  Even if it is ten times that amount, $600 a year isn’t bad.  I would want a full size fridge, (or almost full size), because I know that Megan has a hard time with a mini dorm-size fridge in England.

If I had this house, and grew all my own food, I think I would only work as little as possible.  With my Mental Health degree, I could see patients two or three days a week, and the other days would be for my enjoyment only.  I think I’ve decided I’d like to live a very minimal life.  I know it’s very hard to believe, because I love shopping, and my Coach bags, and my iPhone.*  I would love to be able to live my days and do things that I enjoy.  I would knit, and I would write, and read.  I would cook fabulous meals, and run, and invite friends over, and drink wine, and eat cheese, and other wonderful things like that.

I think that I am very very worried that I will end up working at a job that I hate.  And I will wake up every morning not wanting to get out of bed; not wanting to go to work.  I figure with a mini house, and growing my own food, I won’t need a crappy job, because I won’t need that much money.  Maybe Megan and Mac (my sister and brother-in-law, who live in England) could live with me, and we’d live on a lot of land, and we’d each have our own mini house.  Megan and I could look into making organic things and selling them… either organic soaps and shampoos, or organic clothes.  We could have our own line, and money wouldn’t really matter, because we’d make anything we’d need.  We could work if we needed to, but what would be the point?  We’d have food, and a house with no mortgage, it would be awesome!

Thinking about that sounds absolutely fabulous, and it makes me wonder why more people don’t do something like this.  Is it because land you can grow on is super expensive?  Maybe we could live somewhere inexpensive, but still warm enough where we could grow things all year round - like Alabama or Tennessee.  We’d have our own land and our own community, so it wouldn’t be like we were really in Alabama, because we wouldn’t be going to the Piggly Wiggly or Billy Bob’s Country Cookin’.  We could still have cell phones and internet, but a TV wouldn’t be necessary (I’m going with Megan on this one - when I get my own place, I don’t want a TV).  We’d also need a good local library, because with a mini house, we wouldn’t have much room to keep our books.  I would say e-books would be good, but I’m reading the final Twilight installment as a PDF document, and it’s a huge pain in the ass.  I’m just clicking the down arrow constantly, and the clicking noise is driving me insane.

You know what else I would have with my tiny house?  Cats.  And a hammock.  Hammocks are wonderful.

I could go on for hours about how awesome this mini house idea is, but I have to go to the gym.  Then, I need to come home and help around the house.  My mom is being really wonderful, and is just letting me lounge around all day without saying anything.  I’m taking some well deserved time off, but I need to get my butt in motion and help out for the second half of the day.

*This past summer, I walked to the local farmers market, and I brought my Chico Bag with me, and I was being very eco, and was buying fresh produce, and supporting the local farmers, and I was walking!  But as I was walking home, I realized that I was listening to my iPhone and carrying a Coach purse.  It was quite the contradiction.  But, I was able to take this beautiful pictures with my phone, and I only noticed it because I was walking: