So, what do YOU do to organize yourself?

I consume massive amounts of information on how to make my life into a simple, clean, organized, and calm state of existence.  I lost count of how many apps are on my phone to help me remember to do laundry, complete homework, and even make sure Sprout gets enough attention from me (I tend to get caught up in housework...)
Life hacks! Housework checklists! Freezer inventory! Filing systems! Clouds! Calendars! Day planners! Fiteverythingyouwanttodoinonesingleday!

Yeah. My house is sometimes clean, sometimes not.  Dinner might be on the table by 6, and it might even be nutritious.  I think I'll be able to earn A's this semester, but next semester I'll be going from coasting along on the lower division quiet country lane with only 13 credit hours to the scary highway of upper division credits, clogging my brain with 18 of them.  I'll still be married, I'll still have a toddler, and I will still reign supreme as Empress of Laundry and Kitchen Queen.  I will still have a strong interest in following my spiritual urges and in taking courses on magical things.  And I will still be a perfectionist (or at least, a wannabe perfectionist...).  I will demand of myself a report card lined with perfect grades.  Oh, and I will need to lose some weight and get super healthy, with perfect sleeping habits.  Oh crap.  It's past my bedtime.  Someone help me...

Calling all Earthlings!!

Links to other earthy blogs

Simple Mom Life Hacks

The Brighton's Kitchen

The Nourishing Cook

Green Smoothie Girl

Heavenly Homemakers

Cookus Interruptus 

Keeping a toddler entertained. Inside.

First of all, this saved my sanity yesterday.  I am still on the lookout for more things to do.  I have asked some friends, and I have thought of a few things myself as well.  Here's our problem: I have one toddler.  One.  Tree is excellent at playing with him, but I find myself wanting to do dishes or laundry instead.  I know, I know, I know, these are precious years bla bla bla.  But honestly?  It kind of feels like it did when Sprout was a newborn.  Everyone told me to soak up that time and really enjoy it.  Well, constant battles with thrush and mastitis and nasty sleep deprivation are just not conducive to enjoyment.  He was a shrieking, pooping, eating machine.  Not exactly enjoyable.  It wasn't all bad, but it was a difficult time to which I would not want to return.  So anyway.
I am trying to find ways to enjoy the toddler years.  There is much more to enjoy, but playing toddler games does not come naturally or easily to me, so I'm looking for help.

What we did yesterday:
-made bean bags out of socks and dried beans.  then threw them around at stuff and into bowls.
-made the living room into an obstacle course
-sprinkled baking soda scented with lavender essential oil all over the living room (yeah... eventually I'll vacuum it up, too)


The days are still hot here in the desert, and going out in 100 degree weather is too draining for everyone involved.  I do not want to even think about how much TV we have watched.  I still cling to the ideal of NOT using the TV as a babysitter.  And as I write this, Sprout is watching Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (his choice).

Here are some ideas other people came up with:

-finger painting/body art with pudding
-forts (we've done this, though really Sprout just likes to tear them apart)
-puppets
-bubble baths
-yoga videos (we've also done this, with some hilarious results)
-cornstarch and water goop
-dance parties (we've done this, but it's kind of exhausting lol)

Cooking awesome stuff

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2011

Cookus Interruptus

Just a quick shout-out to an awesome recipe site.  Today's recipe that's calling to me is the salad dressing page.  So more like five or six recipes.  But you should never eat naked salad, and I'm heartily sick of buying bottled stuff from the store.

http://www.cookusinterruptus.com/blog/?p=2406

Bugs!

MONDAY, JULY 18, 2011

To spray, or not to spray

A couple of nice young men who reminded me of missionaries came to our door this evening selling pest control services.  They're organic-based, great customer service, and only $30/month.  Apparently around here pest control is something pretty much everybody does--it's like a utility bill.
My first inclination is to say "YES YES YES! Get rid of the creepy bugs and the scorpions that I can't see!!"  But then I have a couple problems:
1) We are starving college students right now and really don't need the bill when we haven't even seen any pests around the house except a couple ants that aren't bugging us (get it? get it? hahaha)
2) Shouldn't I be trying to live IN nature?

So the first problem pretty much means we aren't getting pest control because the husband has control of the purse strings (which I have absolutely no problem with, btw.  We'd be in a cardboard box if I was in charge).

As for the second problem.  This is not my natural habitat.  I don't belong in a desert, I belong in a forest on a mountain somewhere overlooking a lake.  Lots and lots and lots of trees.  But I do believe that every creature and creation has a spirit.  The earth has a spirit, plants have spirits, the creepy bugs have spirits.  They all have the right to a life and pursuit of happiness.  They deserve to fulfill the reason for their existence.  The fact is, they really aren't hurting me.  I don't even see them, so there's no serious anxiety problems.  They aren't biting us, or eating our food.  Shouldn't I just let them alone?  Live in harmony with all living things?  How can I proclaim to love nature when I am at war with little creatures just because they make me want to run away screaming or jump on a chair?
I can't relax in nature if I'm getting attacked though.  Going out at night in a green area around here is just asking to be swarmed with something.  I can't even take a walk because there are cockroaches skittering across my path every two feet.  It's not a very peaceful thing, and makes meditation difficult, to say the least.  Large bugs make my skin crawl.  Especially when there are a lot of them.
So now I'm at war with myself.  Fortunately I don't have to find a resolution to this war any time soon, but it's really making me think.

Breastfeeding

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

A new way to look at breastfeeding

This guy is a total genius.  The end.

The weight loss post

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

A mundane sort of post about losing weight

I do not do well with schedules.  I'm one of those people who will follow a diet and exercise program rigorously, to the point of obsession, for about a week.  Maybe two.  Then I start to reward myself for doing so well.  Not that food is a reward, really.  It should be about survival.  I WANT it to be about survival.  I do like to enjoy what I eat, but my new mindset needs to be that it is fuel.  
I've considered a juice fast, but I'm not entirely sure what I did with my juicer.  Also, I think that would go terribly.  I like to chewthings.  That's what teeth are for.
Here's my new idea (my new AWESOME idea): I am going to write down everything I ought to be doing onto slips of paper.  I will then put those papers into a hat and mix them up and pull one out every morning.  I will only do one thing each day, but I will do it WELL.  I'll have an exercise pile, and a food pile.

Some examples:
no sugar today
no sugar including fruit today--add more veggies
no carbs today
green smoothie for breakfast today--heavy on the 'green'

p90x cardio video today
40 minutes of laps in the pool today
1 yoga session today
walk to classes today instead of taking a bike, take the long way
no internet except for schoolwork today

If something really doesn't work with the day's schedule, I'll just put it back and pull out a different one.  I think it may work, because it's so unpredictable.

Any suggestions on things to add to my hat?  Any ideas for a ritual/spell I can create to stay focused?

starting weight: 182 lbs

An Introduction

I spend a lot of time writing about my faith journey, and the emotional fallout of growing up human.  In order to preserve the tone of Spiral Grove, I created this blog for my other elements.

Fire ~ intactivism, lactivism, and any other cause to which I become attached

Air ~ my educational studies (which are awesome, in case you were unaware)

Earth ~ my recipes, housekeeping tricks, and the day-to-day life of being a mother to a thriving 2 year old, and wife to a man who eats stuff

Should you feel the need to probe the corners of my brain devoted to other things, head on over to Spiral Grove.

Spirit ~ self actualization, faith journey, how to mix Mormon and Pagan without losing balance

Water ~ sometimes angsty words on the process of letting buried emotions come to the surface and coming to terms with the world and reality I inhabit