Monday, January 25, 2010

A Conscience

The other day my friend J and I had a great conversation about what we put into our bodies and what we put on our bodies (face creams etc). J had just watched the movie Food Inc.

I'm eager to see the movie. I have been thinking a lot about our conversation. My grandparents (my Mum's parents) both died in their mid-60's of breast/bone cancer and a brain tumor. I miss them both, and I worry about the history of cancer in my family.

I'm not someone who will ever be fanatical about what I put in my body, or on my body. I simply do not have that sort of discipline. I wish I did. I admire people who can stick to a regime of organic foods only and exercising 3-5 times a week. I'm someone who puts in an effort every day to eat well and exercise regularly. But I also slip up. However, I figure all my efforts will add up over the years and are a lot better than never trying at all.

I rarely if at all eat meat or eggs. I drink milk though, so will look at buying organic milk. I have decided to make even more of an effort for my husband to buy free range meat/eggs. Organic groceries are more expensive of course, but if we can afford to spend money on other random things - we can afford good groceries, and cut back on the random things we don't really need. Its not just about me, its about my husband also - and living healthy long lives. My friend J brought up an excellent point about there not being the fructose corn syrup in everything when our parents were growing up. It angers me that its in everything here in the US. If we can be aware of what has HFCS in it, and cut some of it out of our diets that would be great.

We got talking about parabens. Parabens are in cosmetics, face creams etc to preserve their life. I got home and looked at some of my face creams. I use Yes to Carrots which is a vegan line, and I'm happy to say Paraben free! So, next step... I'm going to switch up my deodorant to something more earth friendly (body friendly).

Like I said, I'm not going to be all-about-organic. I like some processed foods. But all in all I like to cook fresh foods every day, and the efforts I make now will hopefully help over the years.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Home

I think since my sweet aussie friend Anna left I've been feeling homesick again. Argh! I though I had that little monster type feeling conquered once and for all. 3 years later and its still a little inward struggle. Still, I try to spin my thoughts around to more positive ones... eg. how awesome it is to get to live in and really experience another country for a solid amount of time! But as you well know, we all get our moments in life:) There are many things I feel grateful about, and I like to look at the bigger picture and think of all the freedoms (among other things) that I have in life. When I get those nasty little negative feelings (this sounds cheesy probably) but I like to give myself a slap in the face with a dose of **perspective**. I think about women in other countries (ie. the Middle East) where they don't have the same freedoms we do in western cultures. I think to myself how grateful I am to live in the US. I'm naturally such an independent woman, and can't imagine the daily inner struggle if I lived in a country which offered less freedom. I think about the job I have, which I love. I think about what I've learnt about myself here - and how going through something that feels a little tough can really build your character. Thoughts like that make me smile and feel happy for everything. When I get the homesick feeling I almost scoff at myself and think "come on Jones, is it really that bad?". I make myself get over it.

My 3rd year wedding anniversary is coming up in a couple of months, and husband and I were talking about what to do this year. We decided "no presents" this year, but that we'd each plan a day devoted to the other person. I'm quite excited about this, and think it will be lovely to give such a gift full of such thought. I've already planned some things mentally, but can't say just now, just in case my husband reads my humble little blog :)

Its been raining and stormy all week long. I love it. We went walking in the rain on the weekend. Some days at lunch I have been sitting and just watching the rain. Rain is such a novelty here. Its so refreshing having some.

Monday, January 18, 2010

The time has come

I just had an eye exam. After more than a decade working on computers... I need... computer glasses. The optometrist said I have the eyes of a 40 year old. Oh crap.

He suggested I become a fire fighter, anything to get away from the computer, because my eyes will only get worse.

I chose some ray ban reading glasses that are interesting and I *think* suit me.

Suddenly I feel old. I'm turning the big 3-0 this year. (yes, I know that logically that is really quite young). But along with 3-0 comes glasses and I seem to have to work out more to stay the same darn weight.

End of pfffffft moment.

I'm going to go and fight some fires.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

2010 and lack of resolutions

I’m at work and just treated myself (ok, that happens every day) to a chocolate chip cookie and a cup of coffee. Mmm.

The holidays were really nice. We went to Florida for a holiday… spent time with really good friends of ours. We stayed up most nights drinking beer and talking till gone 1-2pm. They just did their normal daily things, and included us. I ate soul food for the first time (it was fantastic!) up in West Palm Beach in Florida.
Then my husband and I spent a couple of days in South Beach Miami. That was ok. We stayed in the Art Deco district which was totally crazy. It’s the place for party-goers, if you love the nightlife. But we’re not. It wasn’t our scene, but at least we can say we saw South Beach. One of the days we were there we did a drive through the Keys. The water was beautiful. The Keys are relatively untouched and reminded me somewhat of Hawaii and Western Australian beaches. The other day we did a drive up through Alligator Alley in hope to see alligators! We didn’t, but it was a peaceful drive.

Now I’m back at work and happy to be in routine again. We have a super busy 6 months ahead of us. Between visits to New York and LA, my Mum and friends visiting. Weddings to attend. We’re going to Yosemite. All the in between time will be wonderfully “normal” also. I thrive on routine.

Taking one day off a week was the best things I ever did. I’m enjoying my work more, and have more time to read books, play music and even be able to contemplate craft projects. I just finished reading “The Book Thief” which was brilliant and devastating. I would have liked to seen the ending expanded somewhat. But all in all it was a 9.5 out of 10 for me! (big call I know). I just started reading “hickory dickory dock” by Agatha Christie. I like her stories, but the book is a little juvenile for my taste. Its something I could have read at 12 years old. Still I’m going to stick it out. The next book I want to read is one Daniel is currently reading “The Maltese Falcon”.

I started teaching myself guitar recently. I have some of the main chords down, but need to get the guitar tuned… I have to learn how to do that. A lot of it is having the time, with everything else to do…

I’m excited about 2010. I feel like I’m in a good place and am glad to say my homesickness has finally worn off. I love America, and I love living here. Its such a diverse country. You can travel a few hours and almost be in a totally different culture, yet are still in the same country. This last week 2 of my closest friends in California, Anna and Wendy, left our area… with their husbands and moved to New York and to the desert. I was very sad to see them go, and have a heavy heart now that my friend Anna is gone for a short while. We get each other. We’re both Aussies, and have developed a wonderful friendship in the last year and a half. We’ve gone though some difficult times together here, and we’ve laughed a lot. I think laughing our way through it, and paying each other out constantly kept us both sane. Our friendship is one of the things that makes me glad I came to the States. I have this feeling we’ll be close friends for a very long time. Building a strong friendship with someone doesn’t happen easily. Often it takes going through something. As lovely as Southern California is, for us, understanding and feeling comfortable in this culture took time. I feel like Anna helped me with that. She helped me get over the difficult period of homesickness. The Wednesday in the year. I’ll miss our jokes that’s for sure. But for the most part, my happiness for Anna overrides the feelings I have. Getting to experience a new city, then heading home. What a fantastic way to end this American experience!

I don’t really believe in New Years Resolutions, because I rarely stick to them. They are always to “lose weight”, “learn a language”, “do better with this and that”. There are things I’m constantly trying to work on personally. I’m on a tight budget this year, which is somewhat daunting yet exciting. I’m looking forward to finding cheap ways of doing everything! I literally don’t have money even for a $20 dress or a $5 vintage purse. If I find something… I have to absolutely love it to pieces. And it has to be ridiculously inexpensive. My “fun” budget for the year for clothing is… wait for it… $100. Crazy you say? Well. I have enough clothes to last me the next 2 decades. I feel overwhelmed when I look into my closet. So I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’m also not letting myself buy “products” eg makeup etc until I’ve totally run out of something. I gave my husband all my cards to hold onto, so if I’m feeling like some “retail therapy” or am in love with something… there’s no way I can get it.

That’s all folks. From the terrible blogger… :)