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Sunday, 31 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 31 Dec, 2006 |
Saturday, 30 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 30 Dec, 2006 |
Friday, 29 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 29 Dec, 2006 |
Thursday, 28 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 28 Dec, 2006 |
Okay, I've thought more about the home-cooked food goal, and a way to quantify reliably. I eat 5-6 small meals a day. Let's go with 6. On most days, I'd like 5 of those to be home-cooked. So the resolution is: 5 of 6 meals a day from home-cooked food, five days a week. I think as I dig into this one, it will be harder than I think, as I want this to include all food--so the easiest way to do it would be to stop snacking, just so things were easier to monitor. Also, I'm finding talking about what I eat is icking me out (too many diet flashbacks), so I'm going to stop now for a while.
~Enough about me...~ | Cat Connor | 28 Dec, 2006 |
Wednesday, 27 December
I don't usually make resolutions. For years, I've merely resolved not to make any. This year, there are a couple of things I'd like to accomplish, in a goal-oriented way. The year ticking over is a good time for renewal and commitment. And hell, who needs excuses? I just feel like throwing down a couple challenges to myself. Challenge the first: regular exercise. The most objective way to measure exercise that I can think of is calories burned. Also, the treadmill has this number ready for me. On days I do something different, I'll use estimated calories. I've opened a special account at Joe's Goals, and posted the badge to the right. One point (for now) is equal to 50 calories. Yes, I know 150 calories is a lame start, but it's the best I can do...right now. We'll see where I am in a month or so. Summary of challenge one: By February 1, attain 200 calories per workout. 400 by May 1. Re-assess after that. Challenge the second: good food. I'm not sure how to measure this one publicly, so I'll leave that as is and make some kind of private marker. I'll be posting regularly with progress. Summary of challenge two: 80% of my food will be home-cooked. Wish me fortitude and luck! PS: Yes, I know I'm starting early. Why wait!
~Enough about me...~ | Cat Connor | 27 Dec, 2006 |
| [Comments](1)
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 27 Dec, 2006 |
Tuesday, 26 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 26 Dec, 2006 |
Sunday, 24 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 24 Dec, 2006 |
Friday, 22 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 22 Dec, 2006 |
I know I'm a little late, but all month Jenn at New American Dream has been sending super holiday simplification tips from the Holiday Survival Kit all month. The tips are full of great information from staying frugal and green, to making the holidays more meaningful with a handmade touch. One of my favorite tips is about re-gifting, which I always thought was how you got rid of stuff you didn't want last year. But what if you pass along the last good book you read, to a friend who will appreciate it? I'm always looking for book recommendations. To receive a friend's copy as a gift, with a note saying how much they liked it, seems like a wonderful, thoughtful way to recommend reading. I've really enjoyed being on the New American Dream mailing list this season.
~Useful~ | Cat Connor | 22 Dec, 2006 |
Thursday, 21 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 21 Dec, 2006 |
I finally had the opportunity to try cauliflower ala Redfox. (Note: "a long time" is about 30 minutes--check after 20. You want lots of brown bits.) I am, well, was, a cauliflower hater. Something that looks like brains should at least have the decency to taste disgusting or slimy or something. But no, cauliflower, cooked in less princely manners, tastes like nothing so much as nothing. But oh, the roasties. They are like candy. I immediately wanted more and more. For our dinner, I roasted a large head of cauliflower, along with a teensy bit of fresh jalapeno. When it was all nicely brown and yummy, I put what was left (er, I may have eaten some right out of the pan) on a tortilla with a few refritos. So, so good. Even better the next day for leftovers.
~Food~ | Cat Connor | 21 Dec, 2006 |
Wednesday, 20 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 20 Dec, 2006 |
I was irked last night to get a renewal form for my yearly pass-by-mail from TriMet. $711 they want. That's $693 plus postage plus a handling fee. To buy the passes myself each month will cost $756. That's right, for a full year of up-front support, I don't even save the cost of one monthly pass. Not even 10 measely percent do I save. Dear TriMet: a yearly pass is quite an investment. If you don't make it worth it, I won't bite. Now, I'm not the type to drive more because of this type of tiny inconvenience, but a lot of people are. C'mon, gimme a deal. In the meantime, I'll be going month-to-month. Speaking of transportation, this AskMe got deleted because it was kind of ranty. I re-asked for them and got a few interesting answers. I would have liked more detail, but if I want that, I s'pose I can do my own footwork. I'm interested, but I'm also darned busy. How do people do it? Work all day, keep house, cook, even make home improvements? I think you're all on meth.
~General Tomfoolery~ | Cat Connor | 20 Dec, 2006 |
Tuesday, 19 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 19 Dec, 2006 |
Monday, 18 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 18 Dec, 2006 |
Sunday, 17 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 17 Dec, 2006 |
Saturday, 16 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 16 Dec, 2006 |
| [Comments](1)
Friday, 15 December
I love to find new stuff online to make my life a little easier. The following three have had quite a bit of buzz. I've been trying them all out for a while, and have decided they are worth passing along. Joe's Goals is a straightforward goal-minding site. The interface is simple and useful. Joe is working hard on the application, so updates are frequent and well done. At Joe's Goals, you name your goal, and each day you can enter any number of checks for each thing you complete (for example, you might have several checks under "drink a glass of water"). You determine the number of points each check represents. Getting on the treadmill is harder for me than drinking water, so I assign that goal a higher point value. At the end of the day, your points give you a good idea of how much you accomplished toward your goals that day. I've been using JG since about the day it launched, and haven't gotten bored with it yet. It has helped me do some simple things, like flossing, more consistently. I find myself making positive progress so I can get more points. There's a lot more to JG, including some community aspects. I definitely recommend taking a look. Joe's Goals is free. Wesabe is exactly the expense tracker I've been looking for. I have an uploader on my desktop that grabs my bank transactions. A few minutes tagging, and I have a chart that tells me what I've spent, and where. Multiple tags mean I can keep track of both "gifts" and "christmas". Though I haven't yet, you can also set goals for each of your tagged spending categories. If you'd like an application that makes keeping track of your spending at least a little fun, this is it. Wesabe is free. Finally, I've been using Pzizz for a couple of weeks. I find I can't use it at work for fear of interruptions, and I can't use it on the bus because because of noise, but I've fit it in to my routine by taking a pzizz as soon as I walk in the door after work, drained, facing the evening's activities. A 20-minute energizing nap perks me up and gets me ready to go. My only complaint so far is that despite the fact that the sample naps are mp3s, you can't actually export a nap from the program in mp3 format. I've had to convert each nap to make them manageable. You can download two free nap samples. The Pzizz modules are about $25 each.
~Useful~ | Cat Connor | 15 Dec, 2006 |
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 15 Dec, 2006 |
Thursday, 14 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 14 Dec, 2006 |
Wednesday, 13 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 13 Dec, 2006 |
Saturday, 09 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 09 Dec, 2006 |
Friday, 08 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 08 Dec, 2006 |
Wednesday, 06 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 06 Dec, 2006 |
Tuesday, 05 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 05 Dec, 2006 |
Monday, 04 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 04 Dec, 2006 |
Sunday, 03 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 03 Dec, 2006 |
Friday, 01 December
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 01 Dec, 2006 |
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