The End is Near

Tomorrow I am quitting smoking. I have my patches that were sent to me from the North Dakota QuitNet service. I am both nervous and excited for this new step in my life. I have smoked for a very long time. I don't remember very much of my life without smoking. I started at a young age and it progressed into the ugly nasty habit it is today.

What I'm excited for:

1. Smelling better
2. Better breathing
3. Better tastebuds
4. Health
5. Saving Money
6. More time to do other things

What I'm nervous about:

1. Withdrawal symptoms
2. Gaining weight

Hmmmm, pros outweigh the cons a bit, huh? I hope I'll still be one of the cool kids... ;)

Bottled Water vs. The World

Before you reach for a bottled water, I suggest you watch this movie. The website is here: Tapped. Bottled water is evil. Stop buying it, stop drinking it, and support the cause. Bottled water is a bad, bad thing. Don't pay money for contaminated tap water. Save some lives. Save the environment. DO IT!!!

I was on the TV yesterday

http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/57428/group/News/

I was on television talking about state grants. I'm told I did well, I hope I did. I feel I could have been more prepared and looked a bit better, but there's nothing to be done about it now. Check out the link above if you want to see it.

Aidan getting married

This morning as I was getting ready to walk out the door for work and school, my son, Aidan, had some interesting news for me. "Hey, Mom, so there's this girl at school and she says that when she grows up, she's going to marry me." He shook his head and looked down at this crazy notion. "I have to think about it though."

As any good mother would do, I busted out laughing. He has periods of talking just like an adult. I love talking to him. His imagination is vast and ever-changing. I told him that if he already knows who he's going to marry, he may as well start saving up now for the wedding. He preceded to look at me like I was insane and go back to helping his brother put on his shoes.

Nevertheless, my morning kicked off to a great start (even if I did wake up late). How did your morning turn out?

Working out

This is going to be a quick post. I still have another 3 of these to catch up on besides my daily commitment.

I hate working out. I love the idea of running or dedicating 1-2 hours a day to sweating and toning but I hate actually doing it. I wasn't always this way though. I used to be athletic in high school. When I started slacking off and partying, I lost my athletics and slowly started the bad habits that led to my obesity issue.

Last year I managed to lose 70 pounds. Well the year before and last year. This year I want to take off the rest and get fit. I'm about 45 pounds from my goal weight. I am far away from fitness. Its been about 10 years since I worked out regularly. I am contemplating getting a personal trainer just so I can learn how to work out again and what will work best for me. Here's to finding motivation and getting healthy.

Hairless No More

More and more I have become fascinated with the beauty rituals that have been adapted into the western culture I live in. It dawned on me this week as I was trying to sooth another case of razor burn, why do I shave? There really isn't a justified purpose behind it at all. It's not proven to be more hygienic. Men don't shave their armpits, legs, or bikini area and as long as they shower, they smell fine. So, really, the only reason women go through the time and effort of shaving is to create some unnatural illusion that they are not born with hair.

I started shaving when I was 9 or 10 years old. I look at my 8 year old daughter now and I would never allow her to start shaving in the next couple of years, that's just ridiculous. The only time in my life I could see me shaving as justified, was when I was a swimmer. As a swimmer, shaving off all the hair on your body can equal shaving off seconds on your best time at a meet. That's why they wear swim caps. Male swimmers even shave. But, I haven't been a swimmer since the 9th grade.

I decided to do my research and figure out why women started shaving to begin with. We all came from somewhere else, and most other women in other countries do not shave. I found a little gem of a column here by Cecil Adams. This all started from marketers. Go figure. Ads started showing women in fancy new sleeveless dresses with bare underarms. It took a few years, but women in the U.S. and U.K. finally gave into to the ploy. Legs came later when sheer stockings came into style. It blows my mind to think that I have been shaving all these years because some ad told my elders I should.

I won't go on ranting. I have made the decision to stop shaving. I'm sure it will take some getting used to, for both me and my partner. I'm not making some huge feminist statement here. I just honestly don't see the point. There is no practical reason to do it, so I'm not going to. I know I will be saving money by not buying all those expensive razors and shaving cream. I will be saving the environment by being able to cut the 5-15 minutes of extra shower time it takes to shave. I am always looking for ways to save time and use less resources.

Call me gross, call me crazy, call me what you will. I am not going to waste my time with an unpractical task any longer. I really don't care if other people think I'm ugly or gross. They don't have to look, and I am not asking anyone to jump on the bandwagon with me. This is my choice and I'm happy to be making it. 

Rant: Anti-Obama

Okay, so I have a few posts to catch up on in order to win the Ultimate Blog Challenge. To do that, I'm going to dedicate a couple of these to rants. I happen to be one of those people who likes to share their opinion, whether it's needed or not. So, if you don't want to read it, feel free to look away now.

I have a major problem with all of the Anti-Obama talk I've been hearing lately. Now, if you have always been a republican and just do not like democrats, I understand. To be honest, republicans do not have a lot going for them in their corner this year. I think that was proven in the Iowa caucus earlier this week. The clowns they have running for red candidate are ridiculous. I would love to know where they dug these people up. They are pretty entertaining to watch. I feel bad for the people who actually believe the crap that is being spewed from their voice holes.

Why have people turned on Obama? There are several reasons I have seen around. First off, he bailed out the banks. Yes, he did do that. What would have happened if the banks didn't get bailed out? The only historical thing that we could relate it to would be the Great Depression of 1929. Yes, it would have been that bad. 19 months after 30 billion dollars was given by the Federal Reserve, industrial production rate was still 14 percent below it's peak in 2007. When the Great Depression happened, industrial production was 54 percent below it's peak. Think of how quickly that would have happened if they hadn't gotten bailed out. They didn't think it could happen back then, but it did. It could have happened in 2008, and it would have.

Next thing people like to say Obama is doing wrong is health care. I know, how dare he try to instill some crazy socialist program into our democracy? We don't support that communist mumbo jumbo over here in 'Merica! News flash, if you went to a public school, hung out in a public park, or gone to check out a book at your local library, you are supporting socialism at it's best. Social programs are things like public education, public transportation, public parks, rest areas, etc. These are all things that everyone pays for so that they can take part in their convenience. Tell me, why would it be so awful to have nation wide health care? While we're at it, why can't we put more money into education and take some out of things like defense? We have a pretty well equipped military, I'm not saying let's take food away from a soldier, but do we really need another super high tech robot drone? There's other areas to cut spending, this, of course, was just an example.

I'm not going to get into everything people say, it would take me all night to defend everything people say he's done wrong. Bottom line, he will make mistakes. He is human, after all. One thing people neglect to realize is that he is not the sole person running our country. A lot of people put the blame on the nation symbol (president) but, who really gets those bills onto Obama's desk? Who is shutting down democratic ideas and things that would boost the economy left and right? It's Congress, people. Congress runs your country and they do it through you. The polarization in Congress right now is awful. Republicans have had the upper-hand for the past few years and they simply will not budge when it comes to anything democratic. These are people that everyone elects. My suggestion is, if you want to see something done:

1. Talk to your senator or representative. Tell them you are a concerned constituent and that you don't like certain things that aren't being done. Tell them about specific bills. Write them, email them, call them, or stop by in a local office. They are there to listen to you. They have to, its kind of their job.
2. Join an interest group that is geared towards what you stand for. It is a great way to stay updated and also get involved without having to feel like you don't matter.
3. Go vote! If you don't vote, don't complain. It doesn't take long and it's your country. What the hell could be more important than where you live? Stop being an apathetic lazy butt and voice your opinion, or shut the hell up. I have no time for people who complain about things going wrong in their country and turn around and refuse to vote. 

Closing statement, how did you think cleaning up after bush would go? What Obama has done for those curious.

End rant here. I am always happy to share my sources and debate with people. Be honest. I can take it.

Feeling awful

I don't know what I caught but today I have felt like absolute crap. It started when I went in to donate plasma and continued throughout the day. Tonight I feel somewhat better. I proceeded to eat mac-n-cheese and peppermint candy, however. Let's just leave it as that didn't help much.

I work in the morning and I have student senate things I need to accomplish tomorrow, as well. I need to get better so I can complete my lists of tasks. Lets hope I can get more sleep soon and get everything done. Wish me luck. I promise my blog posts will be more interesting in the future.

2012 New Year's Resolutions

1. Exercise 
2. Blog regularly
3. Continue to change to a more green way of living
4. Read 50 books
5. Follow our budget
6. Be time efficient
7. Put in my best effort in my studies
8. Quit smoking
9. Stay positive
10. Novel

I'm not giving them the descriptions I did last year. These are mainly for me to keep myself accountable. All of these things will help me be better in my life and I need to do them. There are many more things I could add to the list but I think 10 things is enough for now and the rest can be placed under my ultimate goal list. I have already started on some of these and I will continue to work on all of these throughout the year.

2011 Resolutions

Looking back to my last year's resolutions, I can already see that I failed to accomplish some of them. This only means I will have to work much harder to achieve said goals this year. I decided to go over them now, see where my progress is, and then I can work towards setting my next years resolutions.

1. Go to class and study. I think that I achieved this. My previous lack of motivation and focus were replaced in 2011. I managed to make the Dean's List for the first time spring semester. I ended my summer semester with A's across the board and this past fall I got 5 A's and 1 B. I am actually fairly surprised, but I made it to class on time every day, minus a couple sick days near the end. I also worked hard on making study guides and keeping up with all the required reading that needed to be done. I think all of these things helped me develop better study skills and achieve my goal. I definitely left room for improvement, though. I know that I wasn't performing my best and that is where I should be at. I want to make it to a good grad school and get a good career that I'm happy in, for that I need to work harder.

2. Convert to a Vegan lifestyle. I lasted about 3 or 4 months as a vegan. I have to say, giving up cheese was probably the hardest part. Nutritional yeast and some of the soy/rice/veggie cheeses can come close, but it is just not the same. I did continue as a vegetarian. I was not strict about it, I had meat at my friend's wedding and then again in November. I have been eating meat since. :( I will get back on track again. My main concern is cost at this point. I do want to lessen my meat intake overall, I just need to find an effective way to do it.

3. Go Green. I started recycling anything and everything that my local recycling center would accept. Everyone in the family got into it. I also did my best to use less water, conserve energy sources by shutting and unplugging them when not in use, and cut consumption of resources. I think I've been doing good in this area. I continue to try and improve on this all the time.

4. Pay Bills on Time and Follow my Budget. This got better. However, I failed to do well in this area. I succumb to consumerism just as much as some of my other fellow Americans. It's awful. I need to work on this. I am still in debt, I still have bills I need to pay, and I still have bad credit. This will be one to carry on into 2012.

5. Exercise 4 Times a Week. Yeah... let's just say this lasted a month and then I gave up. I'm going to leave it at that without trying to make an excuse for it. Let's be honest, there is no excuse, I'm just lazy and hate exercising.

6. Write a Novel. I got to about 34,000 in the Camp NANOWRIMO challenge. I however stopped trying and fell off the writing wagon. I did get the book Ready, Set, Novel by Lindsey Grant, Tavia Stewart-Streit and Chris Baty for Christmas, from laura_megan. I think that it will help me get focused on my novel writing this year. I hope for the best.


7. Blog twice weekly. This didn't happen, I don't know why, I just failed. I signed up to do the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month though. I hope that kicks my but into gear.


8. Quit Smoking. I got close, but no cigar. I will be attempting this one again. It's bad for me all around. I know this. I will do it. 


9. Be Clutter Free. In August I managed to get rid of a TON of our old stuff in a garage sale. I didn't get rid of everything unfortunately. My garage is still full of unneeded things and so is my house, but it's significantly less full. This year I will get rid of the rest, hopefully.


10. Rigorous Honesty. I did what I could, but I still held some things back. I don't want to go into depth with this one right now, but I think that I can expand on this with a different idea in 2012. I'm just going to leave it there because it's become sort of a soft subject with me. 


Next blog will be of 2012 resolutions. Stay tuned.