Leaving Tomorrow

We are going home from Kentucky tomorrow. Time has flown by. I am really surprised by how fast the week has gone. When I get home, I'm housesitting again for a bit and then in less than two weeks school starts! I don't know if I'm prepared. I need to get mentally prepared for it, mostly. The first semester I was very careful to go out and buy all of the supplies I thought I would need - highlighters, mechanical pencils, erasers, colored pencils, etc. Most of them I did end up using, but in later semesters I've needed less and less of all that fun stuff. I hardly used any notebook filler paper last semester because I took all of my notes on the computer or on printed out powerpoint presentations. This semester I would expect to be the same. I really stocked up on filler paper the first semester and I bet we will still be using it when Aftasie learns how to write.

I will be using plenty of notecards, however, since next semester I will be taking pharmacology and memorizing many medications and details about them.

Catastrophic Light Packing Results

are non-existant. Everything has been going fine, even though I only have three shirts. I must say, though, that any ideas of rewearing shirts have completely gone out of the window in this Kentucky heat. The humidity is down to a merciful 66% down from 97% a few days ago. It actually feels cool outside at 80 degrees. 

Homework Emergency

Well, it's not exactly an emergency, but I forgot all of my stats notes at home. And I just realized there is indeed an exam due this week (in two days!) as well as all of this week's homework. I guess I am going to be spending a lot of time in front of the computer. I thought I would have worked on it before this but days have just been flying by.

It has been very hot and muggy here in Kentucky. When we stepped off the plane I instantly felt the muggy air and heat. It is pretty amazing. Last night there was lots of lightening here, and then it poured rain! I stepped into Walmart to pick something up and I heard a thunderous rain on the roof. It was amazing. Nothing like Willamette Valley rain.

Well I guess I am off to remedy the homework situation. :\

Flying Light

I have a chance to try some minimalist ideas on a trip! One of Porter's brothers is flying us out to Kentucky for a family reunion and we will be there for a week. For myself, my list is pretty simple.

• I will wear an outfit for the flight: boots and socks, jeans, tank top and undershirt (I wear something like this this because they work splendidly for nursing!), and I will wear one pair of earrings which will be the only pair along
• 2 shirts
• 2 undershirts
• 1 pair socks (going to wear flipflops most of the time, but I also need the boots)
• 4 pairs of underwear
• 1 skirt
• flipflops
• deodorant
• hair conditioner
• facial moisturizer
• floss + toothbrush
• mp3 player
• a book? I kind of expect to be so busy with Aftasie that there will be no time to read
• laptop (we're just bringing one, and since mine is lighter and more portable I think it will be my mac)
• a purse with my wallet in it, which I will stash in my knapsack for the flight

We are staying in a hotel for a total of four nights of the eight, so I should be able to get shampoo (I'm counting on it!), and Porter is bringing toothpaste so I'm not going to bring any more. I am convinced we might be able to get a complimentary tube at the hotel, but I'm not sure, and Porter definitely isn't into going without toothpaste on my whim :P 

We'll be able to do laundry at Porter's family's house, so I should be good asking to throw in my shirts with someone else's laundry, since I won't have a full load to do even when all of my clothes need to be washed. 

For Aftasie, it's a little more tricky. I'm planning on bringing a knapsack for myself (my "personal item") and bringing a diaper bag as my carryon. I'm bringing a week's worth of clothes for her (yes, they'll get dirty before the week is up but we can do laundry), as well as enough diapers/wipes for the trip. We'll buy some diapers when we get there. I also need to bring her diaper oinments which I'm packing in 2.5 ounce baby jars. I looked over the TSA guidelines and there doesn't seem to be any regulation as to whether the containers are glass or plastic. Everything liquid/gel I'm bringing for her and myself should fit very comfortably in the regulation quart-sized bag. 

For Aftasie I also need to bring a water cup and possibly a bowl, and we're also bringing a bag of assorted snacks that will probably get tossed in my knapsack to bring my bag count down to two including all of our snacks. 

We will also need to bring her carseat, which going to be a pain to carry but necessary if we want to get anywhere on the other end! It also flies free in addition to our regular carryon + personal items, which is very nice.

Aftasie pictures

Aftasie has been growing like a beautiful flower (thought I was going to say weed, didn't you! ;) Since no one will see pictures if I post them on facebook, here are some!

This is while we were housesitting in Eugene

It is hard to take pictures of us together in the camera because she wants to play with the computer

Haha, defending her lettuce from our friend's chickens! :) 

She has gotten pretty good at feeding herself, though it still is a colossal mess. 

Bye Bye Pocket Wallet

Years ago I started using a nifty little grey "wallet" that was essentially just a zippered pouch. It has always been hard to find cards, and cash would just be wadded up between the cards. Over a year ago the zipper broke, which means that besides having to look for every card every time, all of the cards fall out periodically.

4 years ago someone gave me a beautiful (big) red wallet for my birthday. I put it in my closet and forgot about it, because I didn't want to have to carry a purse everywhere and this wallet definitely is not a pocket wallet. Every time I've purged I've hung on to it because it's so nice, and I thought I might use it someday. The day has come! I've realized that I almost always carry a purse or bag around anyway because I can't fit everything gracefully into my pockets anymore (keys, wallet, etc). So I'm preparing to say goodbye to my trusty old broken zippered pouch.

For now, I'll be slipping the wallet into either my casual orange bag or my black purse that I reserve for less casual situations. In the future, I want to have a multipurpose small leather purse that can be used for wallet and essentials whether I'm wearing jeans or a dress. I think a key to making it work in all situations might be having two shoulder straps - a long one and a short one. I don't like wearing a bag that can't be put across my body for ease of carrying but I also don't think it seems appropriate for dress wearing. I'd rather have a short strap for that to just go over one shoulder. I guess even better would be an adjustable strap, but who knows what I'll find.

Goodbye old wallet, in with the new. (I know it's a horrible picture, but what's better, bad pictures or no pictures?)

Budgeting Time

I have been pretty excited about getting our budget worked out for when we have more predictable income, but it struck me that there is another thing that we have a limited amount of and must manage and that is time. Unlike the disparities between the spending capabilities of the rich and poor, everyone has the same amount of time, and furthermore, everyone must use it all.

I have never been taught how to effectively manage my time. My later teenage years seem to be a blur of hanging out on the internet, working a few hours a week (and complaining about and dreading my two-hour "work days") and doing projects with the family. That's not to say I wasn't taught how to work. On the contrary, I think my dad instilled in us all a very strong work ethic and I think about that every time I find myself meticulously picking things up off the carpet (my dad was big on picking things up off the floor. I do vacuum, but sometimes it's faster just to get your fingers out and pick up the 20 pieces of food on the carpet. I personally think I'm very good at picking crumbs up off the carpet :).

But work without managing your time can be pretty ineffective. I remember having great lists of family projects but not getting much done because everything was so important we couldn't pick one thing to start with and finish. It would be so incredibly stressful to have deadlines because we had a hard time meeting them. I remember putting cabinets in the bus at 9pm on the day we were leaving for our first bus trip. Yes, we did do a lot of work on the bus, but I think we could have been more efficient at our work and part of that would have been organizing our time better. That would have lead to a lot less stress when push came to shove.

But I digress, this is not about how I used to manage my time, this is just an example of something I personally need to work on and pay attention to. My time management is definitely better, mostly due to the necessity of having a large school workload on top of having a family, but I think it could be better.

What are ways you manage your time? Do you have a schedule? The idea of a schedule appealed to me at one time but then I found I never stuck to it and I never accurately scheduled the time I needed to get things done. 

A Family Again

Porter just finished training to be a CNA (certified nursing assistant). It should be a *lot* easier to find work now, since there is pretty much always a need for CNAs. Not too many people want to clean up after people who can't take themselves to the toilet.

So today started off kind of slow, at 7:30am, because Aftasie woke us up. Porter made breakfast and coffee, and then we got ready for the day and worked on some projects and then he took Aftasie out with him to do errands. I have so missed having time like this. We have been very privileged to have plenty of time as a family. I shouldn't say "privileged" as in it was just a random occurrence. We've chosen not to pursue jobs that would require us to be spending long hours at a job. We have chosen to live with a lot less than we could have. It is true that the no-work situation lately is not one I would have chosen, but it's worked out OK nonetheless. Also, we are in a unique time where I spend all of my time at a "job" that I don't get paid to do -- school, and of course lately Porter has been in school as well. It will be much easier to maintain a part-time working schedule and do OK financially when we can both contribute to the money-making.

I was musing on all of the things we already do simply. Porter is practically a minimalist. I have always been amazed at his small collection of possessions. Things I would have had a *really* hard time parting with he seems to be able to look at rationally. Case in point, when I got married he had a super-cool vacuum coffee maker. I complained about it once I started working early in the mornings because it takes a little longer than a drip pot. So he found a really nice drip coffee maker at the thrift store and he just got rid of the vacuum pot. Just GOT RID OF IT. I was so shocked. Even now I feel sentimental over it. It was such a neat way to brew coffee and, well, I still feel nostalgic for it and I hadn't even been acquainted with it as long as he had. But what were we going to do with two coffee makers, especially in our tiny studio? Sigh.

Another thing coffee related is that we own a Moka pot. It is a small pot that can be used to make a type of espresso-like coffee (the pressure is not near what a commercial machine could produce). I had gotten a biggish espresso maker at a yard sale for $4, which I was pretty proud of. But then I found the Moka pot at a thrift store, which I had been looking for for a long time, so I  snatched it up. It took a little while to realize that we didn't need both, and I decided on the Moka pot because I love them so much. One more thing I could add to the coffee collection is a milk steamer, but I don't know how I feel about that. I haven't really researched how big they are. But it would be very awesome to be able to froth/steam milk at home and make our own lattes. EDIT: I did some research and I think there might be ways to froth milk that don't involve a device, such as this method. I drank all of the coffee in the pot but I might have to make some more and try this!

But enough about coffee! Other things I feel are simple that we do is we have no debt other than my student debt (boohoo), we have no TV (and obviously no cable/satellite), no car payments, we make our own beer, cider, and some wine, and Porter makes marvelous bread. *Marvelous.* We have been planning on getting rid of the internet at home for a good long while now, but we've had a contract that would have been very expensive to break. It will be up in about a month and then it's going bye bye. It seems as though it'd be easier to get my homework done with internet access at home, except for the fact that I get a lot more done when I am focused. A distraction-free internet environment is available 2 blocks away at school. And there is no comparison when you compare the time I spend wasting online at home with the internet vs the time I could have been spending at school doing homework and getting things done.

I am feeling very optimistic about having to spend less time with my possessions during the school year. I just need to figure out a good system of keeping school stuff organized, both my papers and whatnot and also all of the tasks to do. I haven't missed any assignments yet but I tend to procrastinate when I can. I also tend to just be doing homework ALL of the time. I need to concentrate the homework time so I can just take time off and hang out with my family and not always be fretting about the paper I was supposed to have been working on all week.

If you think that you need more than you need, how much do you actually need?

I was thinking about having stuff. Nice stuff. Lots of nice stuff. How much do I realistically want?

I was thinking about Elizabeth's comment about having a few bins of quilting and sewing stuff and it an idea. I was working on solutions to my own sewing problem (I have a few bins myself!). First I threw out all of the scraps that were pretty useless -- mostly scraps from tee shirt projects. That brought me down to one and a half bins. Then I folded all of the fabric neatly and utilized an empty drawer for all of the sewing accessories, such as patterns and thread. I thought maybe if Elizabeth threw out the scraps, she'd have less to deal with. But then it occurred to me that maybe it is all large pieces of high quality fabric. And then I thought of the much larger stash of nice fabric I used to own. What if I suddenly became the owner of a lot of nice quilting fabric? Say, 20 boxes full? Not scraps, but yards full of nice fabric in colors I liked. 50 boxes? A storage unit full? A boxcar full? If you are a quilter, then it's a lot different than if you're me, because I just don't quilt very much at all.

I cannot possibly use 20 boxes of fabric in the next year. I probably wouldn't even touch it once. I just don't have the time. Wife-mommy-student-hood is about all I can get done. I would probably salivate over the fabric, imagining what could be done. But I probably wouldn't touch it. It would take a lot of space to store, though.

Let me illustrate with someone that's a little harder to question, because these are actually necessities. Say I have 7 pairs of dress shoes, all very nicely made and that fit. My mind balks at first thinking I'd never be able to afford such a thing, or be able to find that many different kinds that I'd truly love. Then I think wow, I would really love that if it really did happen. And then I think that perhaps someday I *will* have the resources to buy that many good shoes. So what will I do?

I only dress up once in a while. I might start wearing pumps on a daily basis if I could find really good ones (and could afford them), but dressy shoes might only get worn once a week, if that often. Let's say twice a week for good measure. I only have a a few dressy clothes, and I think black would go with most of them. I'd wear some kind of white dressy sandals in the summer. Let's just throw in a dressy colored pair, maybe red. So I'd need three pairs of dress shoes, to be generous, and they'd last at least several years with that little use.

What would I do if I became the owner of 20 beautiful, fabulous dress shoes? 30? 40? 50? 100? They absolutely wouldn't all be worn. If this sounds like a modest estimate, what about 1000? There must be a limit to how much I use, and then there must be a limit to the excess as well. 

Same goes for any other clothes or shoes or ANYTHING. If you think that you need more than you need, how much do you actually need? What's the limit? What you can store? Beyond what you can store?

Obviously, there has to be a balance, but owning too much is draining. How do you find the balance? How do you decide that you have enough of something?

Minimalism

Minimalism seems to be a hot topic everywhere. The forums I visit and the blogs I read seem to mention it fairly often. I did a little googling and found some interesting blogs. The latest is Zen Habits.

Now, I come from a family of collectors. I had SO much stuff before I left home that I can't believe it now. Just the thought of having to deal with it makes me nervous. All of the clothes and shoes, all of the little trinkets, the everything. I didn't really do much with it, either. I wore the same jeans over and over again, and I used probably 20% of the hundred+ tee shirts. I couldn't find a lot of stuff, too.

When I moved out, as I've said before, I took very little. I started out with a knapsack full of clothes and went back for 100 pounds of stuff (two big duffel bags). I also shipped a few boxes of books. And that was it. The only thing I pine for is a pair of peach/pink ballet flats that match one of my now-favorite dresses. I should have taken them with me. But that's pretty much it. I don't think about anything else I used to own and want it. In fact, I don't really think about it at all.

After I moved out, Porter and I lived in a small studio apartment for a long time. I had a desk and nightstand (prefurnished) my bike, some books, "enough" clothes, and a few other items. Not much, because I only had half a room to stash my stuff in. At one point I had to store my bike inside, so you can imagine how little I owned (there was a bed in the room, too). I didn't even have a car. The transportation system in Eugene was good enough that there really was no need. We rented a car occasionally when we needed to go somewhere off the beaten path.
Then we moved to a one-bedroom, and I bought some furniture. Now I have a lot of stuff. Probably more than when I moved out, though it's all spread through the house so it doesn't look like as much. It's also more varied. I "own" things like dishes and a dining room table now rather than 50 pairs of jeans. There are also baby things -- the toys, diaper accessories, etc. I don't want to keep expanding as we live in bigger places!! If I only need three pairs of shoes, why would I get more if I had more room for them? If I only need ten shirts, why would I have more? I guess there's a chance that I wouldn't be able to afford to replace them if one got worn, but thrift stores tend to be pretty inexpensive. I could probably replace a shirt for less than $3, and a pair of sneakers (if it came down to that!) for under $5. 


I really dig this minimalist idea. I don't like the idea of saying "I'll only own 100 items" but I do like the idea of only having what I need and not having to deal with the excess. There are a few sticky things to deal with right now, like maternity and too-small clothes. Am I going to be pregnant again? Probably. Am I going to lose the rest of the baby weight? I hope so! I'll probably be this size again after the next baby, as well.

This morning I was at the discount grocery store that also has kitchen items. I saw a pretty green Contigo mug. I already HAVE a Contigo mug, which is red. But this one was green, and was a design I see other people at school with. Immediately my subconscious started thinking of justifications for buying a new mug. I didn't even have the money to buy it, but I started trying to come up with reasons to be unhappy with my nice red mug. WHY? WHY? WHY? Why do I think I need to buy something new when the old works perfectly and I like it just fine (I even like the color red!)?

What do you think? Why aren't we happy with what we have and what works? Why does it feel "good" to buy something and acquire more than we used to?

Sick

I have not been notably sick for a long time. I can't remember, for instance, the last time I had the flu. I don't even remember the last time I got a cold. A few days ago Aftasie had a fever of about 100 F for about a day. Then I started feeling funny. Not really bad, just funny. I knew I was getting something.

And yes, I have something! Not really really miserable, only a little miserable. Digestive ailments that I won't mention, a cough, a runny nose. Not my idea of fun in the blazing hot summer, but at least I am not nauseated! I can hardly believe it. Happy me :)

In between blowing my nose, I've been looking at my school schedule for the next two semesters. It is going to be tough, no way around it. But I've also been realizing that they adjust things for the extra clinical load. For instance, this semester we only had 6 hours a week of clinicals, but a fair number of other classes besides nursing. Next semester we'll have 8, and about the same amount of other studies, but after that semester the class load goes down as clinical load goes up. Our senior year, for instance, we'll be doing 30+ hours of clinicals a week, but only nursing classwork. I don't think it will be easy, per se, but it won't be the same class load as now PLUS a quadrupling in clinical hours.

*achoo*

Oh, and the other day I went to the doctor for the first time in who knows how long. About a week ago bump appeared on my knee, and it grew pretty quickly to larger than a quarter in diameter, and kind of spongy and a little inflamed. Naturally, the speed at which it grew concerned me, so I got an appointment for a few days later. By the time the appointment came it had started to shrink and I was a little embarrassed to be in the doctor's office. And of course I had a mask on, because I really was sick, and I explained I wasn't really there for the same reason I was wearing a mask.

But anyway, to cut to the chase, she took one look at the bump, palpated it, asked a few questions, and pronounced my knee to have a case of bursitis. Not a bad one, obviously, since it's on its way out, but she said to watch out for how long I kneel for, and to be aware that they can get quite large but are not serious.

Budgeting and a Bizarre Phenomenon

For a long time I have thought keeping a budget was impractical. There are too many things to keep track of. And why not just spend as little as possible?

There are two reasons that doesn't work, and those are a., we actually have to buy certain things that I tend to not want to buy, but we need to, and b., I'm not single and childless anymore. I can't eat homemade gorp for a week and count on that being my only expense.

I'm intrigued by cash budgeting. It seems so simple once you've got everything straightened out. There are still hundreds of things that we spend money on every year, and I'm not quite sure how to deal with longterm expenses (this summer, unexpectedly, we replaced our tires, distributor, and wheel cylinders, which I certainly did not anticipate), and things that we buy maybe once a year. I also find it daunting to figure out how much we spend on things to begin with. How many rolls of paper towels do we go through? I don't even know how many diapers we use a month, I just buy them when we're out. How often do we go through shoe polish? I have NO clue.

I'm definitely going to give this a go.

________________

Now for the bizarre phenomenon, I keep finding blogs and pages by people who are near me. Is that weird, or what? I was looking for budgeting info and came across this blog about budgeting and it turns out I recognize the corner of her library card in her wallet (same as mine!) and then I dig a little further and she really is quite close to where I live (an hour away). I found this blog about yogurt making  and she says "Oh, and, if you are local (Willamette Valley, Oregon), and want some of my starter, I am happy to share. Let me know." Which is exactly where I live. Do I just happen to be looking up things that local people are involved in? I suspect google may have something in their search engine that includes location. 

My Glasses Broke

One pair wore out, so I traded parts to make a second identical broken pair work. I was playing with Aftasie on the floor and she accidentally kicked them and they broke!! So I'm reverting to an old pair I've never really worn. I am a little peeved that they look so, fashionable. They look fashionably unfashionable, that is. I do NOT understand the huge plastic glasses frame craze. But what the heck. I want hair like Roger Daltry (not really, but kind of). So I kind of understand. But I don't, and I don't really want to be a part of the big glasses trend.

My hand is to hide the shelf that is disorganized at the mo. (But you could pretend I'm waving at you, if that makes you feel better. It makes me feel a little better).

Here's a little gem

"...but it is apparently subjective otherwise there wouldn't be a debate."


My mind breaks. Breaks. 

It's Been Less than 24 Hours

But I already feel pangs of "Uh oh." Facebook is an empty place for me now, and I imagine it as a quiet, desolate place that was usually full of people having a good time. I feel a little bad, because I shooed them all away.

The right way to see it, though, is for what it is. I picture me, sitting at the computer, looking in on the posts that other people sitting at their computers posted for all of their other friends who are sitting at computers to see. Occasionally there are some phone people. They should make me sadder than anything else, because they're actually out and about doing something (hopefully).

So, contrast that to me being out. Actually out with someone! Telling them news that I have, or something I did the other day. I've gone out with exactly zero people for coffee this summer. I could have made a point to have, say, a different nursing student (who I'm going to be working with all school year!) over for coffee each week and actually have a conversation with them, instead of just reading their short, public facebook posts. I could have set up play dates with people from the library. I could have volunteered at a friend's farm.

Not to say this is impossible in the presence of facebook, but they would be a lot more attractive to me without the socialization of facebook and the internet. I would be more motivated to do it. It's like ice cream, or something. It's ok if you eat it sometimes, but if it makes you too full to enjoy a full range of food, it's really bad for you.

Here's a question for you. I'd love comments on it. If someone never contacts you outside of facebook (no email, no phone, no in person), are you really friends? No facebook messaging, either. Just watching and commenting on each other's statuses. Not because they can't message you, they just don't. There's nothing for you to say to each other in private.

I don't know what to make of it. What is it? Is it really friendship, but just a public, distant friendship? Do you even care about each other? Why don't you ever contact each other outside of facebook?

And speaking of which, what is a friend, anyway? 

Garlic Scapes

So for a while I thought these were called snapes, which sounds a lot cooler than scapes, but scapes they are. Garlic scapes, that is. They are the tops of garlic plants and apparently only available a very short time of the year. We are going to eat them in stirfry tonight. They are said to taste like bright, fresh garlic. I would love to grow garlic sometime. It seems like every time I've tried the bulbs rot. I wonder why? Overwatering? I really have no idea, but it sounds so good to have fresh garlic from a plant you grew. And if we end up liking scapes a lot we could have those from the plant too.

We have been in Eugene housesitting (Aftasie and I) and we have been having such a great time. Except that it's been rainy and cool. Typical Oregon summer, ehem. It was raining when Aftasie was born last year, so I'm not really surprised. Maybe we'll have a long summer, which of course Porter and Aftasie will be able to enjoy while I'm in school :P

Speaking of which, I'm surprised how much I like the Willamette Valley, where we live. I really do love most aspects of the northwest. There are some, um, personality differences between me and the West Coast in general, but I do love it up here in beautiful Oregon. I am even finding I like the rain. There is nothing, as far as I know, like our coast here, and the beautiful verdant forests. The forest really does look like this. 
(I just realized you have to scroll down to the next picture. Won't let me link directly).

Not So Easy to Return to Facebook Now!

I just finished deleting all of my "friends" from facebook. There is nothing there for me to see anymore.

I am really relieved. On the one hand I have a feeling of loss. But I can't wait to try to reconnect with people in a different way. If I am lonely, perhaps I will have to just walk up to a random person on the street and say "I've deleted my facebook page. Will you say the equivalent of a wall post to me? I will say I like it and we can walk away from each other."

Chickpeas are a wonderful canvas

For salads, that is. I made a big pot of chickpeas the other night and made hummus (chickpeas, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and a little water blended in a blender) and there were plenty left over. So I made a salad of chickpeas, chopped onion, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, a little hummus, Italian seasoning and some chopped up sweet peas. Delicious and very nutritious. The chickpeas pack the protein in (lean protein, too!) and you can't go wrong with veggies and olive oil! I had a piece of bread with it last time to make it a nice complete protein. 

And on to the mozzarella! 

Here the milk is heating to 55 F, then citric acid is added

It's just a wee bit curdled here. At 90 F you add rennet (only a 1/4 tsp!)

Then it is heated to 100 -105 F. This is on its way there and you can see it's very curdled.

Scoop the curds out of the whey (the clear liquid) and microwave them. This heats it up so you can knead it. You could do it in the whey, but I don't have gloves and it is too hot to handle without gloves so it's easier to microwave and knead with kitchen utensils. I ended up dumping it on the counter and using a spatula.  

You can see it's getting to be one mass

And even though I saw it happen at my friend's house, I really can hardly believe that it actually has turned to cheese. 

And here are "cheese sticks," cooling in a cool water bath.
 I am a very poor cheese shaper! But hopefully I'll get better
if I do this on any kind of regular basis. 

Making Mozzarella

Also some exciting news. I am defriending everyone on facebook. It's not because I don't like any of my friends on facebook. I think it will be a better option for "deactivating" the account rather than just "pausing" it. I have been thinking about my life before facebook and I am frustrated with all of the time that is lost to the internet. If you spend, say, 3 hours a day online, you are spending an entire 24 hours on the computer every 8 days. Even if you only spend an hour a day, that's an entire day out of a month. 12 FULL days a year sitting in front of the computer. Of course, I rarely spend only an hour online a day.

And now I am making mozzarella here in a few minutes, thanks to a friend of mine here in Eugene who showed me how to do it and sent me home with some rennet and citric acid!! So exciting. It turned out wonderfully at her house and was absolutely delicious.

Away Again

From FB, that is. I really wish I would just stay away. How I wish facebook would delete everything permanently. I guess I could do it myself -- unfriend everyone and delete as many posts as I could. I don't know :\

But anyway, here I am back from silence-ville! I've been having a great summer so far. I can hardly believe it's almost halfway over. I can't believe school is starting again in August (the last week of August)! Halfway through seems so good and so bad. Already halfway through and only halfway through.