So we just put an offer on a house. We're excited, but it is also sort of a reality check too.
First, we're actually buying a house without a garage, or parking for that matter. We have to rent a parking spot across the street. And it's just one spot. Not a lot of parking on the street, so this is me really going carless.
And it's me going carless a mile from a T station. There are buses, one that goes to the T, another two that go downtown, and one that goes to the retail strip with Target/Home Depot/Old Navy, etc.
The price is more than I had hoped we would spend, but it's a realistic price. With a realistic price will have to come a realistic lifestyle. While we won't be giving up our local foods it will be harder to get to them. Getting to the farm will also be more difficult. If we could find an additional parking spot for sale life would be easier, but also more expensive.
Traveling for the holidays is looking pretty grim for my husband. He's used to going home for Christmas and New Years. Although we'd already planned on Christmas in the States, he'd really been looking forward to New Years overseas. Tickets are already nearing the $1000 mark. While he can get his ticket free from work (nice travel budget perk worked into his contract) my ticket is on us. I keep saying we need to plan ahead.
Planning is not my husband's forte. This may mean more solo trips by Gerd to the continent while I stay home. I told him that he should go along for New Years and he said he didn't want to go without me. That's sweet and also super nice considering how much I hate New Years with all the fireworks. We have somewhat of a tradition, he plays the guitar for me and tries to distract me from all the noise. Anyway, getting off topic.
I don't think we could find a cheaper house that's still in the city. So, we'll be going from feeling pretty affluent to feeling pretty average. But I think that can be a good thing. The adventure in Boston is about to turn into the life in Boston. At least that's what I'm hoping for.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Cookies and Revels
For a relaxed, uneventful weekend, this weekend was pretty busy and eventful. We weren't supposed to do anything but kick back and enjoy being home. I'm not too good at that.
Saturday I woke up early so I could clean and go to the grocery store before going to look at more houses. My husband woke up and called me, "Where are you?". By the time he made it out of bed I'd managed to do two loads of laundry, clean the kitchen, and go to two different stores.
We managed to get a layer of cat hair off of most of our belonging before heading out to look at a couple of houses. A lot of promise in one of those houses, better neighborhood, more space, BIG yard, Victorian detail...the payoff? Only one rental parking space, one mile from the T stop (bus down the street runs that way) and, of course, it's more expensive.
So I scooted off to Yoga, met 4 would be yogis and headed home with 3 of them to make Christmas cookies. This is where the confusion started. See, they thought we were going to do only one batch of cookies. Oh no no no, that's not how you do Christmas cookies. We made 3 different types in 2 hours and planned to do more but everyone was too tired to go on. Myself included.
Fortunately one friend mentioned that I'd see her tomorrow volunteering for the Revels. Good thing she mentioned it, I thought it was the NEXT Sunday. Oops.
So I grudgingly went to Sander's Theater and reported at noon as ordered. It was worth it. Free $54 ticket for an hour of CD sales before hand, during intermission, and a little while after the show. I always wonder what I should do during intermission anyway.
The Revels themselves are difficult to explain. A mix between choral performances, short skits, dances, sing-a-longs, and stories. The group is thematic and includes adults and children and is focused on celebrating the changing of the seasons. This performance, called Christmas Revels, celebrated Christmas/Solstice traditions of Shakers, Appalachia, Southern Gospel, and Native Americans. You wouldn't think they'd all fit together, and at times I thought they could have pulled one or two songs out, but overall they melded it all together better than you would think.
Something I noticed from the Summer Sing-A-Long is that they focus on similarities between cultures. This performance was no different, they looked at the Cheery Tree (Shaker), the Tree of Life (Native America), the Christmas Tree (Appalachia ) with a message that the darkness/coldness can never fully drive out goodness/warmth. There is always hope for the future. Of course they did this while also intermixing several traditional Christmas songs as well. Christ was portrayed as the hope of the world by Christian traditions as Native American songs showed family as that same light of hope. It was well done.
The whole thing made me want to sing again. I want to dance again. I decided right then and there I'd go to Contra dance on Thursday. Too bad I woke up this morning and realized I'll be in New York that evening to visit a New Mexico friend who'll be visiting.
Saturday I woke up early so I could clean and go to the grocery store before going to look at more houses. My husband woke up and called me, "Where are you?". By the time he made it out of bed I'd managed to do two loads of laundry, clean the kitchen, and go to two different stores.
We managed to get a layer of cat hair off of most of our belonging before heading out to look at a couple of houses. A lot of promise in one of those houses, better neighborhood, more space, BIG yard, Victorian detail...the payoff? Only one rental parking space, one mile from the T stop (bus down the street runs that way) and, of course, it's more expensive.
So I scooted off to Yoga, met 4 would be yogis and headed home with 3 of them to make Christmas cookies. This is where the confusion started. See, they thought we were going to do only one batch of cookies. Oh no no no, that's not how you do Christmas cookies. We made 3 different types in 2 hours and planned to do more but everyone was too tired to go on. Myself included.
Fortunately one friend mentioned that I'd see her tomorrow volunteering for the Revels. Good thing she mentioned it, I thought it was the NEXT Sunday. Oops.
So I grudgingly went to Sander's Theater and reported at noon as ordered. It was worth it. Free $54 ticket for an hour of CD sales before hand, during intermission, and a little while after the show. I always wonder what I should do during intermission anyway.
The Revels themselves are difficult to explain. A mix between choral performances, short skits, dances, sing-a-longs, and stories. The group is thematic and includes adults and children and is focused on celebrating the changing of the seasons. This performance, called Christmas Revels, celebrated Christmas/Solstice traditions of Shakers, Appalachia, Southern Gospel, and Native Americans. You wouldn't think they'd all fit together, and at times I thought they could have pulled one or two songs out, but overall they melded it all together better than you would think.
Something I noticed from the Summer Sing-A-Long is that they focus on similarities between cultures. This performance was no different, they looked at the Cheery Tree (Shaker), the Tree of Life (Native America), the Christmas Tree (Appalachia ) with a message that the darkness/coldness can never fully drive out goodness/warmth. There is always hope for the future. Of course they did this while also intermixing several traditional Christmas songs as well. Christ was portrayed as the hope of the world by Christian traditions as Native American songs showed family as that same light of hope. It was well done.
The whole thing made me want to sing again. I want to dance again. I decided right then and there I'd go to Contra dance on Thursday. Too bad I woke up this morning and realized I'll be in New York that evening to visit a New Mexico friend who'll be visiting.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Pizza
Well,
I had my cheap organic menu planned for the week but the moment my husband walked through the door I knew quinoa was NOT going to be on the night's menu. That's okay, keeps me from getting too uppity. Upper Crust pizza it was. And there aren't even any leftovers.
I had my cheap organic menu planned for the week but the moment my husband walked through the door I knew quinoa was NOT going to be on the night's menu. That's okay, keeps me from getting too uppity. Upper Crust pizza it was. And there aren't even any leftovers.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
No House
Well, fooey.
How do you spell fooey anyway. Darn, shucks, arg.
I wanted to buy a house. Not the concept, an actual house. It was on the wrong side of Mass Ave which means that there's more crime and it isn't the best area, but it's BARELY on the other side, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad, right?
Well, I went to the community department of the police department today and found out that the gang activity in the area is extremely high. The officer said he would advise his own family members to look elsewhere to live. Out of fairness he said I should knock on neighbors doors and see their take on the neighborhood. Is the increase in crime worth a $400,000 reduction in price? To get anything similar across the street would run in the $700,000 to $800,000 price range.
There are other neighborhoods to look at so I guess we can keep looking. I was expecting more crime but didn't expect to find out that it was a high crime area. Back to the drawing board.
How do you spell fooey anyway. Darn, shucks, arg.
I wanted to buy a house. Not the concept, an actual house. It was on the wrong side of Mass Ave which means that there's more crime and it isn't the best area, but it's BARELY on the other side, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad, right?
Well, I went to the community department of the police department today and found out that the gang activity in the area is extremely high. The officer said he would advise his own family members to look elsewhere to live. Out of fairness he said I should knock on neighbors doors and see their take on the neighborhood. Is the increase in crime worth a $400,000 reduction in price? To get anything similar across the street would run in the $700,000 to $800,000 price range.
There are other neighborhoods to look at so I guess we can keep looking. I was expecting more crime but didn't expect to find out that it was a high crime area. Back to the drawing board.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Turnips
I've never eaten a turnip before, at least that I'm aware of. Vegetables weren't really big in our house when I was growing up. Mom hates spinach and cooked carrots (or at least she did when I was a kid). We had corn, peas, green beans, broccoli, and sometimes salad. But we weren't vegetarians. Meals were pretty traditional, and turnips don't really fit with the theme.
I like turnips, at least how I made them tonight. I boiled them then added Swiss cheese, onion, milk and spices, sprinkled the top with more cheese and baked the whole thing in a casserole dish. Then I sauteed spinach, buttered a few pieces of my homemade bread and added a cup of leftover green chili stew. Fabulous dinner if I do say so myself.
Tomorrow's dinner is quinoa with broccoli and peanut butter, brussel sprouts, and leftover turnips. Friday will be homemade bread toasted with Swiss cheese along with fruit with peanut butter (for me) and Nutella (for my husband). Perhaps we'll finish off the leftover stew. Over the weekend I'll make split pea soup. I still have to figure out what to do with the celeriac.
Total cost is approximately $30 for approximately 5 meals (for two people) for an all organic menu that contains primarily local, in season foods. Feeling pretty good about dinners, now I have to work on breakfasts....
I like turnips, at least how I made them tonight. I boiled them then added Swiss cheese, onion, milk and spices, sprinkled the top with more cheese and baked the whole thing in a casserole dish. Then I sauteed spinach, buttered a few pieces of my homemade bread and added a cup of leftover green chili stew. Fabulous dinner if I do say so myself.
Tomorrow's dinner is quinoa with broccoli and peanut butter, brussel sprouts, and leftover turnips. Friday will be homemade bread toasted with Swiss cheese along with fruit with peanut butter (for me) and Nutella (for my husband). Perhaps we'll finish off the leftover stew. Over the weekend I'll make split pea soup. I still have to figure out what to do with the celeriac.
Total cost is approximately $30 for approximately 5 meals (for two people) for an all organic menu that contains primarily local, in season foods. Feeling pretty good about dinners, now I have to work on breakfasts....
One Pound
I did absolutely nothing yesterday, save read a book, watch a movie, and bake bread. It was the kind of recovery day I thought I needed after two weeks of traveling. It was near bliss.
But, I gained a pound.
I just got a new scale that actually shows weight in digits (before I was using a cheep round wheel of weight measurement from Ikea) and I've noticed that my weight keeps going up. Not in huge high increments, but going up nevertheless.
What concerns me about my day off (i.e. no physical exercise at all) is that I didn't eat excessively. I'm not going to say it was the most healthy meal in the world, especially considering there wasn't anything in our fridge (we have been gone for two weeks) and I didn't feel like even going shopping (although I should have because today it's raining outside).
I ate the following:
1 piece of individually wrapped chocolate (cal: 230, from fat 115)
1 handful of raisins (493, from fat 9)
1 small apple (65, from fat 2)
2 slices homemade baked bread (240, from fat 30, estimated)
1 bowl homemade(ish) from a kit green chili stew (360, from fat 35)
That's it. I've been racking my brain trying to think of anything else I ate, but I'm pretty sure that was all I ate yesterday. Now, I was surprised at how calorie high raisins were, but if I total the amount up I ate less that 1400 calories (1388). I can't believe I gained a pound.
So today I'm going to the gym. Apparently I'm going to have to exercise daily if I want to continue eating (if I gained a pound eating less than 1400 calories what would happen if I ate 3 square meals a day?). I don't mind exercise, actually once I get into a routine I really like being active, bu I'm surprised by my *need* to exercise.
But, I gained a pound.
I just got a new scale that actually shows weight in digits (before I was using a cheep round wheel of weight measurement from Ikea) and I've noticed that my weight keeps going up. Not in huge high increments, but going up nevertheless.
What concerns me about my day off (i.e. no physical exercise at all) is that I didn't eat excessively. I'm not going to say it was the most healthy meal in the world, especially considering there wasn't anything in our fridge (we have been gone for two weeks) and I didn't feel like even going shopping (although I should have because today it's raining outside).
I ate the following:
1 piece of individually wrapped chocolate (cal: 230, from fat 115)
1 handful of raisins (493, from fat 9)
1 small apple (65, from fat 2)
2 slices homemade baked bread (240, from fat 30, estimated)
1 bowl homemade(ish) from a kit green chili stew (360, from fat 35)
That's it. I've been racking my brain trying to think of anything else I ate, but I'm pretty sure that was all I ate yesterday. Now, I was surprised at how calorie high raisins were, but if I total the amount up I ate less that 1400 calories (1388). I can't believe I gained a pound.
So today I'm going to the gym. Apparently I'm going to have to exercise daily if I want to continue eating (if I gained a pound eating less than 1400 calories what would happen if I ate 3 square meals a day?). I don't mind exercise, actually once I get into a routine I really like being active, bu I'm surprised by my *need* to exercise.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Food, Inc.
I've been meaning to watch the film for a while now, but only today did I notice that it's available for instant play on Netflix.
The content isn't new, but it's well done. I hope the concepts reach people who didn't already know that our food has become too corporate, a big business that thinks about profit above the health and welfare of the nation.
I turned off the film and started baking my own bread. But as I was baking, I couldn't help but think back to a family interviewed in the movie. The producers showed a family drive through a fast food restaurant and order $11.75 (change approximate) worth of food for four people, two adults and two children. The premise was that they couldn't afford vegetables, even though they wanted them, and they didn't have time to cook a real meal most nights.
And of course they can't afford to eat the way they want. The food movement isn't just about eating better food, it's about changing your way of life. Sure, some people are already on the band wagon, I'm not the only one cooking my own bread, but if food reform is going to happen, we can't just keep going to the supermarket.
My Thanksgiving turkey cost $75. That's right, WAY, WAY more than the $.48/pound my aunt paid for her turkey from her local supermarket. We both got around a 16 pound bird but her bird cost less than $10. I'd like to think that my bird tasted better, but really, it probably didn't taste that much different.
But I'm not just paying for taste, and organically fed food does usually taste better in my opinion, I'm paying the true cost of my meat and I'm paying for the knowledge that my food was fed healthy ingredients and well respected during it's life on the farm. I can't say the same for mass production.
But what about the family that can't afford more than $12 a meal? They've got a few choices. One would be to not eat meat, shocking, but always an option. They otherwise could decide that it's worth saving up for and make it a feast. But either way it requires a life change and it requires planning ahead. Without change we'll still get fed, maybe life won't change all that much, but we'll still be feeding into a system that's broken, and sooner or later (hopefully much later) a broken food system will bring a broken food supply.
The content isn't new, but it's well done. I hope the concepts reach people who didn't already know that our food has become too corporate, a big business that thinks about profit above the health and welfare of the nation.
I turned off the film and started baking my own bread. But as I was baking, I couldn't help but think back to a family interviewed in the movie. The producers showed a family drive through a fast food restaurant and order $11.75 (change approximate) worth of food for four people, two adults and two children. The premise was that they couldn't afford vegetables, even though they wanted them, and they didn't have time to cook a real meal most nights.
And of course they can't afford to eat the way they want. The food movement isn't just about eating better food, it's about changing your way of life. Sure, some people are already on the band wagon, I'm not the only one cooking my own bread, but if food reform is going to happen, we can't just keep going to the supermarket.
My Thanksgiving turkey cost $75. That's right, WAY, WAY more than the $.48/pound my aunt paid for her turkey from her local supermarket. We both got around a 16 pound bird but her bird cost less than $10. I'd like to think that my bird tasted better, but really, it probably didn't taste that much different.
But I'm not just paying for taste, and organically fed food does usually taste better in my opinion, I'm paying the true cost of my meat and I'm paying for the knowledge that my food was fed healthy ingredients and well respected during it's life on the farm. I can't say the same for mass production.
But what about the family that can't afford more than $12 a meal? They've got a few choices. One would be to not eat meat, shocking, but always an option. They otherwise could decide that it's worth saving up for and make it a feast. But either way it requires a life change and it requires planning ahead. Without change we'll still get fed, maybe life won't change all that much, but we'll still be feeding into a system that's broken, and sooner or later (hopefully much later) a broken food system will bring a broken food supply.
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