Life Experiment 2012

I decided a few days ago that September will be my Month of Productivity but I hesitated. Productivity? That's terribly vague and ill defined. If I've learned anything about myself over the last few years, it's that I'm much better at coloring inside the lines when I've actually drawn the lines or outlined the plan for myself.

My first and second life experiments, A Month of the Food Pyramid and A Month at the Poverty Line, were precisely defined and asked specific questions:

2008
Q. Is it actually possible to live according to the guidelines of the food pyramid?

A. Apparently, yes it is. However, it takes a lot of planning and a willingness to eat veggies at EVERY meal and as part of EVERY snack. The bonus was that I felt like I was eating all the time (so many vegetables to consume in a day!) and still unexpectedly lost a couple pounds, which was not my original intent.

Around the time of my food pyramid experiment, my roommate bought this crazy sweet potato.  What's with the Cruella Deville Sweet Potato look?

2009
Q. Is it possible to live at the poverty line (for 2009, that was ~$900 per month for a single person)?

A. It is, in theory, doable to live at that level, at least for a raised-frugally, natural-homebody, home cooking, single woman like myself. I was able to make most of the month work while living at the poverty line, including my Boston rent ($500 because I lived with four other women), food ($150), phone ($25) insurance (~$100), transportation ($30, which I forgot about when I was planning the month so it stung a little bit) and relative tithing ($90). 

However, I want to emphasize I was able to live most of the month at that level. I actually failed at that life experiment because we had to pay our oil bill at the end of the month. In our old Boston house filling up the oil tank ran about $600 per fill-up or about $125 per person. The tank lasts for several months so it's not actually a horrible deal, but I wasn't able to cover all of my amount with my prescribed poverty-line allowance. 

I later learned, while working with an economic research group, the phrase associated with this issue: financial shock. One of the biggest issues people face, especially people who are struggling financially, are financial shocks. They may plan for everything but if even one unexpected event comes, they are stuck. This, of course, is why experts recommend having liquid savings on hand but at $900 a month, I was barely meeting my basic needs. There was absolutely no way I could (quickly) accumulate much of a savings cushion. 

Also, there were several other factors that kept my costs low: my insurance and transportation were heavily subsidized by my employer, I already had a sizable professional wardrobe, and I lived in an area with several grocery stores with decent prices. Had I been living at the poverty line for several months or years, most research suggests none of those three would have been true.

When we look at 2010, Month of Creativity, we find something less experiment-like and more... hopeful-wishing-like.
Q. Can I be more creative?

A. Sure, I guess, but don't expect me to actually make time for that kind of thing without a spreadsheet of steps I can take. I know--I'm a sad, sad individual. 

In all honesty, I did feel like this one was a bit of a failure. As I noted here, I was a little more creative in some ways (writing a song is nothing to sniff at), but it wasn't exactly a life altering month and, though it may sound presumptuous, I like my life experiments to be life altering or at least life shifting. I mock it, but plans really are very good for me and I think I needed a more specific/focused on how I was going to be creative.

I'm gonna say 2011's life experiment was Gettin' Married.
Q. Can we get married?

A. Yes! And it's probably the best decision I've ever made to enhance the quality of my life. It was definitely life altering to add such a sweet, good, funny man to my day-to-day life.

So, with that tremendously loooooong introduction, I give you Life Experiment 2012: 30 Hours of Productivity. This comes about because lately my goals for productivity feel somewhat myopic. Every day I wash dishes, clean the house, apply for jobs or prepare for interviews, read the news, maybe exercise, plan and cook dinner, and do a handful of other domestic tasks. The day ends, we sleep, the next day begins, and it all repeats. The only changes come in the form of lunches with friends, visiting teaching appointments, or a trip to the library.

Is it a pleasant life? Absolutely. Is it a productive life? Yes, I would say it is. I am often doing things that either improve/maintain the apartment or myself. However, lately I've also been feeling a little restless. I want to actually accomplish something. I want to feel like I've succeeded at something. And to feel that way, I need a goal, preferably something that is hard and actually requires me to work on something specific and far-reaching. So, I suppose a better title for this month would be 30 Hours of Long-sighted Productivity.

Here's the plan. Every day for the month of September, I am required to spend at least 3 hours on long-range goals. I will report back to the blog regularly to describe how things are going. I will use a stopwatch to time myself to keep everything clean and honest (and because my nerdy, data-loving self loves keeping records). Though I am not required to only work on these goals, I have five goals I would like to focus on:

1. Refinishing our kitchen table. W and I have been married for almost 11 months. I planned on refinishing our hand-me-down table in the first month but instead just bought a tablecloth for it and never looked back. Well, now I'm looking back. Or forward. Or wherever. Basically we need a surface where I can knead bread and W can roll out cookie dough.
2. I have a writing project "in the works" but I am bad about actually working on it. I'd like to have the story finished by the end of September. It's not like a novel or anything, so if I actually work on it rather than just stare off into space with a pen in my hand the goal should be achievable.
3. Learn the piano. W's parents got us a great keyboard-piano for our wedding and my mom was kind enough to send some piano books, but I've only sat down once to actually practice. As far as specific goals go, let's say I will learn two songs by the end of the month.
4. Crochet a basket. I know that's a little weird, but I've been wanting to learn how to crochet for a while and need a basket to hold the blankets in our living room. Luckily, I found a little tutorial that combines the two. We'll see out it goes. I'm hoping it's not ugly.
5. Learn how to code for the web. Is it possible to learn how to build a website in a month? We'll see.

30 hours doesn't actually seem like that much time for all these goals, so wish me luck! We'll see how it goes. 

Mornin'

Today started with this little ditty. I admit that I loved it. May Mr. Trololo rest in peace.

Saturday morning was weird. In the still-sleeping hours of the morning, I dreamed a dream about food. Not just any food, but a Cheerio concoction of some sort. It was a Cheerio crispy treat. (I blame the pin and blog post I saw that talked about Fruit Loop crispy treats and Trix crispy treats. Gross.) However, in my dream, I didn't know it was a Cheerio crispy treat. I thought it was cheesy Cheerios and kept eating and eating and eating until all the sudden I realized it was really a very, very sweet marshmallow covered Cheerio treat. And in my dream, I felt ill from all the sugary excess. And then when I woke up, I felt ill and couldn't look at sweets all day long. And then on Sunday, I even had a hard time eating one cookie. I've never before been so affected by a dream.

Friday morning, I was lying in bed. W and I hadn't put the trash and recycling out the night before because we thought we'd be up early enough to get it to the curb by 8am. No problem, we thought. Yet, here it was 7:30am and we were still in bed. Awake, but just barely. And then we hear the sound of the truck and I kind of freak out. The garbage truck never comes early! I throw on clothes, grab our trash and run out the door only to realize it's the recycling truck, NOT the garbage truck. Oi vey! So I grab our recycling bin and run down the street after the recycling truck. The recycling man was nice enough to accept it even though it was in our indoor bin and not in the official blue outdoor bin. I was so pleased with myself. It's so nice to start the day with a success and that, my friends, was a major success for me! (I hate it when we have two weeks of recycling; it gets so unwieldy.)

So I'm walking my self-satisfied self home and I realize I am: 1) not wearing a bra, 2) wearing thick rimmed glasses, 3) wearing canvas boat shoes, and 4) have totally crazy hipster/bedhead hair, AND 5) I just chased after a recycling truck in that get-up. AND I was smug about all of it. I think that was one of my first real, true Cambridge-ite moments. High five?

A Child's Perspective

On Wednesday evening I drove home three ten-year-old girls home from our Activity Day baking event. I like being a little fly on the wall in their conversations as their comments frequently puzzle and amuse me, and often help me remember my own childhood and how much I've changed since then. Wednesday was no exception.

One snippet of conversation in particular stood out to me.
The characters: 
MC, a warm and vibrant little girl with two very successful parents who built their professional lives in the standard white-collar way - top grades at top schools, climbing to partners in their respective firms, etc. Their family lives in a beautiful home in one of the nicest neighborhoods in the area. 
ML, a shy but fun little girl with great parents who have succeeded in building a stable life for their family by working hard, building a thriving bakery, etc. They have an apartment in an area of town that is safe but definitely has a more industrial and gritty feel to it.

We were driving ML home when MC asks, "ML, where do you live?"
ML's automatic response is to recite her address.
MC clarifies, "No, I mean do you have a house or an apartment or what?"
ML, "Oh, we have an apartment at [recitation of address]."
MC sighs and says, "You're so lucky. I always wanted to live in an apartment."
ML just shrugs at this and nods. I ask MC why she wants to live in an apartment and she seems a bit at a loss at first before saying, "I don't know. They just seem cool and different."
We're getting close to ML's and pass by a shopping center with a KMart, a craft store, and a Home Depot off in the distance. MC is looking out the window and says, "Wow, you guys have all kinds of stuff over here."
ML: "Yeah, we even just got a Country Buffet!!"
MC: "Really?!! Wow. You are soooo lucky!! All we have is a little pizzeria." [All she has is a really cute little old-town style pizzeria with some of the best pizza in town]
ML: "Yeah, I know - it's really great."

I don't mean to make MC sound ungrateful. She's far from an ingrate. It was just so interesting to hear how different her and ML's perspective was than my image of what would be the most desirable life when raising children. It shouldn't surprise me, because I too was probably intrigued by the idea of an apartment and I definitely remember being very excited for our annual trip to North's Chuck Wagon buffet. We went every year when we picked out the Christmas tree. It was a magical night - we would hem and haw over different tree shapes until the oldest kids made a final decision and then we'd go relax with twenty different choices of warmed meats, mashed potatoes, veggies, endless amounts of delicious white rolls, and of course soft serve ice cream! I was much more impressed with North's than with any other restaurant I went to as a child. Indeed, I routinely ordered tortilla and cheese - not a quesadilla, but a tortilla and cheese - if we went anywhere else, even the fancy restaurants we'd go to for Mother and Daughter dinners.

Times have since changed. While I'm not at the point of buying a big fancy house and I do still love soft serve ice cream, I would definitely prefer to eat at a little pizzeria than County Buffet and I love looking at the pretty old houses in fancy parts of town. It's fun to be reminded of the fact that things weren't always that way though.

Giveaway (but not from me)

So, I just entered a giveaway and only after I entered it did I realize that I was supposed to share it first. Oops! Since I don't tweet, here's me sharing the love.

Giveaway for a pretty green and gold necklace on what seems to be a lovely blog about a very green life! Click here: Big money, big money!

New calling, new blog

We are officially settling into the ward.  Both of us got new callings yesterday.  Will gets to work with the Webelos.  Should be fun (and funny) for him.  And I get to be the Activity Day co-leader for the 7-11 year old girls in the ward.  I don't remember doing Activity Days so I don't know all that it entails (our counselor described it as "like scouts but for girls") but I'm looking forward to it!  Tips from primary people are appreciated. :)

Also, we are officially settling into married life, including our blog.  It's up and kind of running.  See here: theizzyexperiment.blogspot.com

Some recent changes

I was reminded today of the fact that exactly six months ago I was just contemplating whether I wanted to date W again (for a third time... ).  Crazy, huh? It's always a little mind-boggling how much can change in six months (or any other given amount of time).  Some changes during that time:

W and I started to date again.  And started to talk about marriage again.  Except this time *neither* of us got weird on the other--wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles!!  It is a miracle. :)  Guess he was right (as he likes to remind me), third time really is a charm.  We are engaged and I am so excited to be married to him!  With that engagement comes a lot of wedding planning and a wedding ring.  Funny story about the ring: It took a long time getting here.  Utah to Boston really is quite a trip.  W's whole lab knew it was coming though (because he spilled the beans since he was excited) and asked him to draw it for them.  I think it probably looked a little bit like this.

So pretty, right?!  I think so.  However, one of his labmates (who wasn't part of the original conversation and thus just saw the drawing) got a little confused.  He wondered if it was some sort of intriguing Mormon symbol. :)  Not quite, my friend.  Not quite.

The wedding plans are coming together.  I have something to wear (and it's pretty! I just saw the finished product last Saturday), a certain someone to marry, we'll have something to eat, something to sit on, something to look at (I get to look at the groom but we've provided flowers for everyone else), etc. I'm really looking forward to it!

Other new experiences include a job hunt.  I'm currently in the self-analysis, "what do I really want?" mode.  It's a little draining, but not necessarily in a bad way.  Just makes me kind of tired at the end of the day.  Also, I am marrying a hunter which leads to all kinds of new experiences with meat in the kitchen.

I cooked Venizon in a crock pot!  Just call me Laura Ingalls Wilder, everybody.  Well, modern-day LIW anyone after the advent of the crock pot, of course.  I bet prairie folk would have loved those things.

P.S.  Oh yeah!  AND I lived through a earthquake and a hurricane in one week's time!  We just got the remnants of both though so it wasn't any big thing.

Freedom!!

        Today I saw a coffee cart touting itself as

                         FREE RANGE!!

   I imagine the coffee beans felt something like this: