Yes, we have no bananas.

I went to make a vegetarian meal in my crock pot, and realized: I have no food. I have dry goods like couscous, bulgur wheat, & quinoa. I have beans & lentils. But aside from a zucchini from the office garden, a couple potatoes, & a withering basil plant, I have virtually no fresh produce in my house right now. Not because we don’t eat fresh fruit & veggies. In fact, we eat a LOT of them. But we didn’t shop, and now my fridge is empty! I have just enough cheese to make a veggie pizza for dinner, and one lonely frozen meal which qualifies as vegetarian (my lunch tomorrow). Every vegetarian crock pot recipe I’ve looked at calls for vegetable stock or some item I don’t have.

Last week, our fridge was stocked full of –get this- vegetarian lasagna & homemade roasted potato-corn salad. Oh, the irony.

Lesson learned: If you plan to cook vegetarian, have vegetables on hand.

Better listener

Phew! I made it through a week without Facebook. In hindsight, if I’m trying to promote a blog, that was a dumb one to do in my second week - right?? Here’s what I learned: Facebook both helps me and hurts me.

There are a lot of people who think that Facebook/social media is a detriment to relationships; that it has replaced real, personal communication. I disagree. I use it to stay in touch with people I don’t normally get to spend a lot of time with – which is most of my friends. I’m busy, they’re busy, and in many cases we live far apart. I love being able to have that connection & share our daily lives. I’ve learned things about friends & acquaintances that I’d never known about them before. I missed my friends this week!

However, I also realized how MUCH time I spend on Facebook. I roll over to turn off my phone alarm in the morning and check it. I take quick breaks from work to check in with friends. When I’m waiting – on Ben, in line, etc, I compulsively check it! And while I truly consider it a social activity and not a waste of time, I’ll concede that this week – I paid better attention to the people with whom I spent time, especially Ben. I was so starved for “updates”, that I think it made me a better listener. I loved getting phone calls from friends, and I even found myself getting jealous of Ben’s phone or laptop. And much like Coke Zero – I think it helped my productivity :)

By his own suggestion, Ben also gave up Facebook for the week (mostly). His new phone is so integrated with social networks that it was nearly impossible to avoid it altogether. Plus, he uses it to get updates from his brother in Baghdad. Who can fault him for that?

Today begins my week without…meat. Please post links to yummy vegetarian recipes!

I miss Facebook.

“I miss Facebook.” Ben hears this from me every day. Luckily, I’ve had kayak polo practice, work, and friends to distract me. I’m also compulsively checking my MyYahoo page, 1011now.com, and friends’ blogs. FYI April & Angela if you’re reading – You could post about watching paint dry or poopy diapers on your blogs, and I’d be fascinated by it & leave a comment. And reread your post about 5 times. To be fair – they both are hilarious and have adorable kids, so I’m normally pretty entertained by their posts.

Ben & I are taking a road trip to Kansas City this weekend. Normally I’d be sharing photos or updates from the vacation – so it’ll be weird not to be able to do that. I’m hoping less time with my phone will mean more focus on my Bendo, where it should be on a weekend getaway!

I haven’t decided yet what to give up for next week, so I’m taking suggestions…

Update: I'm lame.

I am having social media withdrawals. Hey, don’t judge me. You’re reading this on a blog.

It’s a good thing I made Ben block Facebook on all of our computers at home, because I tried to check it out of habit at least 10 times today. I wasn’t able to uninstall the Facebook app from my Android phone, but Ben had the good idea to log me out. That way, even if I open the app, I’m reminded not to check Facebook. I was fine at work, but that’s because most of my day was spent editing or re-learning CPR/First Aid. Resusci-Annie is a piss-poor replacement for my FB News Feed.

I don’t think I post THAT many status updates, but now that I CAN’T, everything seems important enough to post. That perfect-looking veggie lasagna I pulled out of the oven? I should post a photo of that! That funny thing I thought of in the car? I should post that! Those photos from the weekend – I should share those! My life…riveting, really.

I allowed myself the normal checks of the Twitter account I run for work, but decided that using my own Twitter or Google+ are off limits for this week, too.

It is embarrassing how much I missed Facebook today, but I think it’s already making me get off the couch & DO more. Since I wasn’t sitting on my butt with my laptop after work, I made a really good homemade dinner, then worked out & swam with a friend tonight. And I wrote this. That counts for something, right?? Judging by my planner, I think I’ll be busy enough with real life this week that I’ll be distracted from my virtual one.

Yup. I’m that lame.

Hello pop; Goodbye Facebook

An anti-climactic week without pop ends today! I made it. Here’s what I learned: My pop/caffeine “addiction” isn’t nearly as severe as I suspected. In fact, it’s pretty easy for me to give up – I just get less done at work. While this experiment did help me to drink more water, I also started drinking more sugary drinks instead of diet soda. So – if I feel like getting fat & lazy, I’ll give up pop forever. That’s a fair simplification…right? J

Beginning tomorrow, I go a week without…Facebook. This will either be really tough, or I’m just going to take a sudden interest in Google+. Ha!

Caffeine=Productivity

So far, so good! Here’s what I’ve noticed so far: I miss my get-me-goin’ pop in the morning the most, but I've made due with water or Crystal Light. Also, I am way less productive without caffeine! Although I’m getting things checked off my planner, I feel like I get more done when I’m pumped full-o Coke Zero.

A Week Without Pop: Day One

Day One:

It’s the first day of the challenge. Ben suggested I give up pop for this week. I’m used to having a Coke Zero (Or two. Or three.) at my desk in the morning. If I go out for lunch, I usually have at least two. On a bad day, I'll have 5-6, but that's pretty rare anymore. I wanted one pretty bad this morning, but so far, I haven’t cheated. I can feel a headache coming on, & I’m a little tired. If that’s the worst I have to deal with, I think this will be one of the easier weeks.

This challenge is off to a thrilling start, eh? I guess I'll take this as a sign that my bad habit wasn't as bad as I thought (for now).

Introduction

Lately, I've found myself thinking "I could get SO much done if I didn't watch so much TV." Or, "I could lose SO much weight if I stopped drinking beer." Or, "I could save SO much money if I didn't eat out so much."...See a pattern? So did I. Hence the experiment: Go a week without. Abstain from one thing for one week.

I really don't know if I'll get more done, or lose weight, or save money, but I want to find out what I can do without -and how it'll change the way I live- one week at a time. I've got a list of ideas, and I'm open to your suggestions, too...with a few restrictions:

- It must be legal.

- It must be safe. (No giving up sleep for a week)

- I must be able to give it up without interfering directly with my fiance's life. If ME giving it up forces HIM to give it up unwillingly, it's a no-go.

- It can't interfere with my job. Giving up home internet access is acceptable. Giving up internet access at work isn't an option.

- I get to pick what I give up.

The experiment starts Monday. Here's hoping I don't give up on giving up!