What friends are for

Week one is done (yay) and easter is fast approaching, which means loads of times for socializing but also budget break after budget break. Challenge one comes with the fact that the shops are closed from wednesday and until monday next week which means that we have to buy everything before wednesday... Yeah us and the rest of Denmark shopping at the same time. We needed to bend the budget a bit because we have guests during the week and they have to be fed something. 

Tonight though we are getting free food because that is what friends are for!

The dreaded weekend

Dam dam daaaaaam. Weekend is upon us and that would normally mean sitting and playing online games while chugging down everything sweet or salty in the house. But because of my unfortunate day during the week, there will be no candy or crisps for me. I am sort of okay with it, but I know it will be flipping hard once we get to dinner time as my husband is not following the same diet as me.
My funk dance class on sunday is cancelled (booo) so might have to just train normally after  my No stress team (yeah lets see if that works)
Watched two very inspirational movies yesterday that the hubby had "borrowed" I do not openly support downloading things, but seing as we are both relatively unemployed cinema trips and movie renting is not something we can afford. So first movie was City of Ember with Bill Murray as a very unsympathetic mayor who ate all the food. It was odd because without having seen the movie, I have often dreamt of a similar city. It was very inspirational to see how people with no resources had still managed to find a way to support themselves and build a city where everyone played an important job. And without spoiling too much, there is the most magnificiant sunrise in the movie.
The 2nd movie was 127 Hours which was disturbing on a very soulsearching level. Not that we live a life in the fast-lane, but one would like to think that one cares enough about family and friends to always let them know that you are safe and such. Sadly most of the people I know who have moved away from home hardly talk to their parents, let alone tell them where they go. It brings it into perspektive that we in our town right now have a psycho running around machinegunning random people down in the local woods. He killed a couple walking completely at random, could have anybody, could have me as I sometimes larp there, could have been my friend who lives 2 mins away or her parents who often walk their dog there. But as it turned out it was a doctor and his wife walking, 4-6 shots each and left to die and be found by a dogwalker. They had no chance of saying goodbye or telling their teenage daugther that in spite of how she acts they still loved her. I recently told my foster-parents how much they mean to me and how proud I am that they would ever consider me their daugther. I was lucky as many people have pointed out, to end up with a nice and loving family and not in a home, but when I was growing up I don't think I appreciated it as much as I should have. For me it was lovely having parents who let me roam wild and siblings who just accepted me, but it was also sufficating at times being the middle child out of 4, it was hard getting responsibilities that should have been saved for when I was older. But I love my parents and it would break my heart if something similar happened to them.
So in the true Jerry Springer spirit, take care of yourselves and eachother!

Day 4

So got up early, went to the gym. Gonna feel that tomorrow! Came home and started soup, then our neighbour came around and we let him in on our project, he was fairly supportive, but not quite sure if it could be done. Talked to S about the Kindle today and we are really leaning more and more towards getting one, especially now that so many of our friends have one and they have the added feature of sharing your books with other people.
Faced a new unforseen challenge today. If our budget is stuck on 20 euroes a week how do we account for eventuel guests dropping by and eating with us? We solved the problem today by making enough soup for 4 instead of two, but gods know what will happen next time around. Everyone enjoyed the soup luckily and the greek bread with olives which can easily last us for another night and then some. Tomorrow we are going to have to go buy milk and maybe bread with the last money we have this week, but there should be money left over for it even if it means that we will just and so meet the budget for this week.
Signed up for various sportsactivities and still feel the spark that initially inclined me to join the gym. It was hard seing all the skinny high school girls today, but luckily there was also people who looked a bit more like me.
The lack of sugar in my diet has started to affect how awake I feel at later hours of the day. I feel tired now and it is only 8 pm. Talked a bit with my foster-mum today who seems to be doing well after her last chemo treatment. She reckons that once my bloodsugar has stabelized I will be fine with staying up late again. Fingers crossed!

Shopping as meditation

Use Your Personal Story to Inspire a Movement

Part of the reason one person can make a difference is that one person’s efforts soon inspire other people’s efforts. So inspire other people to get involved by sharing your personal story. Not just the story, say, of the hungry children in the Global South who you are trying to help, but your own story.

In No Impact Man, I share stories of how I tried to keep my food fresh without a refrigerator, how I had to eat mostly cabbage in the winter, and how I washed my laundry by hand. People didn’t suddenly realize that they, too, should hand-wash their clothes. Instead, they learned, not that they should make a difference—which statistics and figures tell us—but that they can make a difference—which personal stories have the power to tell.

It is through the personal that people connect with the political.

No matter what your cause, look for the powerful, personal story about how you got involved and how being involved has improved your life in some way. I’ve heard it said we shouldn’t have to tell these stories—that people should automatically care. The thing is, once they know, people do care. The problem is that they are often overwhelmed by it. So the job is not to shove information at them that makes them feel guilty for not doing something. The job is to give them a story that shows them how to do something

http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2011/02/advice-from-an-accidental-activist.html

So the observant person might notice that I never wrote a day two. That is because yesterday turned out to be a very bad day for me healthwise. I started of with a migraine that just kept getting worse as the day progressed. So I sinned, I drank some coke to stop my stomach going bonzai. This means that there will be no coke or soft drinks in the weekend, tough call, but I needed it more yesterday.
So now we are at day three. We went shopping again to stock up for the weekend, we are still under budget but not with much. We discussed that it will be hard once our stocks start running low, because we like normal people, did have some surplies before we started this project. But that time that sorrow. When we where walking home we discussed Osho's philosophy of being vegetarian. Basicly vegetarism is just connecting more with your food (not in a creepy way) in a way that people on diets do as well. For us shopping has become a sort of meditation, because a low budget forces us to really consider our basic needs. If one of us decides that we want something speciel in our food that the other one can't have (meat for him, peppers for me) then we are also making a direct decision to prioritise our own individual needs over the couples. How do we get around this so none of us feel cheated? So far none of us have become pissy when investing in things for the other person, but it might change when we get further into the project and the weird cravings start flooding in. Luckily we are still in our "honeymoon phase" so love will hopefully conquer all.

Day 2.1

Found this amazing link that I would like to share with you. It is true we are not supporters of general consumerism, but this seems like an interesting project even if it is at the other end of the scale. I wish all the best of luck for Josh to get through the last month or so of this;

http://liveoffgroupon.com/about/

Best Cassy

Day 1:

So day 1;

Started out with a reasonable breakfast, had a tantrum at my husband because he looked at me funny or something like that. I can already feel the effects of no sugar or caffeine and they are not pretty. Also stomach man disagrees that healthy food should now enter my body, been feeling that I have clock work in there that needs serious oiling. Made a shopping list for the week, based on the offers that I could find at our local supermarket. So far we are way under budget for our week, but that is not accounting for the things we might need to stock up on during the week like milk and bread (I am getting to the whole baking it myself soon, but right now there are so many other things to deal with first) If we can manage to keep those things under 12 euros we should be good and dandy.

After we went shopping half our budget for the week is gone, but we also have more than enough food to keep us going for a while. We decided to go through with the plans of buying a new bed for the money that we got at our wedding and a friend has happily decided that she wants to part with hers very cheaply! Total score.

Talked for hours with my friend B, who is joining me in my weight loss scheme. I enjoy talking to her because she takes the subject of weight loss as something we should laugh about, rather than fret about. We had a long talk about the problems of nutritionists who insist that women our size must down at least 3 liters of water a day. We both find the thought of either of us ever being able to consume that amount of water absurd. We are also trying to motivate each other and reminding ourselves that this is not a flip of the moment, but something we are doing for our families and loved ones, so we can stay healthy and active for many years to come. Sure the immediate benefits are an important factor as well. We both want to be able to wear a bikini to the beach without people starring at us (for other reasons than we are so fabulously sexy of course) and to enjoy our vacation together even if is going to be short.  B and I also talked about the fact that we are both having problems finding pagan books in Danish/Nordic but that plenty of Christian books are translated every year. Maybe that is another line of books to add to the long list of books I want to public and translate when I start my own publishing firm.

Have been met with the first skeptics today who do not believe that our project is possible. Went to dinner with friends, but managed to eat healthy food there as well. Still no soda urges today!

The year begins

The year 2011 will be...
The year I finally go through with my plans to make a commitment to changing my life to the better. I recently got married, we have a lovely home and all that, but things are missing that it was hard to put my finger on. Then we watched No- Impact man and allthough I don't give much for his radical methods of achieving his goals, I still support making a life-long change of how you view the world. Movies like this are suppose to encourage us to think about how we impact the envirrontment around us, how we can make a difference etc. So when we went to bed last night I compiled a list of what I want to change about myself in the year to come. There will be slip-ups, and it will be hard not to relapse into a normal consumer habit of shopping, but it is worth a try and in the end if he really makes a difference for me and my husband, then maybe I too can inspire other people to make small changes in their lifes.

My pledge for the next year is;
No more buying
- Clothes, as our closet is already packed to the limit. It is okay to buy a belt or new shoes if they get worn out or weightloss requires us to do so. Hopefully in the end of the year when we have both achieved the looks we want for ourselves, we can splurge a bit on clothes that fit us better. Clothes that we never wear will be given away to charity.
- Books: We are buying a kindle for our weddingmoney and within a year it should have paid itself off if we don't buy anymore normal books. Other than using the Kindle the next year will be dedicated to using the local library instead. It is good excercise and it is better for the envirrontment if we take part in a general sharing policy.
. Snacks or fast-food: If it is not for both of us, then it is a no no. We are setting a low budget for food and making meal plans to try and save money by not being spontanius consumers. Also included in this is a wish to have a more healthy diet where local foods are our focus and added the additional smaller portions sizes as we both eat more than we really need to! To live a more healthy life-style we are also not drinking any sugary drinks or eating candy on weekdays. As we want to start this project on a realistic level we will cut down to only weekends and then later maybe choosing one day a week where we can have a bit of candy.
Food we would like to make ourselves; Own sauces, bread, jam, cordial etc.
Last but not least, busses are off the agenda and pushbikes are on. I for once wish to excericise for at least an hour everyday.


Hopefully this blog will reach other people and make them consider if there are any small changes they might make, but they have been lacking the motivation to do!