No spending update!

Still no money spent on any new items that aren't toiletries or food! Unfortunately, I'm am more broke than ever because of car repairs and airline tickets that needed to be purchased! Hoping to get back into saving with tomorrow's paycheck and paying down some credit card balances.

We've just had a massive snow storm, so I saved some money on gas by working from home and not driving to my 'office' to work. My co-teacher and I have been really excited about making changes to our classroom and instruction pages; it also leaves me wishing I new more about designing webpages, mine are okay, but plain, which is better than over the top in my opinion.

I was hoping to make a trip to Washington D.C. to visit my cousins this weekend, but the snow put the dampers on that, since it's bad here and worse in D.C. Columbiana County was hit the worst, and the papers say it's one of the worst storms since the 1800's - I believe it because it is a mess out there and the snow is to my knees.

Having a bit of a think about England again - a friend asked if there was an opening back at my old school if I'd want to take it - and to be honest I'd love to, but not for another year so my finances are more sorted out and some of the kids I knew have moved on so it's more of a fresh start. Another friend posted a picture journal of a day on the way to school - and when the picture of the journey from the train to the school came up, I got teary! (I lived across from the school so it was the walk I made to go into the city and to go to the shops!). I can't decide what to do - any ideas?!

Also - random but cool site - send your unwanted books to a soldier who needs something to read or an inmate. I found this via a great blog: http://www.lessismorebalanced.com/

Facebook Status Ignorance

I thought I could ignore this once when someone updated their facebook status, but then when I saw it again it was impossible not to comment.

The following was posted today:
Shame on you America: the only country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without needed meds, and mentally ill without treatment - yet we have a benefit for the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations. 99% of people won't have the guts to copy and repost this.

I can't believe that anyone would honestly believe that they would want to represent themselves be reposting this non-sense. America the only country where people's needs aren't being met? No country in the world is without problems, but America is one of the places where you are more likely than most to have your basic needs met. The idea that the people in Haiti were not in need of the 59 million dollars raised last night through the telethon is ludicrous. A country whose people were in many ways already much worse off than most Americans.

This also disturbed me as I watched Schindler's List - the idea that a person is less important because he isn't like you. The Haitians aren't Americans. The Jews weren't of Aryan ancestry. We must value all human beings alike and refuse to see us vs. them. When another country is suffering as a result of a natural disaster they are our neighbor and deserve our help in whatever form we can give it.

Food for Thought Friday

Breakfast - Would you rather be really hungry or really tired?
It's pretty bad either way; I am cranky!

Lunch - What is your favorite thing about blogging?
The chance to be part of a dialogue that a lot of people care about.

Dinner - If you were given three hours to do anything, but could not clean or catch-up on things you were behind on, how would you spend it?
Definitely reading a book.

Midnight Snack - Are you persistent or do you give up easily?
Both - I can be easily discouraged or very bull headed.

No Spending Update!

It is January 18th and so far I have not spent any money on items other than food or hygiene products. I needed shampoo and conditioner (I tried a baking soda method I had heard of, but my hair was so disgusting I couldn't stick with it) as well as a face cream. I'm trying out Burt's Bee's daily face cream, it came in a glass jar and was the only thing I could see on the shelf not stored in plastic. (Another goal of course to not have as much plastic waste, which is about the hardest part because so much stuff comes in plastic!)

Also grad school has started and I'm only taking one class now instead of three. Methods in Literary Research just wasn't going to be for me and then Special Topics was cancelled because of lack of interest. So now I just have my War (and Peace) Literature class, which I think will be alright. There is a British girl in my class who happened to sit right next to me the first day. We both had a whinge about no public transportation and missing Hob Nobs!

Work is going okay - the first semester ended on Friday, but we leave the gradebook and assignments open for the second semester . . . which I don't understand. The kind of kids we teach need boundaries and to understand the consequences of not meeting deadlines more than anyone, but we let them just straggle on with their work indefinitely. I find it very challenging because the school is more like a business, so we have 'customers' not students and we have to please everyone involved, even the parents who won't make their children do work or who are extremely rude. I have to say I loved how backed we were by the administration in England; the head teacher wasn't afraid to tell parents they weren't welcome and that the way they spoke to teacher's was unacceptable.

Anyway - the year moves forward as boring as ever here, but I can be thankful that the snow is almost gone now, one positive thing at least.

Goals for 2010

I've been thinking about what I'd like to do in 2010. I mentioned before that I was considering 'The Compact' a challenge to buy nothing new for a year. Below are also other goals I've set for myself.

Buy nothing new (excluding personal exceptions).
Volunteer
Give to charity each month
Exercise daily (yoga, aerobic, etc.)
Earn a 4.0 in grad school
Read 50 non school related books
Plant and maintain an organic garden as well as can & freeze garden produce
Replace chemical cleaners with more organic ones (i.e. vinegar & baking soda)
Give non-object gifts (experiences, etc.)
Reduce plastic waste dramatically

For 'The Compact' I've made some exceptions: foods (obviously), hygiene products (cleansers, etc.), travel souvenirs (though I'll try to find used ones if there are thrift stores in the city), items needed for a wedding I'm in. The final one is to do with the final goal of plastics. If I need an item and I absolutely cannot find it and there is a new environmentally sound item that I want to support I will purchase that instead (I would like to have metal or glass storage containers instead of plastic).

Hopefully, I can stick to my goals and feel like I've made a lot of achievements this year.

Food for Thought Friday

Breakfast -How did you ring in the NEW YEAR and NEW DECADE?
Watching Criminal Minds - my theme for all of winter break.
Lunch - What will you remember about 2009?
The pain of moving home, all my friends and students in the UK and how much I miss it.
Dinner - What are your expectations for 2010?
To do an awesome job in grad school and complete some projects and personal goals.
Midnight Snack - If you could go back and change anything about 2009, what would it be and why?
I'd stay in England continue to teach and do grad school there.

Food for Thought Friday

Breakfast - What was your high and low of the week?

High - It's Christmas Day! Low - Uncomfortable social/family situations.

Lunch - What is something you used to do religiously that you no longer do?

Attend church, youth group, Missionettes, etc.

Dinner - What is something you now do that you never in your wildest dreams thought you would be doing?

Working from home.

Midnight Snack - How much do you enjoy Christmas?

It's the most wonderful time of the year!