Some small goals.

It's always easier for me to accomplish things when:

a) I write them down, and
b) other people know what I'm supposed to be accomplishing.

So, I wanted to write a bit of an informal post with some small personal goals. Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Give up refined sugar. Well, pretty much. Everything in moderation, right? I want to give it up except for special occasions. The next time I plan to eat refined sugar is 3 weeks from now, on my 31st birthday. No more soda. No more candy. Homemade pie? Yes, please. But only every once in a while.

2. Work out 4-5 times a week. Nothing major, just maybe some jogging. Going to the gym also serves as alone time, which for me is special and sporadic. I'd love to invest in my health and have regular 45-minute blocks of alone time. It sounds heavenly.

3. Stop taking so many dress orders. This is hard, because I hate saying no. I also enjoy the extra income. But I really need to focus on my family this summer. The kids are growing up so fast. I have my whole life to sew dresses, but only a few years to enjoy my children being little.

4. Focus on the kids more! Play with them more, take them outside more, cuddle them more (is that even possible?). Just enjoy them every second I can.

5. Stop buying things. Not everything, but most things. Stop shopping for entertainment and focus on what we need instead of what we want. We have so much. We need very little, if anything. Shop from a grocery list. Save coupons again. Buy not one piece of children's clothing until late summer for back-to-school. The kids have everything they could possibly need until then, especially if I mend the holes in Elijah's otherwise-perfect jeans.

6. Eat out once a week, maybe twice. Everything else must be cooked at home. I really enjoy cooking, so this isn't  a big deal. It's a laziness issue for me, really.

7. Cut down on energy consumption, benefits to be monetary and for the greater good. Put up the new clothesline and use the dryer as little as possible. At night the power strips behind the main entertainment center, Elijah's television, and computer area need to be unplugged. Put a bucket in the shower to collect water for plants. Start composting.

8. Continue to focus on gardening. Make the chicken plans.

9. Plan the family vacation in June. Very excited about this one!

Hmmm. That's about it for now. I feel better having written it all down!

Ethan's New Diet

Today I set out to design a new gluten-free and casein-free diet for Ethan. He has autism, and one of the homeopathic treatments many doctors and experts suggest is such a diet. This means he can't have any wheat, oats, dairy, soy, or many other things all of us eat without thinking everyday. Most of the things Ethan will be eating will be rice-based. So he'll have rice cheese instead of dairy, rice pasta instead of wheat, etc. His favorite food is pizza, so I bought rice flour at The Truck Patch (our local organic and natural foods market) to make gluten-free pizza crust, and shredded rice cheese for the top. He can still have most organic meats and fruits and veggies, so the rest of the pizza will be as usual. I hope he likes the rice cheese. Since he doesn't drink milk (he's had trouble digesting milk since he was a baby, which was one of our first clues to his condition) we won't have to do much to alter his drinking habits. This new diet, though, will be a challenge for us all. It will taste different, obviously, but it will also be a lot more expensive. And since Ethan is fairly set in his ways as far as food choices, it won't be very much fun making the switch. I am interested to see how it works, if it works (I hope it works!). Since his 4th birthday is next month, I already have plans for a gluten- and casein-free cake. Yummy! I hope.