Weekend Wrap-up

I had a rather nice, relaxing weekend. Grilling with family, farmer's market, dog walk, Olympics watching, and a lovely walk around the lake at Second Home Nature Center. I also took a lengthy nap Saturday afternoon, during which I unfortunately missed most of the coverage of the men's road race. Boo hiss. I did, however, wake up in time to see the last kilometer or so. (As a bit of an aside, I wish we used kilometers here in the states.)

As the weekend approaches each week I imagine doing all sorts of fun and exciting things, but the reality is that I'm so exhausted I can barely manage to stay awake. I had to fight to not nap yesterday afternoon out of fear that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep until late. As it was I didn't go to sleep until after 11:30 last night, which is darn late when I get up at 5:20. I need closer to 8-9 hours of sleep. I always assume that everyone is running around in the same state of total exhaustion. Am I wrong? And if I'm right, then something is terribly wrong with our society. I actually had to sit and rest during my walk around the lake. A formerly unheard of act. This is going to be a long day. If you hear snoring, please ignore it.

Oh Deer!

As seen on one of my walks to my car after work. (Sorry about the disappearing post. Blogger difficulties.)

Green Toothbrushes

I was well past needing a new toothbrush (I never replace them on the recommended every three month schedule) when I read on another blog about Preserve Toothbrushes. They are made from recycled plastic (including yogurt cups!) and after use can be returned to the company to be made into plastic lumber. How cool is that?!

So while my car was being inspected on Saturday, I walked over to Target. The toothbrush cost me $2.04 plus tax, which you can't beat. I've used it for a couple days now and can say that I absolutely like it. It has a nice small head and super soft bristles. I would definitely recommend it.

Going into Target for even my one small item was disturbing. All of the acres of unnecessary crap and pushy people. At the checkout aisles I was shoved aside by someone with a cart full of merchandise when all I was holding was one item. Had I known for sure I would like the toothbrushes I would've bought several to avoid having to return to that store in three months. I need another soapdish now that I'm switching to bar soap, but there was no way I was buying one there. If I can't find the one that is MIA in my own house, I'll pay a visit to the thrift store. I'm going to do my best to avoid buying new whenever possible.

From my morning walk

Berrybird suggested that I take some pictures along my new route to work. As it happens, I paused briefly in my hill climbing on Friday morning to do just that. I almost always have my camera with me. I'm always on the lookout for shots I could use in future classroom settings. This, for example, would be perfect for a lesson on Mollusks:

Now I just need to ID it. Anyone good at snails? Wood snail, I think, but what kind?

Cheap and Lazy

My place of employ charges their employees to park, even though there is a multitude of space available for parking. It's done on a sliding scale so that the more you make, the more you pay. When you get a raise, wack! Now you pay more to park. I'm sure this is not an unusual practice, but knowing that doesn't make me any happier about it.

August 1st marks the beginning of a new parking year, but with my upcoming leave-of-absence I was reluctant to have to buy the new pass, then return it in a month, and buy it again a few months after that. I certainly wasn't going to pay for it during my 3 month LOA. To avoid all the hassle, I decided I would just buy the fool thing when I return to work in December.

So today was the first day of my new routine which involves parking nearby (where it's free!) and walking to my office. I cut through some nice wooded areas and some tall grassy bits, then I popped out onto the sidewalk to climb the hill to my office building. I arrived somewhat sweaty and damp from the dew in about 15 minutes (change of pants and shoes in my backpack). My plan is on mornings when it's raining cats & dogs to snag a spot in the visitor parking. Surely they won't know the difference for one day, right? If I was more ambitious I'd calculate how much money I'm saving by doing this.

In Search of Shorter Showers

The length of my showers has always bothered me (and probably my parents and sister and roommates and...). I have always taken really, really long showers, but I am never standing idly in the water. I am busy the entire time. Get in, get wet, shampoo, rinse, condition, shave, rinse, soap, rinse, wash face, rinse. Thus far I have been unsuccessful in reducing the time. So I'm throwing it out to you all. I would love to spend less time in the shower and use less water and electricity. Any suggestions, ideas, thoughts?

I've been alternating between a bar soap and bath wash with the poof. The bar soap is much quicker, but it leaves a weird sticky residue and makes my skin dry. I feel much cleaner with the poof. I don't know if all bar soaps would have the same effect, or if it's just mine (which is locally made and otherwise wonderful). I'd like to eliminate the purchasing of the body wash because of its plastic bottle.

I usually skip showering once a week. I don't think I smell, but I end up feeling pretty scuzzy by the end of the day. I know I'd get used to it if I did it regularly, but in the summer I'd still have to shave daily. (Curse the genetics that blessed me with fast-growing hair.)

So what's your secret to shorter showers?

Nothing

I didn't do anything terribly note-worthy this weekend. I watched TV. I took the dogs for a walk in the neighborhood. I sat outside and read half a book (not for school!). I watched the dogs compete to see who could eat more Things They Should Not Eat in the backyard. It was a draw, by the way. I thought about many things I'd like to do: go to wine country, go to the waterfall-filled region south of here, go to the mansion gardens west of here, go swimming, but I'm just not up for doing all those things alone. I mean really, who goes wine tasting alone? And so, like always, I did nothing instead.