Good or bad, we all have them: habits. Mine seem to come and go with my living environment. Here's a breakdown of my San Francisco vs. Sage Haven habits.
Everyone knows I have weird eating habits. Being a vegan (mostly) puts me lower on the food chain than normal people would voluntarily venture. I may be animal-friendly, but I'm definitely not figure-friendly in the way I eat. I'm a ravenous grazer. Boredom plus vicinity to food directly relates to diet disaster. Luckily I stayed pretty busy in San Francisco and never kept anything edible in my apartment (literally, there were practically cobwebs in my fridge). Instead I would make a dinner out of chips and salsa... or anything with condiments. The other thing about me is that I'm a clean plate club champion. Rarely too full to finish a meal, I pack it away like I'm storing up for the winter.
This bad habit has definitely mutated at Sage Haven. The first week I was here, I made vegetable stock and tomato sauce from scratch, cooking two 6 serving freezable meals (a polenta "pie" and cauliflower ditali) that I'm still getting through. Sounds like an improvement from Mission burritos and croissant cravings, right?
The other thing I hate is wasting food. Since I'm in a family condo, there are definitely a lot of items past expiration here. I suppose that it's good to have 3 jars of mint jelly, 3 jars of olives, and 4 half eaten containers of peanut butter in case I get stranded in an avalanche, but I'd prefer to work through these items one at a time. Living on a budget, I'm not going to let anything go to waste. Cream of wheat expiring in 2002? You make a delicious breakfast when I mix you with the aforementioned peanut butter, some syrup, and soy milk (the only thing on that list NOT expired). Creamed corn? You're falsely advertising dairy in your name, but you could be tasty if I mix in a little BBQ sauce and put you on a crispy taco shell that's from the same era, 5 years expired (kind of like chips and salsa, no?). I mean, non-perishable items like that don't really expire, right? I definitely learned my lesson with a good case of food poisoning. Diced tomatoes from 2002, I'm sorry, but I have to throw you away because I can't go through that again.
Eventually the eating habits will get better, I think.
I'll try to run through the other good and bad (the food thing was definitely the ugly) habits to give you an idea of my different life.
Running: I was in a great habit of hitting the pavement every week with my friend, Kelsey, in San Francisco. Snowy sidewalks (and a lack of them) seem to destroy this good habit, but I just tried it out today, and it was actually really great. My goal is to keep up the Monday Runday habit. This coincides with my great gym habit at my very expensive gym in San Francisco. Not planning to sign up quite yet, but the shoveling and skiing kind of help. Maybe I should get some aerobics DVDs. Leading to my next habit...
Technology: I lived like a cavewoman in San Francisco, the tech-iest city in the nation. No microwave, no dishwasher, no TV, no working computer, no internet, and a temperamental cell phone. Now I've got it all and more. Microwaving (new verb) throughout the day, a disgusting addiction to shows like "What Not To Wear" "Ice Road Truckers" and "The Jersey Shore," two pretty broken but workable computers, internet access 24/7, and even a landline. I'm not super happy about these new modern day resources, but I'll take 'em for the time being. I still prefer hand washing dishes to the energy-hogging machine. Oh, and the thermostat is nice... lovely greenhouse effect (it's 75 in here even though the 'stat is set to 65).
Driving: I had a great habit of not driving, ditching my car at work or on San Francisco streets. Now I have to drive everywhere, which I'm feeling really guilty about. Once the snow melts, I'll be able to get out on my bike, but the conditions right now are not conducive to my skinny tires. New goal is to figure out the free bus schedule. This will add time to quick errands, but it will combat my guilt.
Cleanliness: I've always been a dirty hippie at heart, and I think I might be getting dirtier. Who needs to shave her legs when she doesn't have to wear gym shorts or skirts to work? This saves time (and water) in the shower. The dryness here means that I can't wash my hair as much (static overload!), so I'm feeling pretty hygienically dirty. Bedroom clutter galore has translated nicely all the way from childhood, so that's not about to stop. I'm doing my best to keep my expansive living quarters clean, and I've started a fly collection... in my dust buster, boom! I'll make sure things are great in time for the Brent family visit in a couple weeks!
Sleep: Horrible, horrible sleep schedule in San Francisco. 5:30 AM wake up, sometimes after 1:00 AM bedtime. Bad bad bad! Now it's bad in a good way, making up some serious debt. No job and my earliest class at 3:00 PM; there is no reason to be awake before 8:00 AM. My new alarm clock is the sun. But I am missing my luxurious bed. Hope those folks from Craigslist are enjoying it. Enter back pain.
Money: Other than some necessary purchases (a ski pass, class tuition and supplies, and groceries), I've graduated from retail therapy. Night life and cafe visits (drinking expired tea at home instead of designer coffee) have disappeared, saving me tons of dough. And then there are the huge expenses of my commute to the peninsula and rent in San Francisco, it was just too much! So great to get through a day without spending any money. On that note, I have to fill up my car with gas and go to class.
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Nice to see you are settling in. Those refrigerator contents sound a lot like what I used to see at the A-Frame. It's what happens when different people come and go at long intervals. As you try to combat waste just remember to always make sure whatever it is at least passes the sniff test. Old canned tomatoes and soups are always suspect. I remember one that corroded the bottom right out of the can at the lake place. It always amazes me how many folks will simply toss food as soon the "best used by" date passes. Dad
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