Tea > Soda

Posted on December 13, 2011 by admin

After yesterday’s post, I spent a lot of time thinking about what I would use to replace soda in the house. Then it kinda hit me like a ton of bricks: tea. It’s kind of one of those “duh” things once you think about it, but it took a while for me to come to this conclusion. Mostly because my dad never drank tea and my momma has very different opinions on taste than I do. So (in my opinion) it was either no tea or really, really gross tea in the house. I would drink it occasionally when I went to visit my little sister because she (at the time) worked at Teavana and would recommend things for me to try with varying degrees of success. I still use a lot of what she gave me (a really, really pretty teapot that reminds me of the beaches at home and a teamaker that would let me steep/strain my tea) and it also helped me learn what kind of tea I do and do not like.

Now I want to give tea a real honest chance by drinking it regularly. The plan is to drink coffee (no coffee past noon unless I want to do all-nighters), water (at least the daily recommended amount), and tea. This should give me something to drink that isn’t soda, but has a lot of variety so I don’t get bored and can satisfy any random taste cravings I may get.

But here’s the problem: I don’t really know much about different types of teas. So if y’all have any recommendations for tea (preferably non-caffeinated rooibos, green, or black tea. Doesn’t matter if it is loose-leaf or not, even though it would be nice to have recommendations for either/both) as well as for things that I could use to easily make/drink it from work, I’d really appreciate it.

Checkpoint

Posted on December 12, 2011 by admin

Since it’s almost half-way through the month and I don’t know what else I want to post today, here is a mid-month review on how things are going on my 30 day trial run on some of my goals:

Be healthier: No soda.

Messed up on one day (yesterday, actually) while I was at Kita’s. I was just *really* craving something syrup-y and sweet (Pepsi). Need to have a contingency plan when one of those random cravings hit. Hoping to keep on track with this goal for the rest of the month (and then the year).

Be financially responsible: Make a monthly budget and stick to it.

Made the budget and it looks like I’m sticking to it more or less (won’t be able to tell for certain until the end of the month)

Be more social (able?): Update the blog every week day.

Doing it! I created a Google calendar where I have a blog post idea on (almost) every day so that I won’t hem and haw on what I should write about. There are a few blanks, but I like it that way since it gives me flexibility in case there’s something that I really want to write about (kinda like last week’s post on how my hormones are driving me crazy).

Do more stuff (crafts/projects): Do monthly sprite stitch challenge (and make a/some updates about it so you don’t procrastinate).

Made the pattern and shared the picture for it here (will update later with the actual pattern). Started to work on it this past weekend and will make a post with a progress shot later this week/early next week.

Get more organized: Find/make a filing system for taxes, bills and mail. Use it for the entire month (I’m open for suggestions).

I think I found something to help organize the mail, but still looking for something that will work out for bills and other important papers.

Misc.: Read at least two books a month (this will be helped partly by the InfoSec Book Club starting up next year, but I don’t want to get lazy with my reading like I was this year).

Already finished with the first book (Deadline) and about to start the second book (re-reading The Colour of Magic because there are some of the Rincewind books that I have not read and I like to read books in order. Plus it gives me an excuse to buy a digital copy of all of the Discworld books…).

Trying to keep SAD from keeping me sad.

Posted on December 6, 2011 by admin

When I lived in Florida, going from Spring to Summer to Fall to Winter didn’t really have a huge impact on me. It meant that, sometimes, I may have to wear a hoodie. Or put on extra sunscreen. The sun was almost always out no matter what season and I spent a lot of time outdoors. I thought that Seasonal Affective Disorder was a load of crap (yeah, I said it). Then I moved to Seattle.

My first winter here (around November-ish), I got really depressed. I didn’t know what was going on, just that I wanted to do nothing but hide in the bedroom all day or just hide. I didn’t want to see anyone or do anything. It got so bad, that when my parents came out to visit for about a week, it took almost everything I had not to drive the car off the road after taking them to the airport (I still cried the whole way and had to stop a few times). And it kept getting worse until February, when Kita and I went on our Epic Road Trip (which spent a lot of time in the sunny south). Then it got better and I was fine for the rest of the season.

Last October, I noticed that I was starting to get down again and recognized that I was falling into the same patterns as last winter decided to bitch-slap me. So, I decided to do a few things that I thought would help keep me from getting down again. I plan on doing the following again this year with only a few minor changes (also listed below):

Excercise: The second winter here, I walked to work (about a mile, which is not fun when the sidewalks are icy or have snow all over them) and did yoga every morning. It helped me feel better about myself because I was noticing little improvements here and there (down a pants size, knee didn’t hurt as badly as it usually does, self-esteem improved, etc.). The only thing I’m going to change this year is instead of walking to work, I’ll do 1-3 miles on the treadmill at the fitness center at the apartment complex. It also gives me time to listen to music (which I don’t find enough time to do)
Vitamin D: This year, I’ll be adding 4000 UIs of Vitamin D to the list of things that I will be doing (or taking?). The doctor told me that it should help a lot, especially since I’ve gotten extremely deficient in the vitamin since moving here.
Full spectrum light: I spend at least 30 minutes under a full spectrum light (before the time that the sun usually goes down). I forget where, but I read that having more light helps to elevate one’s mood. It seemed to work well for me last year, so I’ll be repeating it.
Eat better: Along the same lines as exercising, eating better (and taking the time to cook better food) really helps me feel good.
Do stuff: I need to do more stuff (crafts/video games/other hobbies) that has me interacting with others. Isolation may be what I think I want during the winter months, but it tends to do me more harm than good. So I will be trying to fight that urge this year.

Goals Trial Run

Posted on December 1, 2011 by admin

Yesterday, I made the random, not well thought-out decision (as a few of my better decisions tend to be) to do a 30 day trial of one sub-goal from each category of goals for the new year during the month of December. I spent most of the evening looking over the list of goals (and the sub-goals) that I want to accomplish next year and then figured out which ones I could try out for 30 days. Some of these won’t be possible (like visiting Florida for at least a week. I mean I could do it in theory, but I’m going to do it in March so we’re all clear there), so I obviously couldn’t choose one of those. I will post the full list near the end of the month, but until then here are the goals I plan on giving a try this month. Below, I have the 7 main goals in bold/underline with the sub-goal I plan on testing this month next to it.

Be healthier: No soda.

Be financially responsible: Make a monthly budget and stick to it.

Be more social (able?): Update the blog every week day.

Do more stuff (crafts/projects): Do monthly sprite stitch challenge (and make a/some updates about it so you don’t procrastinate).

Get more organized: Find/make a filing system for taxes, bills and mail. Use it for the entire month (I’m open for suggestions).

Misc.: Read at least two books a month (this will be helped partly by the InfoSec Book Club starting up next year, but I don’t want to get lazy with my reading like I was this year).

2012 Goals 30 Day Trial

Posted on November 30, 2011 by admin

Those of you who know me pretty well know that I hate (HATE) the phrase New Years Resolutions. It’s a dumb (and almost meaningless) phrase and hardly anyone has the resolve to just do something throughout the year that they didn’t already regularly do just because it’s the New Year without any planning. I was one of those people who would never stick with the resolution and then get down on myself for not being able to stick to it. That is, until two (or so?) years ago. I started to post my goals for the New Year on my el-jay (don’t judge) along with how I was going to accomplish the goal. My reasoning behind this is that if I post it publicly where my friends can see it, then I would feel more accountable and that by having sub-goals it would be easier to accomplish. And I was right! More or less. There are still a few kinks that I need to fix.

But it’s only November 30. Why the hell am I talking about this a month ahead of time? Well, this morning I read an article by Chris Penn that discusses how using the month of December as a trial period for one of your goals and planning for it, will increase the likelihood of you sticking with it throughout the year. That’s all well and good, but one goal? Just one? Screw that. I have 7 main goals (or categories for goals) with associated sub-goals/ways to accomplish the goal. So what I’m planning on doing is taking one sub-goal from each category and spend the month of December trying them out and then making any adjustments that are necessary for me to stick with them throughout next year.

Luckily, I already have a list of the goals I want to get accomplished for next year, but I’m not sure which ones I want to put through the trial. I will update tomorrow with the goals that I think I will have the most trouble keeping/accomplishing next year*.

*One sub-goal I think will be difficult-ish is update here every week day, without a ton of crap/fluff posts. So tomorrow will count as the first post of the first day of the 30 day trial. May be cheating, but oh well!

2011 Goals

Posted on November 8, 2011 by admin

So, thanks to everyone talking about voting today (totally submitted by ballot already, btw. ), it has finally sunk in that it is really, actually November. As in: the second to last month of the year. What the hell? Where did the rest of this year go? It just seemed to zoom past. There was a lot of good and a lot of bad, but I will go over that stuff at some point next month.

Right now I’m doing a recap of where I stand with my goals for this year. There were a lot of them. I had misplaced the list and spent a good few hours scavenging my hard drive to try and find it. And I did! Yay me! So… Here is the list with comments in bold/italicized for any notes. Things not completed are underlined.

Have more energy: Especially recently, I have found myself getting more and more lethargic as the day goes on and not having the energy to do anything outside of work. This is really not good, especially since I want to be able to get out and see people and/or get some projects done. I think that if I change my sleep and eating habits as well as activities, this will help give me more energy. So in order to hopefully up my energy levels I am going to do the following…

On nights when I have to work the following morning, begin bedtime routines at 10PM (change into pjs, brush teeth, wash face, turn off electronics, read, etc.). Do this, but just a smidge earlier.
Lights out at 11PM on nights when I have to work the next morning Had to change to earlier since I work an earlier shift now.
Set phone alarm to 6:30AM (this gives me enough time to eat breakfast and walk to work if I have to) and then put phone out of reach from the bed, therefore making me get up to turn off alarm and lessen the chances of me pressing snooze and going back to bed. Changed because of a change in schedule. But I still wake up earlier than I have to so that I can eat breakfast and walk.
Every Monday, create a meal plan to go from Wednesdays to Wednesdays (lolpayday) that is healthy. Trying to avoid pre-made stuff if possible. I avoid pre-made stuff almost completely (sometimes we buy dough or French fries), and make a meal plan every Tuesday to go from Sunday to Saturday. I’ve saved a lot of money by doing the meal plan.
Make an Amazon fresh order every Tuesday for sauces, cleaners, misc. non-perishables that go along with the meal plan (buying meat and veggies fresh the day of to reduce the amount of food going bad in the fridge/freezer). I’ve been doing this until Amazon Fresh changed their fees, so now I go shopping for everything on Saturdays.
Force myself to eat breakfast every morning (annoying!). Done! And it’s been healthy too. J
Drink no more than 2-8oz. cups of coffee a day and at least 2 liters of water a day. I drink at least 64 oz of water daily and have been sticking with my low amounts of coffee rule.
Walk to work every morning (2 miles) and don’t hesitate to walk home in the evenings. Changed locations so I’ve been walking a mile a day (.5 mile from bus stop to work and vice versa) to/from work.
Do yoga daily and meditate at least weekly. Heh. Yeah, I dropped that.
Be organized and de-clutter my life: Having to move in the middle of the year really helped me realize how disorganized and cluttered my life has gotten. When I moved back in to my parent’s house while I was still in Florida, I was able to move everything out (my clothes, computers, books, etc.) two truck loads. When I moved out of Alex’s and in to my current place, it took an entire extended cab/bed truck to move my stuff. I want to significantly decrease that amount as well as be better organized.

Go through closets four times a year and donate the clothes that I don’t wear or are too big for me (the sub-goal of this sub-goal is to have more clothes that are too big ). I need to actually drop off the clothes, but I do have 2 bags of clothes to donate.

Donate books that I’m not using/reading/wanting to keep long-term to a library or to one of the book bins by the bank. Double done!
Update a desk calendar at the beginning of the month to have a high-level idea of what is planned for the month and make a to-do list every night to keep track of the little things. Done!
Shred papers that have PII every Sunday to avoid them cluttering up on top of shredder. I’ve been doing this.
If it doesn’t have a purpose or a sentimental value (gifts to/from me are included in the purpose/sentimental value), get rid of it. I need to do this again, my closet is hideous.
Do chores every weekend so I don’t get lazy and have things build up. This has been helpful in keeping me from going completely insane. Clutter/mess around the house tends to make me feel anxious/flustered. Doing little things throughout the week and then a weekend regular cleaning has helped me stay sane. J
Have a notebook on me at all times to keeps track of:
- Project ideas as they come up
- Movies I want to see, books I want to read, albums I want to hear
- Gift ideas for friends and family
- Goals or random bits that I want to record This is all done. Yay me!
- Finish projects: Something that I have been particularly terrible about this year has been starting projects and then not finishing them. In order to fix that I am planning to:
  - Make monthly posts online that lists each project that I’m working on and keep tabs of what is and isn’t being done with them. Didn’t do that but that’s because I haven’t done anything. L
  - Do not commit to any more projects until I am finished with the ones that I have currently planned. Done and done.
  - Upon starting a new project, document what I need to do it and when I want to get it done by. Then create a plan so that I can accomplish the goal of getting it done by that date. Haven’t started any new projects, so would this be considered done?
  - Do shit:I’ve been feeling like a complete slacker when it comes to everything. Having quality time for friends and family, doing stuff that I enjoy, etc. So I want to do things that make me happy.
    - Make a trip to Florida at least once this year to visit friends and family. I did! And it was amazing! And I’m going again next year!
    - Visit local friends more regularly. I didn’t get to spend as much time with Nikita as I would have liked (hardly any time) because she moved and I suck because I don’t have a car. I did make new friends though and have hung out with them a few times. So I’m calling this done and a win.
    - Visit some place random for no other reason than to see friends (Toronto or Chicago by the looks of it). Didn’t get to do this. Maybe next year?
    - Get a certification, even though the thought of them annoys me I have to come to terms with the fact that companies love them… Lol. Totally didn’t do this. It will get pushed to next year’s list.
    - Update the blog at least once a week with a real post and the website at least once every other month. Not done, but I did change the format and you have to admit that I’ve been updating more so I’m still marking it as a win/done. Because I can.
    - Do more work with the arduino and simple circuits (carry-over from last year’s goals). Done. I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with my lilypad and want to do more stuff with it.
    - Be more talkative online so when I say something people aren’t like “holy crap, I thought you were dead….” Kinda failed at that. Maybe next year!
    - Learn more: Similar to the “Do shit”goal, I want to learn more this year. I spent most of the year coasting by with what I know and I want to expand my horizons. Before I moved to Washington State, I would sit in my room and read about various subjects and learn something new regularly. This year I want to learn about a different religion and language as well as various other bits. In particular:
      - Go through the engineering textbook I got a hold of a few years ago and learn about simple circuits (will also help with the “Do more work with the arduino and simple circuits” goal above).
      - Learn more about Buddhism and Zen so that I know what the heck my little sister is talking about. Learned more about Buddhism and Zen. Still don’t know what my little sister talks about. I’m considering this done anyways.
      - Learn at least elementary French.
      - Go through Jeri’s “Chemistry with Household Chemical” videos on YouTube as well as watch/read Sacha’s “Mine’s Smaller Than Yours: Chemistry and Nanotechnology in a Hackerspace and/or Home Lab” talk from NOTACON.
      - Be more involved with Neurohacking and Neurophytes:Since doing the talk with ne0n at NOTACON last year, I have become even more interested and passionate about neurohacking. This year, I want to spend more time working on projects and doing more neurohacking-centric talks. More specifically:
        
        Every day, log pre-determined biomining data in the appropriate places. I will have a journal to log when I sleep, how long, quality of sleep, and any associated dreams; an excel spreadsheet that logs my weight (once a day), measurements (once a week), heart rate (3 times a day), and blood pressure (3 times a day) along with any notes that could account for anomalies; and keep track of how many steps I take a day with the software that came with my pedometer; a log of what I eat every day and associated caloric count. On days that I am sick, take note of symptoms, onset of symptoms, what medicines I take and how often I take them. Done. I changed what I logged daily, but I did keep up with the logging. Even when I really, really didn’t want to because I was lazy.
        
        Start working on biomining lab (kit?) to include things that are needed to make biomining easier on those who want to attempt this. Done. I didn’t make a kit, but I did do the presentation on doing a Biomining Lab at DerbyCon and that totally counts.
        
        Hack new spiffy scale to transmit stored data to my computer for easier logging. Not done and I am actually going to take it off the list because I’m thinking of getting a commercial one (lame, I know).
        
        Make a loose plan (mind map at the very least) for talk ideas for 2012.