Resolution review: June

A progress report on my three resolutions for 2009:

Every day, I will clean for 15 minutes.
At the midpoint of the year, I submit my first back-sliding report. I did not succeed at this resolution this month. We are still figuring out how summer will go with JG at home for most of the day, but as much as I love that he is around the house, it kind of cramps my style of guerrilla cleaning. I’m not sure why, but I feel better doing it when JG’s not around. Granted, the house is still clean, but I have not been very conscientious about my 15 minutes. To combat my slacking, I have moved my chore check-off list to a place of prominence on my dresser, instead of underneath stacks of books on my night stand.

For what it’s worth, my newest favorite cleaning tip (courtesy of How to Clean Stuff) is to clean tubs with a Magic Eraser. I already loved these mysterious white sponges of awesomeness, but it never occurred to me to bring them in to the bathrooms. Getting rid of the scum is almost enjoyable now, if only because I know it’s really gone.

Every week, I will write and send my grandmother a note.
Success! The combination of my stockpile of blank cards at work and my PDA reminder is working like a charm. I have started to send other people notes for the heck of it (although not weekly), and I like how this resolution is starting to make me more aware of when I haven’t talked with someone in a while.

Every month, I will take at least a few hours just for myself.
Hm. Once again, I am puzzled at this last one. Why is it not even on my radar during the month? JG plays volleyball with a local league every Tuesday, and that has become my de facto night to edit pictures, read on the couch, or play with Ted, so does that count? I think it might because I’m spending time on my own, but I am also not a huge fan of it because it’s not intentional of me. Whatever the case, it’s clear that I need to keep this resolution at the fore.

In other news …
We are managing with our CSA pretty well, I think. So far, we haven’t thrown out anything, but it has been a challenge to get through the veritable deluge of lettuce. We’ve been forced to try a handful of new recipes (like fish-vegetable packets and chicken-lettuce wraps), and our pasta intake is very much decreased. The weekly grocery bill has gone down overall, even taking into account our produce share.

July will be a tough month in this respect because of various trips we have planned, but I’m trying to set up a few friends to take our produce in our place. Even though our meal-planning regimen is a little more panicked each week, the CSA has been a success for us. I’m trying not to be nervous about the bigger vegetable-laden harvests to come.