Status Update — 1Q2009

I can’t believe that we are three months into the new year. That went by quickly, didn’t it? Remember three months ago? When we were all hopeful and dreamy and thought this might just be the best year ever?

Ahem. Anyway…

It is time for the quarterly review of my goals for 2009. {A drum roll would be perfect here.}

Giving
Make calls in January to area non-profit organizations to find volunteer opportunities. Make a decision as to where to give my time by February and begin volunteering (or training, if needed) in 1Q2009.
Status: Done! I found a new organization, completed training a few weeks ago, and started volunteering. Now I’m thinking of branching out into a new area within the same organization.

Maintain charitable giving and continue to make quarterly donations.
Status: I haven’t made any charitable donations yet this year. I still fully intend to…I’m just waiting to make sure I have a job first. But I am stepping up the volunteer time so I’m hoping that counts for something.

Green
Use only green cleaning products
Status: So far, so good! All my cleaning products are environmentally friendly. This one was easy.

Use reusable bags on all shopping trips
Status: I have been able to do this one too. I even brought my bags into Target and KMart, not just the local grocery store. And I love not having 4,783 plastic bags falling out of my laundry room cabinets anymore.

Buy recycled products whenever possible.
Status: I think I’ve done okay here too. I haven’t been buying much of anything lately so this hasn’t been too difficult. Mostly I find myself buying recycled paper products. And I have given up paper towels completely. (And that was harder than when I gave up caffeine, believe me.)

Finances
Increase my savings 30%
Status: I have already blown past this (thanks to careful spending, hoarded Christmas money, tax refunds and incentive pay) and that doesn’t count the money I’ll save from the paycheck I got today. I’ll have to think about what my next savings goal should be.

Free Time
Spend at least 4 hours per week writing.
Updated 21Jan09: Spend time writing and come up with a project to focus on (a collection of essays, a short story, etc.)
Status: Okay, here is one I need to work on. I have definitely spent plenty of time writing each week (between blogging and my daily journaling and let’s not even discuss the amount of time I spend on Twitter) but I haven’t worked on any projects or pursued finding a writing contest. Perhaps I’ll spend more time on this in the next quarter.

So, how about you? How are your goals shaping up for 2009?

In these times

When this whole economic downturn started, I took some cost-cutting measures. The first thing I eliminated was the cleaning person who came in every other week. Now, you may recall, that I got rid of her for reasons other than the economy but since I didn’t replace her like I had planned to, I consider that my first expense cut.

After that, I canceled my gym membership, downgraded my cable service, canceled my one magazine subscription, limited the number of times I can eat out to two times per month (and I haven’t even been doing that), lowered the temp on my automatic thermostat, and started watching the sales, buying store brands instead of name brands, and cutting coupons.

I haven’t bought books or music since 2008. Egads!

I didn’t have much more than that to cut. I go to about two movies a year (if that), rarely dine out, and don’t spend a lot of money shopping (well, other than the couple of times a year I hit Sephora pretty hard but I have to have ONE vice), and have always spent well within my means to begin with.

But I’m still being careful. Denise and I had wanted to take Girls Weekend 2009 to New York City this fall. We really want to go and last year, probably would have spent the money without thinking too much about it. But this year? We are tentative. We are willing to hold off a year, or even two, if it means we’ll feel more secure and be able to enjoy ourselves more.

As a result of all the cutting back and planning, I have been able to sock away quite a bit extra in my savings account. Given these times, and the cutbacks our company has had to make, this seemed like the prudent thing to do. I feel a little more secure in my job today than I did even a month ago, but none of us knows what may be around the corner. There could be additional cuts around the company and I could be out of a job just like the thousands who have gone before me.

These are scary, uncertain times.

If my job were eliminated, I still have some cutting I could do. I am perfectly willing to get rid of cable altogether. I could get rid of my land line. I have things I could sell. I would be fine for quite a while. (I repeat this to myself over and over so that one day I will believe it.)

The other day I was thinking about what I would add back when things start to improve. Would I jump right back in with both feet and spend like the rainy days aren’t going to return? Probably not. I haven’t felt any pain from the cutbacks I’ve made and I feel even better knowing that I have eliminated some waste, along with expense, in some of the changes. I like the additional percentage of savings I have been able to put away. I wouldn’t want to change those things.

However, I do think I would spend discretionary funds on travel more than I have. There are only so many days on this earth and I should see more of it.

What are some of the things you’ve had to cut back on? What is the first thing you’re looking forward to when things start to improve?

New Recipe #7 — Mar 2009

As per my 100 Things list, I am tackling #41 – Try a new recipe every month for a year. The previous months’ recipes can be found here:

Sep 2008: Butter Bean Burgers
Oct 2008: Pasta e Fagioli
Nov 2008: Sweet Potato and Cranberry Hash
Dec 2008: Potato-Onion Tartlets
Jan 2009: Butternut Squash Soup
Feb 2009: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bread

A few different things led me to this month’s recipe. First, my oven died a while back and has not been resurrected yet so I knew I would have to come up with something non-bake. Secondly, I have been craving Mexican food and I’m not happy with the vegetarian choices in restaurants and third, Denise told me about a chili-type recipe she made a while back and I decided to use it as a springboard to come up with this original concoction.

I forgot to take a photo so this one came from here.

Hearty Bean Nachos

INGREDIENTS
* 1 small yellow onion, diced
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1 tsp. olive oil
* 1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 can (15.5 oz) cannellini (white kidney) beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 can (4 oz) tomato paste
* 1 package taco seasoning
* tortilla chips

* shredded cheese
* diced tomatoes
* sliced black olives
* sliced jalapeno peppers
* hot sauce
* salsa
* sour cream

DIRECTIONS
Saute’ onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Add drained beans, tomato paste, and taco seasoning. Combine thoroughly and heat through, adding 1 to 2 Tbsp. water to keep beans from sticking, being careful not to break down the beans while stirring. The mixture should be thick but not clumpy when finished.

Place chips on a serving dish. Spoon the bean mixture over the chips and top with your choice of cheeses, vegetables, and condiments.

NEXT TIME
This turned out pretty well although I might not use the entire can of tomato paste next time. I think this bean mixture would be good in tacos, enchiladas, or in any Mexican dish where you would normally use meat. Thank goodness, because I really don’t care for the soy ‘crumbles’ that are on the market to simulate ground beef.

On the bookshelf, #2009-06

Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen

I know, you read this book a couple of years ago and loved it. Well, I bought it a couple of years ago and…promptly forgot about it. But I found it again, read it, and LOVED IT.

From the bn.com site:

As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

Sometimes I read a book and before I have barely turned the last page, I have forgotten most of it. Water for Elephants is not one of those types of books. It is written so beautifully, with so much color and emotion, I am sure it is one I will remember for a very long time. And much like Charlotte taught me to see spiders differently, Rosie has broadened my view of elephants forever.

It’s never really about the cell phone number

My sister called me at work earlier this week and from the catch in her voice, I could tell she was near tears. This is remarkable for several reasons.

1. My sister and I rarely talk on the phone. I can probably count on one hand the number of times we’ve talked on the phone in the last 20 years. (We email a lot and send messages through our parents but as far as finding a convenient time in our schedules to talk? Just doesn’t happen.) 
2. My family respects the fact that I don’t want to take personal calls at work so we have never talked during work hours before. 
3. My sister rarely cries. She has cried fewer times in her LIFETIME than the number of times we have talked on the phone in the last 20 years. (And this is where I reaffirm my suspicion that I am adopted. Because me? Me = Waterworks)

Three is several, right?

Immediately, my heart clenched because my first job on earth was, and still is, Big Sister and I have always taken that pretty seriously. I can’t stand to think about her hurt, crying, upset, or sick. Unless, of course, I am the one giving her the smack-down…because, that, along with protector, mentor, and friend, is just another one of the responsibilities of the Big Sister role. (Don’t complain to me. I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.)

So in the three seconds it took me to process the fact that my sister was calling me, at work, and was obviously upset, I was completely surprised when all she wanted was our step-father’s cell phone number. (You may color me confused at this point. Puce is the color of confusion, I do believe.) Even if she wanted to call him and wish him a happy birthday (which happened to be the day she called me), why couldn’t she just call him on the home phone? Or mom’s cell phone? What was she really wanting?

So I asked her. What are you really trying to accomplish here, sis?

As it turned out, our mother and step-father went on a trip and although mom promised that she would have her cell phone on all the time, my sister had not been able to get through to her in two days. As a result, my sister, who loves drama more than fried chicken, was positively certain that they had met their demise in some backwoods campground in the deep South and the only reason we hadn’t been notified of their deaths by the State Police or seen anything about it on the news yet was because their bodies and identification had been feasted on by a Yeti.

Or something close to that. Her imagination was negotiable on some of the finer details.

So, not having his cell phone number (and to be honest, not even knowing that they were gone and not at home playing Scrabble and eating popcorn and fudge, which is how I picture them most days), I wasn’t much help. But I did know that she needed to talk. There was no reason for her to be so worked up over not reaching mom for two days (Our mom is blonde too and forgetting to turn on her cell phone when she said she would? Let’s just say this wouldn’t be the first time.) So I asked my sister what was going on and if I could do anything.

And that’s when she told me that my nephew is fine…but was almost killed over the weekend. Not in, he got home an hour after curfew and had to give up all his techno-gadgets for two weeks killed. But as in homicide killed. Murder, even. Actually, probably second-degree murder because, while it was intentional, it would probably be difficult to prove premeditation. But like I said, she likes the drama and we have already made note of her tendency to overreact so what I think we are probably looking at here is misdemeanor battery. Although, there was a deadly weapon involved at one point so depending on the attorneys and evidence, this may be a felony. (I am not an attorney but I play one watch them on TV.)

I won’t go into detail about all that because there are charges filed and this could all get ugly before it gets better…but I am so very grateful that I can report that my nephew is fine. A little physical harm but nothing too serious. The emotional trauma though…how do you start to get over something like that? I don’t even know how to begin to think about it.

So we talked for several minutes, where I assured her that justice would prevail and she assured me that my nephew was doing fine, considering…and basically held each other up like sisters do in a time like this.

I also made a mental note of two things. First, the next time I talk to mom, I am getting my step-father’s cell phone number. He is not blonde and is almost always within a few feet of our mother so we should take advantage of that. And, secondly, I cannot die before my sister. I just can’t bear the thought of her not having me on the other end of the phone line…even if we rarely use it.