You have to take it with you

Funny thing about a day planner:

 

It won't do you ANY good if you don't take it with you!!!!

 

I learned that lesson yesterday on my first of two visits to Starbuck's for meetings yesterday. Though I live just outside the Coffee Capital of the US, I only partake in the liquid gold once or twice a month, so it was VERY odd that I would visit not one, but two different locales in one short day. I shouldn't say that too loudly or they might make me move!  Anyway, back to the point of this . . . it is much easier to plan an event with others if you have your calendar in hand, otherwise you run the risk of embarassing yourself by misremembering dates of important events (like race dates - I can hear you all gasping now!). I'm fortunate that we didn't have anything set in stone when we adjourned the meeting and that the person I met with was amazingly gracious and flexible enough to come up with a Plan B. I remember reading a few blogs last week about how Plan B can often be better than Plan A. I hope that is true in this instance!!  And, I'm walking away from this with a bit of life experience that should help me be better prepared for future meetings.

 

Other updates:

 

I DID get my Google calendar set-up and made it so that my mom can see/change things on it, too. She was thrilled and has even referenced events on it in our email conversations! Now, like the day planner, I have to remember to update it and USE it. I DO like that it will email reminders to me - on day one it reminded me of an appointment when I got caught up in some work while the kids were napping, so I already see what a handy dandy tool it will be once I get in the groove with it.

 

I remembered to take my 6 reusable bags to the grocery store today. Not only did it mean that I got a 10 cent refund for each bag I brought, but since the bags are bigger than those bad-for-our-environment plastic ones at the store, I only used 5 of my bags instead of closer to 10 of theirs. Less waste and fewer trips to get everything from my car to the kitchen!  I LOVE that!

 

The cloth napkins are all washed and ready for more use. I've also been remembering to use towels to clean up spills instead of paper towels, so the roll we put out last week is still quite full, compared to our nearly roll/week habit we'd been sporting for too long.  I've also been using cloth diapers for my daughter about 50% of the time. We used them 90% of the time for my son for the first year or so (and thankfully he was an early potty trainer a few months before his second birthday!) and for our daughter about 60% of the time for her first six months, but then I got away from it. We'll see how it goes and if I can get back in the swing of the process to use the cloth diapers a bit more consistently.

 

It really is a mental game, because the changes aren't difficult ones to implement physically!  It's all about changing habits and THINKING about the basic choices I make. I'm no "Earth Child" yet, but I am feeling that my minor changes can make a lasting, positive change for our environment. That's what's keeping me at it!

 

On the running front: I'm dressed and ready for a run. It's been a tough evening on the parenting front with 2 over-tired children (too much fresh air from playing at the park - is that possible???), so I'm really looking forward to a run. My poor husband is pulling a 13 hour day, capping it off with a dinner meeting. My son fell asleep EARLY, though my daughter hasn't quite given in yet (but . . . wait, I think she just settled in!). As soon as she's down, I'm headed for my friendly treadmill. Even Albus, the dog, is ready to escape to the quiet of the basement to relax to the whirr of the machine. He keeps nudging me with his cold nose.

 

Time to fill up the water bottle and go release some tension, folks. Happy running!