Eating, Voting, and Washing (Happy Easter!)
First, I would like to wish all my readers a Blessed Easter. May you have a wonderful time with family and friends as we celebrate Christ's Death and Resurrection.
And now for my current thoughts...
Oh Chocolate Cake!
Lent season ended on Palm Sunday and now we are well into Passion Week. I have mixed feelings about how these last 40 days progressed. I was generally faithful in avoiding desserts, my selected "fast". Though I must admit I indulged in my children's birthday cakes. Too much, probably. Since my expected company was unable to come for my daughter's birthday, I ate pieces of chocolate cake for several days in a row. Not good. But I couldn't bare to see it chucked (since my husband is not much of a cake eater). And I do not like eating previously frozen cake. Thus, next year, if I choose to give up something in the food category, I will need to select an item that I can completely forgo. Like peanut butter. Oh how I LOVE peanut butter. That would be a challenge!
As a result, sacrificing desserts was a mixed success. And I don't know how beneficial it was to draw me closer to God. However, what was beneficial, was praying for forty different women in my life. And I elected not to advertise the fact. As a result, I do not know the results of my prayers, which was good. Because I sometimes struggle with being proud about my moments of piety. Praying in secret was a useful lesson for me.
Canada Votes
Our federal elections are coming up. And as per usual, I hum and haw about who in the world I should vote for. I have never been loyal to any particular party. Either I vote according to the integrity of a local candidate regardless of party or I vote against the current ruling party because they've botched up too many times. Truthfully, I find it difficult to find a party that fits me. There are elements of each party that are appealing. The Conservatives are known for traditional family values. The Green Party has an environmental conscience. The New Democrats desire to improve social programs. And the Liberals, well, they just have elements of all parties in their platform. So I guess, this time around, I'm voting Liberal, which is a complete WASTE in our riding! This region is very "blue". By the way, my decision to vote Liberal was sealed by a online questionnaire put out by CBC. After providing my opinion on various issues, the program informed me of the party that most resonated with my responses. Quite useful, I must say!
On Being Green
I've been thinking about the environment. Sadly, my thoughts have not been as altruistic as I wish. Really, my reflections have more to do with money. Over the last few months, our city utility bill has dramatically increased. The increase is due to larger consumption on our part. This has been frustrating for me, since I maintain our family's budget using one income. Being the mathematically minded person that I am, I graphed our consumption since we moved here. With each dip or peak, I attempted to justify the change. For example, our December bill was low since we were away for holidays. However, our March bill was much higher. I blame the increase on a faulty water softener and washing diapers. Oh, washing diapers! I switched my son to cloth diapers in February. And generally, I am glad that I switched. However, I do not believe the financial savings have been as dramatic as promised by cloth diaper users. True, our garbage waste has almost dropped to half. That is significant, because our landfills do not need more c*r*a*p. But I use more water to wash out c*r*a*p! I guess I am making a choice as to what I am going to exploit in nature.
Honestly, the humans of the twenty-first century exploit nature. We can talk about different ways to minimize our consumption and the cost and benefits of this power source over that power source. But no matter what, our carbon footprint is huge in comparison to our ancestors. We have so many demands, so many conveniences, so many desires that are just pumping out the goodness from our earth. This is not to say that I've thrown in the towel when it comes to being environmentally friendly. I choose to recycle. I choose to wash diapers. I choose to have only one vehicle (though this is also motivated by finances as well). But I choose to hop on a plane, every chance I get, and pollute our air with harmful exhaust. I'm hypocritical, I guess, like most.
Enough said...
And now for my current thoughts...
Oh Chocolate Cake!
Lent season ended on Palm Sunday and now we are well into Passion Week. I have mixed feelings about how these last 40 days progressed. I was generally faithful in avoiding desserts, my selected "fast". Though I must admit I indulged in my children's birthday cakes. Too much, probably. Since my expected company was unable to come for my daughter's birthday, I ate pieces of chocolate cake for several days in a row. Not good. But I couldn't bare to see it chucked (since my husband is not much of a cake eater). And I do not like eating previously frozen cake. Thus, next year, if I choose to give up something in the food category, I will need to select an item that I can completely forgo. Like peanut butter. Oh how I LOVE peanut butter. That would be a challenge!
As a result, sacrificing desserts was a mixed success. And I don't know how beneficial it was to draw me closer to God. However, what was beneficial, was praying for forty different women in my life. And I elected not to advertise the fact. As a result, I do not know the results of my prayers, which was good. Because I sometimes struggle with being proud about my moments of piety. Praying in secret was a useful lesson for me.
Canada Votes
Our federal elections are coming up. And as per usual, I hum and haw about who in the world I should vote for. I have never been loyal to any particular party. Either I vote according to the integrity of a local candidate regardless of party or I vote against the current ruling party because they've botched up too many times. Truthfully, I find it difficult to find a party that fits me. There are elements of each party that are appealing. The Conservatives are known for traditional family values. The Green Party has an environmental conscience. The New Democrats desire to improve social programs. And the Liberals, well, they just have elements of all parties in their platform. So I guess, this time around, I'm voting Liberal, which is a complete WASTE in our riding! This region is very "blue". By the way, my decision to vote Liberal was sealed by a online questionnaire put out by CBC. After providing my opinion on various issues, the program informed me of the party that most resonated with my responses. Quite useful, I must say!
On Being Green
I've been thinking about the environment. Sadly, my thoughts have not been as altruistic as I wish. Really, my reflections have more to do with money. Over the last few months, our city utility bill has dramatically increased. The increase is due to larger consumption on our part. This has been frustrating for me, since I maintain our family's budget using one income. Being the mathematically minded person that I am, I graphed our consumption since we moved here. With each dip or peak, I attempted to justify the change. For example, our December bill was low since we were away for holidays. However, our March bill was much higher. I blame the increase on a faulty water softener and washing diapers. Oh, washing diapers! I switched my son to cloth diapers in February. And generally, I am glad that I switched. However, I do not believe the financial savings have been as dramatic as promised by cloth diaper users. True, our garbage waste has almost dropped to half. That is significant, because our landfills do not need more c*r*a*p. But I use more water to wash out c*r*a*p! I guess I am making a choice as to what I am going to exploit in nature.
Honestly, the humans of the twenty-first century exploit nature. We can talk about different ways to minimize our consumption and the cost and benefits of this power source over that power source. But no matter what, our carbon footprint is huge in comparison to our ancestors. We have so many demands, so many conveniences, so many desires that are just pumping out the goodness from our earth. This is not to say that I've thrown in the towel when it comes to being environmentally friendly. I choose to recycle. I choose to wash diapers. I choose to have only one vehicle (though this is also motivated by finances as well). But I choose to hop on a plane, every chance I get, and pollute our air with harmful exhaust. I'm hypocritical, I guess, like most.
Enough said...