Dirty Richie (warning: privilege ahead!)

Being poor and feeling poor don't necessarily co-occur. Being rich and feeling rich don't either.

Roscivs thought that most folks should work out a personal definition of being rich. For him, it was I can buy any food I want. He declared himself rich.
   A good "personal definition" is one that could actually apply to the person who makes it. Being rich is a location, not a horizon. Even if one's not there now, one (theoretically) could get there.
   (If you've already attained it when you define it, all the better for you!)
   I believe this outlook is key in a healthy concept of "rich". Beware of changing the goalposts: If every time your cup is about to o'erflow you make your cup bigger (SuperSize Me!) you're in for a life of ingratitude and greed. Maybe that doesn't sound so bad to you, but it sounds bad to me.

Gratitude improves quality of life more powerfully than pretty much anything else.
   I submit that greed detracts from one's capacity to enjoy and the capacity to be satisfied. And obviously(?) I value those.

While I've struggled a lot with feeling poor since Roscivs died, I've refused to be the Red Queen when it comes to being rich. I've fought to maintain the mindset that rich is a location and not a horizon.
   It was somewhere I had been.
   Maybe I could go there again.

I just wanted to say, I'm back. I'm here. I'm dirt rich!

Tortoise

I am making progress toward my goal to walk 5 miles a day. In February, my walking looked like this:

 wk 1: 10.7 mi
 wk 2: 17.3 mi
 wk 3: 12.6 mi
 wk 4: 15.8 mi

I had a cold (the first cold I had had in 13 months), which kept me back a bit. Weak 3 was snottiest, weakest. I was resting more.
   You can see that I do not average 3 miles a day yet. I walk a few miles one day, and then some days not even one (lesson days are particularly prone to this). A better goal (in attainment and enjoyment) might be a 25 mi/wk average. I'd basically give myself a pass for my working days.

Today I walked more than 5 miles, the first such length on record. Walking with nieces to school, walking to buy fish, stopping by the co-op, and going out for fresh air. And the day's not over. (And my feet are not tired!) Glory: Today near the heron rookery we spied 5 herons in 1 tree.
    As to the fish. I marinated it: mandarin juice, garlic, green onion, ginger root, thyme. The marinade was tops, and I didn't mess up the prep or cooking, but I didn't love it. Whitefish fillet sautee is not an instant favorite. I do love how fast it cooked.
   I have a food goal this ~year: Multitudes of Experiments With Sea Meat. I imagine this will include a lot of walking to the monger's, and, my finger on the pulse of seafood advisories, tuning myself to seasonal rhythms (which creatures are caught when—where—how).

carefree

I sold my car! I am car-free!!
   This is the good life. Living without driving!
   I met Bjorn in a parking garage; my vehicle was assigned the space next to his. Now we are a carless family. A good story.

For celebration, I give you "Sampo", the song in the opening credits of Tonari No Totoro.

あるこう あるこう わたしはげんき
あるくの だいすき どんどんいこう

Here's my translation: 'Walk, walk. I am healthy. I love walking! "don-don" goes the sound.'

CARGH

I just spent a month's worth of teaching income repairing my car. This really rankles. I am committed to getting rid of it. I want to live without a car.
   The only thing I use it for on a weekly basis is grocery shopping. I need to figure out how to do this without a car. My favorite plan for accomplishing this is ... moving.

I'm Going to Pwn Paper

Remember my new month resolutions? January was juicing. Habit acquired! I still juice every morning.

February was zero screen use starting 1.5 hours before bed. Habit acquired!
   I got this idea from talking with my narcoleptic sister who read a 40,000 page book on sleep.
   Speaking of books, records reflect that I suddenly started reading a lot more books in February; reading books seems to be one of the things I do more when I sit on [sic] the computer less.

   I have read so many books this year that GoodReads is prompting me to increase my goal for its "2013 Reading Challenge". Let me explain sum up:
   GoodReads invites its members to participate in its yearly reading challenge. You set your goal and GoodReads puts a progress/status bar on your front page. The challenge is just a motivator/a bragging tool.
   I entered 52 books as my 2013 goal. I am already 73% of the way done, which is, as GoodReads tells me, 41% ahead.
   I am not going to increase my goal, because I keep hearing Roscivs wising about not retroactively fitting goals to what you have or have not attained.

Yeah, I hear dead people.

March was a glass of water in the morning upon waking. Habit acquired!
   As once a runner (which may or may not be like being a King or Queen in Narnia) I have read a lot about the Great Hydration Controversy. Group A aver that one should "drink to thirst"; people who "drink ahead" are, like most house-plants, overwatered. Group ∀ aver that one should "pre-hydrate"; by the time you feel thirsty you're already dehydrated.
   For me it is moot. I haven't been able to sense thirst since Roscivs got sick, so I can't "follow my thirst". I am happy with my new habit. With all my new habits!

April was no electric light after sundown/8:30pm. Habit acquired! 
   Boy am I waking up earlier! And, mirabile dictu, I'm functional as soon as I'm out of bed! 
   I use 100%-beeswax candles for my bedtime routine.
   When I implemented February's habit I had no idea I'd be doing this; Feb's intentional became a stepping stone. 

May? 
   For May I am doing the paper part in the first chapter in the Unstuff Your Life book, which has the BEST. METHOD. EVAR!!! for organization and Simplicity. 
   This chapter involves radical changes in my paper processing habits. Paper processing is my bête noire. May's work is big. It's so big that it isn't even cut out for me. I have to cut it out myself.
   I fancy I'm on my slow way to becoming like unto Winifred, my sister Mona's mother-in-law, next-to-godliness Matron Saint of Org, who "doesn't even have a jumble drawer!!!"
   My mom gave me the book for a housewarming gift last year. When Bjórnathrón moved in, we did the kitchen chapter together, and — hallelujah — our kitchen is organized like God's sock drawer!

30 rocks

Before Roscivs got sick I made "new month resolutions", one per month. To incorporate a new behavior, do it for 30 days. This month I had enough energy and incentive to try a new month resolution again. I am lucky; I made it: for January, I have juiced every day!
   Yesterday, in fact, I did a one-day juice fast. I ate only juice. I even managed to make a tasty savory dinner juice.

♣ Dinner Juice: asparagus (4 stalks), bell pepper (1, yellow), bok choy (1, baby), cilantro (handful), cucumber (3, peeled), garlic (1 clove), ginger (0.25 in.), lime (1, peeled), green onion (5), parsley (handful)

For my dear readers who might be :-? or :-7 about this juicing thing, well, I was too. But
 a) it is part of the GAPS protocol I'm following
 b) St. Pear (my doctor) kept recommending it
 c) a friendquaintance (a friend of Roscivs' from Jr. High) started juicing daily (without any particular health need), and then
 d) I heard about it from my dearest L. Fractal

and it's totally working for me.
   I think it will be easy for me to keep at this. I'm going to maintain my daily breakfast juice and escalate to a juice fast every Tuesday.
   I have had more energy this month — more enough to do a new New Month Resolution for February. I haven't decided what.

Musicings

Friday night I walked alone downtown to the Black Box theatre and took in some jazz — all originals. I enjoyed myself.

I thought about where I want my business to be in a year. My goals: 12.0 teaching hours* a week; T/W/Th; starting at noon. My current position is 8.0 teaching hours a week; M/Th; sometimes starting earlier than noon.
   I want to retain at least 3 of my students from now to then. This is not a goal because I don't have a good idea of how to effect it.
   Since Friday, in furtherance of my goals, I have

1. started moving my Monday students to Wednesday
2. posted expanded (Wednesday) hours with the company for whom I am an independent contractor
3. decided I will open up Tuesdays in June (health permitting)

The end.

—
* 1.0 teaching hour is ≥1.5 working hours.