Things That I Have Started Doing This Year to Be More "Green" OR to Further My Inner-hippie Agenda:

1. Turning off my computer when I'm done using it instead of just turning off the monitor and leaving the computer on all day/night.
2. Using vinegar, water and baking soda for household cleaning instead of chemicals (works just as well, smells better).
3. Giving up coffee (even decaf!) and drinking lots and lots of herbal tea.
4. Using cloth dinner napkins instead of paper.
5. Using just Dr. Bronner's soap and a cheap moisturizer on my problematic (read: incredibly acne-prone) face instead of the expensive, time-consuming (three different products a day), antibiotic-laced cocktail of junk that my dermatologist was giving me prescriptions for (going well so far!).
6. Eating prunes and becoming a wee bit too obsessed with the state of my bowels.
7. Shredding all my junk mail and excess paper and using it as bedding in my ferrets' cage (they sleep in it more than they do their actual beds, which my husband and I make/sew ourselves).
8. Working at home one day a week (thanks, employer!).
9. Growing my own vegetables from seeds (just started it... Not going great so far, but I still have hope that I will have my own yummy tomatoes this summer, or at least a little cilantro... I love that stuff).
10. Using more parentheses (just kidding!) (not really, obviously).
11. Buying large amounts of produce from the local farmers' market and rediscovering my love of beets.
12. Taking lunch to work every day from home instead of buying it (same goes for the husband).
    
13. Buying reusable plastic or metal water bottles instead of a case of water a week (haven't done it yet, but will soon).
14. Baking my own bread.
15. Slowly but seriously trying to get rid of the clutter/junk in my apartment and have less things in general.
16. Considering buying a "season pass" to the NJ state parks for the summer. Yay, camping!
    
17. Accepting my deep and abiding love for animals of all sorts and no longer feeling ashamed of how happy Cute Overload makes me.
18. Trying to remember not to leave the water running the entire time I'm washing dishes.
19. Making my own reusable cloth grocery bags (also bought a few from the supermarket to supplement the supply).
20. Eating lots of nuts and raisins.
    

Places I Have Lived (In Order)

1. Rutherford, NJ
2. New Brunswick, NJ (Rutgers U.)
3. Rutherford, NJ
4. West Windsor, NJ
5. Somerset, NJ
6. Hoboken, NJ
7. Brooklyn, NY (an interesting six months...)
8. Wallington, NJ
9. Jersey City, NJ
10. Wallington, NJ
11. Wallington, NJ (different apartment--okay, two floors down from #10, but still, different)
    

Items on My Desk at Work on a Typical Day

1. Merriam-Webster's Guide to Punctuation and Style, second edition, paperback


2. Three Yogi Tea Echinacea Immune Support tea bags


3. Two Ricola cough drops


4. One yellow mug with a dried up tea bag in it


5. A 20-ounce glass, purple tinted, full of water


6. One desk lamp, turned on


7. A 3x5 picture of my very handsome husband fishing at Stephens State Park, NJ, in a silver frame


8. A bottle of Ooh-la Hula lotion (lovely, strong jasmine scent)


9. My 1980s-themed make-up bag (featuring pictures of Boy George, the Pet Shop Boys and the like)


10. Three manila folders full of notes for books I'm writing, in a very sloppy pile


11. A white index card with the following written on it in red ink:
    
    Lie-->lay, lain, lying--intrans.verb
    lie motionless, lie asleep
    to have place
    
    Lay-->laid, laying--verb
    to put or set down
    to place something on something
    to bring into contact w/something, apply
    --laid the watch to his ear
    
    Lie is for people--lay is for things



12. My iPod, with earphones in a wad next to it


13. My cell phone, on vibrate


14. My desk phone--beige, beat up, hulking, straight from a receptionist's desk in 1980


15. A large, overstuffed, black plastic, canister-shaped pen holder


16. A calculator


17. Three packs of Post-it Flags


18. The computer monitor


19. A 1/3-full cup of Quick Chek coffee (2/3 hazelnut decaf, 1/3 chocolate macadamia nut regular, a little half-and-half), gone cold


20. My red proofreading pen
    
    
    

Topics I Will Write Lists About in the Future
(Mostly Off the Top of My Head; Not Comprehensive)

1. Songs I Will Never Get Tired of Hearing
2. Pets I Have Had/Currently Have
3. Random Memories, Comical
4. Random Memories, Depressing
5. CDs I Listened to Obsessively When I First Bought Them
6. Things That I Would Like to Do Every Day Because They Make Me Happy
7. Places I Have Traveled To
8. Websites I Read Regularly
9. Books on My Bookshelf
10. A History of My Favorite TV Shows
11. Meals I Like to Cook
12. Things I Would Like to Learn How to Do
13. Descriptions of Dreams I've Had Recently
14. Things on My Perpetual To-Do List
15. Favorite Beverages
16. Job's I've Had
17. Places I've Lived
18. Best Internet Acronyms
19. Favorite Karate Moves
20. Contents of My Refrigerator