As we move forward on getting or house cleaned out and ready to move (how did we get so much CRAP?!) I'm spending a lot of time thinking about getting to where we are going. I should be enjoying our last German summer, but the summery things we usually do are just not as fun in this dreary summer we've been having. Ironically, today it's beautiful out and we are in the house, cleaning.
Along with the lists of keep, sort, donate, sell, organize, ship, I have an on-going list in my head of things I want to do in Tucson. Not just the *extensive* list I've created on Pinterest of places to see, but also some changes I'd like to implement once we get there.
-I want to pause to give those of you who have known me for more than a few years a moment to laugh at my uncharacteristically obsessive list-making.-
Okay, here we go. This may be an evolving list as I think of more things in the future.
1. Never use my clothes dryer. Except during monsoon season. Hanging laundry here is always a gamble, and often it comes in wetter than when we put it out.
2. Get a good bike and ride it with Johnny on the back. It's flat there, and we will have a house near-ish everything. I've heard the side roads are extensive so we can stay off the main roads and still get to wherever we need to go. I'd also like a scooter, but I will try out biking first.
3. Walk the dogs a lot. Here we have a huge yard and tons of kids hanging around to play with them, but there we will have a tiny yard with NO room for Luckie to run. I also need to find a dog park so that he can chase his beloved ball! Maybe I could teach him to swim for the ball in the pool! Ha!
4. Live with one car. Easier since we'll be within biking distance of the base (for Chris in the winter) and many stores- and even within walking distance of a yoga studio!
5. Never use the dishwasher. Brenda already doesn't have one (I forgot to mention her and Zak will be co-habitating with us!) and I've been doing without for a few weeks. It feels good and kind of zen to just wash everything as I go instead of letting it pile up until the end of the day or the next morning. I'd like to take that zen-ness with me to our new home.
6. Volunteer! Grab J and go to the food bank, the co-op, the farmer's market, the local Waldorf school, the humane society, a political cause we believe in, the library... anything! Just get involved with the local community as much as possible. I have a very strong inclination lately to BE a part of our community, which feels hard here, for me, as I've never quite gotten to know anyone around us. I want to find people like us and get to know them and become a part of something larger than our household.
7. Vote. I MISS VOTING. I'm going to become an Arizona resident to do so.
8. Build a Tiny Free Library to erect at the end of our driveway.
9. Go to the park often. Parks make me tired, but they make J happy :) There is one a few blocks from our [prospective] house. It may be a great way to meet new people, as well. Hopefully it is well-utilized by the neighborhood.
10. Learn Spanish. I've been wanting to do this for awhile, moving to within an hour of Mexico has only motivated me more. (I'm on unit 2, lesson 4 of the Spanish Rosetta Stone!) Brenda is a native Spanish speaker, so that could be fun :) I want J to learn it as he grows up, too.
11. Shop farmer's markets. And the Co-op. And CSA's. We mostly do that here, so I think it'll be easy to continue there.
12. Garden. Our little bit of land does have some raised beds around the yard, and we can put some containers out. I also want to use grey water to keep everything growing, especially in a place as dry as that. The most we eat are greens, avocados (can I grow those?), potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, peas, strawberries, and tomatoes, so I think that will be easy, especially the tomatoes - hooray for pizza night tomato sauce!
13. Buy everything from thrift stores and craigslist.com. I try hard to do that here, but it's a small community and you can't always find what you need, like a Vitamix blender!
14. Buy in bulk! I can't wait to do this, or to become part of a buying club.
15. Go to the mountains as much as possible. Learn about the local flora and fauna :)
16. Paint murals. Somewhere, anywhere. I just feel like I need more large-scale paintings in my life!
I guess that's it for now. I'm sure there will be more!!
I'm not big on sticking to goal lists either, but have decided to make a list of goals each month, and try it for a year. So far, June has been pretty good. I've accomplished 3 out of 7 and have a week to go. :)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I think your goals are very obtainable. Good luck with them, and nice knowing you'll be stateside again. :)
I like your goal idea! Not sure if I'd have the dedication for theat... or my goals would be something like :eat two chocolate bars: ;D
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