girl disconnected...4 more days

4 more days and I get my online life back.

I think I have learned what I needed to learn. I'll recap:

1. I do not NEED the internet and social networking. Should tragedy befall us and we had to cut things...I'd turn it off, no problem.
2. Although I do not NEED social networking...I WANT social networking. Being a WAHM generally surrounded by humans under 4 feet tall, a dog, no one or a combination of those three....I need the connection sites like facebook bring me. I also, apparently, like to talk and social networking helps me ease that.
3. I did not accomplish many of the goals I wanted to accomplish. I did start making small changes to our diet and grocery purchases. I'm still a coupon fanatic but am seeking out more healthy purchases with the coupons. But in these tight times, I gotta do what I gotta do to feed my family!
4. I did not create much at all. But this has little do with with disconnecting. My kids are home on summer break and all consuming. So summer was probably NOT a great time to try disconnecting.
5. I did see how disconnecting is valuable and am trying to decide what day each week I want to be my "unplugged" day.


here is how my goals broke down. (Mind you these were long term goals listed here, but I wanted to update my progress.) (Updates are in Red)
*Integrate stevia and blue agave nectar into diet more.--Working on! They no longer make Sun Crystals, my sweetener of choice for my coffee, but I can make my own by mixing stevia and real cane sugar. I also got some local honey and agave nectar and have been using them in coffee and smoothies!

*Use up current stockpile of all items that contain high fructose corn syrup, and multiple chemicals on the label. Working on....slowly and surely.

*As we use that stock up, research alternatives for such items.Working on....slowly and surely.

*Limit our soda intake. Once it’s used up...purchase natural sodas without HFCS. Working on....slowly and surely.

*Drink more Water. Working on....slowly and surely. Sort of failing in this one...

*Cut back on sugar.   Working on....slowly and surely. Sort of failing in this one...
 
*Eliminate or drastically cut back on food dyes. Working on....slowly and surely. I think I'm doing good in this one, it was mostly for the boys and as I look at their diet, they don't eat much with food dyes. Their fruit jerky (fruit strips) are colored with fruit and veggie dyes. Their cereals don't contain dyes. Their juices are all natural. Probably their biggest downfall is the occasional popsicle at PawPaw's house, but I also want to be realistic, the sometimes popsicle isn't going to kill them. Fruit Chewy Treats are probably the last majorly dyed food they ingest, and again, I'm not going to go all Gestapo on their butts.

*Purchase meats, dairy and produce that I KNOW where it came from. Working on....slowly and surely. This information is harder to get than I thought.
    *Purchase red meat and chicken only from our local grocery store Working on....slowly and surely. Local and organic meats are SUPER costly.
    *Purchase the ‘dirtiest’ produce list http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2010/04/29/2010-dirty-dozen-produce-list-released-by-the-ewg/ organic and preferably, locally grown.Working on....slowly and surely.
    *Purchase locally grown and organic fed dairy products. Working on....slowly and surely. Thankfully most of the milk I buy is from local farmers who supposedly don't use hormones or any of that. Still trying to find a good, clean, quiet source of Raw Milk. Since it's illegal I can't even tell you if I find one anyways.

*Exercise more! FAILED miserably. I've walked the dog...that's about it. I've put on about 8 lbs in the past six months. I'm a new mission to get ripped.

*Spend more time in bible study. Working on....slowly and surely. I've not done enough of this, absolutely not.
 
*Cleaning and Housework.  Working on....slowly and surely. Getting better. I'm still trying to make myself get on a good schedule, but I'm not a good schedule keeper. But I've done okay keeping things going, since it is summer and both kids are home...it's a lot harder to keep things clean!

*Purge some of the plastic. Working on....slowly and surely. Purged some and am working on purging more. Slowly (it's costly!) replacing my plastic items with glass.
*Read More! Doing good! I'm up to 9 books finished on my kindle alone. I think my goal to read in 2011 was 20-25. I'm reading a few books off the kindle (what are these called now, In Real Life books?) and as always, my stack of magazines.

*Un-Plug More. Semi Accomplished!! As this girl disconnected series draws to a close, I admit I've sneaked on some social networking sites, I've still used my iPad and I've still done what I needed to do for my business online. But I was offline a WHOLE lot more than I've ever been in recent years. I of course didn't have a ton of time to BE online since it's summer, but not even being ALLOWED online helped ease my stress and guilt for 'not getting enough done.'

So, overall, I'm not doing TOO terrible I think!!

See ya'll soon! FOUR MORE DAYS!
~~amy