Thursday, October 04, 2007

Philanthropy Thursday

Gah! What a day (and it's barely 7:00 AM as I write this). I need to do something good today to just get my mind off things. Despite my vows to simplify things this year, busy-ness has crept up behind me on soft padded feet. And she's a tiger. Add to that an increasingly deranged form of PMS that hits me each month (it gets worse as we get older, right? This is normal and my uterus isn't going to just plunk out on the floor on me one day in revolt?), extreme fatigue from dragging my sorry self to a PTA meeting last night, and then unwisely choosing to read a great book late in to the night and I'm ready for the weekend.

Today I am going to finish making calls for a PTA project I have. This feels really giving right now as I would rather do a face plant into some Thai food and finish my book. I am also going to jot down some ideas I have for a meeting this weekend. In a fit of mania (or perhaps I was just ovulating), I agreed to become the volunteer coordinator for the Democratic party for my county. It's going to be a bit of a challenge in this Red State I live in, and I have already begged a girlfriend of mine to do this with me. Of course, she's busier than I am, and smarter, too. So promptly after our meeting, I get to go help her paint her home office in return. I'm hoping the paint fumes ease cramps.

Lastly, I recently figured out that my family eats $170 worth of yogurt each month. Is that obscene? I thought so. It's not like we don't stock plenty of snack alternatives, so for the month of October I will not be adding yogurts to my cart at the store, and on November 1st the kids and I will go buy $170 worth of canned food and take it over to the food bank. They can nosh on cheese this month. I think they'll live.

By the way, I'm reading Prep. It's been hailed as Salinger-esque and I totally agree. But be warned: you will neglect people until you finish this book.

17 comments:

Mary Alice said...

Holy Cow! One Hundred and Seventy Dollars worth of yogurt? What the hell are they feeding the cows that produce your yogurt? Do these cows live on the Malibu cliffs and get cow pedicures? Buy the mega sized Vanilla Stoneyfield Farm yogurts and ladle it out in those little disposable Tupperware thingies....and tell those kids to bring the containers home...wash them out...do it again. If you want to have fruit yogurt, toss in some frozen blueberries or raspberries - they'll thaw by lunch time.

Jen said...

Alice - each of my four kids eats roughly three to four yogurts a day - that's a lot of yogurt any way you serve it!

Sophie's Mom said...

Whoa - that's a LOT of yogurt! No lack of calcium in your house ;)

Mary Alice said...

Are you kidding me? Four?? Not even the number one son eats that much yogurt...you remember, the one who ate the CUP of peanut butter? Well, anyway, at that rate of consumption they can't be too hungry for much else...you're probably not making out too badly then, with the food budget as a whole!

Anna said...

We are totally with you on the yogurt thing, and I only have two kids. And one of them used to be milk allergic, go figure. I can't believe what it costs, but sure.

And YES! Prep. I worked at the school she ostensibly drew from, and it is DEAD on. For sure.

dawn224 said...

Prep eh?

Rima said...

First of all, I can confirm that the PMS just gets worse. My Ob/gyn has informed me it's called "peri-menopause," (yikes!)take a vitamin B supplement and exercise.

I love your idea of using the yogurt money to buy food for the needy. We might do it with pre-made smoothies, though.

Finally, thanks for the book rec. "Transit of Venus" by Shirley Hazzard is next on my reading list, but I'll check it out next. Who needs sleep (or people),anyway?

Nancy said...

$170 in yogurt ... yep, that shocked me too! Nice idea though, exchange it for canned goods for a month.

PMS thingy? I seemed to mellow more with age, even during the peri-menopause time.

I don't get PMS anymore, but I really think it's all about entering into the "I don't really give a shit phase", lol, makes for less mental drama.

Sarahviz said...

Loved that book! I think she has a newer one out now too.

Amy said...

You are the second person to recommend "Prep." Off to reserve a copy at the library ...

Crystal D said...

Well, I have to confess. Last Philanthropy Thursday I did go to www.thehungersite.com and bought 2 bracelets (74 cups of food) but I never made it to GoodWill. So after driving around 10 bags of clothes for a week I finally made myself drive across town today to do the drop off. Who knows how long I would have been driving around those clothes if it weren't for Philanthropy Thursday. ;)
PS - Those kids of yours must have bones of steel!

Jennifer said...

I have a "Only one yogurt per day" rule at my house. And I have to seriously enforce it. I live in fear of a $170 per month yogurt bill! But, seriously, you are such an inspiration with your PT ideas. Thank you, thank you.

I read Prep. People were neglected. ;)

S said...

I enjoyed Prep too.

And we started buying the bigger tubs of yogurt (Banilla from Stonyfield Farms is a favorite) in order to save money.

Kristi said...

$170 worth of yogurt? Holy Cow! My two year old is completely dairy-averse, except for shredded cheese lately. I'll have to count how much we spend on Sargento! I think that your idea to purchase can food instead is wonderful.

painted maypole said...

That's a lot of yogurt! Yikes! I love what you're doing instead. What a great idea. Save money by not doing something for a month and designate that money for something else. I wonder how much money I spend on Coke Zero a month?? I wonder if I could give it up???!??!???

Anonymous said...

Ooh, I loved Prep. So much better than I thought it would be.

And I'm with Slouching Mom, we are now a yogurt tub family.

Kristi B said...

My yogurt expenses have increased dramatically since my kids started eating "orange creme" yogurt at your house! it's all they want to eat now!
By the way, I'm definitely not smarter. More cunning, maybe, but not smarter! :-)