"50 First Weeks;" Housekeeping, Body-Keeping and Milk Thistle

Thanks for all the kind comments about that carrot cake. I loved it and was proud of it, and have pieces for all of you if only I could figure out how to send them!

Last night, we watched 50 First Dates, courtesy of some wonderful friends.

It put some ideas into my head, although it wasn't my favorite movie ever. Quite a bit of the humor was stereotyping/demeaning, but it was sweet to see Hawaii, the story is heartwarming, there were some very funny moments...and the whole premise brings up a really interesting hypothesis--what would it be like to live life starting anew every day?

Of course, actions have consequences, but what if we get to start over each morning nonetheless, to create our love afresh every day? It's an exciting thought, and it gave me an idea. You know what? This is already the third week of January. That means there are 50 weeks left of this year! How about we make them "50 First Weeks?" Every week can be the first week of "something." I will aim to make my Monday post each week dedicated to this idea of renewal.

Housekeeping and Body-keeping Dilemmas
This is my "First week of better housekeeping." I've mentioned here before that I'm more clutter-tolerant than average, and fortunately (or not), live with an equally clutter-tolerant person (although we've both recognized that we're more tolerant of our own clutter than of each other's). I also shared that I was making some strides in organization and tidying, and even in making it part of a routine.

Well, I slipped. Things lapsed during my trip to Israel, and since I got back, I've just been too busy with course design to pick it back up. Classes start tomorrow(!) but I made the course live over the weekend, taking some of the climactic pressure off tomorrow. And today, I recorded, edited and produced one lecture and edited another, but also, I dusted! I swept! I let go a plant that had died and had been shedding in my workspace for a couple weeks.

My workout routines often involve interludes with the dustpan and brush after I come up from a pushup coated and can't stand it, but it felt really good to get some of the more persistent dust out, so we don't have to sneeze when we reach under the desk! And getting back to doing this helps me to do it more.

Now that you're thoroughly grossed out, I also confess that it's hard for me to keep up my body-keeping! Over the last few years, I've finally developed reasonably consistent hair-brushing habits. I used to think there was no point, as my hair is so tangly, it needs brushing again almost immediately. Now, I accept that it looks better if it's been brushed. But I still lose the habit, sometimes when I'm depressed, sometimes when I'm too busy, sometimes I know not why. Having no hot water or shower here can make it easy to end up unwashed, also.

And how often should a person change her clothes, and her bed linen? I don't know how I got to be close to  my mid-thirties without figuring out these mysteries.

One more "organizational" thing I've started this "first week" is to put two or three people to email on my "must do" list each day. As busy as I've been, despite keeping up with the blog, I've really slipped on some of my personal email, and my inbox is out of control with messages from people whom I care about, to which I haven't responded. It feels good to correct that.

One thing I do know about body-keeping is that those carrots I'm so obsessed with are also good for the liver, and that a well-supported liver is a smart idea for stressful times and dusty houses. I've been enjoying my carrot slaw for breakfast about every other day, especially delectable those days when I had nut milk around, and a recent super-charge addition has been milk thistle seeds! You can see a couple of the little guys just to the right of the spoon.

I've talked about milk thistle before at least once, and what a good liver support it is. The potent components are mostly alcohol-extracted, but I've also read that eating the seeds is one of the best ways to assimilate the silymarin compounds which are the good stuff. So, I've been soaking a few milk thistle seeds in the brew that the shredded carrot sits in overnight. I also put them in my chia puddings. They're very crunchy but not in an offensive way, and very mild tasting.

Are you up for "50 First Weeks?"