Look who followed us home...

On Sunday we were walking home from Ben's studio, when this cat decided to join us.

Arlo LOVES cats.  He meows at them, he meows when he sees a picture of one, he cries when he has to leave the room if there's a kitty there.  Getting him to take naps and go to bed at night was a major chore when we visited his grandparents!

So on Sunday when this very friendly cat started following us, taking him home just seemed like the right thing to do.  He is very skinny, was very hungry, and very dirty, but seems to be in pretty good health.  We are taking him to the vet at the end of the week.  We've posted online about finding him and will check for a microchip at the vet, because it would be very sad if he somehow lost his collar while escaping from a loving home.  But considering the large number of stray and feral cats in this area, I find it unlikely he really has a home to go to.

He is fitting in very nicely with us and sleeping a lot.  It must be hard to be a cat on your own in the city.

Arlo was meowing in his sleep last night.  It was the cutest thing.  And he meowed first thing when he woke up this morning.  I think Mr. Kitty Cat (unnamed as of yet) has found a good home with us.

Compost

One of my main goals right now is to reduce my family's impact on the environment and to try and make our lives a little more sustainable.  We recycle, we don't buy plastic bottles unless absolutely necessary and we try to buy used items when it makes sense.  The next step is composting! 

According to GrowNYC, 17% of NYC's waste is food scraps, which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.  Food also isn't easily able to break down in a landfill.  I realized that our garbage output would be greatly reduced if we started composting.  If I had a backyard, it would be fairly easy to figure out.  But in the city, living in an apartment building, composting takes a little more planning.

I decided that a worm bin isn't right for us (sounds like a messy plan with a toddler--and where would we keep it?).  Our apartment building tried a compost bin last year, but it was misused, and thus short lived.  So our only option is composting off site.  For now we're holding our food and plant scraps in the freezer and bringing them to the Green Market once a week.  It's not the most convenient plan though, so I'm looking into joining a local garden, someplace we can bring our compost whenever we wish, rather than on the once a week schedule for the Green Market.

If you're wondering what food items are okay to compost, or want more info about composting, please look at the list below and check out the GrowNYC website.

WHAT TO COMPOST:

YES: fruit and vegetable scraps, non-greasy food scraps (rice, pasta, bread, cereal, etc.), coffee grounds & filters, tea bags, egg and nut shells, pits, cut or dried flowers, houseplants, potting soil

NO: meat, fish, bones, greasy food scraps, fat, oil, dairy, dog or cat waste, kitty litter, coal or charcoal, coconuts, diseased and/or insect-infested houseplants / soil or biodegradable / compostable plastics

Vacation!!

Sometimes when life gets hectic I end up cutting some corners here or there.
Sometimes my eating habits suffer, I don't do enough yoga or get enough sleep (or all three!).
Sometimes I sound like a broken record, but working from home truly is both a blessing and a curse.

It's been absolutely amazing being able to be home with Arlo and watch him grow and change, being able to take care of him and be there through everything, while still having an income.  One of the major downsides, though, is that since I can work from home, I can work from anywhere.  I've worked from California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and even Hawaii.  Every one of those trips has been wonderful, but I haven't had a work-free vacation since August 2008.

So our trip to Montréal this past week was absolute heaven.  It wasn't until a few days into our trip, when we went to our friends' cottage on a lake in the mountains (no internet), that I really finally let go, unwound and realized just how much I was carrying with me.  And once I got to that point, it was bliss.  I know that being a mother is going to be a balancing act--juggling work, marriage, the needs of my boy, and my own needs too.  And this incredible vacation was exactly what I needed!

I haven't felt so calm, so settled, so determined in a really long time.  It was nice to come back to the city with new resolve.  You can bet it won't be three more years before I leave that work phone behind and take another real vacation!