I got a Neti Pot last Christmas, and I`m so happy to have it!  A neti pot is used to treat sinus problems, colds, allergies and post-nasal drip. You basically pour a saline solution in one nostril, through your nasal passages, and out the other.  It feels really weird the first time, but it becomes normal really quickly.


The neti pot can be a really nice alternative, or augmentation, to cold medications. When I feel a cold coming on, and throughout, I use the neti pot every morning until my nose has stopped running and the cold has passed. Except in extreme conditions, I manage to avoid having to take a any medication at all. That being said, when I get a cold so bad that I can't breathe when I lie down, I'll take a NiQuil so I can sleep!

There are plastic neti pots out there, I've seen them at the drug store, however my neti pot is ceramic. I like that it can be sanitized with  boiling water and washed in the dishwasher. I buy the salt to make a saline solution in bulk from Selsi Sea Rosks at the St. Lawrence market.

In combination with my homemade handkerchiefs, it's my zero waste way to deal with a cold.

About 6 months ago my mom decided she was going to make her own powdered bathroom cleaner. Apparently her cleaning lady requested she buy some Comet, and my mom wanted to find a slightly less toxic version. She made her own, and also mixed me up a small container for me, and I love it! The tiles and counter are clean and don`t smell chemical-y (like my roommate`s Pine Sol, which hurts my nose and who knows what else) at all!

The recipe is simple. Mix equal parts of baking soda, borax and washing soda. That's it!

This should last me a long time!

I got my baking soda, borax and washing soda in bulk at Grassroots. This is a minimal waste cleaning solution!

Soap Making Essentials suggested adding liquid soap and essential oil, and since I had some Eucalyptus Essential Oil sitting around from a previous project, I added it as well. It smells lovely, but I don`t expect it will make much of a difference to this concoction`s ability to clean.

Back in August when R was here I took him to `Tastes of the Danforth.` In addition to eating some amazing Greek Food, we walked into the Riverdale Grassroots Store, which is where I bought my Diva Cup (more on that to come later). I was so happy to find bulk vinegar, washing soda and so many other cleaning products that I actually gave a little cheer and jumped up and down, to R`s dismay. He is very typically Dutch in liking normalcy, and not standing out!

Source

Note: I don`t know this dude. It`s still not second nature to me to take photos of these types of things for my blog - I promise to take a picture next time I go back!

As we were leaving, the girl at the cash asked me why I was so excited, and I told her. I didn`t have any containers with me at the time, but I knew I would be back for some soon enough.

And that time was this weekend! I ran out of cleaner last weekend when I was cleaning (shocking, I know!), so grabbed some jars and went back to Grassroots and got some washing soda, borax, baking soda and cleaning vinegar. I remembered to weigh my jars before I left so they could be tared when they were full with product.

Hooray for bulk products!

I`m going to have to label these jars - the baking soda and borax look very, very similar. Thankfully only the baking soda reacts with vinegar, so it was easy to confirm which was which. Another win for science!

Well, we're now well into October, and I haven't updated my love list since the beginning of March. I think a quarterly update is a bit overdue!

Grow a garden on our porch
I started tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and spinach from seed. The tomatoe sprouts were looking great until I left for the Netherlands for a week and my roommate didn't water them as I requested. The zucchini and peppers fared a bit better, but got snatched by some raccoons before I could harvest them. The spinach never sprouted at all, and the wildflower seeds I planted just looked like weeds. Needless to say, this was a less than successful experiment, but hasn't deterred me from wanting to try again next year. Although I probably won't start from seed. And I'll be in an upper level apartment where there will be fewer pests, but less space and probably less sun.

Read more novels
I think that I've done a pretty good job of this. My Aunt has kept me well supplied with books, as she is a voracious reader. My dad also passed along his BlackBerry playbook (since he is now an iSnob), which has the Kobo Reader app on it. Since all books out of copyright seem to be free to download, I started reading Sense and Sensibility. I also have Fifty Shades of Grey to read, only because I have to know for myself just how horrible it is. After reading this review at GoodReads, as suggested by Eco Yogini, I'm strangely intrigued. And scared.

Learn (and practice) to cook well
I have discovered this year that I actually enjoy cooking - I just don't like deciding what to eat! R and I have already agreed that if we ever live together he'll decide what we're eating and I'll make it. He said it with a sparkle in his eye, though, so I suspect I'm going to have to learn how to cook lots of complicated Dutch meals...

Learn to speak Dutch
I think that self-teaching a language is not very good at all. At the end of my last trip to the Netherlands, however, my Dutch was getting a teeny, tiny bit better. But not much. That being said, my Dutch I class at the U of T started last night! While the first night was a little bit unorganized, it was interesting to hear why the 9 other people in the course were there, and I think it will be very useful to have a designated 2.5 hours to learn, and have homework. I was a bit of a keener in school (not surprising to those who know me!), so the fact that there's homework to complete, and tests to write, means I'll spend at least some time doing that outside of class! And R promised he'd help me practice, which is good because there are 2 couples and a father/son combo in the class, who have each other to practice with!

Get rid of the junk in my bedroom and the garage
I spent this past weekend organizing and purging from the garage. I took a trunk load of stuff to the Value Village, have some board games that friends have expressed an interest in taking, and have some eWaste that the City will recycle for me. I now have to figure out how to get my hands on one of the eWaste bags, because the City website is not very helpful. Once I figure it out, I will put up a post!

Simplify my wardrobe
In addition to the trunk full of stuff I took too Value Village from the garage, I also took 3 bags of clothes that don't fit within my wardrobe anymore. I went thrifting with my cousin Ali this week and got some great basics and a beautiful pencil skirt, but each item fits within the framework I have set-out for my wardrobe.

Finally get my Professional Engineer designation
Fail. Epic fail. Nothing done but refute a whole bunch of nagging by my dad. And my mom. And my sister. And R. And my sister's boyfriend... You get the idea, I'm putting this off.

Pay off my debt
By the end of this month my MasterCard will be paid off, and never used again! That means that the money I was putting on it can now go to my VISA to get it paid off! I'm very excited to be heading in the right direction. Mint has added some features, so I can now see my debt over time. Look at it go down!

(For some reason one of my accounts isn't showing up in the summary for January and February - this really is a downward trend)

Track the waste that I produce each week/month
Once again, an Epic Fail. I found it quite difficult to track with a roommate who would likely contaminate my results, not out of spite, but just because she wouldn't pay attention. I move into my own apartment in December, so the waste tracking will begin again in earnest in January, when I can have a dedicated garbage and recycling container for just me.

With the new year fast approaching, I'm also starting to think about what I'd love to do next year. Being organized is certainly on the list, as is running a half marathon, but I think there will be a lot of repeats from this year.

My, it's been a long time, hasn't it!

The Toronto Waterfront Marathon was going on yesterday, and since I live super close to the 40 km mark, I decided to walk up to see the elite runners, and grab some groceries at the same time! I later rode to the Value Village to drop off some clothes from my latest purge (which I will have to blog about soon) and saw a lot of people obviously struggling but still going for it. And I was inspired by both.

So this evening, after my dinner, I strapped on my trusty running shoes, heart rate monitor and iPod shuffle (the old kind without the screen!) and went for a run. I think it's the first time since Around the Bay in March. I went 3.31km, according to Daily Mile.

Now I'm working on a plan that will hopefully involve me running a half marathon sometime next year. I'm running the Santa Shuffle with my cousins Ali & Nic in December. We're also trying to convince some of our other cousins to join in the fun, since there's a family rate! I'll hopefully also run the Around the Bay 10k relay again with Jamie and Ali. I had so much fun last year, and it fits right in with my plan of running 10k in the spring so I can run a half in the summer.

Now I just need to put together a training plan! And stick to it!