Our first womens' group meeting went swimmingly and was so much fun! Five of us met at a central location in Massachusetts. Two others couldn't make it but want to come to the next meeting.
We discussed our interests, stories from our lives, kids, husbands, etc. But not too much men talk, so chillax, guys! Mostly just girly talk plus ridiculous amounts of laughter, and it was delightful! The women have interesting things in common, like some are moms, some are career gals, all went to college - and almost all went to Christian colleges, which is unusual.
We talked about goals for the future, things we worry about, and what we would like to see out of this group. We hope to discuss several topics, like amazing things to do before we die (The Bucket List!), how to "green" our lives, how to find and nurture our spiritual selves, how women are viewed in the media and society, and gender roles. Yes, we are gonna talk about those Dove ads and if we can really believe them!
The topic for our April meeting will be: Greening Our Lives. What have you done to become more environmentally conscious? What kinds of habits have you already incorporated? What would you like to add to your life, or what do you want to know more about? So a past/present/future look at becoming more healthy and environmentally friendly. Looking forward to it!
~Ally
4 comments:
Sounds like a great evening Allison. Todd and I have always tried to be as green as we can. I try to buy food with the least amount of packaging possible. WE only use turn on the lights at night in the room we are using. We don't keep our big appliances on stand by, etc. I think all these little things add up!
Yay! Glad it turned out so well! Here's a Mexican idea for saving water (of which we have a great shortage in Mexico City, but we should all save water all over the world): when you take a shower, turn on the water, get wet, turn it off, soap up, put on shampoo, etc., turn water back on. I can't remember how many gallons of water go down the drain per minute, but it's a lot. Of course this flies in the face of the great American tradition of the long, hot shower, but it is a way to save.
We use a biodegradable laundry detergent that doubles as dish soap. It works just fine (but it's not perfumed--the clothes just smell like clean fabric). Also, I just bought a "green" bathroom cleaner. I'll let you know how that turns out.
In our new house, we plan to install a rain collection system to save water. People there say it rains so much in the rainy season that they can collect enough water in their huge cisterns to last 6 months!!! In the future we really, really want to install solar panels.
Also looking forward to starting a big composting pit for our food garbage and leaves, and for nourishing the soon-to-be garden and fruit trees. We've gotten some advice on that already, but if anyone knows anything about composting, please let us know. Like, is it really safe to use lime to cover it? How often do you have to turn it over? Will covering with dirt be enough to keep the flies away? How soon will covered compost decompose?
Oh, also, we want to see how much wind we get and maybe put up a windmill. Exciting possibilities (also potentially expensive, but what you save in the long run...!)
Love,
Lauren
Ally,
Here's a humble suggestion: if you're going to get together over a meal, don't make diets or nutritional health part of your discussion! Yesterday we were in a restaurant where the tables were very close together. Behind us was a group of about 6 women who were obviously friends. They were talking very loudly about their diets and digestion and health problems, and it was so disagreeable and unpleasant to listen to at a mealtime--not to mention guilt-producing, and I wasn't even part of the group! Maybe if you want to talk about diets or weight loss or something, do it in between meals! Just an idea....
Love,
Lauren
Good point, Lauren! I try to never talk diets while out enjoying a meal. As Weight Watchers says, if you're going to eat it, enjoy it!
Thanks Lauren and Marie for the green suggestions. Will pass them on!
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