Po-ta-tos. Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew.

I'm enjoying this project so far, but I really wish that we didn't need to attend school for this challenge because I would feel comfortable being a little more extreme with my challenges. Because I have homework to complete for other classes, and I have to stay on top of the information for my China trip, I couldn't give up computers. I really enjoyed staying out in the woods and building our own shelter out of leaves and trees with Nick Mesloh and Zack Lapiere (CLIPPproductions Vimeo.com) even though it was freezing and a little bit miserable.
For this project I decided to change things in my life that I know I can change, and still get everything done that needs to be completed.

1. No video games (not at school, not at home, not at other's houses)
   
2. No eating out.
3. Use one cup every day.
4. Plant something every day.

Yesterday was the first day of this challenge, and after I got home from practice I walked out back and looked for space in my mom's garden for me to plant 14 things in for the next 2 weeks. I couldn't find any space there, so I turned to the overgrown "herb garden" that has been a haven for weeds for the past 2 years. I grabbed some gloves and a pitchfork from the shed and pulled out as many weeds as my patience would allow, and flipped over the rest. I didn't have the time or the energy to do the entire area in one sitting, but I spent about an hour and a half cleaning up a 3ft by 10ft area. I turned over the soil a couple of times, and carted the weeds to the compost pile.
My sister's puppy, Holly, helped me dig up some remaining roots from an old lilac bush that had been growing there, needless to say, she got all dirty. As I was working on the garden, I realized that for some reason, it didn't feel like work. I suppose this might have been because I needed a monotonous task to do for a little while after a busy day, but I am beginning to think that gardening is something people are meant to do. It felt good to get a little dirty, to actually touch and feel the plants and dirt we spend so much time here in school talking about. I planted some potatoes that where beginning to grow eyes, and sprayed some water from the hose onto the dry soil.
The other things on my list are valuable, but I don't particularly care about only using one cup a day, and I will miss playing video games, but its not a heart breaker. I don't go out to eat that often anyway, so that's not a loss either.
All in all, planting something every day is the most valuable part of this challenge for me, I think that doing this will actually give me satisfaction and actual substance to the reflections my teachers so desperately want.