Do I need my dvds?

The three boxes on the middle shelf hold our dvds.

At the moment, I own 105 dvds.  I never would have guessed I owned that many.  Does that seem like a lot to you?  It does to me, particularly since I watch one of my dvds about. . . oh, once in three months now.  Chris and I have three boxes that each hold 120 dvds.  (well, I have one box and Chris has two).  But here's the thing -- we don't really sit down and watch that many dvds.  Ok, so I watched Pride and Prejudice the other weekend, but I think that was the first time this winter that I watched one of my dvds.  So, why do I hold onto these?

I know if Chris and I were to move (and therefore downsize) I would have no problems shedding my dvds.  I should add that through iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, and network websites, there is little need for me to watch/keep my dvds.  Wow, I am totally talking myself into getting rid of these.  Cool!  Heh, heh, wonder what Chris will think? ;)

Here's my dvd box with my sentimental faves.

btw the movies I have are movies/TV shows that I have loved for years.  We're not talking the latest blockbuster, we're talking classics like The Parent Trap, The Princess Bride, and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.  Movies that remind me of times I spent with my family and friends, my real dad had the pleasure of watching The Parent Trap every weekend that I visited him, ha!, my step-dad enjoyed Bill and Ted with me, and I loved watching The Princess Bride with my brother.  Some of the other movies/tv shows, such as A Miracle of 34th Street and Jeeves & Wooster, were ones that I enjoyed watching with my mom.  I wonder if part of the reason I chose to buy and keep (hoard?) these movies is an attempt to hold on to those memories?  Perhaps the best way to remind myself that those memories will not disappear is to take the leap and release my grip.  Anyone want some dvds?

Weekly round-up: How'd we do?

So, I'm curious how Chris and I did with our goals this week.

In terms of eating out, we ate out three times, once for lunch ($29.36), and twice for supper ($63.47).  We actually hadn't planned on eating out for supper one of those times, turns out the meal I had planned for Thursday had gone bad (I bought fresh pasta from a local source, and it turned to a mush the consistency of oatmeal).   One concession I always allow myself when I have to work Saturday, is to go out for lunch (I obviously worked this past Saturday), what I hadn't planned on was ordering a $12 salad -- ouch!  We also spent $38.73 at the grocery store this week (mainly on fruit and veg, yum yum!)

As far as other expenses, this was a week.  Aside from paying our bills (internet, mobile phone, and vet) I bought a splurge item from Amazon ($78.51), Chris got stuff for the yard from Lowe's ($32.80), and I signed-up for a race with peeps from work ($25), oh, and we dropped $13.16 at the post office on stamps and mailing a book.  At the pump, we spent $32.10 on gas.  All and all, I guess that's not too bad.

Pinspiration for a coat closet!

Are you on Pinterest?  I love Pinterest, which is an online inspiration board.  See something on the web that you want to try?  Pin it to your Pinterest board to remind yourself later.  I use it mainly to help remember great recipes I stumble across or for easy DIY projects.

The dream closet featured on Martha Stewart.

One of the best projects that I had pinned to my Pinterest board, was a coat closet makeover.  The original inspiration came from Martha Stewart.  See how nice and neat this closet is.  With shelves on the bottom you easily have room for shoes and the baskets located at knee height make looking for scarves easy for us shorter gals.

I fell in love with this design and asked Chris if we could redo our closet.  He was totally game and went to work with his new favorite program, Google SketchUp.  To set the stage, our coat closet is. . . well, closet size.  It has one door, and it had two upper shelves and the clothes bar.

I knew that in addition to our coats, mittens/gloves, hats, and scarves I wanted to also have room for the shoes we frequently wear.  I also wanted a space on the upper shelf for the two boxes of Christmas ornaments I have. With this in mind, Chris and I measured the ornament boxes and that height dictated how tall the upper shelf would be.  Then, Chris added the clothes bar into the design, and finally, the two lower shelves were added to the design.  Here is his Google sketch:

To get a sense of how much of the closet is visible from the door, Chris did two sketches, one with the walls and one without.

After the design of the closet, Chris and I got to work scraping layer upon layer of wallpaper out of the closet.  That was the biggest time-consuming part of this project.  I would say we easily spent two 8-hour days taking turns scraping out seventy-one years worth of wallpaper, and there were six different papers.  Personally, I hate wallpaper.  I would much prefer paint on the wall to a design that I will likely become tired of in a few years.

After we removed the last bit of wallpaper, we went to Benjamin Moore to get a Carolina blue paint for the back wall and white for the two side walls and the ceiling.  The paint went on quickly enough, and Chris was able to start measuring the shelves and painting them white while waiting for the closet to dry.  Once everything was dry, Chris installed the shelves and the clothes rod.  Here is what the closet looks like today.

In our new and improved coat closet, Chris's shoes go on the floor (so he can just kick them off) and mine go on the first shelf.  On the second shelf, the basket on the left holds our scarves, and the bag to the right holds, in addition to my backpack, Frisbee, and football, my other pocketbooks -- you can see what's used most frequently! ;)

In terms of our coats, both Chris and I love our outerwear.  I have 7 coats, and they are all hanging in this closet.  I actually am a bit ashamed that I have that many coats.  Chris only has four in this closet (they are hanging out of the picture in the right of the closet, you can just barely see his hoodie), but our guest bedroom closet has the rest of his coat collection, 8 additional coats!   Dude, if you're keeping count (like I am!) the man has 12 coats.   

 

Previous owners at some time in the past installed hooks along the back of the closet and that is where we keep our hats, and hanging from one of the hooks is a Colonial Williamsburg bag where we keep our flashlights.  My Christmas ornaments are on the upper shelve on either side of a wooden basket that holds our ski gear, goggles, gloves, earwarmers, etc.

On the door of our closet hangs a shoe holder that I have had since the late '70s.  My godmother lived in China then, and sent this back to me.  Now it holds our gloves, hats, lint brushes, and other lightweight items.  This item is starting to show its age, and as it's one of the things I treasure, I try not to add too many heavy things to it.  Below this on a row of hooks, hangs our laptop case.

Again, pictures of the inspiration and the fruition.

Our closet.

The dream closet featured on Martha Stewart.

  

Safe disposal of medicine: save time on 28 April

Did you know that the national drug take-back program is coming up soon?  And by soon, I mean Saturday, 28 April.  I love this.  Chris and I participated last year.

So here's the deal.  The trash we throw away regardless of whether it goes into a landfill or worse, is carted around the earth on those trash barges, has the potential to leach harmful chemicals into to soil, groundwater, and ultimately us.  Flushing meds down the toilet is advisable for some, but not all meds.  But, here's the rub with that.  Flushing meds down the toilet introduces the chemicals into our water stream. 

Another method for disposing of medications is to ground them up in coffee grinds.  Ok, sure, that can be done.  But Chris and I don't drink coffee, and after our coffee maker died a couple of years ago we didn't replace it.  So that's not an option for us.

We will be ridding ourselves of 16 expired meds and containers

Luckily, on 28 April from 10 am to 2 pm, a nation-wide program has been instituted to safely dispose of medications.  I can't wait.  It cannot come soon enough.  Since April of last year I have been hording meds that Chris and I have taken (and empty medicine containers - it sucks that those can't be reused by the pharmacist or at least recycled!).  We also have a very old and aging dog, Byron, who is has had to have various meds over the year. 

I encourage everybody to check their medicine cabinets for any expired medications.  This is a great way to reduce clutter and get rid of your meds safely.  We will be dropping off at least 16 meds at Richmond's Southside Community Center (assuming this year's location is the same as last years!)

Office 2.0

I mentioned in a couple of posts ago that Chris and I easily work together in our new and improved office space.  So here's the lay of the land.  Chris and I live in a Georgian Revival built in 1941.  It is a spacious 1200 square foot house.  Way bigger than what the two of us really need.  Included in the square footage is an addition that at one time was probably a screened-in porch, but when we purchased the house previous owners had enclosed it, drywalled, added carpet, and turned it into an office.

When we first moved in, we agreed that the office would be my space (and Chris would have the basement).   I've looked and Chris has looked for pictures of what the office used to look like, but neither of us can find them.  However, Chris did use Google sketch up to redesign the space and he started by sketching the space as it looked.

The office as it once looked.  Drawn in Google Sketch Up by Chris.

The room is rectangular with a door leading to our back deck on one side and a huge window looking to the front of our house directly opposite.  Underneath this large window is a great built-in desk that features a narrow book shelf on the right.  On the long side wall there was a series of cabinets and shelves.  I imagine they looked great when they were first installed, but the years have not been kind to them, and the shelves were pulling out of the wall -- to the point that I was afraid to put anything on them (but eventually I began storing lighter items there without any problems).

When we decided to redo the room, Chris used Google sketch up and the two of us weighed in on what we wanted.  We agreed that a long desk in an L-shape running along the two outside walls would provide needed counter space.  Chris has a lot more things than I, so he wanted his desk to have upper shelving, and I was delighted to stay in the spot in front of the window.  Actually, my spot hasn't changed all that much.

The office as we imagined it.  Drawn by Chris in Google Sketch Up.

The first step in the process (after clearing the room) was to tear out the cabinets.  Not a difficult task as they were practically falling out anyways.  Next, Chris built a long desktop to create the L-shaped desk.  It joins nicely with the existing desktop; you'd never guess they were added separately.  

Once the desktop was built, we needed to weigh it down, so the glue adhered.

The way Chris chose to attach the desktop was pretty ingenious.  To avoid using too many nails (and thereby reducing the weight of this sucker), Chris built a narrow shelf along the two walls with a groove cut out on one side.  Then, where the desktop meets the walls, he added a tongued piece of wood which was inserted into the groove.  All this was secured with globs and globs of wood glue.  Finally, he joined the two desks underneath with a brace.

Next, Chris focused on the shelving.  He built an overhead 2-shelf cabinet over his workspace and carried the top of that cabinet as a shelf that extends the length of the wall.  To divide our workspaces, and provide more storage, he then built a center bank of shelves.

The shelves installed.  (Ignore the wallpaper leg, it was there for support during the build.)

Once the shelves were installed, we went to Pottery Barn and purchased the Bedford 3 drawer file cabinet to match the one we previously purchased when we first moved here.  That adds storage, and perhaps more importantly, adds support for this long, floating tabletop.

So Chris worked on the office project 3 months ago.  Care to see how it looks today?  Check out these photos!

And here is Chris's side of the office:

to keep or not to keep?

Last night Chris and I were in our basement, having just completed an Insanity workout and waiting for Modern Family to come on, when I suddenly had all this energy.  I needed to do something!  I did some yoga poses (mainly balance poses) but was a little shaky, so I turned my attention elsewhere.  I thought, perhaps I would go through stuff in the basement to see what needs to be taken to the thrift store.  When I mentioned this to Chris, he naturally got a little anxious, and told me not to touch his stuff.  ;)

So I started looking in a few of the drawers down there, and aside from guitar picks and strings (Chris's), pens and some paper, and a deck of cards, there was little for me to go through, let alone ditch take to the thrift store.  Truly, the only things that are down there, that I consider truly mine (and therefore can decide their fate), are my photo albums and movies.

I don't have that many movies and the ones that I do have I watch (Chris has gotten so used to the Pride and Prejudice music that I wouldn't be surprised if he wrote lyrics to it; although, in my defense I watched it recently for the first time in years. . . yep, years!).  So, I started turning my attention to my scrapbooks.  Working at a special collections library, I appreciate how scrapbooks, diaries, and correspondence provide us with a glimpse into the lives of earlier people.  I think I've reached a point where I don't need my scrapbooks from earlier travels, but I can't throw them out.  I would rather donate them to a special collections library, but would they want them now?  Obviously, I wouldn't want to part with all my memories, and the scrapbooks of Chris and I on our honeymoon and travels overseas I would keep.  But, in the last 20 years I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've looked at the scrapbook from my 1997 trip to the Pacific Northwest with my family.

I know some bloggers out there deal with this by scanning the pages and keeping a digital copy and ditching the paper.  But in the archival world, this is creating a void.  I mean, who writes letters anymore?  And who keeps years of email correspondence?  We are obviously losing touch with our ability to leave a legacy for future researchers, and I don't want to be a part of that.  In fact, one of the reasons I waited so long to write a blog was because I didn't want to give up my journaling.  But I think I can manage both.  Now I just have to decide whether to hold onto these scrapbooks for another 20 years or to donate them.  Suggestions?

positively primal

So today I skimmed the The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. and I was surprised that I was so impressed.  I've never been one to follow fad diets, and the idea of eating a low carb/high protein diet seems out of character for me.  But lately there have been the health issues that keep cropping up that are making me reassess my lifestyle.

The first big news came when I was about 24 or 25 and I was diagnosed with primary lymphedema, otherwise known as elephantitis.  I was rather shocked to learn that the swelling in my legs and feet would never really go away, but after talking to people who knew my dad's side of the family well, I learned that my great-grandfather (who lived until I was about 16, so I knew him pretty well) also had lymphedema.  The good news is this is easily managed and I can go about with a normal life. . . with perhaps a bit more shoe and boot envy than the average gal.

Fast forward about 10 years, and I find out that my teeth are having a tough time in my mouth.  I'm losing bone that is needed to hold the teeth in and I'm developing deep pockets in my gums where food gets caught and creates more havoc.  And this is all happening regardless of my increasing (almost OCD) habit of brushing and flossing my teeth.  It culminated two years ago in oral surgery where the periodontist crushed up cadaver bone to fill in the holes.  My mouth is doing better, but there is still a possibility I will have to do this again.

And then, just seven months ago, I was diagnosed with Graves Disease.  My hands would not stop shaking, and as you might imagine, that is the last thing you want to have when holding unique manuscripts or rare books.  Graves Disease is the result of an overactive thyroid and while I have to admit, I love what it is doing to my metabolism, ultimately it is wreaking havoc inside.  My first question, when I found out that I had this, was to ask if I caused it?  The doctor assured me that it was nothing that I did; that it is most likely genetic.  But I couldn't help wonder if poor habits and decisions I made earlier in life have manifested in the health problems I am experiencing today?  That thought still rattles around in the back of my mind.

Sideline note: If it goes untreated, Graves Disease can cause psychological problems, and as it is somewhat difficult to diagnose, I wonder if it does run in my family.  That might explain all the crazy that was my dad's side.  Of course, to date no cause has yet to be established for the crazy on my mom's side.  ha ha, Mom.  Don't take it personally! ;)

But, back to me and my habits, I have to admit that I do eat a largely vegetarian diet, and much of that consists of pasta, grains, legumes, and rice served with veggies.  Oh boy, do I love brown rice!  So my curiosity was piqued when I started following Tiffany of naturemomsblog and heard her rave about going Paleo.  My first reaction probably involved an eye roll and comment, dear lords, please not another diet where eating fruit and veg is considered hurtful.  But as I started paying attention, I discovered other favorite bloggers discussing this Paleo diet, and I began to sit up and take notice.

Most recently, Tiffany's post about her troubles with her teeth and gums, and the turn-around that has occurred since going Paleo, really made me perk up.  I knew from my studies in Anthropology that the teeth of societies who made the transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural demonstrated a marked increase in dental decay, but I never put it together that it was likely due to the difficulty our bodies have in processing these foods (Duh!).  And that, when you look at societies that do eat high protein, low carb diets, their teeth are in remarkably good condition.   Now I am even more sold on trying to reduce the grains, beans (wow, that'll be hard), and rice (wow, this'll be even harder!) and replace these with lean meat.

I haven't yet reached the point of throwing out the beans and rice we got from the bulk bin (oh, and I just bought pasta, too) but I also don't feel the need to eat them right away either.  Today I actually did feel full from all the fruit (watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, and applesauce I ate, as well as a thick-ish ground turkey chili).  And I am down with any lifestyle change that advocates eating as much as you want of the good stuff.  Counting calories is just not in my skill set, nor do I want it to be.

It's getting personal: how green am I?

So I am constantly trying to find ways to reduce my use of plastic, invest in our local economy, and create less pollution.  To this end, I want to share with you my routine for personal hygiene.  There is some definite improvement to be made.

Here are the things for which I feel guilty:

1.  I wear contact lenses most of the time.  Every time I open new lenses (about once a month), throw away old lenses, or recycle empty saline solution bottles, I wonder if it is necessary to wear contacts.  However, I recognize that it is through my own vanity that choose to wear them.  I cringe a little bit every time I show up to work (in the library) wearing glasses.  I am not that stereotypical eyeglass wearing, shushing, stern librarian.  Plus, I love wearing non-prescription sunglasses!

2.  I use an electric toothbrush and buy (prescription) toothpaste in a plastic container.  I feel bad about this, that I use a sonicare toothbrush and refuse to make my own toothpaste.  Oh, and I forgot to count the plastic containers that my dental floss comes in too!  But, I have horrid teeth.  I visit my dentist or periodontist once every 3 months.  I've had numerous oral surgeries to help keep my teeth in my mouth.  I am motivated by my realization that if I don't take care of my teeth I will lose them.  So, I feel less guilt about my oral hygiene products.

3.  I do use a blow dryer for my hair.  I have naturally curly frizzy hair, and blow dry my hair straight most mornings.  But, the shorter my hair, the less time using the dryer, so I plan on having shorter hair for a while.

Here are the things for which I am proud:

1.  I recently discovered the joy of making my own deodorant.  It is so easy and I can reuse our old deodorant containers, so I am really reducing our plastic consumption.  The recipe I use is based on the Passionate Homemaking recipe.  It really is a strong, and worth trying.

2.  I have also begun using shampoo bar soap that I purchase through Dress Green on Etsy.  The sweet orange shampoo bar has a heavenly smell and is very affordable.  Both Chris and I love this shampoo bar.  I have to admit, it did take 10 days for my incredibly greasy hair to become accustomed to it, but the knowledge that I am adding fewer chemicals into our watershed was well worth the embarrassment of a few days of greasy hair.  Good-bye Pantene, and good riddance!

3.  My facial soap is a goat milk soap that Chris and I purchase at our local farmers' market.  It is a great moisturizer and has a wonderful fragrance.  We like both the magnolia and the lavender soaps.

4.  I don't wear makeup, so I don't have to worry about adding chemicals such as formaldehyde to my skin.  I also don't dye my hair any more.  At 36 I haven't had any gray hairs, yet, but once I start getting them, this may change.  I don't know how I feel about gray in my hair.

I am always looking for ways I can improve my attempts to live a greener life.  Do you have any suggestions for how I can improve my personal care routine?  If so, I'd love to hear them!

touched by the 15 things you should give up to be happy

I read a wonderful blog post by Purpose Fairy on the 15 things you should give up to be happy.  It really encapsulates my philosophy of late.  I encourage you to check it out.  Listed below is a excerpts of the 15 things and my acknowledgements of my struggles and accomplishments of each.

1.  Give up your need to always be right.  This was something I learned early on, but for me it was a hard lesson.  I think as a kid I had this need to assert myself and demonstrate how much I knew.  I can remember my mom pointing out numerous times, it doesn't matter if your right, if you lose all your friends in the process.  This is a life lesson that has served me well, especially as a reference librarian, and therefore a smartass who gets paid to find the right answer.

2.  Give up your need for control.  Wow.  This is one that is a daily struggle with me.  I do better with it at work.  I recognize that there are several ways to approach problems and if I am overseeing someone the last thing I want to do is to micromanage.  So why is it that I feel the need for control at home?  Poor Chris.  This is just one example of how Chris is so amazing.  He has not left me even though I feel the need to control the way he does things around the house.  Don't get me wrong, it has caused plenty of fights.  Particularly the time he chose to use a leaf blower inside the house to get rid of the dust bunnies and animal hair that had accumulated on the floors (as a side note, the leaf blower simply blew the dust and hair onto the tops of picture frames, door jams, and furniture).  We laugh about the incident now, and in my opinion it makes for a great story.  So there was some good in giving up my control of the situation.  After 13 years of living together I have improved on this, but there is still room for more improvement, as I am sure Chris will attest.

3.  Give up on blame.  I don't know that I've ever been one to really blame others.  I attribute this, partly at least, to being the child of two people going through a bitter divorce.  Blame was the name of the game, and I saw my parents acting much like my 4-7 year old friends with siblings, always pointing out the faults of the other and demonstrating how difficult their life was as a result.  I don't doubt that my parents had reason to blame the other person, but it still didn't sit well with me.

4.  Give up your self-defeating self-talk. Yeah, I admit, there's a little devil in me sometimes that likes to point out my shortcomings and stumbles.  Luckily, I do have a stronger voice of confidence who quells that devil.  But man, each time, for a split second, I have to think about my accomplishments, and wonder what they are.  And, each time it gets easier and easier to come up the good in my life.

5.  Give up your limiting beliefs  I perhaps have a bit too much self-confidence, and I thank my parents for that.  As I've gotten older I think I have been able to distill the perfect amount of confidence.  I've never really thought about what I couldn't do, rather I've focused on what is needed to do what I want.

6.  Give up complaining.  Yeah, well, this one I definitely need to work on.  I don't think of myself as someone who complains about comforts, such as food, weather, and so forth.  But I do complain about injustices that I see, or people who do not meet my expectations.  My complaints are less about my situation, and more about what I see as idiotic behavior on the part of others.  Yes, I realize that illustrates a very limited and short-sighted view of others.  This I recognize as a weakness I need to work on.

7.  Give up the luxury of criticism.  Man, oh man!  Boy, is this one of my major faults.  And here is yet another reason why Chris is so amazing.  He can put up with all my criticisms!  You would think that I, as someone who grew up in a very critical house (with THREE critical parents!), would recognize and abhor criticism.  Yet, it is one of the ugliest parts of my personality, and one of the constant demoralizers in our arguments.  I struggle most with this, but I am happy to continue to struggle and I look forward to the day I beat it.

Side note:  Am I blaming my parents for my tendency to criticize?  I don't think so; I think I am just trying to state that I should recognize it as a fault and avoid it because it was one of the things that bothered me about my relationships with them.

8.  Give up your need to impress others.  Yeah, I wouldn't say this was ever one of my priorities.  Don't get me wrong, I am very social and love being around people, but I've never thought I needed to change my personality to fit in.  Talk about confidence!  Well, there might have been that time in 7th grade where I wore make up and felt it was necessary to sit with the caddy, rich girls.  But by 8th grade I came to my senses and sat with peeps who just wanted to have fun.

9.  Give up your resistance to change.  It's funny, change in my personal life is not a problem at all.  When Chris was living in another country for two years we both accepted the change and had no problems.  Even we he came back we accepted the change without difficulties.  But, dealing with change in my workplace is way more difficult.  When management starts changing the rules and moving people and shifting responsibilities, I become wary and critical.  I suppose it's because I fear a lack of control in the situation and I see injustices that I can't correct.  This has lately (in the past 5 months) been in area of my life where I am trying the hardest to ride the wave and deal with the changes.

10.  Give up labels.  Boy, and how!  I totally agree with this.  I'm sick and tired of people trying to peg others and pin them into neat boxes based on the political or religious beliefs, kind of job, color of their skin, and so forth.  The best thing we can do is to see one another as individuals and as fellow humans.  What I fail to understand is why it is so important for someone to identify with, let's say, their Southern ancestry and in doing so wave a flag that is seen by many to represent slavery, torture, and injustice.  Isn't it more important to show acts of kindness to our neighbors, regardless of their beliefs, race, and so forth?

11.  Give up on your fears  I agree.  I don't think I have too many fears.  I guess it's that self confidence coming through again.  I mean, why worry about what's to come if you don't have to?

12.  Give up your excuses.  Again, I've never really dwelled on excuses, and I think it's because I watched my parents provide excuses for their unhappiness.  It just didn't sit right with me that these adults could have so many causes for their unease and especially for their feelings of inadequacy.  Here, I think most about the relationship between my real dad and his sister.  Each of them felt the other had more than was right, and as a result neither could be happy until they were equal in all things.  They made excuses for how their childish behavior was a result of the other's selfishness.

13.  Give up the past  This is something that I've had to deal with as I've gotten older.  Memory is an important concept to me.  Perhaps it stems from losing my dad (and all of his family) at a young age.  I don't want to live in the past, I am much happier reveling in the present, but I also don't want to forget from where I came and the people who shaped me.  Those memories keep me grounded and help keep my confidence in check.  ;)

14.  Give up attachment.  Hell to the yeah!  I am 100% down with this, and I love working on giving up my attachments to physical items, to things.  I would much rather focus on my attachment to the people who live in a special place in my heart and to my attachment to my neighborhood and community and my place on this earth.

15.  Give up living your life to others' expectations.  This is the hardest for me.  I am constantly made aware of my failure to live up to my parents' expectations and for that reason I have this awful internal struggle to live my life or the life they want for me.  This is the one thing that truly tears me up inside.  My parents (and here I'm talking about my mom and my adopted dad) lead a very different lifestyle than I, and in their minds I am causing nothing but hardship for the future.  They base their lifestyle on what they can obtain, (and have worked hard to provide a comfortable life) whereas I choose to base my lifestyle on what I can attain on more of a philosophical ideal.  I don't care for two sets of china, or silver tableware.  A big house is not important to me.  When my mom visited us recently she was constantly looking to see what we didn't have (what we had given away) that she failed to see what we do have (what we cherish).  Yet, if I were to point any of this out to her, she would take offense to it, that I am knocking her values, and underappreciating the things she has given me/us.  So, I keep two sets of dishes (one that we've only used once or twice), two sets of silverware (not silver, but rather a stainless set and a more casual set), and other items that I know are prized by her.  I haven't shared with her the goal Chris and I look forward to: living simple and living tiny, minimizing our possessions so we can maximize our relationships and enhance our lives through experience.  I may be underestimating her, but to tell the truth I would hate to shatter her expectations for me even more than they already are.  I see this as both my problem and hers.  My problem is that I don't lead the life I want because I try to please her (and in the process probably presume the worst of her) and her problem is letting go and recognizing what is happiness for me may not be happiness to her, but that's ok.

Kickin' it through the goal posts

This post was intended for yesterday, but regrettably I had a bangin' migraine, and sitting in front of the computer was just not an option.  I'm just thankful that my boss understands when I have to take a half day to sit in silence in a dark room!

So my goals for this week aren't very sexy.  This week won't be all that different than most weeks.

Goal 1.  Only expenses will be the dentist and grocery store (and now Lowe's for a post for our bird feeder and probably the local landscape store for mulch).
Goal 2.  Continue the Insanity workouts the rest of the this week.
Goal 3.  Enjoy eating primarily local foods consisting mainly of fruits and vegetables with maybe some meat.

I plan to keep to no more than three goals a week.  Adding more than 3 may feel limiting and too much pressure.

It's funny, every time I plan to limit my spending, Chris comes up with these amazing projects to work on (that are needed) to spend our money.  I mean, it's hard to argue that we don't need mulch.  So I think some of our funds will go towards the yard.  I love owning a house, but geesh, when you're trying to save money it can be a real drain. 

So, how did we do last week with our expenses?  Well, together Chris and I ate out twice, once for breakfast ($8.85) and once for supper ($29.40).  I ate out twice for lunch (totaling $21.46) and Chris ate out twice for lunch (totaling $36.19; although, one of these lunches was a business contact and Chris paid for both their lunches).  So, how much money did we spend last week eating out?  $95.90.  ouch.  That's an expensive week.  The money would be better spent at the grocery store, especially considering the plastic containers that my lunches came in!

100 Things, I am challenged

If I were a Sesame Street character, I would probably be one of three muppets.  If you ask my parents, they would say Oscar the Grouch.  <wink> That's a whole 'nother blog to write.  If you ask me, I'm either Cookie Monster (gosh, what is it about cookies that is so tasty!) or for the purposes of this post -- the Count.

I love to count things.  Perhaps it comes from working in the lab and counting bags upon bags of nails, glass, pottery sherds, flakes, and more nails.  Actually, my love for counting started way before that, probably with that iconic muppet, the Count.  My mom used to come into my room (if I was being unusually quiet) to find me sorting my toys in various corners of my room by type (Snoopy toys over here, Star Wars over there, bottle top collection (?!?) over yonder) and counting each item in that collection.  Needless to say, 30 years later when I started hearing about the book, The 100 Thing Challenge, I was intrigued.

Wow, someone else has combined my goal of minimizing with my love of counting.  Man, am I digging it!  There are some caveats that the author, Dave Bruno, makes.  For instance, he did not pare his whole house down to 100 things.  That would have been difficult for his wife and kids.  He simply pared his personal possessions down to 100.  He also allowed himself group categories that, as a whole, stood for one thing such as 1 library (with presumably many books) or underwear, undershirts, and socks.

As someone who loves to keep a running tally of almost anything, I love this idea.  I love that although Bruno chose 100 items as his goal, I am free to choose any number of items to be my goal.  I love the flexibility of grouping multiple items in one category.    But mostly, I love the idea of challenging myself, and hey, if it means I get to count items along the way, even better.  I'm off to go count!  One, ah ah ah.  TWO ah ah ah.

Peace and happiness

My husband and I love our house.  We love the neighborhood, our neighbors, and our sanctuary we call our home.  With Chris out of work for nearly a year now, we have been making some changes to our house.

One of the biggest changes has been in our basement (more on that in a later post).  We used to have separate floors in our house.  Chris would spend his spare time in his man cave in the basement and I would spend my time on our main floor.  Don't get me wrong, we like hanging out with one another, and of course mealtimes and at night we would be together, but we used to have this notion that we needed our own space.  And it wasn't necessarily that we needed to be apart, we just felt we needed to be with our own stuff.  After years of accumulating things, we had to devote whole levels of our house to our stuff.

I may have had packrat tendencies, but if so, my mom quickly quelled them when I was younger.  We can now joke about the books she gave away that caused me such angst when I found out.  Heck, I'm a librarian, books are like air to me.  But over the years, I have pared down my possessions.  Books used to make up the largest stash of my stuff.  I kept favorites that I grew up with and left at my parents' house, I kept all those school books thinking I would re-read them, and I purchased books as an adult because I wanted to be able to reference them if needed in a moment's notice.  Dude, I'm telling you; I purchased thousands, even tens of thousands, of books over my lifetime.  And not just books, although that probably made of the majority of my possessions, but movies, albums, CDs, chotchkies, photographs, scrapbooks, and so forth.

However, about two years ago, I decided I didn't need all this stuff.  Our small house was crammed with so much stuff that it actually prevented Chris and I from spending time together.  And it seemed that the time we did spend together was spent cleaning, organizing, and moving all that stuff (and with many cross words shouted at each other too!)  So, to combat my growing frustrations, I started giving away stuff.  It was hard at first to part with my memories; I had an emotional attachment to so many things.  Souvenirs from my travels, books from my archaeological career, books from my childhood, and even photographs eventually found their way to the thrift store, friends, or the trash.  And with each load that left our house I felt lighter, freer, and calmer.

My next step (after I thought I'd pared my belongings down) was to convince my husband, who was 100 times more attached to his tons of stuff, to also release his grip.  And last summer was the culmination of our release.  We had a huge yardsale that consisted mainly of books, music, chotchkies, his models, some toys, and some furniture.  And lo and behold, people not only dug our stuff, but they wanted to buy it!  We made over $1000. I'm talking twelve hundred dollars! Just on a yard sale!

After that, it became even easier to let go of things.  I'd like to think that both Chris and I no longer need stuff to make us happy.  Don't get me wrong, I love my computer, hard drives, clothes, and would absolutely hate to have them disappear.  But, I'm happier in the realization that what is more important to me is my relationships.  And do you know what happened once we got rid of the stuff?  Suddenly the two of us could share a tiny office (that before had been crammed with my stuff) and spend even more quality time together (and way fewer cross words with one another!)  Now we only have to spend a couple of hours to clean our entire house.  And to tell the truth, I don't miss a damn thing I gave away.   How's that for peace and happiness!  I wish you peace and happiness.

P.S. As an update, I was curious how many books I now own.  Care to guess?  I counted 62 (ah ah ah, as the Count would say).  This includes high school yearbooks, cookbooks, a few sentimental children's books, and some sentimental archaeology books as well as favorite literary classics.  In my opinion, why pay for a book when you can check it out of the library!

Going paleo, yippee!

My amazing husband just read my first two posts, and boy, is he delighted to be referred to as amazing! Being in the room with him as he was reading the posts was odd. I obviously wanted him to read those posts, but it wasn't until about an hour later that I finally found out what he thought about them. I was too afraid to ask him what he thought, but I don't really know why. Perhaps it's because I've mentioned some of my goals before, but only in passing. I don't think either of us thought I/we would follow up on them. And now that they are posted here, we both feel obligated to stick to them (and excited about the prospect!). And, how amazing is he to read my semi-secret goals for us, and tell me, Yes! Let's do this.

So, Chris and I vow to plan our meals and eat a Paleo diet with influences that would please Gillian McKeith. We also vow to eat at restaurants only on special occasions. How exciting! I can't wait to start our meal plans. Chris has already warned me that he will need honeydew melon, cantaloupe, and watermelon. Yum Yum, bring it on. Oh, I should add that anyone who knows me well will not be surprised to hear that I plan to concentrate on eating more fish, vegetables, and fruit. I'm not a big fan of meat.

The trick will be to eat seasonal, local foods. But if Chris is willing to forgo his cereal and bread for his sandwiches, then we can work in eating seasonally and locally once we've become accustomed to our Paleo lifestyle.

And now for something completely different. . . Chris also shared with me that his next computer will be a Mac. Yay! Good news all around. :)

Btw: I adore Gillian McKeith of You Are What You Eat fame. Talk about a motivator!


P.S.  Oh, I forgot to tell you!  The next morning, after Chris read this and agreed to the whole Paleo-thing, he woke me up at 6.45 am asking if we could get breakfast.  And knowing that we weren't eating out, he said we should go to the grocery store and get honeydew melon, cantaloupe, and watermelon.  yum yum! 

My Starting Block

In some aspects of our lives my husband and I are kicking ass. We have been growing food using the square foot garden technique the last four summers. We walk to our local farmers' market when it is in season (May through December), and try to rely on just the foods purchased there. Through our local farmers' market we have a share in a CSA. I've started making our own deodorant (dude, super easy and produces way less plastic!) And I'm loving the bar of shampoo soap I buy through Etsy.

However, since our market is closed during the winter (well, there is a renegade market, but let's face it, they offer little in terms of food to eat on during the week), Chris and I have been making poor choices in food. We have been eating out far too much and only some of the restaurants we frequent are locally owned. Gasp, in fact too many that we've eaten at this winter are chain restaurants! And it doesn't help that we have been doing this while relying on one income! Then, when we do go to the store, we buy prepackaged food, such as cooked chicken breasts, in plastic containers. Our trash is getting way out of hand. For the two of us this past summer, a trash bag would last a week, now we throw away about 2-3 bags a week.

One of the ways to alleviate this problem is to keep the clutter out of the kitchen; which will in turn inspire me to cook. Another factor is to begin meal planning. I started doing this at the beginning of the year and it worked great. . . for three weeks. Then it fell apart. I would like to blame at least part of the demise on my husband's lack of interest and his indecision about what he will want to eat four days into the future. But, I know that's not the main reason it fell apart. I stopped doing it because it became a chore. I would have to search for recipes and then compose a list for the store, and then, horrors of horrors! I'd have to go to the store! Finally, each night I would have to prepare and cook the food. After 8 hours at work. Well, the prep/cook time for most of my recipes probably equals the time spent getting to a restaurant, getting seated, looking over the menu, ordering, waiting, eating, waiting, paying the bill, leaving, and driving home from a restaurant. Wow, put it that way, and I probably would spend less time cooking.

My goal is to plan my meals for today (Thursday through Sunday), and go to the store to purchase the ingredients. And then, Saturday or Sunday I will do it over again. Also, I think it is important that at the end of each week I provide a post listing the amount of money I spent the week before, the meals I intend to eat for the week, the number of times I drive my car, and any other improvements/setbacks I experience.

I can't wait for the next post to kick it off!

The foods I eat

At times in my life I have been a vegetarian. I am not now.  Frequently I miss my commitment to not eat food with a face. However, I also appreciate the saying everything in moderation, and for me this includes a eating a moderate amount of meat.  For the moment, I will focus on observing Meatless Mondays. However, my husband is always quick to point out that we do have a quasi-vegetarian diet, and if I am the sole cook for a week, we might have meat once and seafood once in seven days. My weakness to eat meat occurs when we dine out at restaurants. Why is this?! 

Digging the green life: what it means to me

I am super concerned about my impact in the world and the contributions I am selfishly making to our environment. It is important that we all reduce our footprint. To that effect, I will begin chronicling my efforts to live a more sustainable life.

Three things are important for me to track through this blog. For me, the most important is the food I eat. As someone who is beginning to have health problems (hello Lymphedema and Grave's Disease), I will be watching the foods I ingest more carefully. Good-bye processed foods. Hello organic, homemade deliciousness. I will also strive to eat more local foods (within a 100 mile radius of my home in Richmond, Virginia). However, I will not beat myself up if I choose to buy a pineapple or bananas from the store. Meatless Mondays will observed every week. Restaurants will be for special occasions (as was the case when I was younger).

My second concern, and therefore my second focus, will be reducing my carbon footprint. To this end I will be driving my SUV around a lot less, and focusing instead on walking or riding my bike (even if it means biking up the big hill at the Nickel Bridge). To begin, I pledge to walk/bike twice a week (meaning twice a week will be designated as no car days). Tied into my carbon footprint is my desire to reduce my plastic purchases. I totally admire Beth Terry at My Plastic-Free Life and Bea Johnson at Zero Waste Home.

A third goal of mine, and one I intend to track, is to live a simpler, frugal life. It's mind-blowing to me how much my husband and I spend on food - and there are just two of us! Well, and the two cats. . . and the two dogs. By eating out less, growing more of our food, and making meals at home, I hope to drastically cut our food expenses while not feeling deprived. With less spent on luxuries, and let's face it restaurants are totally luxuries, we can throw more money at our growing debt.

Along the way I hope to track my progress at accomplishing these three goals and learn more ways to live a simpler, frugal, greener life. xx