I saw a picture on Facebook recently that read: "Black Friday: Because only in America people trample others for sales exactly one day after being thankful for what they already have".
I've always had a strict "No Christmas until after Thanksgiving" rule. Partly because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I hate to lose the enjoyment of it in all the bustle of Christmas, and partly just because I'm not particularly fond of Christmas music and my rule guards me from it for just a couple weeks longer.
But this year I'm breaking my own rule and starting to think about what gifts I will buy for everyone a little earlier. Why? Because this year I've decided the gifts I purchase (at least in part) will not be like the gifts of years past. I'm tired of the cheap plastic toys, the clothes that are outgrown in a few months, the random supplies I bought for someone to clean their car because I couldn't think of anything else.
This year I want to give gifts with meaning. Gifts that will last. I want to give my nieces and nephew a gift that they can someday gift to their children. Why not? That's what people used to do. Each child had a hope chest and they were given gifts not to play with that afternoon, but to put away in their hope chest knowing they'd some day have good use for it. Now, I don't want to spoil the fun of opening up an exciting new toy. But why can't I also give a gift with a little more meaning? I think I can. And I think I will.
But here's the quandary: What do you give a young child now, that they will want to keep and preserve and use 25 or even 50 years from now?
My sister-in-law and I came up with a couple ideas of "timeless" gifts - cookie cutters, loose tea leaf holder, rolling pins. I wanted some more ideas so I started searching the web thinking that surely someone out there has already re-begun the tradition of handing down timeless heirloom gifts. Unfortunately, searching for heirloom gifts was about the most depressing thing I've ever done. It seems if you make a toy out of wood instead of cheap plastic, it's then considered timeless and heirloom quality. You charge 4 times as much for it, and there you go!
Well, I don't exactly want to give my 10 year old niece a wooden rocking horse for Christmas. It would certainly last until she has children some day, since she's not going to use it! But that's not exactly what I was looking for. I also found the idea of making quilts, which is fantastic, but my aunt recently gave all the kids quilts of their own, so that idea is out. Jewelry was another good idea, and something I've added to the list of possibilities... but what about my nephew? He's not going to want a rolling pin (unless I tell him it's a caveman's club) and jewelry is definitely out of the question!
So while I desperately want to give gifts that matter, I'm finding that society is so far removed from the idea, I may be completely on my own as far as coming up with good ideas. If you have any, I'd love to hear them!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Transitions
Several months ago (perhaps even longer ago than that) I decided to try getting away from plastic. First was plastic shopping bags. I transitioned to reusable ones and felt really good about that for a while.
Shortly after that, a family friend introduced me to homemade laundry detergent. It's incredibly inexpensive (usually just 2 pennies per load), easy to make, and works really well! I got the recipe and I've shared it with others since then. So far, it gets rave reviews. There are a few people who said they still pre-treat stubborn stains, but otherwise it's their preferred laundry detergent now. I felt really good about eliminating all those laundry detergent bottles from my life. I even tweaked the detergent recipe to have an all natural version (which I like, though it doesn't work as well on really dirty clothes, so I usually have both versions on hand).
I'll include the recipe below.
After feeling pretty proud of myself for getting rid of plastic grocery bags and plastic laundry detergent bottles I started to think about where to go next. I decided I needed to get rid of those plastic produce bags you put your vegetables in at the grocery store. So I started to look online for reusable alternatives. I found two options that got me thinking. The first was a poly mesh which allowed your food to breath while in the refrigerator and also allowed you to see what was in each bag. The other was a cotton bag which didn't allow you to see the contents but wasn't made of plastic. That's when it hit me - I was using resuable shopping bags (yay me!) but they were still made of plastic.
I started a downward spiral of obsessed thinking about whether or not a person living in modern day America could ever really eliminate plastic from their lives. I saw a documentary in which a few people claim to purchase/consume/use less than one pound of plastic a year... but I wasn't sure I really believed them. How do you buy shampoo? or cleaning products? I've never seen a store that sold these items in glass bottles or in bulk 'fill-your-own-container' type stations. Then I realized... you'd have to make your own! So I started to do some research and I found there was one ingredient common to at least 85% of the products I was researching:
Vinegar.
Well ok... so I'd need to buy lots of vinegar. It isn't expensive at all...
but I've only ever seen it sold in plastic bottles.
So now what?!? How do you make your own vinegar?!? So I started to do more research. Apparently everyone says it's not difficult at all... but from what I've been reading, it doesn't exactly seem easy either. You have to start with some "Mother of Vinegar" (which has become the new, fun to use, friendly for children's ears, expletive in my family these days). You add feed stock to it and let it go. The feed stock depends on what type of vinegar you want. Apples for apple cider vinegar, wine for white wine vinegar, and the list goes on. But, it takes 3-6 months to turn into vinegar, and then it only stays good/usable for 3-6 months after that. Most people sort of have a rolling batch going, where they add a little bit of feedstock ever week or so to a pot with a spigot on the bottom, and they just use the vinegar out of the same pot.
I wasn't quite ready to take on that challenge, so I decided that for now I'd buy my vinegar and just do my best to reuse the plastic bottles. We're in the process of moving to a new house (another transition) so I thought maybe once I was settled at the new place I could set up a vinegar station.
So I decided to try making my own shampoo and conditioner. I did some research online and found the same recipe over and over again:
Shampoo: 1 tablespoon baking soda + 1 cup water.
Conditioner: 1 tablespoon vinegar + 1 cup water.
You're kidding right? I gave it a try. Well, I wasn't impressed with the shampoo. I mixed it up and it just looked like water to me. A few recipes said it could be thickened with oatmeal so I got out my oatmeal and my mortar and pestle and crushed it up as best I could. Well, that was a flop! The oatmeal didn't really dissolve, so I ended up with chunks of oatmeal all through my hair (which no amount of rinsing could completely remove). I've suspended my efforts on the homemade shampoo. I intend to try a heavier concentration of baking soda and seeing how that works, but most of the blogs rave about how the baking soda doesn't strip your natural oils out of your hair. Well, at some point, when my hair is all greasy looking, don't I want some of that oil to be removed? This adventure is 'to be continued'.
Next was conditioner. After being disappointed with the shampoo I decided not to waste my time with such insufficient amounts of vinegar. I hopped in the shower with about 10 tablespoons of straight vinegar in a cup. When I was ready to condition my hair I filled the cup the rest of the way (about half of the cup) with water. So I had a 50:50 ratio of vinegar to water. I poured about half the cup on my hair, then filled the cup with water again (creating, essentially, a 25:75 ratio of vinegar to water). I poured the rest into my hair and started to comb through my hair. I have naturally curly hair, so I always comb my conditioner through in the shower, rinse my hair and towel dry, and don't comb it again until my next shower. I've heard of putting vinegar in your laundry rinse cycle for use as a fabric softener (which I hear works very well) so it made sense to me that vinegar would work as a conditioner for my hair. My big concern, though, was whether or not it would also work as a detangling agent for my hair which can be tough to comb through. I was amazed at how well the vinegar worked!
The blogs said my hair would NOT smell like vinegar afterwards. Well, perhaps it was because I used 10 times more vinegar than the recipe called for, but I could smell it faintly when I was done. I use a styling product in my hair, and after adding that, I could no longer smell the vinegar.
I tried again the second and third days to see if I could get the same results with less vinegar, and to see what the results were like after several days. I have to say, I'm down to using approximately 5 tablespoons of vinegar in one cup of water and I'm still really impressed. I'm going to continue using less and less vinegar until I don't get the same results.
I've done some really rough estimations on cost. If I use 4 tablespoons of conditioner per use, I spend approximately 4 cents per use. Based on my estimations of how much regular conditioner I use each day, I spend about 5 cents per use. Now, I buy the inexpensive conditioners that cost just a dollar for a 15 oz bottle. So if you're spending more than that, your cost will obviously be different. So, I'm not seeing too much of a cost savings, but on the plus side, if I use vinegar for enough things, I'll always have it around, and shouldn't ever have to worry about running out of conditioner! Also, I'm avoiding lots of man-made chemicals!
One word of caution if you decide to use vinegar: it burns! It burns your eyes if you over pour, and it burns your legs if you nick yourself shaving. So be careful!
There are several other transitions occurring in my life right now. A new house and a new pastor at my church to name a couple. I was going to talk about them all here but it seems I've already spent quite some time just talking about my transition from plastic. Guess you'll have to wait for the rest. Hopefully soon I'll have some great pictures to show of our new home!
That's my life!
Laundry Detergent
1 bar fels naptha - grate with cheese grater, melt in approximately 6 cups hot (but not boiling) water (a little more/less than 6 cups won't matter)
Mix 1.5 cups borax and 1.5 cups washing soda (NOT baking soda!) in 5 gallon bucket
Pour in melted fels naptha
Fill bucket 3/4 full (or a little fuller depending on your preference) with warm water.
Mix well
Let sit 24 hours before use for best results - if you didn't add lots of extra water, it will turn into a gel (probably with some liquid in there as well).
I use 1/2 cup per load. Some recipes say to use just 1/4 cup, others a full cup. After it has sat for a while, you may need to shake it up just a little.
For an all natural version, replace fels naptha with Dr. Bronner's all natural soap.
As an additional note: I tried the powdered soap version and it was a TON of arm shattering mixing and I was not at all happy with the results (both in effective washing and in the amount of soap I got for the amount of money and work).
Shortly after that, a family friend introduced me to homemade laundry detergent. It's incredibly inexpensive (usually just 2 pennies per load), easy to make, and works really well! I got the recipe and I've shared it with others since then. So far, it gets rave reviews. There are a few people who said they still pre-treat stubborn stains, but otherwise it's their preferred laundry detergent now. I felt really good about eliminating all those laundry detergent bottles from my life. I even tweaked the detergent recipe to have an all natural version (which I like, though it doesn't work as well on really dirty clothes, so I usually have both versions on hand).
I'll include the recipe below.
After feeling pretty proud of myself for getting rid of plastic grocery bags and plastic laundry detergent bottles I started to think about where to go next. I decided I needed to get rid of those plastic produce bags you put your vegetables in at the grocery store. So I started to look online for reusable alternatives. I found two options that got me thinking. The first was a poly mesh which allowed your food to breath while in the refrigerator and also allowed you to see what was in each bag. The other was a cotton bag which didn't allow you to see the contents but wasn't made of plastic. That's when it hit me - I was using resuable shopping bags (yay me!) but they were still made of plastic.
I started a downward spiral of obsessed thinking about whether or not a person living in modern day America could ever really eliminate plastic from their lives. I saw a documentary in which a few people claim to purchase/consume/use less than one pound of plastic a year... but I wasn't sure I really believed them. How do you buy shampoo? or cleaning products? I've never seen a store that sold these items in glass bottles or in bulk 'fill-your-own-container' type stations. Then I realized... you'd have to make your own! So I started to do some research and I found there was one ingredient common to at least 85% of the products I was researching:
Vinegar.
Well ok... so I'd need to buy lots of vinegar. It isn't expensive at all...
but I've only ever seen it sold in plastic bottles.
So now what?!? How do you make your own vinegar?!? So I started to do more research. Apparently everyone says it's not difficult at all... but from what I've been reading, it doesn't exactly seem easy either. You have to start with some "Mother of Vinegar" (which has become the new, fun to use, friendly for children's ears, expletive in my family these days). You add feed stock to it and let it go. The feed stock depends on what type of vinegar you want. Apples for apple cider vinegar, wine for white wine vinegar, and the list goes on. But, it takes 3-6 months to turn into vinegar, and then it only stays good/usable for 3-6 months after that. Most people sort of have a rolling batch going, where they add a little bit of feedstock ever week or so to a pot with a spigot on the bottom, and they just use the vinegar out of the same pot.
I wasn't quite ready to take on that challenge, so I decided that for now I'd buy my vinegar and just do my best to reuse the plastic bottles. We're in the process of moving to a new house (another transition) so I thought maybe once I was settled at the new place I could set up a vinegar station.
So I decided to try making my own shampoo and conditioner. I did some research online and found the same recipe over and over again:
Shampoo: 1 tablespoon baking soda + 1 cup water.
Conditioner: 1 tablespoon vinegar + 1 cup water.
You're kidding right? I gave it a try. Well, I wasn't impressed with the shampoo. I mixed it up and it just looked like water to me. A few recipes said it could be thickened with oatmeal so I got out my oatmeal and my mortar and pestle and crushed it up as best I could. Well, that was a flop! The oatmeal didn't really dissolve, so I ended up with chunks of oatmeal all through my hair (which no amount of rinsing could completely remove). I've suspended my efforts on the homemade shampoo. I intend to try a heavier concentration of baking soda and seeing how that works, but most of the blogs rave about how the baking soda doesn't strip your natural oils out of your hair. Well, at some point, when my hair is all greasy looking, don't I want some of that oil to be removed? This adventure is 'to be continued'.
Next was conditioner. After being disappointed with the shampoo I decided not to waste my time with such insufficient amounts of vinegar. I hopped in the shower with about 10 tablespoons of straight vinegar in a cup. When I was ready to condition my hair I filled the cup the rest of the way (about half of the cup) with water. So I had a 50:50 ratio of vinegar to water. I poured about half the cup on my hair, then filled the cup with water again (creating, essentially, a 25:75 ratio of vinegar to water). I poured the rest into my hair and started to comb through my hair. I have naturally curly hair, so I always comb my conditioner through in the shower, rinse my hair and towel dry, and don't comb it again until my next shower. I've heard of putting vinegar in your laundry rinse cycle for use as a fabric softener (which I hear works very well) so it made sense to me that vinegar would work as a conditioner for my hair. My big concern, though, was whether or not it would also work as a detangling agent for my hair which can be tough to comb through. I was amazed at how well the vinegar worked!
The blogs said my hair would NOT smell like vinegar afterwards. Well, perhaps it was because I used 10 times more vinegar than the recipe called for, but I could smell it faintly when I was done. I use a styling product in my hair, and after adding that, I could no longer smell the vinegar.
I tried again the second and third days to see if I could get the same results with less vinegar, and to see what the results were like after several days. I have to say, I'm down to using approximately 5 tablespoons of vinegar in one cup of water and I'm still really impressed. I'm going to continue using less and less vinegar until I don't get the same results.
I've done some really rough estimations on cost. If I use 4 tablespoons of conditioner per use, I spend approximately 4 cents per use. Based on my estimations of how much regular conditioner I use each day, I spend about 5 cents per use. Now, I buy the inexpensive conditioners that cost just a dollar for a 15 oz bottle. So if you're spending more than that, your cost will obviously be different. So, I'm not seeing too much of a cost savings, but on the plus side, if I use vinegar for enough things, I'll always have it around, and shouldn't ever have to worry about running out of conditioner! Also, I'm avoiding lots of man-made chemicals!
One word of caution if you decide to use vinegar: it burns! It burns your eyes if you over pour, and it burns your legs if you nick yourself shaving. So be careful!
There are several other transitions occurring in my life right now. A new house and a new pastor at my church to name a couple. I was going to talk about them all here but it seems I've already spent quite some time just talking about my transition from plastic. Guess you'll have to wait for the rest. Hopefully soon I'll have some great pictures to show of our new home!
That's my life!
Laundry Detergent
1 bar fels naptha - grate with cheese grater, melt in approximately 6 cups hot (but not boiling) water (a little more/less than 6 cups won't matter)
Mix 1.5 cups borax and 1.5 cups washing soda (NOT baking soda!) in 5 gallon bucket
Pour in melted fels naptha
Fill bucket 3/4 full (or a little fuller depending on your preference) with warm water.
Mix well
Let sit 24 hours before use for best results - if you didn't add lots of extra water, it will turn into a gel (probably with some liquid in there as well).
I use 1/2 cup per load. Some recipes say to use just 1/4 cup, others a full cup. After it has sat for a while, you may need to shake it up just a little.
For an all natural version, replace fels naptha with Dr. Bronner's all natural soap.
As an additional note: I tried the powdered soap version and it was a TON of arm shattering mixing and I was not at all happy with the results (both in effective washing and in the amount of soap I got for the amount of money and work).
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
My new Kindle (and other thoughts on books)
It's been ages since I posted last. I just sort of forgot I had a blog for a while... then when I remembered, the only thing I could think of writing about was the farm. It's a busy time of year for us - lambs arriving, shearing, new fence going up, selling/trading sheep... between the farm and my two other jobs, my life is pretty exclusively filled with work right now. And who wants to blog about work!?
Last week was my birthday. A rather uneventful day, I worked a twelve hour day (see what I mean?) and went home alone, my husband still attentively dedicated to the sheep (I love having the house to myself but after a month or so it's great to have him finally home!). Last Friday, despite being rather ill with a nasty cold, I celebrated said birthday with my in-laws, who very thoughtfully purchased me a Kindle. It's something I never would have invested in for myself. I've had my nose stuck in that thing for three days straight now, every possible extra second I have (which aren't many). Here's my preliminary review:
Why I like a real book better:
1. I can literally drop it on pavement and then pick it back up and read it without feeling like my world may have ended.
2. When I turn the page and see the end of the chapter (and the beginning of the next one) I can quickly slam the book shut and force myself to walk away and get some work done. With the Kindle, by the time I hold the power button for 7 seconds to make the screen go blank, I've already let my eyes stray to the next chapter, and I'm hooked. Oh how I hate those seven seconds.
3. If the industrialized world as we know it ends and our electrical grid fails, I can still read a real book.
4. I can lend a real book to as many friends as I want, and they can keep it as long as they want.
Why I like the Kindle better:
1. If I want to start a new book, I just type in the name and choose "download" and I have it in less than 60 seconds. No more waiting to find a day when I can drive an hour and a half to the nearest book store.
2. I can put this thin, sleek book in my purse, and have enough reading material for an entire vacation. No more choosing which three or four books to bring along with me and finding space for them, just to decide half way through my vacation I brought the wrong ones.
3. The books cost less.
4. I can read the first chapter or two of a book for free to see if I'm going to like it. I suppose I could go to the bookstore and do this... but I'd spend days in the bookstore reading the first chapter of every book I saw, and I'd never settle on any of them. With the Kindle, I can take the samples with me wherever I go, and read them as I have time.
So after all that, I'm really happy with my Kindle, and it's given me a small escape from my hectic work life. Even if I have only five free minutes, I can slip away to Australia and follow 19 year old Ed Kennedy as he thwarts a bank robbery rather by accident (I Am the Messenger) or try to understand a world quite unlike our own in A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire, or learn the truth about Abraham Lincoln - the Vampire Slayer.
I'm thinking though, that I might go out and buy one last "real" book.... just in case that Zombie Apocalypse ever happens.
While I'm on the topic of books, I have something else I'd like to put out there. I seem to have found a hangup of mine I wasn't fully aware of before now:
I cannot (seriously, can't imagine trying to force myself) both read the book AND see the movie. I first started to become aware of this after reading The Time Travelers Wife. Shortly after finishing the book, I saw a movie preview. It looked great, then I heard the title. 'Oh no... they made it into a movie!?!?' I decided not to go see it. The book was hard to read at first, but after starting it a few times and sticking with it, I enjoyed having read it. I couldn't imagine the movie holding up. So I opted out.
But now I've come across a real dilemma... The Hunger Games. A trilogy. Everyone's talking about them. I saw the first movie preview and wanted to go see it... but then I found out it's a book series. And everyone is RAVING about the books. And suddenly I realized it... I have a deep seated need to choose between the two. Not like a "will I read the books first or watch the movies first?" or a "gee I wonder which is better"... it's this voice in my head saying "Make the right choice... you're going to miss out on one of the two, make sure you don't regret it". And I'm paralyzed. The books are at the top of my reading wish list, but I can't bring myself to purchase them... what if I want to go see the movies? It's tearing me apart... and I have no idea why. Why can't I just do both?? Compare them? It'll be a great discussion topic. But no... choose I must.
I'd like to say just one last thing on the topic of books - if my childhood best friend Laura Brautigam's (now Laura Lee Anderson) book isn't published and made available on my Kindle, I'm going to throw a fit. A two-year-old-in-a-super-market-who-can't-have-cookies fit.
That's my life!
Last week was my birthday. A rather uneventful day, I worked a twelve hour day (see what I mean?) and went home alone, my husband still attentively dedicated to the sheep (I love having the house to myself but after a month or so it's great to have him finally home!). Last Friday, despite being rather ill with a nasty cold, I celebrated said birthday with my in-laws, who very thoughtfully purchased me a Kindle. It's something I never would have invested in for myself. I've had my nose stuck in that thing for three days straight now, every possible extra second I have (which aren't many). Here's my preliminary review:
Why I like a real book better:
1. I can literally drop it on pavement and then pick it back up and read it without feeling like my world may have ended.
2. When I turn the page and see the end of the chapter (and the beginning of the next one) I can quickly slam the book shut and force myself to walk away and get some work done. With the Kindle, by the time I hold the power button for 7 seconds to make the screen go blank, I've already let my eyes stray to the next chapter, and I'm hooked. Oh how I hate those seven seconds.
3. If the industrialized world as we know it ends and our electrical grid fails, I can still read a real book.
4. I can lend a real book to as many friends as I want, and they can keep it as long as they want.
Why I like the Kindle better:
1. If I want to start a new book, I just type in the name and choose "download" and I have it in less than 60 seconds. No more waiting to find a day when I can drive an hour and a half to the nearest book store.
2. I can put this thin, sleek book in my purse, and have enough reading material for an entire vacation. No more choosing which three or four books to bring along with me and finding space for them, just to decide half way through my vacation I brought the wrong ones.
3. The books cost less.
4. I can read the first chapter or two of a book for free to see if I'm going to like it. I suppose I could go to the bookstore and do this... but I'd spend days in the bookstore reading the first chapter of every book I saw, and I'd never settle on any of them. With the Kindle, I can take the samples with me wherever I go, and read them as I have time.
So after all that, I'm really happy with my Kindle, and it's given me a small escape from my hectic work life. Even if I have only five free minutes, I can slip away to Australia and follow 19 year old Ed Kennedy as he thwarts a bank robbery rather by accident (I Am the Messenger) or try to understand a world quite unlike our own in A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire, or learn the truth about Abraham Lincoln - the Vampire Slayer.
I'm thinking though, that I might go out and buy one last "real" book.... just in case that Zombie Apocalypse ever happens.
While I'm on the topic of books, I have something else I'd like to put out there. I seem to have found a hangup of mine I wasn't fully aware of before now:
I cannot (seriously, can't imagine trying to force myself) both read the book AND see the movie. I first started to become aware of this after reading The Time Travelers Wife. Shortly after finishing the book, I saw a movie preview. It looked great, then I heard the title. 'Oh no... they made it into a movie!?!?' I decided not to go see it. The book was hard to read at first, but after starting it a few times and sticking with it, I enjoyed having read it. I couldn't imagine the movie holding up. So I opted out.
But now I've come across a real dilemma... The Hunger Games. A trilogy. Everyone's talking about them. I saw the first movie preview and wanted to go see it... but then I found out it's a book series. And everyone is RAVING about the books. And suddenly I realized it... I have a deep seated need to choose between the two. Not like a "will I read the books first or watch the movies first?" or a "gee I wonder which is better"... it's this voice in my head saying "Make the right choice... you're going to miss out on one of the two, make sure you don't regret it". And I'm paralyzed. The books are at the top of my reading wish list, but I can't bring myself to purchase them... what if I want to go see the movies? It's tearing me apart... and I have no idea why. Why can't I just do both?? Compare them? It'll be a great discussion topic. But no... choose I must.
I'd like to say just one last thing on the topic of books - if my childhood best friend Laura Brautigam's (now Laura Lee Anderson) book isn't published and made available on my Kindle, I'm going to throw a fit. A two-year-old-in-a-super-market-who-can't-have-cookies fit.
That's my life!
Friday, November 4, 2011
The wheels of life turn slowly on
Alright, I haven't given an update on my "Quick Fix" posts... mostly because I haven't seen much of a change. I've tried to stick with most of the suggestions (I gave in when it came to chips... I just can't stop myself) but haven't seen any noticeable results.
I've started playing volleyball for 2 hours, 2 nights a week. I have noticed results from that! Mostly bruises and sore muscles (occasionally a sore ego)... but additionally I've noticed I get fatigued less easily, and have more energy during the day. So that's a plus! Unfortunately, volleyball ends in December and I have no idea what I'll do after that. Other than miss volleyball.
Our house guest left today. On one hand it'll be nice not to worry about piling things in front of the bathroom door (our inside doors don't latch) to be sure no one gets a peep show. On the other, it's one less person to hang out with (read: force to watch my girly tv shows).
So what's next? I guess getting ready for the holidays. Picking out a new recipe to take to Thanksgiving dinner.... making/buying Christmas gifts... any requests?
For the most part life has slowly pressed onward... sometimes all to slowly... other times it moves on before I'm ready. Most days its a strange mix between the two.
That's my life!
I've started playing volleyball for 2 hours, 2 nights a week. I have noticed results from that! Mostly bruises and sore muscles (occasionally a sore ego)... but additionally I've noticed I get fatigued less easily, and have more energy during the day. So that's a plus! Unfortunately, volleyball ends in December and I have no idea what I'll do after that. Other than miss volleyball.
Our house guest left today. On one hand it'll be nice not to worry about piling things in front of the bathroom door (our inside doors don't latch) to be sure no one gets a peep show. On the other, it's one less person to hang out with (read: force to watch my girly tv shows).
So what's next? I guess getting ready for the holidays. Picking out a new recipe to take to Thanksgiving dinner.... making/buying Christmas gifts... any requests?
For the most part life has slowly pressed onward... sometimes all to slowly... other times it moves on before I'm ready. Most days its a strange mix between the two.
That's my life!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Just Roll With It
There are times in my life when I know change is coming, and I know I need to be flexible and ready to learn a new way of life. And there are times in my life when I know things will just have to stay the same for a while, and I'll see each day come and each day go, and I'll enjoy the small moments as I wait for the next phase of life to come over the horizon.
I've been in a bit of a holding pattern lately. Just trying to tread water... keep my chin up... live the life I have right now. And there are days that just fly by, and keeping my head above water seemed so easy. And there are days I'm not sure I can make it to dusk. Some days I think "I just need a little something to keep me going... a little glimmer of something new and different to peak my interest in life again."
Enter Ducky.
Ducky is a friend of Ryan's. I've met him a handful of times, mostly in fast food drive thrus. He's always seemed like a nice guy, a little bit "off kilter" like Ryan with that quirky sense of humor.
And now Ducky is our new roommate.
Last Sunday Ducky moved in with us. It's just for a month, but he's the first roommate I've had since college nearly 10 years ago. And he's the only man I've ever lived with who isn't family or my spouse.
I had no idea what to expect. Do I treat him like I would a guest who is staying just a few nights? Do I treat him like a roommate and just let him fend for himself? Will we fight over the TV remote? Will he bring friends over and make lots of noise late into the night? What if he hates dogs?!?
So I put fresh sheets on the spare bed, dug out a spare key to the back door, and made mental notes of things to be sure Ducky knew right away. He arrived late at night so we got him settled pretty quickly and went right to bed.
Then I didn't see him for over two days. He wasn't awake the next morning when I left for work, so I left post-it notes letting him know where the towels and toilet paper were. I left a note on the back door so he knew not to let our border collie run freely outside... I wrote him half a novel on our white board with other bits of information I was sure he couldn't live without.
He works a schedule completely opposite to mine. He leaves a couple hours before I get home from work, and he doesn't get home until I'm in bed. He's still sleeping when I go to work in the morning. He's extremely quiet, doesn't seem to be making any kind of mess at all, and, he likes dogs! He's been the perfect house guest / roommate so far. I just hope we get to talk soon! I keep looking for signs around the house that he's making himself at home. I'd hate for him to feel like he has to walk on egg shells. We're pretty laid back people, and both Ryan and I are really hoping Ducky makes our house his own.
And despite me barely even knowing he's there, he's been that perfect extra something in my life that makes each day new and exciting. "Maybe I'll get to talk to him today" "Oh wow! He watched TV last night, I'm glad he didn't feel like he had to hide in his room" "Aw... no dirty laundry in the hamper yet... he's gotta need clean clothes soon! Maybe I'll leave a note so he knows I'll wash it for him... or is that weird of me? yeah that's weird... but it's ok to be weird right? maybe it's too soon to let him see I'm weird." Every day there's just a tiny something new... every morning I'm excited to wake up and see what he did the night before while we slept (I had clean dishes and an organized kitchen this morning!). Every afternoon I'm excited to get home from work and think of something I can do to make him feel more at home. Every night I go to bed like a worried mother ("I hope his day at work went well. I wonder what time he'll be home. Maybe I should leave a light on.")
As the weather starts to turn cold, and the 'to do' list for the sheep continues to grow, work and bills stack up, and life trudges on...it's nice to have something exciting and new to look forward to each day.
Ducky - my "pick-me-up" sent from Heaven.
That's my life!
I've been in a bit of a holding pattern lately. Just trying to tread water... keep my chin up... live the life I have right now. And there are days that just fly by, and keeping my head above water seemed so easy. And there are days I'm not sure I can make it to dusk. Some days I think "I just need a little something to keep me going... a little glimmer of something new and different to peak my interest in life again."
Enter Ducky.
Ducky is a friend of Ryan's. I've met him a handful of times, mostly in fast food drive thrus. He's always seemed like a nice guy, a little bit "off kilter" like Ryan with that quirky sense of humor.
And now Ducky is our new roommate.
Last Sunday Ducky moved in with us. It's just for a month, but he's the first roommate I've had since college nearly 10 years ago. And he's the only man I've ever lived with who isn't family or my spouse.
I had no idea what to expect. Do I treat him like I would a guest who is staying just a few nights? Do I treat him like a roommate and just let him fend for himself? Will we fight over the TV remote? Will he bring friends over and make lots of noise late into the night? What if he hates dogs?!?
So I put fresh sheets on the spare bed, dug out a spare key to the back door, and made mental notes of things to be sure Ducky knew right away. He arrived late at night so we got him settled pretty quickly and went right to bed.
Then I didn't see him for over two days. He wasn't awake the next morning when I left for work, so I left post-it notes letting him know where the towels and toilet paper were. I left a note on the back door so he knew not to let our border collie run freely outside... I wrote him half a novel on our white board with other bits of information I was sure he couldn't live without.
He works a schedule completely opposite to mine. He leaves a couple hours before I get home from work, and he doesn't get home until I'm in bed. He's still sleeping when I go to work in the morning. He's extremely quiet, doesn't seem to be making any kind of mess at all, and, he likes dogs! He's been the perfect house guest / roommate so far. I just hope we get to talk soon! I keep looking for signs around the house that he's making himself at home. I'd hate for him to feel like he has to walk on egg shells. We're pretty laid back people, and both Ryan and I are really hoping Ducky makes our house his own.
And despite me barely even knowing he's there, he's been that perfect extra something in my life that makes each day new and exciting. "Maybe I'll get to talk to him today" "Oh wow! He watched TV last night, I'm glad he didn't feel like he had to hide in his room" "Aw... no dirty laundry in the hamper yet... he's gotta need clean clothes soon! Maybe I'll leave a note so he knows I'll wash it for him... or is that weird of me? yeah that's weird... but it's ok to be weird right? maybe it's too soon to let him see I'm weird." Every day there's just a tiny something new... every morning I'm excited to wake up and see what he did the night before while we slept (I had clean dishes and an organized kitchen this morning!). Every afternoon I'm excited to get home from work and think of something I can do to make him feel more at home. Every night I go to bed like a worried mother ("I hope his day at work went well. I wonder what time he'll be home. Maybe I should leave a light on.")
As the weather starts to turn cold, and the 'to do' list for the sheep continues to grow, work and bills stack up, and life trudges on...it's nice to have something exciting and new to look forward to each day.
Ducky - my "pick-me-up" sent from Heaven.
That's my life!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Not that I want to talk myself out of a job but.....
Ryan and I have been talking quite a bit lately about how we want the rest of our lives to look. How do we want to live? What do we want to teach our kids? What means the most to us in life? And in the process, we've also done quite a bit of financial forecasting. I have a good job, Ryan has a second job in addition to shepherding, but economic times are tough across the nation, and money isn't exactly falling from the sky for most of us. In this process of planning we've been looking at our student loans. We've crunched the numbers, we've moved loans around (and watched as loan companies move them around among themselves)... and we've come to this conclusion: If we make only minimum payments on our loans, we will have put our own children through college before we pay off our own student loans. In fact: I will have put enough years in at my job to retire before our loans are paid off! Now don't get me wrong, we have every intention of paying off our student loans long before then by making more than just minimum payments. But the fact remains that there are surely other people in this situation, and it begs the question: WHY?!?!?!?
If I correctly understand the teachings of our current society, we should go to college to get a good paying job, so that we can spend 40+ hours a week, 50 weeks a year, 35+ years of our lives paying off the debt we accumulated while going to college to get the degree to get the job to pay off the loans to go to college to get the job to pay off the loans... oh sorry, got caught up in that circle of 'insanely idiotic' there for a minute.
Now let me clarify: college in itself isn't idiotic. Going to college isn't idiotic... for some people. I think college can open a lot of doors for certain people. And I think those individuals who need a college degree to pursue their dreams should go. But let's be honest. According to a study by Northeastern University, 40% of college grads are working a job that doesn't require a degree. And another survey found that 80% of college grads move back in with their parents after college because they don't have the kind of job they were expecting/hoping for. And no one can accurately give a stat on how many graduates aren't working in their field of study, but estimates are: it's low. Why? Because at 18 years old every high school kid is told: go to college. And that's it. They aren't given the opportunity to explore employment opportunities, to find out what kind of jobs there are out there. When I left high school I thought you went to college to be a lawyer, doctor, or teacher. That was it. Pick one. At 18 years old few people know how they want to spend the rest of their lives. So they go to college (because, well gee, that's just what you do!), amass debt, get a degree in something arbitrary, and then they go out and explore employment options. And then, oh wait, they are either working a job that doesn't require a degree, or they find out what it is they want to do, and have to go back to school to get another degree, this time one that actually applies to the field in which they want to work!
The system is broken. And it is breaking the backs of college graduates everywhere. Laden with thousands of dollars in debt, and no "dream job" that makes them six figures a year, they work 30 years of their lives paying off the money owed for a degree that does them little or no good. And because they are so oppressed with their financial burdens, there is no hope of them saving money in their children's college funds. And so, our next generation... my children.... will be faced with the same cyclic problem: go to college, amass debt, work my life away to pay off debt that I accrued while going to college so that I could get a job so that I could pay off my debt. Let's hope we can learn from our experiences, and maybe, just MAYBE, encourage our kids to put college off for a couple years. Explore the world... find out what you want to do with your life. Maybe it requires a college degree. But then again.... if it's sheep you're interested in.... maybe it doesn't.
If I correctly understand the teachings of our current society, we should go to college to get a good paying job, so that we can spend 40+ hours a week, 50 weeks a year, 35+ years of our lives paying off the debt we accumulated while going to college to get the degree to get the job to pay off the loans to go to college to get the job to pay off the loans... oh sorry, got caught up in that circle of 'insanely idiotic' there for a minute.
Now let me clarify: college in itself isn't idiotic. Going to college isn't idiotic... for some people. I think college can open a lot of doors for certain people. And I think those individuals who need a college degree to pursue their dreams should go. But let's be honest. According to a study by Northeastern University, 40% of college grads are working a job that doesn't require a degree. And another survey found that 80% of college grads move back in with their parents after college because they don't have the kind of job they were expecting/hoping for. And no one can accurately give a stat on how many graduates aren't working in their field of study, but estimates are: it's low. Why? Because at 18 years old every high school kid is told: go to college. And that's it. They aren't given the opportunity to explore employment opportunities, to find out what kind of jobs there are out there. When I left high school I thought you went to college to be a lawyer, doctor, or teacher. That was it. Pick one. At 18 years old few people know how they want to spend the rest of their lives. So they go to college (because, well gee, that's just what you do!), amass debt, get a degree in something arbitrary, and then they go out and explore employment options. And then, oh wait, they are either working a job that doesn't require a degree, or they find out what it is they want to do, and have to go back to school to get another degree, this time one that actually applies to the field in which they want to work!
The system is broken. And it is breaking the backs of college graduates everywhere. Laden with thousands of dollars in debt, and no "dream job" that makes them six figures a year, they work 30 years of their lives paying off the money owed for a degree that does them little or no good. And because they are so oppressed with their financial burdens, there is no hope of them saving money in their children's college funds. And so, our next generation... my children.... will be faced with the same cyclic problem: go to college, amass debt, work my life away to pay off debt that I accrued while going to college so that I could get a job so that I could pay off my debt. Let's hope we can learn from our experiences, and maybe, just MAYBE, encourage our kids to put college off for a couple years. Explore the world... find out what you want to do with your life. Maybe it requires a college degree. But then again.... if it's sheep you're interested in.... maybe it doesn't.
Friday, August 26, 2011
What is the perfect relationship, really?
You know, we all want to be loved. And I think, deep down, we all want to know how to love someone in a way that is deeply cherished by that person. So many times we do that by taking them out to fancy dinners, buying them expensive gifts, saying all those things we know we're supposed to say... but then it happens... the food isn't very good at that restaurant or the waiter spills a drink on your date. You lean in for a kiss after dessert and they have food in their teeth. That gift you bought? They have the exact same thing sitting at home already... or they think it's just plain ugly. And you think, well this date went horribly... it must not be love. Or you try to say something romantic, and it sounds like you're quoting a movie... oh wait, you probably are! Let's hope they didn't notice. And all the while they're wondering... why are they saying those things? Do they really love me or are they just saying that to get what they want???
We all want something more genuine than that. Not everyone will admit it. And many are probably happy enough with fancy dinners and expensive gifts, at least for now. But I honestly believe that everyone wants a real, deep connection and love. And I'll tell you how you know you have it:
When, after a nice (but not over the top) dinner out to celebrate your wedding anniversary (or any other special occasion), you can finish off the night by going to Home Depot and buying a porch light - And be just as happy doing that as you would be sharing dessert at a four star restaurant!
Let's be honest here - you can find yourself "in love" with just about anyone who takes you out to nice dinners and buys you expensive gifts. But you know you're really with someone who's right for you when you are just as happy going to Trivia Night at the local Bar & Grille, picking out light fixtures at a home improvement store, or trying to chase your cat back indoors.
It's when you're happy doing the simple every day things. And not just happy doing that stuff most of the time... but happy doing it anytime, even on your anniversary.
Congrats Gretchen and Justin, on finding that extraordinary love, that to many seems so simple and mundane, but we know is the most extravagant love two people can share. Happy Anniversary!
That's my life!
We all want something more genuine than that. Not everyone will admit it. And many are probably happy enough with fancy dinners and expensive gifts, at least for now. But I honestly believe that everyone wants a real, deep connection and love. And I'll tell you how you know you have it:
When, after a nice (but not over the top) dinner out to celebrate your wedding anniversary (or any other special occasion), you can finish off the night by going to Home Depot and buying a porch light - And be just as happy doing that as you would be sharing dessert at a four star restaurant!
Let's be honest here - you can find yourself "in love" with just about anyone who takes you out to nice dinners and buys you expensive gifts. But you know you're really with someone who's right for you when you are just as happy going to Trivia Night at the local Bar & Grille, picking out light fixtures at a home improvement store, or trying to chase your cat back indoors.
It's when you're happy doing the simple every day things. And not just happy doing that stuff most of the time... but happy doing it anytime, even on your anniversary.
Congrats Gretchen and Justin, on finding that extraordinary love, that to many seems so simple and mundane, but we know is the most extravagant love two people can share. Happy Anniversary!
That's my life!
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