My baby is officially five today. Look at her! I can’t believe I had a hand in creating such a beautiful, confident, smart, kickass creature! I knew this girl would be tough, even in utero she tortured me with her kicking morning, noon, and night. I told her this yesterday and she said, “That’s why I’m good at kung foo,” and immediately demonstrated her kicking prowess (when she should have been eating her dinner). That’s my Katie – thrilling me and vexing me all at the same time.
You know I'm serious about purging when I get rid of my Ayn Rand and my Photoshop books.
I held the mother of all yard sales this past weekend. It was a fundraiser for a church mission trip I am going on in a few weeks. Because of that many church members gave their castoffs to be sold. We had men’s clothes from size small through 6X. I think over a hundred pairs of shoes, tons of housewares, a whole lifetime’s worth of clown collectibles and many things I couldn’t even identify. The sheer mass of the stuff was overwhelming and my yard sale cohorts and I quickly reduced the price of almost everything to a quarter. We made just over $300 – selling most things for a quarter!! The mind reels at how much stuff we had and sold. That $300 was hard-earned but worth the effort as the money is going to a great cause.
As things wound down we discussed what to do with the leftovers. Keep for another sale? Give to Goodwill? Maybe some to the Re-Store? Maybe some other worthy charities? In the end we decided to give all of the clothes to Goodwill and everything else we put out on the curb with a big FREE sign. We posted on Craigslist about the yard sale leftovers and left. My husband and I stopped by in the afternoon to see what was left – and the answer was a small boxful of items and a large mirror. We dropped those things off to Goodwill and were done. I hope all of the stuff that went out into the world through us goes to places it can do the most good.
Cue Sunday and Monday and I’ve already filled two more bins of stuff plus a box of books. It seems the more I purge the more I realize I don’t need. I gave the books to a friend who will give them to her preschool’s book sale fundraiser. But those two bins – are they the start of another yard sale pile? Some of the stuff is worth a few dollars, some a few pennies. Some of the books I gave away could have made a few dollars on Amazon. But is the time and effort worth the return?
My new answer is no. My new mantra is “Give it away, give it away, give it away now!” I’m just going to release this stuff to the world and move forward – lighter and happier.
Goofballs
My friend, Stacy, is conducting a family experiment this month – going as car-free as possible for the month of August.
They are walking/biking/bussing/carpooling everywhere including school (for three of their kids), work (for her husband), errands (groceries, appointments, hardware store runs) and entertainment (playdates, festivals). We live in a very car-oriented area – public transportation is spotty, sidewalks can be non-existent in places, and cars rule the road. But, it also has several walkable neighborhoods and a good downtown core. Reading about her family’s victories and setbacks has me thinking more about our own transportation situation.
I’ve never had a driver’s license. Most of my adult life I’ve lived carless or car-lite. It started as a random circumstance (I took Driver’s Ed in high school but never felt confident enough to take the test), then became a conscious decision during my 9-year stint in Seattle – one of the most walkable cities in the country. Having a car there seemed like more of a hindrance than a help. My stays in Dallas, New Orleans, and Dayton I lived car-lite as my then-husband and I owned a car. I still walked or bussed to work in those places, but we used the car for grocery-shopping, errands, and entertainment.
When Chris and I met and started our life together he brought a car into the relationship and I brought a lot of shoes. We lived in Albuquerque for six years and again I walked, bussed, and carpooled to work. I also walked for most of my retail shopping and entertainment. Cue our move to Huntington, I walk to my little job and with the kids to our various activities.
Here’s what I’ve been thinking about as I’ve followed Stacy’s car-lite experiment. I mostly live as a car person. The things that I HAVE to do carless I do – those things that occur during the times that Chris is at work or out of town on business. We do arrange our errands so that he will do many of them on his way in from work, which cuts down on running out as a family (and saves on gas) to do simple things like picking up dry-cleaning or toothpaste. But, during the time that he is not working, we always use the car – even if it’s just going four blocks to the park. Lame! This is something we need to work on.
Currently I walk the kids to school in the mornings. This is something I choose do to as we do have school bus service that is half a block from our house. Last year the kids were at two different schools with two different bus stops about an hour apart – walking was not an option. This year they are both at Southside Elementary. They ride the bus home in the afternoon. Again, this is a choice – and my daily trip is 2 miles roundtrip. I also walk twice a day Monday-Thursday to my dog-nanny job – 1.4 miles roundtrip. And on Tuesdays I walk to pickup my CSA bag – 1.4 miles roundtrip as well. Throw in a few trips to my local produce stand, the corner store, church stuff during the day, medical appointments for me and the kids, downtown for library runs and I look like a walking machine. But again, I don’t walk as soon as Chris gets home. Groceries, Sunday-going-to-church, socializing stuff – it’s all done using the car.
What can I/we do to incorporate more car-lite ways into our life?
Ideas:
Groceries – this is huge – grocery shopping with the whole family can be a drag and definitely cuts into our family time – there is a Kroger close to the kids’ school – I can drop them off and then head over there. I’ll need to obtain a little rolling basket thingie first, as a 1+ mile trek home carrying groceries does not sound fun.
Online buying – some of our food and non-food grocery items can be bought online in bulk – less packaging, less heavy stuff to carry home
Church – we can walk to and from church as a family
The park – we like to go to the park in the evenings after dinner – we usually drive over – but can walk the four blocks easily.
Ok, those sound like a good start – and now I’m going to bed. Catch y’all later.
The juice fast is over! I lost 8 lbs. and felt really good the whole time. Considering I just ramped up my activities and walking this is a really good indicator of how healthful the fast was. Chris and I have decided to “stay on the juice” for breakfast and lunch for a while. We’ll see if the weight loss continues or levels off.
It was really great to be cooking again. I used a wild rice blend that’s been sitting in the pantry for a while and the children looooooooved. Fabulous, more whole grains they’re into! Corn from our CSA. And the stew-y looking stuff is my version of quick ratatouille – I just threw in some veggies I had in the crisper, the tail-end of some homemade tomato sauce, and a can of navy beans, add some italian season and bam – dinner is done.
You’ve probably heard of “energy vampires.” Things like your cell phone charger, some appliances that have clocks in them (microwave!), cordless gadgets like dustbusters. I’ve been very vigilant about making sure our cell phone charger is only plugged in when we’re using it and I turn off and unplug my power strip that handles all of my computer and computer-related cords. Yesterday I went around and found a few other energy vampires – a cordless vacuum, a cordless screwdriver, the power supply for my netbook. I unplugged them all and will use said items until they run out of juice and then plug them in to recharge them. Katie has a computer, but rarely uses it so that power strip has been unplugged for a while. If she wants to use her computer we’ll plug it back in for her. William’s computer happens to be the computer that is connected to our modem and Wifi router. I would like to turn his power strip off at night, but he goes to bed much earlier than I do so I’m a little stumped on that one.
A HUGE energy vampire and also the largest time vampire in our house is our TV/satellite box/DVR. I’ve read that these babies, due to the fact that they are always on, can actually use more electricity than an energy efficient refrigerator. Crazy! You can turn them off, but the satellite company sometimes sends “updates” in the middle of the night, the DVR records some stuff in the middle of the night, and it can take a while for it to power up completely (because it searches for updates).
Last night I turned off the power strip to all of our TV-related things (TV, Wii, satellite box/DVR, and DVD player). This morning I turned it back on and timed it to see how long it took to power up. And the answer is 10 minutes. Not bad! I think we can handle this. I also deleted a lot of the series I record out of habit. Seriously, I don’t need to watch every Cold Case there’s every been. A lot of the shows I record I use as “background” while I’m running around the house cleaning/reading/computering. I’ve been consciously choosing to not turn on the TV or play music just to enjoy a little silence and I think it’s made me more productive and less scattered.
So the TV-stuff power strip will officially be turned off every evening and not turned on until we want to actually watch something, not just have some background noise.
Saving money, saving electricity, and saving my sanity – cool.
When I was doing my “big purge” a few weeks ago I went through my jewelry. I loooove jewelry, I even make it on occasion. But have found that I don’t wear much these days. One reason I don’t wear much is that I have so much in such disarray that it’s hard to find what I’m looking for and also it’s a pain to untangle it from the mess on top of my dresser. A jewelry purge was in order!!
I found the earrings I wore to a Sweetheart’s dance in high school (my 20-year high school reunion just happened to give you an idea how old these earrings are), two engagement rings (one from a marriage that never came to fruition), two wedding rings, and all sorts of random stuff that I can’t even remember accruing. Some nicer jewelry that I have not and will not ever wear as they are just not my style, but I haven’t gotten rid of them before because I received them as gifts. Blech!!! Such a lame reason to hold on to things, they mock me every time I see them!
I made a huge pile to go into the yard sale, and a smaller pile of actual gold jewelry to go to the pawn shop.
Bam! Instant cash, and a whole lot of emotional baggage gone!! To borrow a phrase from my pastor, “I love everything about that!”
Since the purge I’ve found myself reaching for jewelry more often. Today for instance I’m wearing earrings and a necklace – and received compliments on both. The earrings are cool, but the necklace is one of my favorite things – made my a friend of mine in New Mexico. It is my “window to the universe.”
What things are you holding onto that are adding emotional noise to your life? 
136!!!! Only two pounds away from my goal for this juice fast. And we even fell off the wagon this weekend.The original end day was tomorrow, but now we’re going through Friday because of our weekend binge (it really wasn’t much of binge – but it definitely wasn’t juice).
This morning I made Chris the broccoli juice I had last night and made myself a veggie-only juice.
1 beet
1 cucumber, peeled
1 bell pepper
small knob of ginger
Even though it has no fruit it’s still rather sweet and the ginger jazzes it up.
Hello broccoli juice!!
This is dinner. And it’s surprisingly good.
2 trees of broccoli
3 stalks of celery
1 pear
1/2 lemon
I’m trying to increase the amount and variety of veggies while lessening my dependence on berries to keep things yummy.
So our juice fast was broken on Friday. Life on the weekends is just too crazy for us – and we discovered a leak under our sink (behind the wall). Friday night was an art exhibit opening and a birthday party. Saturday was helping a friend move and a housewarming party. And Sunday was church and a cookout. We weren’t home much, and when we were we tried to avoid the kitchen. Cleaning juicer parts (and all of the rest of our dishes in the bathroom really sucks!
We are back in the saddle again with the juicing today. I think I’ve got the cleaning-dishes-in-the-bathroom thing down. And life is back on a normal schedule with school and work.
This morning I am having a carrot and cantaloupe juice. 4 carrots and then enough cantaloupe to fill up by glass. Easy peasy. And I cleaned the juicer before sitting down to my drink so I have nothing to dread when I get up from the computer.
Last Monday I weighed 144 pounds. Today I weigh 138. No bad.
Viva el jugo!!
My friend Stacy over at A Simple Six just posted a list of things her family doesn’t buy anymore. We have a lot of overlap on things, and she has some things on her list that I aspire to going without so I’ve decided to create my own “living without” list.
Things We Don’t Buy Anymore:
Napkins – we use what we collect from fast food or use the old cut-up clothes I use for cleaning
Paper Towels – those same cut-up clothes from above
Fabric Softener – I quit using it and no one noticed for a while so I think we’re good to go
“Kleenex” – haven’t bought in years, since William was just a baby, we use toilet paper although I’ve been thinking about hankies recently
Cleaning stuff – we use an eco-friendly concentrate that we mix with water and use on everything from countertops to windows to toilets – once we use that up I’m planning on going the vinegar/baking soda route.
Plastic wrap – I use storage containers for anything I put in the fridge, for things we microwave that need to be covered I just put a plate on top of the container
Conditioner – this one happened by accident and our hair hasn’t suffered for it
Cereal – this one is on purpose – I had a meltdown in the cereal aisle recently – too many choices, most of them bad, and mostly overpriced. The kids now have yogurt and fruit in the morning and I made granola for crunchiness – voila! We always have fruit and yogurt in the house so no big deal, and it’s cut our milk consumption drastically. I have leftovers or a green smoothie.
Single-serving anything – yogurt, juice, pudding, fruit cups, snack packs – you won’t see any of those things in our house
Land-line phone – I have a dumb cell phone (see below), Chris has a work cell and I communicate mostly through email/Facebook anyway.
Things We Don’t Buy/Do Often:
Meat – the only meat I buy is for school lunches
Dairy – William still loves his glass of milk with dinner and we have cheese for lunches also
Processed Food – we have no box mixes in our house, we do still have some canned beans but I’m weeding those out as I cook dry beans and freeze leftovers for soups, stews, and chilis
Aluminum foil – for things that need covered in the oven all of my casserole dishes have lids and for lunches I use reusable containers
Stamps - on-line bill-paying is the bomb
Breads – I try to get our grains in through whole grains instead of through baked goods – we eat quinoa, rice, bulgur, barley, etc. but forgo rolls or breads most of the time, and we hardly ever eat sandwiches – leftovers are our go-to lunch
Makeup/hair spray and gel/nail polish – love me, love my un-made up face, I do paint my nail sometimes
Movies – we have Netflix, we rarely go to the movies, and we don’t ever buy DVDs – we actually just purged some we’ve had for years and never watched.
Video Games - we have a Wii my parents bought us a few years ago, we only have the games it came with. We do use it for Netflix streaming.
Clothes – See my previous clothes post about my clothing issues. For the kids consignment sales and yard sale rule. I’m willing to buy clothes that are currently too big if it’s a good enough deal. We have a large bin of “too big” clothes and it’s the first place I go when before shopping for them for a upcoming season. Our biggest clothing issue these days is trying to keep Nana from buying the children too many clothes – I think we’ve gotten the message across because recently she only bought them items we told her they needed – new shoes and 3 pairs each of jeans. Otherwise, we were already good on fall/winter clothing. The kids enjoy purging – yay! Chris makes his own clothing decisions and I go with it – his wardrobe needs to be “professional” for work but he’s Mr. Casual outside of work. Our old clothes go into consignment or a yard sale, or given to friends, or donated to Goodwill.
Cell Phones – Chris has one through work, I have a “dumb phone” that is part of my in-law’s family plan – they pay for it.
Eat out – we do hit the fast food places still – usually on the weekends as we run around. “Nice” restaurants are a rarity in our lives. During the week we eat at home around the table – no TV.
Things I’m working towards reducing/quiting:
Shampoo – going to try the baking soda thing with vinegar as a rinse – I’ll let you know how it goes.
Laundry detergent – I need to start making my own
Cable – I refuse to pay DirecTV $200 to cancel my service, but once our current contract runs out in June we’re going to get a Roku and obtain our media thorugh Netflix, Amazon Prime ($79/year), and Hulu Plus ($7.99/month). Currently DirecTV and Netflix – $960 (D) + $240 (N) = $1200/year – Netflix/Hulu/Amazon on Roku = $240(N) + $96 (H) + $80 (A) + $100 (Roku, one time purchase) = $516. Hmmmm, maybe I do want to pay that $200.
The minivan – we recently bought a older Corolla which runs great and gets great gas mileage. We are currently trying to sell our minivan - anyone need a minivan??
The dryer – planning on buying a dryer rack (or two) and a retractable clothesline for the backyard.
The grocery store – we buy as much as we can from farmer’s markets and produce stands, we are part of a CSA, we garden, we get stuff from my in-law’s garden, we freeze a lot, my MIL will be teaching me canning in a couple of weeks, I’m working on buying more staples in bulk. I’ve created a wish list on Amazon with bulk items (choosing based on price and if I can use the Amazon Super Saver Free Shipping on them) and will be comparing prices at the grocery store. Another option is driving to Lexington every three or four months and buying in bulk at a food co-op there. This may not sound cost-effective but we love roadtrips and hardly ever take any these days – we could fit in a daytrip + grocery shopping and I would get to spend my money at a place I really want to support instead of a “big box” grocery store. I’ve been making a list of things I could buy in bulk there. I could also buy smaller portion than the Amazon bulk – 25 lbs of rice may not be a good thing, unless I can split it with friends – hey, friends, want to go in together on some food??
Things We Do Just Because:
Don’t drink coffee – neither of us drink it
Use reusable grocery bags – We’ve had the same sets of bags (one plain jane and one fancy) for over five years and I always carry at least one with me while I’m out and about in the world and we keep a boatload in the car for groceries.
Cut my own hair – I haven’t had my hair cut in a salon since I was 12
No spa days/manicures/pedicures – just not into it
Own only one TV - It lives in the living room.
Garden – There’s nothing more local than your backyard.
Don’t use candles – I used to be a candle freak until I had kids, now I’m a safety freak.
Walk – I’ve never had a driver’s license – I’ve mostly lived in large cities with good transit systems, I’ve always chosen where I live based on walkability and ease of access to public transportation. I currently walk the kids to school, to buy produce at a local stand, to my dog nanny job, to the library, to my weekly run to the printshop (I do the bulletins for my church), to church, to the park, to downtown for activities/outings, and we have a small grocery around the corner from us. This is why we chose this house – and why we only searched for our house in a very small geographic area.
We don’t use babysitters Chris and I do go out in the summer when the kids stay with the grandparents, we also used to go out on Mondays and Tuesdays during the day while the kids were at school as those were Chris’ days off – he has a new job and new schedule so that won’t be happening anymore. If we go somewhere the kids go there, too. We’re cool with it and I think the kids are better for it and have grown up going to art galleries, museums, festivals, restaurants, and parties where they’ve had lots of fun, had great experiences, and learned to be polite and interact well with adults – all good things. If we get an invitation to an adults-only thing only one of us will go (usually me as I’m the party girl). We do have friends who have helped if there is something that we need to go to without the kids (I had a meeting in Charleston recently and Chris was out of town and a friend babysat so I could go). Yay for good friends!
Other Things We Do:
Give our time and money to our church
I volunteer at a food pantry
Recycle and compost
I host a discussion group called “Eat Your Veggies” that meets once a month to talk about all things veggie – we share recipes, talk about places to get local produce, gardening, eating healthier, etc.
Share Food – with our neighbors, with people at church – I recently started a program at church called Home Harvest – anyone can bring in excess produce and leave it on a designated table and anyone else can pick it up – it’s a great way to share and a great way for people who don’t or can’t garden to get some fresh produce. I also love sharing food and have been known to knock on my neighbor’s door at 6pm and say – “I’ve made too much soup, come on over!” I also like to entertain.
Buy Art – Our home is not filled with knick-knacks but it is full of original art. Art is essential for me.
Help out our friends and neighbors – You’re moving? When and where and we’ll be there! Need a ride to church? We’ll pick you up. Going on vacation? I’ll water your plants, feed your cat, pick up your mail. It takes a village to make your way in this life and I try to be a good villager.
Now what does this last category have to do with the others?
It’s because we’re not about denial and asceticism. We’re about using our (financial) resources to the best of our ability. We’re about treating our bodies and minds as the amazing gifts that they are. We’re about using our time to its fullest potential and squeezing out as much time with our family, our friends, and our community as possible. We’re about treating our planet with respect. We’re about caring for the people around us. We’re about teaching our children our values and “walking the walk” instead of just “talking the talk.”
Living with less is how we get more out of life.
