Too much STUFF....

As Christmas draws nearer, I am reminded just how much STUFF everybody has in this country. All right, maybe not everybody, but definitely the majority of the population. The crazy amounts of things may be plastic instead of wooden, but the bottom line is that all the social-economic levels except extreme poverty have items with too many additions to it (in the USA).

For example, in the children's world we have Toys R Us providing the flamingo pink plastic dollhouse with basic machine stamped accoutrements, Pottery Barn Kids providing the basic wooden dollhouse with cute little wooden accoutrements, on up to the Smithsonian's collection of at least 10 very small metal handpainted accoutrements per room. Even the dolls have a huge amount of "support gear." I'm not kidding when I say that I had less stuff for Elle than most doll sets.

As I looked through catalogues of options for Elle, I loved the ones that had a nice concept with a few pieces to it...versus the insane Fisher Price catalogue that gave me a bigger headache every time I turned the page. I honestly think that I would have avoided playing with most of the toys as a kid just to avoid having to pick it all up afterwards.

I think there is an important psychological point here. When we have this much STUFF, do we appreciate it?

This past summer I went through and easily got rid of 50% of our possessions. Now instead of walking through each room with blinders on, I tend to look around and even stop to look at something that means a lot to me.

I think people are making a mistake in having our kids go down the same materialistic track where they have so many things that appreciation for what they own diminishes.

No phone for a week?

Is it possible? In this world of taking mobiles to the toilet with you (please note that I do not feel quite that attached to my phone), our mobiles seem to be our lifeblood. I remember when my iPhone had a spider web cracked face; I shipped it to Iowa to iresq.com and discovered that 3 days without a phone was a little bit of heaven. Now the glue is not working right and they have to fix it, so I get a whole week of mobile communication freedom.

It's really hard to not be twitchy for constant checking of email and other apps when it's with you, but when it's simply not available, there's zero concern because I'm unable to do a single thing about it. I'm not saying they aren't helpful and necessary, but breaks from them are just as important as holidays away from the home.

Working from home...pleasure and discipline

Working from home has been the best choice for me since I tend to like my fingers in a myriad of issues, topics, and efforts. Also, the office environment drives me absolutely beserk. I know some offices are more professional than others, but I never cease to be amazed with the need for walking about talking to other people who are trying to work, the endless gossiping conversations, and the general lack of productivity. In my opinion, you have to have more discipline in an office environment (especially cubeland) than at home.

However, there are other issues faced with working from home, and I wanted to share the blog below that really helped define methods for top notch productivity in the home environment. Honestly, if you work in an office, but still do a lot of different activities at home, there are still some excellent tips in this post. Granted, not everything listed is for everybody, but there's enough here to pull something away for the positive.

A List Apart: Articles: Working From Home: The Readers Respond

(Also note the four most recently shared blog posts in my Shared List on the left for more interesting tidbits found in blogging land.)

My new ethnicity...

I was very much complimented last night when I was standing with a group of my teenagers at Tae Kwon Do and they were complaining about some annoying white people. For reference, you should know that 90% of my school are Black kids. It may sound rude to not say African American, but they always seem annoyed when somebody refers to them as that instead of Black. They'll make a sing-song voice and repeat African American as they roll their shoulders and eyes. So, I just say Black.

Anyway, I piped up when I heard their minor mockery of "some white dude" with a reminder that I was white - and that hopefully their opinion of me was not in the same sarcastic vein. They turned to me with a slightly surprised look in their eyes and said, "oh no, you're half-Black." I asked how that could possibly be as I held out my very pale arms. Observing this, they reconsidered. "OK, you're all Black with white skin. Kinda like an albino Black."

Coming from them, that was an eye watering compliment that I very much took to heart. After working with them for several years, they knew that I wasn't just some instructor that was coming in to teach and go home. I was there for them and their future.

A baby-free week each month

The concept might sound cold, but I'm betting that the larger percentage of the parenting population would drop their jaws with the excitment of having a baby-free week every month. I love my baby unbelievably, but it's important to have personal space. Maybe I require more than the usual, or maybe I'm just spoiled, or maybe I don't require it and it's just an awesome gift of fortune to have parents fully supporting that.

While it's true that once you have a child, they never completely leave your mind. However, the insistent thoughts of "where is she", "when did she eat or drink last?", is she lonely", should I take a break now or later to play with her", etc. aren't so vivid because, well, she's 200 miles away and those questions become moot.

Also, there is the recognition of not needing to acquire a babysitter for even quick things like getting hair styled, nails done, massages, out for drink, etc.

Both of us being an only child has it's downsides on occasion also. She wants to watch a DVD, but so do I. I want to play the piano, but so does she. She wants to read, but I'd rather read something above a popup book (even there are some really cool popup books out there!). I want to settle into the couch for nice little lunch of tea, wine, and risotto with the Smithsonian, but she wants to eat at the same time on my lap. There are some time jealousy issues of when I need to work that make it difficult occasionally too, although she's getting much better at that now that she has concepts of time.

Don't get me wrong, this is all great stuff, and the fact that she enjoys what I enjoy and that we do so much together is really cool. I'm just excited to not have to take turns for a few days :)

Heartbreak

There's always something sad about losing pet(s), but there are two species that affect me so terribly when they pass. Rabbits and birds. After my bout with Mazi and Peter, I knew I couldn't handle having a rabbit for awhile, so I switched to three gorgeous and lively spice finches. Somehow birds lift my spirit and encourage my soul with their song and twitter. I think my soul cracked when I found two out of the three spice finches dead in their nest. The third just looked at me as if to say, "see, you should have been paying better attention, and now look what happened."

Granted, the crack is healable, but it will take time. It's worse knowing that I simply got distracted this past week and they didn't get the exercise or water that they needed. People often compliment my discipline and achievements, but my perception is that I am possibly the most undisciplined person on the planet, causing unnecessary pain to sweet little birds who do nothing but make life happier.

I have the audacity to lecture others that our careers are always dispensible, especially specific jobs, but then I let a couple of unexpected emergencies kill off the song that always makes me smile.

Bearing an Hourglass by Piers Anthony

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars





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Layout Upgrade

I've been distantly aware that my blog layout is somewhat from the Dark Ages with it's austere black background with no design. I prefer simplicity over bling-y colour constrasts that make you wonder where to start reading first, but mine was depressing and needed some subtle facelifting. This background template was perfect for my goal, and I eagerly made the changes as I kept reading "your widgets won't be lost" and "your old template will be saved".

Uh huh.

I just spent the last hour putting back my widgets and adding code to the template. I would like to note that my old template was not saved and I got the enjoyment of going back to Goodreads, Google Reader, Amazon, and zcounter to retrieve all the appropriate code I needed.

While I'm excited about my new layout, I'll always think "but you didn't save the old template!"

Let this serve as a reminder to never depend on technology and to manually copy/paste anything thought to be necessary regardless of promises for easy retrieval.