Holidays in the home of a Minimalist

We only have two bins in which to store our holiday decorations. It's not for lack of space, or lack of money. Quite honestly  its because we had to put a cap on it. Seeing our parents' and grandparents' holiday items shoved into box after box, stored in the attic 11 months of the year, really gave us pause when we packed our holiday items last year. We sorted the items and chose our favorites (anything with the Abominable Snowman stayed). We went to Target and purchased two standards size rubbermaid bins especially for this purpose. What fit, made the cut.
A few days ago, at my request, my husband pulled the boxes down from the garage. He left to get a few things done and I opened the boxes. I started digging around in them. I found a few strands of white lights, some picture frames with photos, a few random decorations and a small faux tree. Yes, the tree fits in one of the boxes. All that I found was great, however I realized a small problem. We have no where to put anything. We have a decent sized home, but very few furnishings other than the main things a home needs (sofa, ottomon, dining table, etc. No end tables, coffee table, etc. So there are no flat surfaces free for extra decorations. Hmm, so I'm debating if I should borrow a table or just forget it altogether? Being a minimalist is difficult sometimes, but so rewarding.

I'm not sweet, I'm sour!

As the holiday season approaches, my husband and I find ourselves out a little more often. Trying to squeeze in some last day trips before the weather turns gross, seeing new movies on discount Tuesdays, heading to the mall for new winter clothes and with all that comes customer service. I really do hate that term, but thats an entirely different blog entry right there.  Usually I'm mistaken for younger than I appear (yay), sometimes closer to the correct age (usually when I'm with the hubs). Either way, I too can guess ages. I can tell if you are my age or younger, and it makes me bat shit crazy when I am called "Sweetie" by someone my age or younger. If you are a sweet grandmother, then it is perfectly acceptable. Just don't do it. By calling my sweetie, it feels like you are belittling me or about to follow it with "bless yer heart". Ugh. It's gross and awful. Same goes for Sugar, Honey or Doll. Miss works, Ma'am does too, although I like it less. Thanks. Have a great holiday!

Friends say the darnest things

I have some really great friends. I really do. On facebook, I have a lot of friends from childhood, school and even ex coworkers. I love hearing about their lives, the good, the bad and even the 'tmi's'. What I don't like is reading things that are just plain unnecessary. The comment that I found particulary irritating was this 'My wife delivered our second baby today and again without drugs.' Ok, while I see the point, I also found myself upset. I'm a female and I do not have children. With that said, I really do feel that women have choices when it comes to the delivery of their baby. It is their body after all. I feel like a woman that gives birth (drugs, no drugs, c-section, etc) is still a major accomplishment! I just don't see that her not taking the drugs is a) any of my business and b) anything to be proud of. So let me get this straight, you suffered hours of horrible and excruciating pain and you didn't have to? It's almost assinine. Ok, I have heard but not researched the concept of mothers that take the delivery drugs-- their babies are essentially born on the drugs too. So there's that. What freaks me out is the epidural itself. The needle goes into the spinal fluid. If its wrong, you could be paralyzed. Big risk. And yes I've heard it is rare, but a risk is a risk. Heck, having a baby is a risk, you could die from childbirth. Anyway, I just didn't feel it was necessary to add that tidbit about the drugs. And I still wish them all the best. Drugs or no drugs, she pushed out a healthy child. Awesome.

Enjoying the quiet

Being home unemployed these last few months has given me time to reflect on what I want in life. As much as I embrace the minimalism culture, I also view it as a very extreme way of life. I prefer to embrace the ideas of simplicity leading to a more fulfilling life. Stuff does not equal happiness, it actually just gets in the way. Its a lot easier to clean up with less crap. Our livingroom is very basic. Two dvd shelves, the tv unit and large tv, modern sofa and matching ottomon. We have even lowered our once almost 500+ dvd collection to under 150. We have embraced the minimalism idea of only keeping our favorite movies. It has been challenging but when it was done, we felt great. Those types of things have helped add order and structure to our home.
We still have more to do here, but its not much. We still hope to sell our home and live in a smaller home, having less stuff will make the transition easier. Well, since I've got less to clean, I've got more nap time!!!

No sympathy here

Thanks to social media outlets, namely Facebook, it is easier than ever to plead for ungarnered sympathy. If sympathy were a consumable good, I'd be a grinch. I just do not give my sympathy away freely. It's not that I can't feel for others, I can. It's just that I'm a 'shit or get off the pot' kinda gal. Beautiful image, I know. Stuff happens to all of us, but when all it does is rain in your life YOU are the problem.
I've "lost" (if unfriending on Facebook is equivalent to giving back your BFF's "Be Fri" half of the heart shaped necklace you once shared) friends and have somehow severed ties with related connections thanks to sympathy.
I had a friend named Kara who was always playing the sympathy card. Everything 'just' happened to her. She once pointed out to me a wrinkle on her forehead, we were about 23, she said, look isn't it awful??? I replied, well its ok, you can get it filled. She went berserk, didn't talk to me for weeks. She couldn't believe I would say such a thing! Did I mention that her very fair skinned self tanned... A lot. She was managing tanning stores, tell me it wasn't self-inflicted, really, I dare you. Fast forward a few years and shes riddled in credit debt, in a car she can't afford and a new baby with a guy that doesn't care about her but lets her stay at his house because he feels bad. Uhhh???
So here was the straw that broke the camels back... Kara posts on facebook that she just got pulled over for talking on her cell phone and how its going to be a very expensive ticket. She gets a lot of 'oh you poor thing' comments. Me, being so practical, point out that that could have been a lot of diapers for her baby.  It didn't seem rude to me. What I was trying to say was that she deserved it. She made the conscious decision to talk on the phone while driving. No it wasn't an emergency. And yes, her child was in tbe car. So no sympathy from me. She PM'd me, furious. Well, yeah, I made her look stupid. She tells me off and that she wants to unfriend me, Im like ok, good luck with that, I already unfriended YOU. I was tired of her whining.
The moral here, is don't feel bad for everyone. And don't be play the victim.

So what is next?

Still recovering from a RSI, I find I'm only spending about 2-3 hours a week using the computer. This does not include using my phone however, which is probably closer to ten hours a week. I spend my time at home, as while I was home recovering, my employer decided that my position could fulfilled by other members of the team. While I'm glad they finally terminated me, I sit here anxiously unsure of my next move. In six days, our mortgage is due. My husband is trying to be upbeat, but I can tell he's gaining in irritability. It's my fault he can't take a day off to rest. Poor guy has just about been working everyday of our marriage (fours years now) with no job that he loves, much less likes, at a much lower pay rate than his intelligence is worth. The job market here is so so. Most listings are for solar sales or service jobs like waiting tables. Its just about impossible to "get in" to a state job (CA). I have bounced around from job to job, trying to stay somewhere for a while but either the pay is awful or I end up bored beyond belief, and when I say bored, I literally mean that I just sit there. I sit at a desk and count away the hours. Dream about places I will never get to go, and things I will never get to do. We have ideas to get ourselves out of the grind, but actually doing them is a whole different story. Nap time.

Lately things are... OK

Was finally terminated from my job, but as these things go for me, it wasn't without getting an RSI (repetitive strain injury) from Carpal Tunnel, in not one, but both wrists. What I didn't know was how it also affects the fingertips, fingers, palms, wrists, forearms and even elbows. Was taken off computers by my doc for three weeks and subsequently terminated by my employer as they decided they no longer needed my position any longer. Well I'm fine with that except I now need a job and I'm not looking to do computer work full time. Still in some pain but overall happier. Taking it easy and laying low with one of my dogs by my side. He's not concerned, he just wants to be pet. I am happy its just him. Haven't seen the  little black dog in a while and I'd like to keep it that way as long as possible.