Archive for December, 2006

December 28th, 2006 - ‘Tis a gift to be simple

Another reason I’m glad we had a simple holiday planned: Four days in the last week, we’ve had workers in the house (and they’ll probably be there tomorrow, too). It started last Thursday when the downstairs windows were replaced. Friday, the upstairs ones were done. This week, they are tackling the upstairs painting (all the wood trim and doors must be painted).

We ended up not getting a tree, and I hung lights and things around the living room. We all loved it and may indeed do the same thing next year! Since we bought LED lights, we’ve left them on 24 hours a day all week. It doesn’t hurt that it’s been really grey and cloudy the entire time, so the extra light has been nice. We’ve not turned on the regular lamps as much, either.

I can’t imagine most people willingly replacing all their windows 4 days before Christmas nor having half their house unavailable the four days after Christmas (except for sleeping). For us, just a minor inconvenience, even the day at the hotel wasn’t too much hassle! (The day of the downstairs windows, Eric, Maggie, the cats, and the dogs had to be gone.)

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December 26th, 2006 - NPR Amy Dacyczyn interview

A couple months ago, Money Dummy shared a link to and old Amy Dacyczyn interview. It’s from New Year’s Day 1996 I think–just after her last issue of the newsletter was published. She had a book tour coming up and then RETIREMENT! It’s neat after all these years of reading (over and over again) her books to hear her voice. enjoy! (If I recall correctly, the episode is an hour long, but she’s only about half of it. Or it’s two hours. Either way, she’s the first half.)

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December 22nd, 2006 - The Truth About Where Your Donated Clothes End Up

Ever wondered what happens when you donate clothes to charity? ABC News: The Truth About Where Your Donated Clothes End Up explains the process. It was no surprise to me, but might be to you: Only about 10% is resold. Of the rest, about 25% is recycled within the US (into such things as cleaning cloths). The remainder goes primarily to Africa, where it is resold in markets.

The sad part about the latter is that the heavy influx of cheap used clothing from the US has decimated the local African textile economy. Decimated.

I didn’t know this before I joined in on Kiva and I just checked–none of those to whom I’ve loaned money resell clothing bales. But I do recall reading about folks who do. I would find it awkward to support such a business.

I used to throw unsellable clothing in the garbage. I recently learned that our regional Goodwill has their own recycling industry, so I’ve been donating them. Sounds like most charities can sell off the old clothes so others may be able to do this as well. but check first–I also heard of a small local charity that was considering droppnig incoming donations because they didn’t have the time to sort through the clothing, the vast majority of which wasn’t wearable.

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December 13th, 2006 - ‘Tis a Gift to be Simple book review

‘Tis a Gift to be Simple: Embracing the Freedom of Living with Less by Barbara DeGrote-Sorensen and David Allen Sorensen is one couple’s story of how they embraced voluntary simplicity. It’s relatively typical of such books from the early 90s. However, it’s very Christ-centered. If you are interested in living simply due to your Christian beliefs or are interested in hearing more about how Christ’s life and the Bible encourage simple living, this book is probably for you. It even includes at the end a 6-week Bible study/reflection.

I have never been interested in living simply due to Christ or the Bible, so it really wasn’t for me. In 30 minutes or so, I skimmed through it looking just for their story. There wasn’t much of it, actually, which was disappointing. There’s some, and it’s interesting, but it’s hard to find.

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December 12th, 2006 - Simply Green book review

Simply Green Giving by Danny Seo is a delightful little book with lots of gift wrapping ideas. It’s all about recycling and using unusual items for wrapping that you can get for free, have lying around the house, or that serve multiple purposes (such as wrapping a gift with a scarf).

I wish I had read it before I wrapped my Christmas gifts. But I haven’t bought wrapping paper in ages. I reuse bags mainly, and I do try to be a little creative. (I was much more creative when wrapping as a kid. In fact, I begged Mom to let me wrap gifts because I enjoyed it so much!) I did wrap one gift in something else that’s also a gift. I can’t be more specific because it’s my brother’s gift and he reads this blog. (Hi, Michael!)

Speaking of which, he once gave me a gift wrapping in a very large sheet of paper on which he’d painted a Christmas tree. I loved that and hung it up for years, including here at work, at the holidays. I think I still have it in our holiday box.

Speaking of which, if you read other blogs, you have probably been hearing a lot about holiday preparations on them. Or if you write, writing about your own. You may have noticed a lack of commentary on that here. That’s because I’ve done precisely NOTHING about the holidays so far. Well, I bought all my gifts long ago and wrapped them in Sept (when I sliced my thumb) or over Thanksgiving (the inlaws). We intend to buy a tree one of these days, but may have to wait till after the windows are replaced. I’m not big on decorating, so haven’t done anything for the last few years. Eric wants us to decorate for Maggie now so we’ll do a little bit. But since I have no interest in it, and choose to not do things that stress me out or aren’t of interest, I am not pushing to do so. When he’s interested, we’ll do it. Otherwise, I’m perfectly happy with an unobtrusive holiday.

There are three things I want to do to celebrate:

1. Plan my garden order on the Solstice. I think thinking of spring and summer is a perfect thing to do on this day!
2. Go see the lights. This is our long-standing holiday tradition.
3. Attend the Solstice celebration at the UU. It was a lot of fun and interesting last year, although it takes place almost an entire week early this year.

Oh, and we’ll probably watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy on Christmas Eve again. And I’ll make a few cookies and olive nut spread. But only if I feel like it. And I won’t miss them if I skip it or wait until after the holiday. Oh, wait! I also hope to potty train Maggie that weekend!

Now that might make the holidays a little stressful. LOL

Posted in General, Book reviews, Garden | No Comments »

December 11th, 2006 - Tiolet update

The toilet we installed ourselves 16 months ago has ended up not be quite so frugal. Last week, Eric flushed and water came out around the base. Cost $109 for the plumber to come and reseat the toilet. Turns out we missed some bolts on the flange (don’t actually recall replacing the flange but maybe Eric did that on his own?) and the toilet was attached solely by gravity. It was only a matter of time before this happened.

The majority of the charge was the hourly rate, over $80! I still hope we can successfully replace the upstairs toilet, however.

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December 11th, 2006 - Greendimes Update

My Greendimes membership has been inspiring to me: I’m contacting local places that have me on mailing lists, too! It’s things like the Opera House and the Boys and Girls Club. We’ve donated or bought tickets once or twice in the past for special things and then got on their donations list forever. But we never respond to these and they are just recycled. Or a local real estate agent who sends us a postcard every week.

I figured if they are helping me get off national lists, I should do my part to get off of these! I’m delighted to find that my mail will be decreasing. I figure it’s helping these folks as well, especially non-profits, as it saves them postage.

Here are the things I’ve requested so far
* local real estate agent who sends us a postcard weekly (never heard of her otherwise)
* Boys and Girls Club (donated computer equipment years ago; removal confirmed)
* The Grand Opera House (we bought tickets to one event years ago. It was fantastic.)
* The Paine Art Center and Gardens (We were married there and had to be members for a year. Will never be memers again after the agony of their events coordinator. AARGH!)
* The UW Oshkosh Foundation (I bought tickets to an event my first year here and made a donation my second year to a scholarship fund. Both were very specific events attached to people retiring and arriving. But it put us on their donor list forever. As an employee, I may stay on it, but at least I’m trying to get off.)

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December 5th, 2006 - Junk mail update

Not too long ago, I wrote about the new service GreenDimes which promises to remove you from junk mail lists. I have proof already that they are working on this. Yesterday, I (or someone in my household, it was just addressed “resident”) received a postcard from ShopWise/ADVO, Inc, stating that my address had been removed from their lists on 11/27. In 5-6 weeks, I should stop receiving mail from them.

I don’t know what mail I receive from them. I’m guesing either the ValPak coupons or a little circular of coupons. Either way, I don’t care. It says I’ll stop receiving circulars and coupons from local grocery stores and retailers. I wasn’t aware that I did receive this, other than the two items listed above, so I shan’t miss them. I’ll let you all know if indeed those two items disappear from our mail. We used a coupon from them once in a blue moon and I can certainly live without them. I’d assumed they were bulk mail delivered to all residents and never imagined I could be taken off their lists.

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December 4th, 2006 - Race you up the stairs, Shmi-girl!

On Saturday, Shmi-girl died. Around 9 or 10am, we picked her up to trim her nails. She fought such that we only did half of them. This is very unusual behavior. When she fled, she first laid down on a nearby chair. Then she moved into the laundry room where she also just flopped. When Sith and I checked on her, she moved back under the stairs and I could tell she was breathing heavy. We quickly decided that was it and called the vet’s office. While Maggie and I were playing the piano later, she slipped out of that room and went to one her favorite spots during the day–behind the printer, under a piece of foam core, on the cat bed. We made this spot for them after it appeared accidently and we discovered the cats loved to sleep there. So even though we’ve rearranged the room–and the foam core is ready to be thrown out–we kept it as their space.

Looking back, I realized she had also not eaten much that night (if anything) and hadn’t come for her morning treats. Both of these are unusual behavior. However, she had slept with me that night, which she hadn’t the two previous nights, so at least I have that memory.

The title of this post is because that’s one of my favorite memories. Each night, as I go up to bed, Shmi races me up the stairs. This only started happening in the last year or so–IE, as she was getting sicker. Sometimes she wins, sometimes I win, sometimes she lets me win, sometime I let her win. I don’t remember who won last. Why does she race up the stairs? Because she ADORES drinking from the faucet after it’s been turned off (we never let her drink while it was on). And she knew that I was about to use the sink a lot. In fact, one one to get her to come, even if she wasn’t interested in a treat, was to turn a faucet on! Over the last few months, one her favorite places to hang out was on the counter next to the bathroom sink. Weird cat.

It’s been harder than I expected. I didn’t realize how much of my daily routine circles around her, more so than one else in my life (human or animal). She was part of my waking up, getting ready routine, morning chores, leaving the house (”Take care of everybody for me, Shmi-girl.” That started when she was the only female in the house when I’d leave and someone had to take care of the boys. LOL And continued even after Maggie and Emma. Because, frankly, she was the least likely to get into any kind of trouble! I don’t know who will look after everyone for me. Eric suggests Emma simply because she won’t brook any complaints from the others: she’s deaf!), coming home (She’d usually put in an appearance only after I came home from work, sleeping away the rest of the day.), bedtime, and going to sleep.

She was put to sleep around 12:30pm Saturday. She went more quickly and quietly than we expected. We were going to bury her in the garden, but now that it’s frozen, we decided to cremate her instead. [In the interests of frugality, I considered keeping her body in a freezer. We have three after all. But I just couldn’t do it.] In the spring, we’ll pick out a flower for her (something pink or purple, probably, to match her collar) at the Paine Garden sale and bury her ashes under it. And perhaps I will make a stepping stone for the garden with her cat tags.

prior information:
Shmigirl
Update on Shmi
The latest on Shmi

We had already discussed the possibility of getting another cat for Sith. He’s obviously been missing his playmate. Shmi just didn’t have the energy to play anymore. I’d gotten worried a number of mornings because they would hiss at each other and Sith appeared to be stalking her. We thought a kitten or young playful cat might help. But I worried that a new cat might be the stress than killed Shmi. The last few days, it had occurred to me to play more with Sith–that had faded as they got older–and it definitely had helped. Sith would play for 30+ minutes with the wand toy! So after Shmi died, we went right over to the shelter.

The first orange cat Eric saw ended up being a great match for us! We do have to wait for the shelter to approve us, but we don’t foresee any problems. Van Helsing (current name, might even keep it because it’s funny and unusual, and non-Star Wars) is about 4 months old, orange tabby, full of energy. The tabby colorings are white but a sandy orange, making it rather like orange camo. (When we came home and told the babysitter, she had been watching a TV station that was showing the movie that evening. So I’ve taped it to watched; Eric says we’ve seen it but I don’t remember it.) He should come home at the end of the week if all goes well.

Posted in Pets | 2 Comments »

My Adventures in Simple Living

Archive for December, 2006

December 28th, 2006 - ‘Tis a gift to be simple

December 26th, 2006 - NPR Amy Dacyczyn interview

December 22nd, 2006 - The Truth About Where Your Donated Clothes End Up

December 13th, 2006 - ‘Tis a Gift to be Simple book review

December 12th, 2006 - Simply Green book review

December 11th, 2006 - Tiolet update

December 11th, 2006 - Greendimes Update

December 5th, 2006 - Junk mail update

December 4th, 2006 - Race you up the stairs, Shmi-girl!

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