Big Girl Underoos

1) I finished #8 on my Git 'er done list!!! Whoo! That's right, I finally finished my quilt. It's kind of jalopy-ish and I certainly wouldn't give it to anyone as a gift but the first thing Friendster Guy did when he saw it was ask if he could bring it to work for his night shifts. Awesome. 2) From Affluenza - "Americans spend more on trash bags than 90% of the world's 210 countries spend for everything." Dang. If that doesn't rock you back on your heels I don't know what will.

As you know if you've read the last few posts, I've been on a mission to clean and purge my stuff. Part of my new found ambition has to do with some books I've been reading or perhaps the books I'm reading have to do with my new found ambition. Whichever is the chicken or the egg, I've been on a mission to both stop spending and to have less stuff. As for the books I've been reading, I tend to find myself in a section of the library and go a little berserk. This time I happened to be in the "live without a lot of stuff/simplify" section. I don't know exactly where that lands in the Dewey decimal system but in case you are interested here are a few "suggested readings" Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter by Elaine St. James Some of her 100 things are a little...nutty - like making a batch of bran muffins every week and having that for most of your meals (#61) or having a fruit or juice fast on...

This is awesome. Thanks NPapaya for the head's up.

I don't know why but this past week I've been in super-efficiency mode. Or at least super-work-on-projects mode. In addition to cleaning out my closet (see a few posts back) I also did a consolidation and reorg of all my cleaning supplies (the people we bought the condo from left a plethora of various sprays and foams and such in all of the cabinets. I've never seen so many varieties of Lysol disinfectant spray in my life), organized my basement, and I even worked on a quilt I haven't touched in at least 3 years (see #8 ). Here's hoping the inspiration continues because at this rate I'll have crossed everything off my to do list by Labor Day.

The other day I found a list I wrote titled "I'd like to..." It doesn't have a date on it but I'd guesstimate from some of the things I've already completed on the list that it's from 2002-2003. Here, in all it's glory, is my list. I've marked the things I have done in red. I'm really quite pleased with how much I've accomplished. Visit Morocco (done- 2004) Spike my hair (done - 2006 at a charity fashion show ) Go visit friend in China - unfortunately that friend no longer lives there. See the Redwoods (done - 2005 in Muir Woods, CA) Take whitewater kayak lessons Work at alma mater - I'm not so much interested in this anymore. There was a perfect opportunity awhile ago but since I switched careers it didn't make sense, or interest me. Weigh 125 pounds - I managed this for about a week . Do a handstand while touching my toes to the back of my head. Build (design) my own house. Own a dog or two. Have a garden with fanciful corners e...

With tomorrow being the official start of summer, and the whole 100 things thing, I figured it was about time to get in some spring cleaning. I spent about 3 hours today trying on all my clothes, emptying all my drawers and purging my wardrobe. I filled two big bags with my cast-offs. I feel very good after getting rid of 4 pairs of shoes and over 25 articles of clothes, not counting socks and things I simply threw away. Tomorrow, off to the donation center!

Friendster Guy and I are now official patrons of the arts. In the last month we have donated to a theater group I was involved with AND just become members of NPR for the first time. I feel so...I don't know... liberal? Erudite? Cultured. Yes, that's it. Cultured. FG adds "magnanimous and munificent", both of which are good words as well. Humble, not so much. In that spirit (the magnanimous, not humble, spirit that is), I would like to share with you the following Latte Art I heard about on NPR today (I'm a member now you know.)

Last year I created a new birthday tradition wherein I purge the same number of items as my new age. This year that would be 32 things. Since my birthday isn't until August I've got a couple months to think about what to get rid of but just this morning I read an article in Time magazine about a movement to purge your belongings down to 100 Things . I find the idea fascinating. I find the act of trying to do that terrifying if not downright impossible. Many things flood my brain when I think of going through with such a task. For instance, I have lots of hobbies. Do I get rid of my arts and crafts supplies? What if I feel like coloring? Or embossing some homemade cards? Now that I think about it, I actually own two different embosser thingies. And the last time I used them was ....? Should I keep them just in case? Come to think of it, is my ability to make embossed cards just adding more stress to my life? I haven't thought about making cards in a long time but now I feel...

This is an oddly relaxing color quiz . Something about having to look at pictures of beautiful objects and think about vacation puts me in a good mood. Or, it could be that I just got an hour "off" because a client canceled. Sure, it's money I don't get paid but it's an hour of my own earned. I'm "Tapestry and Mosaic" I'm so not surprised. I love all things Moroccan and my home looks like the inside of a Panera (red, orange, green). My secondary colors are Pop Art.

...realizing that the next time you go to the library you'll be picking out books to bring with you on vacation.

I am now one step closer to being able to say " I worked out with the President of the United States. "

Here's something that will get your heart pitterpattering... or stop it altogether. I turned on my computer and it opened up fine (i.e. no blue screen of death) except my settings were missing. Then I discovered that all my files were gone. Gone . Music, photos, thesis, documents, work stuff. Everything. Amazingly, instead of curling into the fetal position and having a well-deserved freak out I calmly told Friendster Guy my computer was FUBAR and let him play with it for a little while. In the meantime I reconciled myself to a life without whatever was on my computer and gave everything up for lost. I was still perfectly calm and nonchalant. There may have been Xanax in in my Indian take-out because that was not my normal response. Luckily, FG, the fabulous man that he is, was able to figure out why my computer had spontaneously decided to try to give me an ulcer/aneurysm (even though I didn't take the bait). Something about having created a Guest setting sometime in the last ...