Update

Gee, I haven't been writing much. I certainly go through spurts.

I do have great news.... The basement is almost done!! Whoo!!! The floor is clean, all the junk is gone and everything else is on shelves. We need to get the BBQ out and I have a few totes of garbage to sort (I should be glad it doesn't all end up in the landfill, but it can be a pain to go through when you're getting rid of stuff).

Best part is I know I can go through and get rid of even MORE stuff!! I am loving being able to ruthlessly declutter. I have also been doing a better job of keeping the house clean. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being disaster and 10 being perfect), I have gone from about a 3 to a 7. Amazing!!! There is more to be done but Babysteps, babysteps. I am working on it every day.

I need to clear some more space for food storage. I joke to DH that I get rid of so much stuff and turn around and buy food in it's place. Well, we need to eat and it sounds like prices are going to skyrocket (many already have). So we will greatly appreciate having plenty to eat in times of trouble.

I love being able to give stuff away. It's such a great feeling. It's kind of funny as MIL sometimes buys items I have donated and will ask if it's something that used to be ours. Yeah, which is why it's there and not here!

This coming week I will be working on our bedroom. I need to help DH learn where things go. I need to reteach the kids that toys do not belong in my sleeping area. I have been doing a good job with my stuff; it's everyone else's that is causing problems! It will come. I think we are all loving living in a cleaner environment.

Great Stuff!

No, not mine (although I do have a personal attachment to it ;) ) but this one: http://lentilsandrice.blogspot.com. Excellent! I highly recommend reading about her simple life, her stretchy bean and/or lentil meals and their quest for sustainable living. They are so much further along their way than we are, but we are all in different places. I appreciate reading about others journeys so I can learn more.

This post in particular struck a cord since I am hard core into cleaning and decluttering right now. That and the Wii are the main reasons I haven't been posting much (yes, we did break down and buy it. I have to honestly say I don't regret it a bit!!). We're having DS's birthday party on Tuesday and I want the house in order by then. I can do it! I can see the finish line! The entire upstairs for once is entirely CLEAN! Whoooo!!!! I am making great progress downstairs. I think if I had some kid free time, I could get it done in a couple of hours. They just tend to take things out when I am in the middle of doing things. After it's all done, it's just a matter of maintenance, which I am going to work very hard on. I am also putting off the basement until the rest of the house is done but all I need is a couple of days and a couple of energy drinks to get that in order ;)

Oh, we got a piano! I don't even have to feel a bit of guilt over it. It was left in an abandoned community center building and a friend rescued and repaired it about 20 years ago. They no longer need it and they let us have it! That mother is heavy, lol! It's about a hundred years old, the days before compact pianos, so it weighs a ton. It left deep marks in the kitchen floor...eeps! Our kitchen floor is in dire need of replacing after we move, as is our living room carpet. I would love to see hard wood floors, but I doubt it with public housing. We take what we get :)

Well, so much to do and not enough energy at the moment. I've been cleaning since about 6:30am and I'm starting to drag. But I know if I work, I can get everything I want done today and I can spend tomorrow with a scrub brush.

Try Explaining It!!

OK, At church I am responsible for holding a monthly activity for the women. I have been wanting to have a Story of Stuff night all year and finally presented it to the person who is responsible for approving these things. Of course the way she was staring at me made me feel like a blubbering idiot. She had a blank look in her eye and basically said that no one would want to come. That the whole idea made her feel blah. I also wanted to talk about simple things we can do to help the environment and maybe make or hand out reusable bags. Pah! Well apparantly that wouldn't be very interesting either.

So many things I've wanted to do have been shot down. Now I finally have something I am passionate about and no one would care. Oh well. Lets make silly cards and write love notes instead.

Grrrrrr......

Thinking about stuff

I was thinking today how much better it is to just not buy stuff we don't need. Then I started wondering how we determine that. I know that we have too much stuff. However I pass it all along when we're done with it so it gets another life with at least one more family (possibly more since a lot of our stuff has been passed on to us). Then there are things we want. I will be going in a few hours to hopefully score a Wii system as a combo Christmas (leftover money) and birthday present for DS and I. We have been doing pretty well with not buying stuff we don't need, although there are borderline items (did we need those solar garden lights and glass blender we bought this week at 50% and more off? If we use them a lot will it make a difference?). The Wii just seems so frivolous but if it were not that, what else would we be wasting the money on? We literally have no entertainment budget so we don't waste money in that regard. The internet is basically our only form of entertainment and it only brings me and the kids close together. It would be nice to have something we can physically do together and have fun.

Am I rationalizing? Probably. I often feel our need for a car is an exercise in rationalization, mainly because I'm too lazy to walk anywhere :0

Something else I have been thinking about a lot lately is camping. I am really, really looking forward to it this year. I love Keji. It's my favorite place to be on earth. If I ever get cremated, I would want my ashes scattered there. Tonight I was fantasizing about camping and could practically smell it and feel it.

Then it hit me. By the time we get to go, gas will probably be about $1.50 a liter. It is now about $1.30. A nice relaxing camping trip over 2 hours away will probably cost about nearly $100 for gas. If we get an early bird pass so we can go more than once and that is $58.80 or $73.60 if we can't get it before Victoria Day. Plus it's $25.50 a night to camp, plus last year they charged $6 for an arm load of wood (we'll probably try to get it elsewhere this year) plus all the other stuff one needs to buy.

Jeepers! It costs an arm and a leg to go camping! As badly as I want to go, I think we may try to find other places, like Ellenwood Park and other places. Keji is just one of those places that is so fondly ingrained in my good childhood memories that I want my kids to have a piece of that too. Meh, we probably will go at least once. This time it will be when it's warmer as last time DH and I were sick most of the trip and it was so frigging cold!! (it was a homeschooling camping trip in September)

National Hanging Out Day

Title: National Hanging Out Day

Date: Saturday April 19, 2008
Time: All Day
Repeats: This event repeats every year.
Location: http://www.laundrylist.org/
Notes: Every year, on April 19th, Project Laundry List joins together with hundreds of organizations from around the country to educate communities about energy consumption. National Hanging Out Day was created to demonstrate how it is possible to save money and energy by using a clothesline.

Battle Of The Bag

I am starting to watch this but since DS wants the computer, I will preserve it so I won't lose it ;). It's a documentary from the CBC and I must of missed it or just didn't hear about it. It's about the battle against the plastic bag from history to modern problems it is causing. It should prove to be interesting.

so here goes: Battle Of The Bag

How much do you know about plastic bags?

Take The Test

I only got half right. I vastly overestimated the amount that Canadians recycle and the amount in landfills, where plastic bags were first banned in Canada (just assumed it was BC. oops, that's a hint!), the type of plastic used and the year Ireland placed a levy on plastic bags.

Pretty interesting!