Day 101: So where do you work?

Some jobs require a daddy

I have a confession to make: Lately I have resented my husband for "getting" to go to work and "only" work a 45 hour week. The other day I muttered something about how I wish I got a weekend after working 16 hours a day, 8 days a week. It's an easy trap to fall into, especially when every aspect of parenting seems so demanding and no break is imminent. It sometimes feels like even when you're "off" you're never truly off, with your mind whirling, thinking about this issue, planning that activity, mulling over a discipline question, etc.

Even when breaks are there, it can be hard to see through the fog. I got home from a weekend away and after two hours home, these words left my mouth: "I need a break." True story. Not proud of it.

So I started actually thinking through my day (without fake comparing where everything is lopsided to point to my doing all the work) and this is what I came up with.

On school days naptime lasts two hours, during which I can knit, read, clean the house, whatever (but if I do clean, it's usually my CHOICE).

I get to do some of my work in pajamas.

Sometimes my boss(es) are unreasonable and scream at me, but I don't have to have an annual review.

I don't get paid, but I don't worry about being fired for not doing something just right.

My job is predictable and always changing at the same time.

If I don't like one task, I can change to something else without huge looming deadlines.

I can eat lunch sort of when I want (and it goes straight from fridge to table without my having to pack anything).

My job largely involves the library.

So I decided to rethink my attitude. Because being resentful only fills me up with bitterness and ruins the free time I **do** have.

Plus, my vague memories of weekends as paradise don't really compare to reality. A lot of my husband's weekend was spent cleaning the garage and using various loud machines to destroy various unnecessary parts of our house. Mine was spent at the park, pushing kids on swings. I think I'll keep my job for now.

Day 100: Socks!

How am I celebrating 100 days of buying nothing as little as possible new? By making socks (from thrifted yarn) of course!

This is not as easy as it sounds. After two hours, I have six rounds of what appears to be a tiny bag.

My husband, watching me struggle with several pointy needles, asked me in a paraphrase of a question of Big Girl's from a few months back: "Are you knitting for the war effort?"

(We listened to Molly: An American Girl on our last road trip and she later asked me if she could knit socks for World War Two soldiers.)

To which I replied: "If I started a pair of socks in 1943, they might get done in time for the Vietnam War."

I'm having faith and keeping at it though, in hopes that my feeble attempt will fit an adult human (preferably me).

If not, I'll add some handles and have the tiniest purse on record.

Day 99: Frozen with fear

"Arendelle's in deep, deep, deep, deep snow." But my front yard isn't anymore! Our long winter spell has finally been broken.

Today after counting allowance and gift money, Big Girl finally announced she had enough to buy an Elsa doll.

We set a date to go to the store and purchase a doll.

I thought it would go something like this:

1. Go to store
2. Find toy department (specifically Disney aisle)
3. Purchase Elsa doll
4. Leave store while violin chorus plays softly in background.

Bahahahaha...right. Reality: come home empty handed after two stores, log on to Ebay and find out you might have a shot if you outbid 25 other buyers and pay upwards of $30 a doll. The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if production was limited on purpose to make them rare.

Fun fact: Anna appears to be slightly more attainable than Elsa.

Fun fact part two: There is apparently a thriving counterfeit enterprise. These look nothing like the actual characters, they are a third of the price, and the bidding is not cutthroat.

Fun fact part three: These dolls do not seem to be available at the Disney store (at least not online). Ummm...what?

We didn't find an Elsa doll within her budget, but we did find a plan B, a smaller playset that looks sort of like a Polly Pocket. She is happy with it and we ordered it.

The sad thing is that in approximately 42 minutes, something else will come along and the resale market will be glutted with Frozen castoffs. Anyone remember Tickle-me-Elmo? I can't tell you how many I've seen at garage sales over the last several years.

I'm 31 years old and I get this. I have the patience to wait on something (often indefinitely and to the point where something becomes obsolete while I'm waiting). But to an almost-six year old, there is a bigger life lesson here.

Yes, I could make her wait and buy a Frozen doll at Goodwill in three years, but what would be the point? More importantly than Compacting along with me, she's learning to save her money until she can pay on her own. If she gets tired of it in a week, lesson learned that maybe she should pursue another option next time.

Besides, I remember Christmas 1991 all too clearly. Under the tree with my name on it were Belle and Beast dolls. My parents could have chosen to resist Disney marketing but instead they got me a gift I was crazy about and later passed down to my younger siblings. I asked my mom about the dolls recently and she thought they ended up with a neighbor.

Turns out Beauty and the Beast was enduring. Will Frozen be the same way? I'm not sure, but the lessons learned might be.

Days 93-98: I might make my own hamburger buns but my house is a mess

This is not the normal state of my house. I mean, it is, but only the parts behind closed doors. Usually.

My parents came to visit this weekend and my dad and husband spent a good part of Sunday afternoon tearing up the concrete slab under the downstairs bathroom shower. (Thanks, Dad!) We realized upon measuring that we have to remove a wall between the two upstairs bathrooms, meaning we can't take a one-at-a-time approach like we planned. Therefore, the downstairs bathroom has to be done first so that we can tear down the dividing wall upstairs and at least have one set of working plumbing. No outhouses for us, thank you.

I get discouraged sometimes reading homemaking blogs where the blogger seems to do everything perfectly. She sews her own clothes, engages in educational and spontaneous field trips on a weekly basis, and gardens all her food.

Me...well, I make my own hamburger buns. Sometimes they turn out okay. Other times they need butter and syrup to be recycled to pancakes.

I also have two great kids who are growing and learning just fine. One of them can sing the entire soundtrack to Frozen.

I have a husband who enjoys a nice date night of plastering drywall and ripping up tile. Fortunately, so do I.

I don't have homemade wreaths on the door or gourmet, home grown meals on the table, but I like my life just fine. Even the rubble that is my bathroom. Because it's all about growth and progress.

Day 92: To my dear vacuum cleaner

Dear yellow vacuum cleaner:

We've only known each other a fraction of your life but I feel I can count you as a close friend. Your sunshiny yellowness makes doing chores almost pleasant and you make me feel very Margaret Anderson-y (from Father Knows Best, because why should June Cleaver corner the market on 50's domesticity?).

Many commercials for vacuums these days boast the ability to be lifted with one hand (or in the case of the Roomba, no hands at all) while perhaps you can compete for the category of "Can be lifted by JUST one person if you really put your back into it." I count this as a plus, however, because you contribute to my overall goal of exercising without realizing it. 

Maybe it would be better if your bags weren't available only through mail order. It would be best if you didn't require bags at all. But why should your perfectly usable self languish in someone's garage when the two of us could be waltzing all over the place every Friday morning? You are old, yes, but hardly dead. Why should you be denied a social life?

Someday you might break (after collecting vacuum social security for many years) and it will be a sad day indeed. When that does happen, I will run right out and buy the latest several hundred dollar vacuum model to replace you.

Oh wait, no I won't. I'll probably find another one at the vacuum cleaner museum a garage sale. Who am I kidding?

But it had better be yellow.

Day 91: A Compact update

(Not a pear tree.) But I don't have a pear tree handy to take a picture. Good thing, since they make me sneeze.

Three months into The Compact (a movement to buy nothing new) and still going strong! So far, I have bought new:

Two area rugs (made in USA)
A toilet cap thingy to keep sewer gas out of our house
Underclothes for various members of the household
A roller shade that had to be an exact width (I was on a time budget or I might have been able to find the needed size at Goodwill or a garage sale eventually)
Some pieces of pipe
Two pillows for houseguests (our current ones are flat enough to make patio seat cushions)
Mistint mark-down paint (astonishingly I couldn't find quite the right shade in my abundant personal paint closet)
A magazine for a last minute gift

And a partridge in a pear tree

Actually, now that I look at that list, maybe I'm not as strong as I thought. But hey, it could be worse. Over half those things are home improvement related and not clothes, books, and knickknacks, which I knew would be personal problem areas when joining The Compact.

I've had several kids stop by, peddling wares for various school and scouting fundraisers. I offered to make a cash donation instead, and only one time I was turned down.

Could I have done better overall? Maybe. I'm not sure what I would change. My exceptions were made with the spirit of the experiment in mind, rather than an unwavering conviction at all costs.

But I have no excuse for the partridge in a pear tree. At least it's sustainable.

Day 90: My community closet

Yesterday I delightedly unpacked a container of my spring and summer clothes. Some of them were remnants of last year and many were newly gleaned from garage sales and Goodwill end-of- or post-season.

I started thinking about other perks of buying secondhand other than the obvious monetary savings.

First, you weed out a whole lot of throwaway clothes simply by virtue of them having made it past their first owners. Obviously, this isn't foolproof, as something may be in pristine condition just because the buyer didn't wear it or only wore it once. However, quality construction shows after a few washings.

Second, the clothes have a history. While this may be a turn-away point for some, it's actually an attraction for me. I'm part of a group where people in my community can post clothes for sale. Think Craigslist on a much smaller scale. Though much of our "interaction" is done through internet messages and we might never meet face to face (for security reasons, many use the honor system for pick up) I feel like I've had a small, albeit temporary connection with someone in my community. I've even had "size buddies" give me a heads-up when they clean their closets.

Some may be on a first name basis with Ann Taylor or Ralph Lauren (or even Good Will) but I much prefer my skirt by "Jessica on Main Street"* and my shoes by "Carmen at 15th and Maple." Keeping it local is the way to go.

*Names and places made up off the top of my head

Day 89: A book review

I just got done reading this book:

I picked it up (from the library of course) because the premise seemed interesting. I had never connected intelligence with anxiety. I figured it would be about "gifted" children but the definition of "smart kid" seemed to mean a child who uses his or her intelligence as a tool to overthink things.

The author's view is that when a child's intellectual maturity is greater than his or her emotional and physical maturity, and especially when the emotional maturity is less than the chronological age, anxiety increases. This is largely due in part to knowledge opening up a whole field of things to worry about. A child who is able to logically reason "if this, then this" without the emotional maturity to put things in perspective is going to experience a lot of worry.

She uses the example of fourth grade Mark, who can't focus in class because he is worried about getting good grades, going on to college, and ultimately being able to support his wife and children. She also shares a story about herself at age four overhearing a relative's childbirth story and letting this worry build up to the point where she woke her mother up late one night to tell her she was afraid to have a baby. I'm pretty sure I have been both the child and the parent in this exact scenario.

The last part of the book focuses on practical exercises when a child's anxiety is getting out of control. I found a couple that seemed promising and have implemented one of them already (The Five Questions Tool, which essentially limits the number of questions that can be asked about any particular worry per day).

I've read many books on anxiety and found this one resonated with me more than the others. It's an easy, conversational tone largely based on personal experience as a counselor rather than studies and statistics. Give it a read if you have an anxious kid or just know one.

Days 86-88: What's making me happy in pictures

Opening Day at my clothesline.

Subsequently, sleeping on delicious smelling sheets.

Band practice. We have several members of a band who live (and therefore practice) in our neighborhood. Most of the members are in their fifties with the exception of one who is about nineteen. On warm Tuesday nights, we can hear band practice through open windows. I'm glad they are a band of the talented and non-annoying variety.

Little Girls who set the table by themselves for the first time.

This meal is brought to you by the letter K.

Bike rides.

Browsing tile selections at the hardware store and dreaming. With nice weather I have been lax about painting but I plan to finish by the end of the week. A new project is calling.

Days 84-85: Yummus

Little Girl and I seem to have caught some bug that's been going around (at least that's what I surmise from Facebook). Sore throat, nausea, chills, and headache lead to a lack of getting much done (including blogging).

I recently discovered my affinity for hummus (Little Girl is nuts about it too). I bought it originally at Trader Joe's as a splurge for $3. Happily, I found it at Aldi a few weeks later for $2. Even more happily, I then came across a recipe in a magazine that costs less than $1.

Unfortunately I ripped out the recipe in such a way that I can't find the magazine name to give credit. It was a gluten-free specific magazine. I get an assortment of these as hand-me-downs from a friend who works at a grocery store. She gives me the outdated issues they don't sell.

Simple Hummus

1 (14.5 oz) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained

2 Tbsp gluten-free tahini (I left this out since I wasn't sure exactly what it is)

1/3 c olive oil

1/4 lemon or lime juice

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1/3 tsp salt

Put all ingredients in a food processor (or blender, if you're me) and blend until smooth.

If I can track down dry chickpeas I'm going to do away with the canned version. I didn't see any at the grocery store but I was short on time so I'll take a closer look when I have time.

Enjoy!

Day 83: Frugal randomness

I'm in need of window shades. Admittedly, I thought briefly about going to Menards. We have a rebate gift card and it would be the easy thing to do after a busy morning of cookie baking and "reasoning" with a toddler why we weren't going to go swing in the freezing rain.

However, I don't need them for another week so I decided to stop by Goodwill. I needed to drop off some stuff that had been rattling around in the back of the van, and who knows? I have certainly found the needle in the haystack on many occasions.

Unfortunately, the only thing Goodwill had in the way of window coverings was one set of very dated miniblinds.

I did pick up a Crochet World magazine and half a package of swim diapers.

I subscribe to one crochet magazine but this one had some cute patterns, it was seasonal, and not too out of date (hope nobody has a fashion conscious two month old who realizes her hat is a year behind the times) ;-)

I thought magazines were fifty cents and I was shocked to find they are actually 99. I went ahead and bought the crochet magazine, though I think they need to either lower the price or price them on a value system rather than across the board. For a pattern magazine, I'll pay a buck. For a four year old copy of Woman's Day, not so much.

The swim diapers were also 99 cents, and although I can't find anything in the YMCA handbook expressly prohibiting cloth swim diapers in favor of the throwaway counterpart, I fear the day an employee arbitrarily decides to enforce this rule. When/if they do, I'm ready with my less than a dollar stash rather than having to go out and buy some for upwards of twelve dollars a package.

If worst comes to worst and we don't need them before they're outgrown, I'll pass them along.

I also stopped at CVS to hopefully pick up some cheap milk. Unfortunately this was an off week for the sale milk. I almost bought some laundry detergent because we are almost out and they sell a brand that's as cheap as anything I've come across. Embarrassingly to my frugal/eco-friendly self, I don't use homemade laundry detergent because I have to wash clothes three times to get the sweat smell out. My cloth diaper detergent works great and has no additives but there is no way I'm using my $17 a bag detergent on all our laundry. It lasts over six months only using it on diapers.

The laundry detergent got put back on the shelf because I remembered I have a 25% off coupon for next week. Save $1.25? Yes, please.

I'm still looking for window shades or a non-tacky substitute, but I have time. I hold out all hope that I will come up with the crafty substitute of the century or stumble across some secondhand. Because Goodwill seems to like me extra special.

Day 82: Dear old golden rule days

In addition to taking vitamins and getting extra (enough) sleep, nothing helps lift your spirits like a visit to kindergarten.

I try to have lunch with Big Girl at least every other month and this was the day.

The rule is that the kid of the visiting parent can invite one friend to sit with him or her so as not to throw the lunchroom into chaos with 20+ students all competing to sit by Mom or Dad. Apparently they saw me coming through the window and Big Girl had best friends popping up like gophers. I heard later that one kid offered her "500 piles of money" if he were chosen. I'm proud that she declined. Although she is Cheapskate Jr. in the making, she is above taking bribes.

At lunch today I heard about one girl's fifth grade reading buddy who is presumably independently wealthy, as she is going to buy the kindergartner an ice castle the size of the cafeteria.

I also got asked somewhat abruptly: "Have you ever been in a Big Scary Attic?" Upon admitting my failure at entering any type of attic whatsoever, the boy continued: "I went in my Nana's attic this week. It was big and scary." In lieu of farewell, he extended me an open invitation to visit his Nana, should I feel the need to fulfill my lifetime Big Scary Attic quota.

I sometimes question my decision not to homeschool, but visits like today confirm that I made an equally acceptable choice. I don't want to say it was the "right" choice and homeschooling the "wrong" one, because I think she would have thrived as well at home if we'd chosen that. But I think she is learning valuable skills above and beyond readin', writin', and 'rithmetic. Skills like teamwork with peers, making age appropriate decisions away from parents, and dealing with personalities unlike hers.

Also, just in case she has a political future, she's learning at a young age to just say no to bribes.

Day 81: I wanna be like you

Proof that once upon a time (4.5 years ago) she did like to sweep. By the way, I sure miss that kitchen floor. That was the first DIY project we did together on our first fixer upper.

Big Girl has certain jobs she has to complete each week to earn her allowance and lately she has been dragging her feet.

The other night when she started her now familiar chorus of "I don't want to sweep the floor because I didn't make the mess!" I asked her (semi jokingly) if she'd rather trade places with me.

She perked up. "What's your job?"

"Laundry, dusting and vacuuming, dishes, shopping for groceries, cooking meals, cleaning up after meals, packing lunches--"

"I want to do your job!"

"Really? Okay, here's a container for you to put away your lunch for tomorrow."

I have been selling the girl short. Granted, she only packed her lunch and put away some dishes and leftovers but she did it with a willing attitude. Even when I ran out of things for her to do she asked "what else can I do to be Mom?" and went to bed begging to make breakfast in the morning.

Lesson one: kids are ready for chores way beyond what we think they can do sometimes.

Lesson two: don't volunteer to swap jobs with a 5 year old at 7:30 p.m. unless you are prepared to supervise a long night of activity. I think we would have been wallpapering the attic soon with all her vitality toward household chores.

Unfortunately the novelty quickly wore off. Last night she said "I think I want to go back to sweeping the floor."

Probably a good choice, but now I know she's able and (usually) willing to do more than I give her credit for. Time to start home ec!

Days 76-80: Run down

I've been feeling extremely run down lately and trying to find out the cause.

I researched vitamin supplements, only to feel the load of guilt when one individual posted that "vitamins are not natural and instead, a person should try to eat right."

Hmm. With a toddler who eats her own food in 18.3 seconds and then leaps up from her booster shouting "all done!" I have been known to eat my food in a method certain former presidents would not admit to.

That's right: I inhale. This would not be classified as "eating right."

I thought maybe it was my sleep. I counted last night that I woke up at least four times. Might have been five. This is not an abnormal night for me.

Perhaps this has something to do with my energy level during the day. Living in newborn mode was tolerable when I had--you know--a newborn. When that baby has been herself sleeping through the night since 18 months old, it's time for mom to follow along.

I tend to blame everything on gluten since it explained my 17 seemingly unrelated symptoms years ago. I had a friend call me the other day to ask details about going gluten free herself. She asked if "xyz" would get better and I told her I honestly didn't know.

"It's one of those things where you might have 100 symptoms or you might have none. Sometimes people wonder 'will going gluten free help my right big toenail feel better?' Simple answer: it might. Or it might not."

She laughed and said she'd try it anyway but that made me stop and think: is gluten becoming a catch all answer for me? Not that I want to become a hypochondriac by any means, but rather than blaming gluten as an all-purpose excuse, I might consider other avenues for feeling better when I'm not quite in shape.

Starting with some vitamins (even if they are lazy, etc.) and getting some sleep. Good night.

Days 66-75: Well!

So I painted a bookshelf. And that's about it.

Well, actually that's not IT. Maybe as far as my goals were concerned, but in addition, I:

1. Did my civic duty and appeared for jury selection. I wasn't chosen for the jury but it was an interesting experience.

2. Attended the National Hearts at Home convention. I almost didn't go because I'm not really a crowd person, but decided it would be good for me. It was. I had a great time building relationships and attending classes to encourage and inspire me to be a better Christian wife and mom.

My wonderful husband stayed with the kids for 36 hours and did a fantastic job. I knew he would, but something has always scared me about leaving my kids for the first time.

After going over two pages of minutiae that I know instinctively but helps to write down for others (Big Girl has to take a leprechaun trap to school Friday, Little Girl drinks out of this sippy cup for meals but it leaks if you put it in the diaper bag so use this other one if you go out) I was on my way out the door.

"One more thing," I said. "There's a pineapple cut up in the fridge but if you run out, you'll have to cut up the cantaloupe yourself."

"We'll just have pineapple and bananas if we run out," he said, wide eyed at the concept of one more piece of trivia to keep track of. "I don't think I'll cut up a cantaloupe."

I'll admit that on top of leprechaun traps and sippy cups it might have seemed a bit much.

When I got back Saturday night, they were all bathed and fed (there was plenty of pineapple left over). Not only that, they had played outside a good portion of the beautiful day Saturday and gotten pizza and watched Charlotte's Web together on Friday night. The leprechaun trap made it to school, and as far as I know there was no sippy cup leakage.

Goals and plans are nice, but I intend to take a page from their book and enjoy my life (ironically the theme of the convention).

Maybe I only got one thing done this week, but there's no deadline.

This week, I tentatively plan to finish painting the entry way. If I get it done, great, but if not, there's always next week.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go cut up a cantaloupe.

Days 64-65: Short term goals

This week will be crazy. I will have roughly 18.5 minutes each day that won't be preoccupied with other activities. 

Still, I'm hoping to get quite a bit accomplished toward the remodel.

This entryway needs to be painted and maybe have a picture hung. Not sure yet as I'm trying to think what I own that would fit that spot.

Also, this bookshelf needs to be transformed from a splotchy, paint drip covered piece of furniture to a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Or at least a bookshelf with a much better paint job.

I have a feeling my evenings will be quite busy.

Day 63: This old house

Those who know me may be surprised to find out that I like to challenge the norm.

For example, I think it would be awesome to put bathroom themed pictures in the living room...kitchen posters in the bedroom.

Those people would likely be surprised because this rebellion is basically all in my head. For the most part, I follow the status quo. I guess I'm not confident enough in my own quirkiness yet.

Plus, answering the question "why do you have a picture of a toilet in your living room?" might get old after awhile.

I was surprised to find out that I've apparently done the living room all wrong. I get that you don't want it to look ridiculous but I kind of have an issue with all the math involved. This is decorating: a reflection of the personalities in the home. It's not freshman algebra.

So my area rug might be 27% smaller than it should be and my lamp might be four inches off in one direction, but I decorate with what I love. So there.

Besides, at least I'm compromising. Maybe my lamp isn't quite up to snuff, but I'm not hanging a picture of a bathtub in my kitchen. Real Simple would be proud.

Day 62: The books I didn't read in high school

These aren't the ones. These are just some of the books I grabbed off my library's "featured books" shelf. The library staff puts some favorites up on display each month.

Tonight I was having a conversation with my husband about a friend of ours who has a Masters degree in Russian.

"I wonder if she has read War and Peace in the original language?" I wondered. "I don't know many people who have read it in English."

Whereupon, I began compiling the following list of Great Works I Haven't Read:

1. War and Peace
2. Anything by Shakespeare other than Macbeth and a few sonnets
3. Anything by Hemingway
4. Jane Eyre
5. The last 15/16ths of Moby Dick
6. The Grapes of Wrath
7. The Great Gatsby
8. Gone with the Wind
9. Animal Farm
10. Lord of the Rings and/or Flies

I did read a lot in high school. I promise. My mom, in both her teacher and passionate reader roles, made sure she raised well-read students. In fact, one year of my home school curriculum was based on great books. I read classics like Up From Slavery, The Law, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, and A Tale of Two Cities. Apparently no matter how well read one is, there are only so many "must read" books that can be squeezed into high school without neglecting one's studies of chemical reactions and geometry.

So, it seems it's high time for me to catch up on some reading since I've left behind the rigors of algebra and biology lo these many (14-18) years ago. Readers, any classics I shouldn't miss?

Day 61: Today I am

1. Grateful that The Compact makes it easy to discover fraudulent charges on the credit card.

"Honey, did you buy something at such-and-so?"
"Is it the grocery store or Goodwill? Nope, didn't buy it."

2. Hearing on the radio that depression rates have skyrocketed this winter due to the weather. As a two-time PPD veteran, I totally understand and I'm glad that spring is on the way to hopefully improve those statistics.

3. Curbing a huge urge to go buy something by going to the library and checking out twelve books at semi-random. When I likewise feel the urge to get rid of stuff, I can then return said books to the library. Win-win. And hopefully I'll discover a new favorite author. Win-win-win.

4. Celebrating the fact that in six days, our family of four plus dinner guests one night only made one kitchen bag of trash.

5. In a similar vein, happy that I only threw out one Tupperware's worth of leftovers (six day old oven fries that were turning brown and limp).

Day 60: What are we teaching?

What have you learned today?

I don't have to point out that there has been a lot of press about gluten free eating these days. Much of it is educational, some of it is misinformed, and some is just hostile.

From a Disney Channel show that makes fun of a gluten-free kid (a show that fortunately was pulled) to a more recent late night comedy sketch that mocked a gluten-free character, there is a lot of hostility and denial that Celiac Disease and gluten sensitivity exist.

I first got sick at a dinner party. It was hugely embarrassing for me, and I'm sure for the hostess as well. The next seven years found me bouncing around from doctor to doctor in search of a reason for my mystery illness. I dropped down to the high 80's (my weight, that is--though that's actually a pretty good bowling score for me). I never wanted to go out with friends because I was pretty sure my "stomach virus" would show up halfway through the evening.

I've had people say to me "Oh, gluten-free. That just means you get a rash, right?" To which I reply: "I wish." I know I have it better than many and worse than many, but it's a daily reality for us all in some manner.

If it wasn't such an in-your-face, every day kind of thing, I might tend to believe the media. Gluten sensitivity: what's the big deal? Isn't that basically just indigestion? Add to that the fact that many celebrities are treating it like a fad diet and it seems perfect fodder for comedic mocking.

But we know better, and what are we teaching with our words?

The other day, someone made me a special pie and the first thing I said is "you didn't have to do that!"

Okay, technically, they didn't HAVE to. It was a pie. I wouldn't have starved without it. But the act of caring enough to make the pie cancelled out a lot of misinformation. It was a huge step toward compassion and understanding.

Lesson one: choose my words carefully. Don't undermine the gift. Be incredibly grateful and just say thank you.

Lesson two: find friends who make good gluten free pie. Not only will you have delicious pie, but you will also have a friend with a kind and sensitive heart.

Day 59: Do you like my hat?

Almost done with month two of The Compact (a buy nothing new movement). Hooray! I can do this...

I mentioned last week that I was busy reading No Impact Man. This book had quite a--shall we say "impact"--on me.

I was thinking last night that I wear many hats. There's the eco-friendly hat, the money saving hat, the generosity hat, and the (more embarrassing) forget-it-this-is-too-much-and-let's-just-get-pizza-for-dinner hat.

Can one person wear that many hats without looking ridiculous?

I love Go Dog, Go!

Can all your hats line up perfectly every time so that you're able to accomplish all your objectives? Save maybe the give up and get pizza one.

One look at organic blueberries can answer that question pretty easily. Sure, they're good for the earth...but frugal? Not much. You can spend time looking for coupons to make healthy things affordable, but it  can become an obsession that takes away from your family time.

NIM seemed to manage okay for awhile (but even he didn't live that way long term--if it could even be done).

So I guess the point is to do the best you can in the ways you can--and not try to be everything at one time. It doesn't usually work out.

Days 57-58: Reason behind the frugality

I've always been frugal. Having a grandmother raised during the Depression made an impact on my family's approach to waste and savings.

However, I sometimes question the purpose behind my (extreme?) frugality. Is the point to live as austerely as possible? To see how long I can go without spending any money just for the challenge of it? To squeeze all the use I can out of every cent, and in doing so, squeeze all the fun out of life?

Hardly.

While I'm a saver by nature, I'm hardly cheap. I love to find appreciative new homes for my excess belongings (and sometimes money). I don't deprive my kids of the necessities, or, honestly, of many of the things that can be an enriching part of a childhood. Big Girl took gymnastics lessons for a year and as I mentioned earlier, we are planning to join the Y.

**I don't bring this up to brag, just as a defense against the belief that you can't be frugal and generous at the same time.**

I think you can go too far in the name of frugality, IF there isn't a clear-cut purpose behind it. Yes, there may be times when the kids' activities have to go because there absolutely isn't enough money for the extras. But on other occasions, frugality can cross the line if the goal is just to be as cheap as possible.

So why am I frugal, except that it's part of my nature? Well, for starters, I'm a shopper. No, not at the mall, but at Goodwill. If I don't reign myself in with challenges like The Compact, I end up with little things "that I might need someday" or "that I can resell for a profit."

          (Sidenote: I know the Compact means "buy nothing new" but I'm trying to apply the same thought
           process to buying used as well)

Truthfully, I very rarely needed those things someday, and my reselling adventures netted me maybe a few dollars. Hardly worth the time it took to store and package things for mailing.

Also, I noticed along similar lines that I was spending all my time worrying about my stuff: cleaning it, picking it up, moving it around, wondering where I put it when I cleaned and/or picked it up and/or moved it around. The kids were playing with their favorite toys over and over and never even looked at the extras in the closet.

So what have I noticed as benefits to curbing my urge to buy? For starters, I'm a lot happier without a lot of unnecessary clutter taking over my life and without a tsunami of stuff constantly coming into the house. I have a lot more time to spend doing things that are free and don't involve packaging or upkeep (swimming at the Y yesterday, trips to the library, walks around the neighborhood--it might only be 21 degrees but a girl can dream, right?)

Day 56: The GFC joins a gym

                                                    Check out your closest location!

We learned recently that we get an excellent deal through both work and insurance to get a family membership at the YMCA.

Cue song playing on repeat in your brain for 18 hours straight. You're welcome.

Anyway, before we commit, we got a three day free pass. In anticipation of this, I went to the store and stocked up on the latest in workout clothes. Stay-dry, wicking, what-have-you, I bought it.

Oh wait, that wasn't me. Yeah...I was the one faced with the awesome choice between a Menards shirt and swimming shorts or my painting clothes.

To clear up the suspense, I went with the Menards sponsored ensemble but threw in the paint splattered sneakers just for fun.

In retrospect, I chose wisely. I think my paint clothes might have been a little too conspicuous. But I can guarantee I won't be consuming the latest in gym wear just to get in shape. Even if people stare at my painting shirt circa 2003.

Day 55: How Pinterest saved my morning

I'm having a gaggle of kids over tonight.

Gaggle=five

I'm making chicken strips and macaroni and cheese and a vegetable for dinner. Admittedly, I'm not much of a fan of cheddar cheese sauces. They tend to harden or be so watered down with milk that they lack flavor.

But being the slowly-getting-there healthy cook that I am apsire to be, I don't have Velveeta in the house.

I was planning on admitting defeat and running to the store to pick some up (can't disappoint the gaggle, after all) when I happened to remember a recipe I pinned to Pinterest lo these many months ago.

It's not half bad, especially when made with sharp cheddar. I read the reviews and one stated it needed salt. After a perfunctory taste (yes, at 8 a.m.) I didn't find that to be true at all.

Thanks Pinterest, for saving me not only untold sodium but also my reputation with macaroni loving kids and a trip to the store.

Day 54: Six degrees of bacon

I like it when each meals provides a stepping stone to the next.

This week, it all started with a package of bacon.

I cooked some up and put it into a pie plate filled with the remains of a bag of frozen hashbrowns. I added two half blocks of cheese left over from other recipes, leftover broccoli, and eggs and milk. Ta-da: quiche!

Tonight I threw some dried beans into the crockpot with the rest of the bacon. After cooking on low for 10 hours, I added some seasoned salt and served them with homemade cornbread muffins and sweet potatoes. 

Three days from now, those leftover beans (sans the largest pieces of bacon) will get mashed to become burrito filling. 

This week there was also a secondary story line involving stir fry made from leftover rice, leftover cooked veggies, and a minuscule amount of chicken left in the freezer after making BBQ crockpot chicken for sandwiches.

I'm sensing a theme: if you want to use up your leftovers, make lots of stir fry and quiche. And be willing to have a lot of non-recipe meals.

If you're not bringing home the figurative bacon, it helps when you can stretch the literal bacon.

Day 53: Bread of life

At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, I have a confession: Whenever I read the Bible sometimes, my mind automatically fills in qualifiers that aren't there.

"Land of (soy) milk and (sugar free) honey."

"I am the (gluten free) bread of life."

I didn't realize I was doing it until I was reading out loud and almost gave myself away. It has become such a habit when reading recipes that I guess I applied it to other areas of my life.

Then I started thinking this isn't so irrelevant (or irreverent) as I thought.

Mean thoughts, hateful attitudes, and selfishness have inflamed my brain and left behind a torn up, painful mess. Sounds an awful lot like celiac-of-the-mind. The good news is, we don't have to wait until we heal ourselves to find Jesus. We can find healing even for spiritual celiac disease.

John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Days 50-52: How green were our ancestors anyway?

I just took a couple of "highly scientific" quizzes online to find out how "crunchy" I am.

Word Origin & History

crunchy 

1892, from crunch. Student slang sense of "annoyingly intense abouthealth or environmental issues" is 1980s, short for crunchy granola;not entirely pejorative at first.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

It seems there is some question as to whether or not this is a demeaning title. I would hope that I am not annoyingly intense.

The quizzes agreed with me: not only am I not annoyingly intense, I'm apparently not all that crunchy. One quiz said "you are basically normal but keep trying and you'll get crunchier." This is open to debate, as I checked the boxes yes for cloth diapers and washable rags/napkins. Apparently, not having a homebirth cancels it out. Oh well, win some, lose some.

So I started thinking about our ancestors and if you could really call them "environmentalists." Sure, they grew most of their own food, built their houses without power tools, and had the (highly esteemed in online quizzes) home births but what would their other options have been?

I'll admit I'm a little short on personal acquaintances who traveled west behind a team of oxen, but I wonder what would be said if I got a chance to talk to one of my fore-mothers.

A lot of green living is based on community and cultural norms. Sure, ditching the car sounds nice, but in the absence of a horse (or a reliable bus line) how feasible is it?

Although I don't have friends in the 150 year old age bracket, I have come across one or two individuals in their 60's who question my cloth diaper choice. Having grown up with only that option, it's curious to them why I would choose that, given the modern convenience also available. It's harder to convince an entire generation to do something radically different once they've tasted the easier way (and have the backing of those who have been there, done that with a lot less).

All this to say that we look back on the "good old days" with a kind of nostalgia and the feeling that we should somehow aspire to be like our ancestors. But I wonder if those ancestors had the choice, what would they have chosen?

Should we consider ourselves blessed to have the options, even if we sometimes feel like we have to choose between the lesser of two evils?

I know I'm grateful for modern medicine that would have saved many of those pioneers. Likewise, I'm grateful to have an option other than home birth. With any step forward, there are bound to be detriments. Isn't that one of the laws of motion?

No answers, just a lot of questions today.

Day 49: Raising a baby the cheapskate way

I was at the pediatrician today getting a weight check done for Little Girl. She had fallen off her curve for awhile and this was a follow up to make sure she was back on track. As suspected, she is perfectly fine. Hooray!

Anyway, this caught my eye for many reasons: first, it's free. It should be. It's a catalog selling Babies R Us items. Second, I wanted to find out what was essential to have for a baby, albeit in retrospect.

I think as a new mom to be, I would have been overwhelmed by this 40 page tome. As an experienced mom, I was frustrated by it.

In the first place, there's no objectivity. Step two in preparing for baby (after analyzing how much space you have available--a step I had completed six months prior to pregnancy) is to register (guess where?).

After a quick flip through, I realized I had done basically none of the required steps to prepare for either of my children.

On buying nursery furniture: "After selecting the crib, purchase matching furniture." Matching what? The crib? Or the mother to be's haphazard personality? I was lucky enough to get a quality hand-me-down dresser from my grandma when she moved to a nursing home. It only needed new hardware. The shelves were built in to the house. The rocking chair was Early-2000's-Resale-Shop style (ugly cushions replaced by yours truly).

On monitors: "Even if you live in a small space, it's nice to have a monitor to know what's going on in the nursery." Whoever wrote the ad copy already sensed the objections from minimalists and tried his or her hardest to convince us to second guess ourselves. Though they were born in different houses, both our babies have slept one wall and within two to twelve feet from us at any given time. Believe me, I knew what was going on in the nursery at all times. This was especially evident during Big Girl's "put herself to sleep by kicking the wall" phase. In full disclosure, though, I did eventually buy a dirt cheap one secondhand when I was doing a lot of gardening during naptime. I expect to be able to re-sell it for basically what I paid.

I think it's fine for moms to be to want to be prepared and to make a list of what they consider essentials. But like parenting advice, some help is best when it comes from friends and family, not a company trying to sell stuff.

And when it comes down to it, there are only a handful of necessities when it comes to raising a baby:

That's right, a pack and play, designer bibs, and twelve microscopically different styles of bottle.

Oh yeah, and food. Something to wear. Some arms to hold it. And love.

Days 47-48: Today I am...

Shamelessly reading the Little Golden Book "Frozen" (from the library of course) so I can finally get up to speed on this movie. Big Girl saw it with a friend and was unable to effectively describe the plot. Thus, my reading of the Cliff's Notes version.

Using my Goodwill's 10% off a certain amount coupon to buy some Christmas presents. Yes, folks, it's that time already.

Making arrangements to sell several items I cleared out of my kitchen cabinets last week. Hello, extra $8 and goodbye, clutter.

Enjoying 45 degrees. Time to get to shoveling!

Day 46: So many ways to be a good compactor

I mentioned yesterday that I had been reading a book called No Impact Man. There are a lot of concepts that ring true with me in this book (and some I take with a grain of salt).

One quote from the book as follows really summed up my feelings on trying to be a good neighbor, a good steward of the earth, a good parent, a good-whatever-else:

"I went into this project wondering if I could make a difference. But the question isn't whether or not I make a difference. The question is whether I want to be the type of person who tries. We can all make a difference. We all have the responsibility to make a difference. You might think the responsibility part is oppressive, but I began this experiment, in part, as an expression of my victimhood and powerlessness. To understand that I can make a difference is so freeing."

The project he refers to is a year-long experiment to make no impact (carbon footprint) on the earth while living in the middle of New York City. Some components were eating locally, buying items without packaging, walking everywhere, and turning out the electricity and using solar power.

I used to think things were all or nothing and I found that I was discouraged at my perceived "failures."

I forgot my reusable bags and had to use two paper bags to carry home my groceries. Guess I should just give up on being a good steward of the earth because I stink at it anyway. No, how about remembering all the times I did bring my bags and focusing on that instead?

I eventually bought two area rugs brand new. Guess I should just quit The Compact now. No, I made a thoughtful purchase of a quality product which will now hopefully enable me to use certain rooms that were just too cold before.

We all have the ability to make a difference and we all have the ability to "fail" at making a difference. Will we focus on the attempts or the failures?

To paraphrase a quote on parenting: "There are no ways to be a perfect Compactor but many ways to be a good one."

Day 45: My neighbor's oxen

I've been reading this really interesting book lately called No Impact Man.

I don't share all his political views but much of the content is food for thought. I'll post more about this book later but at one point he brings up the idea of having a system for sharing items between neighbors. He used the example of one person owning a lawnmower and renting it out to various people.

I had this idea myself last fall when we were raking mountains of leaves out of the backyard. We have a leaf scooper thing that attaches to the lawnmower and drags leaves into piles. We also have a leaf mulcher. Our neighbors do not have one. They have a snowblower. We do not.

Hmmm. While I may not need everything my next door neighbor owns and he may not need everything I own, who's to say that someone a street over might not need a leaf mulcher. They in turn might have a turkey roaster that I might need only once every other year.

I wish there was a way to formally set up a system of bartering and borrowing.

My concern is that people wouldn't be on board with it. I recently saw a request for a special occasion outfit on a Facebook page. I offered the loan of a dress in the right size, with the stipulation that I wanted it back. The other person thanked me but said she was looking to buy instead. Personally, I would have jumped at the chance to rent (for just the pick up/return trip). I could get use out of it and then not have the job of disposing of it later. To each their own, though, and that's why I'm a little concerned this idea might not catch on.

However, I'm really inspired by the concept, and think I might be the person to give it a push and see where it goes. Maybe we wouldn't have to covet our neighbor's oxen if we could borrow them every now and then.

Day 44: Pacing myself

Big Girl is into Magic School Bus lately. And by "into" I mean, really, really crazy about it. She got an audio book from the library and has pretty much worn it out.

My first inclination was to check half.com or amazon to try and score used copies of the whole series. I used to love Magic School Bus! It's something we can share together! Hey look: there's a copy for a penny!

Wait a minute. Don't we have this thing called a library? (Obviously that's a rhetorical question since I know we have a library. That's where I checked it out in the first place.)

There will be so many interests that come and go. I love the fact that she loves reading. I love that she loves reading books I used to love reading. (Apparently I also love to use the word "love" as many times as possible.) But there's no need to own these things--at least not right away. I'm pacing myself in watching her interests develop and supplementing as necessary by borrowing.

Day 43: Who's selling your product?

I fight against character licensing regularly. I don't care so much if my kids' clothes have pictures of Dora on them. In fact, I found a very nice Dora T-shirt at Goodwill when Big Girl was going through her phase. I had a Miss Piggy shirt when I was three. So it's not that I'm violently opposed to characters in all shapes and venues.

The blatant marketing to kids is what bothers me. I just want my kids to grow up knowing they can buy CVS brand toothpaste or Dollar Tree shampoo (or use baking soda/Dr. Bronner's!) without their quality of life suffering.

Besides, sometimes the marketing just doesn't make sense!

Is a character from a movie called "Tangled" really the best choice for marketing your no-snarl shampoo??

Day 42: Love

On this day of love, there wasn't much to go around.

In the morning, I got an angry message from a stranger who felt I was cheating on a transaction we were attempting to complete. (I wasn't). It was an apparent glitch in communication between our computers.

Side note: the internet is a strange place. The ironically named "Facebook" is filled not with faces but with random pictures of beaches and political views. Ever had a one inch square picture of someone's cat "yell" at you?

In the afternoon, I got a jury summons. This isn't actually a bad thing. All my life I have wanted to be on a jury. In fact, when I was working, I was disappointed when others got to go and I didn't. The getting paid double part might have been a factor in my jealousy, I'll admit. I'm glad to finally be called, though the timing is a little off at the moment.

What did we do for Valentine's Day? Had a nice conversation and watched a show on Netflix together. What did we get each other? Absolutely nothing. It was just a normal day (after smoothing feathers and figuring out my jury duty dilemma). I'm honestly glad, and this isn't passive aggressive wife-talk for "my husband didn't bother to get me anything so I'm just going to pretend like I don't care."

Our gift giving tends to be long term. Four years ago for Christmas I got a vacation to New York City, where I'd always dreamed of going. Instead of getting knick knacks for every occasion, I like to think we are accumulating "points" toward some sort of big adventure.

Days 40-41: the spice of life

Or maybe the spice of blandness. After all, these have been in the spice rack since the day I opened them at my wedding shower...8 1/2 years ago.

As you might be able to surmise, I spent an afternoon cleaning out the kitchen, including the painstaking job of washing and re-labeling spice jars. I tossed a bunch of coriander that never got opened and refilled the jar with seasoned salt. A much better use of counter space, I must say.

I also pared down my kitchen utensils to what I actually use. I had a collection of vintage kitchen items, some of which I actually use. A lot of them, though, just took up space. My parents led the way by cleaning out their kitchen to the essentials. It's a joy to help cook at their house because what you need isn't buried under what you don't. I'm hoping for the same experience myself.

We were down to one car (again) for the last couple of days. I'm envious of those who can live with one car (or none!) Our area is just not walkable, though. The closest grocery store is about a mile and a half and there is no sidewalk. That grocery store is super expensive, too, so I'm not sure if it would even out in the end.

Days 36-39: 10 things I'm thankful for

1. Goodwill, just when I thought you couldn't get better, you go and introduce racks sorted by size!! You just saved me twenty minutes each visit plus untold frustration...when I find that perfect thing...in the wrong size...

2. Not one, but TWO friends who invited me to a get together and prepared a special gluten free dish. And I'm not talking about making something naturally gluten free. No, I'm talking about cherry cobbler...and pizza. Yum!

3. Our neighbor who plows three house lengths of street whenever the snow gets bad. Around here, that means pretty much twice a week. He's due for some homemade cookies ;-)

4. The library. Yesterday in a sermon, one of our ministers recommended a book by saying he "wasn't disappointed in the eight dollars he spent." I had already planned to look and see if the library offered the book. If not, maybe if enough of us want to read it, we could chip in a dollar each and buy it from half.com and share it.

5. Sell by date meat. I happened to be in the right place at the right time and scored ground beef for a fantastic deal. Some went into dinner that night and the rest got frozen.

6. My broken dishwasher. Yes, really. Because if it's not in the sink, it's in the cabinet. Nothing like knowing where all your dishes are, especially if you don't have a lot.

7. Cloth diapers. I've sung their praises before, but since I currently have a 19 month old fascinated with the toilet, it's time to invest in some trainers. Old diapers can be resold or passed along to someone in need with no waste.

8. Hand me downs. Let's face it, the United States is not facing a huge shortage of girls' clothes. Some of the clothes currently in my daughter's closet are on their third wearer (at least since I picked them up at the consignment shop or received them in a huge trash bag from someone cleaning out their closets). Who knows how many kids wore them previously.

9. The internet. I really admire the author of the Tightwad Gazette. She had to be frugal pre-Freecycle, pre-Craigslist, pre-Facebook garage sale pages. In some ways, I think the internet makes life harder by raising expectations, in many ways, it's an enabler for us cheapskates. Though some of the excitement goes out of it when I can search for "used brown rainboots size 10" and find seven pairs in ten seconds. Pre-internet, there was an element of surprise. Sure, those rainboots might turn up for cheap, but what would they look like?

10. My family, love, etc. All the traditional stuff. I had to put that in there somewhere.

Day 35: I thought this would be a piece of cake

Gluten free of course. And make that vanilla, not chocolate.

I figured sticking to The Compact would be no big deal. After all, I never thought of myself as much of a consumer/shopper.

Boy, how wrong I was.

Yesterday, I went to sort clothes for the thrift store and (as part of our volunteer "duty", felt compelled to shop). In two hours I considered purchasing (and ultimately rejected because I had no cash) the following items:

New with tags Colts jacket.

A set of Corelle dishware in a pattern that matches six cups I already own.

A rug designed for playing cars

A pure wool sweater that didn't make the cut and was therefore being "baled" (after reading Overdressed, I vaguely know what this means). I wanted to unravel it for wool yarn, by the way. Or wear it to an Ugly Christmas Sweater party (after mending the giant hole, that is.)

A couple pairs of shoes in the kids' sizes

At one point, I wondered if the friend I was with wondered "Doesn't she do anything but shop?"

Honestly, I do more than I realized. Although since I am not buying new, it does become more of a process to shop. Look at ten items before buying one. Reject most of it but always have your eyes open because Christmas comes sooner than you realize and Walmart and Amazon aren't there to bail you out (in my pretend world at least).

But I really do find it harder than I thought to give up the thrill of the hunt. Which probably explains why I am super excited about the fantastic deal I can score on toilet paper at CVS tomorrow.

In the meantime, instead of shopping, maybe I'll bake a cake.

Day 34: Menards

The other day, I semi-cheated. I stopped at Menards to browse their selection of rugs. We are in need of a large one as our hardwood floors get super cold in the winter and this isn't something I come across frequently at Goodwill.

Plus, we have a large balance on a gift card.

Plus, I love-times-a-hundred Menards.

Apparently, I was meant to stay on the straight and narrow because I found nary an area rug in the size and pattern I needed. I did find, however, that there is truly nothing I need at the moment. Not even free-after-rebate managed to lure me in after all the work I've put into decluttering.

I've got gadgets and gizmos aplenty. I've got who-sits and what-sits galore.

So thanks, Menards, for your selection of random house renovating tidbits that I couldn't find used in a million years, such as a cap for the toilet drain pipe to prevent sewer gas from escaping. Not that I would necessarily want that used, come to think of it. But everything else will remain within your walls, and not mine.

Day 31-33: a little bit of everything

My entryway: before. Complete with classy "old towel rug" and boots scattered all over.

My homemade coat rack is doing a booming business these days.

Day 31: Sorting clothes for a charity giveaway makes me recommit myself to The Compact. All these clothes, many with tags still on or in excellent used condition. Who needs the mall?

While sorting, one of my friends discovers a birthday banner that got mixed in. Since it's not clothing, we aren't including it in the giveaway. She decides to keep it for an upcoming birthday party.

"Is so-and-so having a Spiderman themed party?" asks someone else.

"He is now!" declares my friend. Way to go, fellow make-do-er!

Day 32: Who needs expensive sports equipment? Bobsledding can, in fact, be performed on one's backside, as I learned en route to get the mail. The resulting stiff neck (and lawsuits?) might prevent this from becoming an Olympic event. Though if it ever catches on, this is my kind of sport. Nothing needed except a well padded coat and possibly a helmet.

I talk to my mom on the phone about possible spring break destinations. One of our locations is near an Ikea.

"I can only window shop," I remind my mom.

"That's okay," she says. "I might be flying, so I'll be window shopping too."

Day 33: Decide it's high time to paint my entry way. Unfortunately, the floors will be some of the last things to go, but maybe with a fresh paint job on the walls and a rug, it will be somewhat more welcoming.

Do a little shoveling of the sidewalks and am thankful for the good pair of boots my mom purchased when I was 15 years old. I didn't need them much in the south but they are getting a workout now. With shoes old enough to get a driver's license, for them to still be in excellent shape is a testament to good workmanship. I would rather have one pair of well made boots than 16 shoddily made pairs that end up in the landfill.

Day 30: Why I go to the grocery store more often

I've started doing something completely contradictory to most frugal advice: I go to the grocery store twice a week.

Here's what had been happening lately:

Make a list for the week
Attempt to shop for the entire week
Come home, fill the fridge to capacity, thereby accidentally hiding the highly perishable in the back and forgetting it (cilantro, I'm looking at you)
Start to make dinner one night and realize I forgot to buy something central to a recipe (say, beef for beef stroganoff)
Have to go back to the store anyway (often last minute)

So if you can't beat it, might as well work with it. For the next few weeks at least, I'm going to remind myself that I'm not traveling the Oregon Trail in a covered wagon and I do have several grocery options highly accessible. For the most part, I batch errands, but in these days where the endless cycle of wake up-breakfast-playtime-errands-naptime-playtime-dinner consumes my days, I just don't have the ability to shop only on one marathon day. So I'll combine one grocery run with a trip to the library and another with a trip to the bank/post office/playgroup.

Also, if I'm only thinking a few days out, I won't be as tempted to overbuy.

Bonus: no more slimy cilantro languishing in the back of the crisper piled under the green beans and grapefruit.

Day 29: Attention all parents of cloth diapered girls!

I have a tip for you! 

I've been having the hardest time finding pants that fit a cloth diaper bum that don't also drag the ground.

Note: Skinny jeans on cloth diapered toddlers=no good. It is never advisable to resemble the letter P when viewed sideways. That is, if you can even wrestle the things onto the kid in the first place. Little Girl is 18 months and I can't even find 2T pants that fit her right. I've been doing sweatpants for the most part.

I do have a random pair of corduroy pants that fit her fine, though. I was pondering why this is when suddenly it dawned on me. They are boys' pants! 

It makes sense that boys' pants would be cut bigger and maybe even have a larger waist. So I guess I will be searching the boys' section of Goodwill now, looking for pants that look even slightly feminine. Good thing she has a lot of ruffly shirts to wear with them.

Day 28: Why baking my own bread isn't as bad as I thought

I feel frustrated sometimes by feeling like I'm choosing between two equally annoying options: I can spend two hours baking bread or I can spend five dollars per very small loaf.

Lately I've been making a lot of my own baked goods. Yes, my time is worth more than $2.50 an hour, but I like knowing what goes into my bread (or anything, for that matter). Plus, even though it seems inconvenient, it's sometimes a small oasis in my day. I like being forced to slow down and think about what I'm doing.

I also have to conserve my daily bread allowance and make a conscious choice when to spend it. When I was buying a loaf of wheat bread, a loss of a few slices was no big deal. I could always buy another huge loaf at the store for a dollar. Nowadays, whether it's a loaf I spent my time or (a lot of) my money on, I cringe if it molds or someone takes one bite and throws it out.

I'm sure it's helped me to make better dietary choices as well. When the bread was cheap and ever present, I'm sure I chose that over something that might have been better for me. Now I have to decide if my craving for bread is worth the time.

Here's the bread I make when I want to have some on hand for sandwiches. The recipe can also be converted to hamburger buns. I haven't tried it that way yet, but plan to in the summer.