Archives » 2011 » June
June22
word of the week
We have a chalkboard wall and have started doing a word of the week to enrich the vocabularies of our children.
June20
spending fast
We are spenders, not savers.
While I don’t think I’m necessarily BAD with money, I am not good with money by any stretch of the imagination. I think my problem is a total lack of self-control and total love for instant gratification. And then there’s laziness. Laziness leads to lots of dinners out buying Zoe a few more t-shirts so I have less laundry.
We are also now 6 people living on one person’s salary.
One thing I love about my husband is that he’s like I am in that when we do things we FUCKING DO THINGS! If we’re going to overhaul our finances, let’s FUCKING OVERHAUL THAT SHIT! There’s no half way. So we are going on a spending fast. No spending money on things that are not necessary until the end of 2011.
VERBOTEN
movie theater movies
donuts on sundays
ordering pizza
restaurants
gifts
clothes
home decor
baby gear
cable
house cleaner
We’re still working out a few of the kinks. Having kids adds a bit of a wrinkle so we’re deciding what we are willing to pay for and what they can pay for out of their allowances. A lot of times those little rats are rollin’ in it because, unlike us, they ARE savers.
GOALS
Our biggest goal is to learn to live comfortably within our means. Next goal is to get out of debt.
This is going to mean a lot of hanging out with friends in the park, making gifts, borrowing clothes, trading for things, and listening to Grateful Dead songs (not really). I’m hoping that it’ll help us to focus on our priorities (friends, family) and learn to live a life in line with our values. And all that other patchouli-scented horsepucky.
This is going to be A LOT harder than the get-rid-of-half project. I’ll keep you posted.
(also – it’s not lost on me that my previous post was about being addicted to baby gear – first step is admitting you have a problem?)
image from Pedlar’s by Gail Bryson.
June13
really? you compare that with heroin?
I used to be cool. Not really cool, but cool enough I think.
Now I’m so uncool I talk about how I used to be cool.
Anyway, doesn’t matter. It’s not that my personality is uncool per se, it’s that I just don’t have time to be cool. The movie/book High Fidelity nails it, I think, when Rob says, “…I agreed that what really matters is what you like, not what you are like… Books, records, films — these things matter. Call me shallow but it’s the fuckin’ truth…”
And I just don’t have time for books, records, films. What I have time for is breastfeeding, park playdates and baby gear. Understandably, however, I am always a little shocked when I find myself totally obsessing over something like finding the perfect stroller instead of obsessing over bands or books. I have become such a cliche.
[sidenote:I know I could spend the time I use to write this blog or read stroller reviews on books and albums and all of that but it's just not applicable to my daily life. The perfect stroller could vastly improve my daily life. Reading about a band - nada. No one I interact with on a daily basis gives a fuck about bands...unless you include The Fresh Beat Band because these people are under 4 years old.]
Now that we have established why I am not cool let’s talk about why on earth I might obsess over baby gear because it seems inherently stupid. See – finding the perfect piece of baby gear is like doing heroin. Not that I’ve done heroin, but I understand that the first time you do it it blows your mind and then every time AFTER that first time it’s not as good. But that first time was so awesome that you’re always trying to get back to that.
Bear with me here.
I have this cradle swing that was given to me by a friend before Zoe was born. I wasn’t even sure I needed it, but I took it anyway. Turned out that Zoe slept ONLY in this swing for the first 5 months of her life. Junie sleeps in this same swing for all of her naps. What I’m driving at here is that if you want to try and take my swing you’d have to pry it out of my cold dead hands. This thing fucking RULES. So much, in fact, that I am always searching for another piece of baby gear that is THAT good. See? Heroin. That swing is the first-time-one-does-heroin of baby equipment.
Baby gear is almost always flawed. I had 5 strollers and I hated all of them for different reasons. When I decided I would sell these strollers and buy one awesome stroller I knew I had to really throw myself into finding the right one…like diamond mining. Maybe if I find the right one it could be as good as the swing. And voila – it became my obsession.
So – you childless people (ha! what childless people read this blog?) – when you go to make fun of parents because they’re so uncool, just remember this post and instead of doing heroin, just try to find the right piece of baby gear.
photo by flickr user Alton S.
June10
short hairstyles for girls?
Are they any cute ones?
Look at my Zoe – isn’t she something?
I think her haircut is adorable. Except she refuses to pin it back and she chews on it and gets peanut butter in it and then we have to wash it all the time (which blows – believe me).
I’m thinking about cutting it shorter. Thoughts? Are mullets out?
June10
stupid blog, i will write you even though you are stupid
Ok, you who read this neglected blog – I’m going to start writing it again. Or maybe I won’t because promises are made to be broken, aren’t they? So I shan’t make any promises.
I think I want this blog to be an anti-lifestyle blog. So instead of detailing my amazing life party-planning, decorating my house, preparing meals and making treats, putting together cute outfits, traveling to exotic locales and so on (mostly because that life doesn’t exist), I will detail my life sitting around a messy house drinking coffee, reading blogs and trying to cope with my 3.5 year old ordering me around and screaming at me when I don’t comply.
My hope is that you will want to read it because you’ll relate, not because that’s what you will aspire to do right along with me. I don’t want to be a bad example and encourage laziness, sloth or ennui. God forbid.
