I find myself a wee bit addicted to yet another forum for profiting from the innards of our closets, attic and garage. We don't have a local Craigslist, eBay can be a big hassle, and yard sales, though I love having them almost as much as going to them, are a lot of time and energy for usually not a lot of money. Especially if the newspaper fails to publish the ad, but that's another story. Some wonderful person took all this into consideration and created a Facebook group called Moore County Online Garage Sale and, as I said, I am addicted.
A camera. A license plate. Housewares, books, clothes, toys ... as fast as I can list these things, people are snatching them up. I've made about $200 this week, all off of stuff that was gathering dust. And I haven't even gotten to the big-ticket items like skis, speakers and TVs.
I've been in serious purge-mode this month anyway and I'm not sure why. The last week the kids were in school (before I knew about this group) I went through all their toy baskets and donated or consigned piles of the stuff they never play with for one reason or another. No matter how much decluttering I do it never feels like quite enough. This last round was a really good one, though. I really believe that having less stuff makes everything feel less chaotic. If nothing less, there are fewer toys to trip over.
Evan's awake!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
10
Apparently back in 2007 I wrote a letter to Matt via FutureMe.org for this day, our 10-year wedding anniversary. I had, of course, forgotten all about it, but it arrived in Matt's inbox right on time and he forwarded it to me. I got the biggest kick out of reading it. If you aren't familiar with FutureMe.org, check it out, preferably when you have a chunk of free time and are in a letter-writing mood. Trust me, your future self will thank you.
Today's (slightly modified) arrival:
Today's (slightly modified) arrival:
The following is an e-mail from the past, composed 4 years, 7 months and 10 days ago, on October 15, 2007. It is being delivered from the past through FutureMe.org
Hey babe!
I'm writing this on the afternoon of Oct. 15, 2007. I'm in the office and Bill is on the phone complaining that his car got towed this weekend. You just walked in here talking on your cell phone. You look hot in your J.Crew cords. You're talking about the fact that [censored] just got a DUI on his moped.
We're less than two months away from moving into Wilkes and I can't wait. You say we're going to be there two years, max. I bet we'll be there longer -- moving is such a pain, and there's no affordable land. Who was right?
Did we ever get around to building an office on the Dowd property (15/501)? We keep saying that project's going to get started "in a few months."
This month was notable because we started waking up early and drinking coffee before work. I love it. ...
So do we have four babies yet? As of this writing we're working on the first one. The plan is to have them in pretty quick succession. But they may have turned out to be 10 times as exhausting as we expected -- we may have stopped at two.
Am I still selling real estate? Did I ever get into magazine writing? Am I still blogging? Running? Are you? Are you still driving the Lexus? What kind of car did I get after the Acura?
Have we finished Foxcroft? Have you gotten better at golf? Right now we're together practically all day every day, and I'm so spoiled.
Are we going somewhere fun (without kids) for our 10-year anniversary? Maybe Europe? I hope so! Also, we need to remember to read the letter your dad gave us on our wedding day. ...
You are literally the best person and best husband I know of. Thank you so much.
It looks like I'm going to take Bill to pick up his car, so I'll end here. Happy anniversary, babe! You make me very, very happy, and I love you more than anything.
Love always,
Jenn
I'm writing this on the afternoon of Oct. 15, 2007. I'm in the office and Bill is on the phone complaining that his car got towed this weekend. You just walked in here talking on your cell phone. You look hot in your J.Crew cords. You're talking about the fact that [censored] just got a DUI on his moped.
We're less than two months away from moving into Wilkes and I can't wait. You say we're going to be there two years, max. I bet we'll be there longer -- moving is such a pain, and there's no affordable land. Who was right?
Did we ever get around to building an office on the Dowd property (15/501)? We keep saying that project's going to get started "in a few months."
This month was notable because we started waking up early and drinking coffee before work. I love it. ...
So do we have four babies yet? As of this writing we're working on the first one. The plan is to have them in pretty quick succession. But they may have turned out to be 10 times as exhausting as we expected -- we may have stopped at two.
Am I still selling real estate? Did I ever get into magazine writing? Am I still blogging? Running? Are you? Are you still driving the Lexus? What kind of car did I get after the Acura?
Have we finished Foxcroft? Have you gotten better at golf? Right now we're together practically all day every day, and I'm so spoiled.
Are we going somewhere fun (without kids) for our 10-year anniversary? Maybe Europe? I hope so! Also, we need to remember to read the letter your dad gave us on our wedding day. ...
You are literally the best person and best husband I know of. Thank you so much.
It looks like I'm going to take Bill to pick up his car, so I'll end here. Happy anniversary, babe! You make me very, very happy, and I love you more than anything.
Love always,
Jenn
"[We] feasted on love, every mode of it -- solemn and merry, romantic and realistic, sometimes as dramatic as a thunderstorm, sometimes as comfortable and unemphatic as putting on your soft slippers. No cranny of heart or body remained unsatisfied." - C.S. Lewis
Monday, May 21, 2012
Sum-sum-summertime
Three more mornings of preschool for the kids and then summer's unofficially here. It looks like we're going to be able to kick it off with a family trip to the beach this weekend. Friday is our 10-year (!) wedding anniversary and we're planning a trip for just the two of us to celebrate that but not until later this summer.
I actually have two new bathing suits this year for the first time in years so that's a nice upgrade. The one I've been wearing has been through two pregnancies with me, and a baby bump doesn't do a bikini any favors. Unfortunately, I never think about shopping for a replacement until we're at the beach, which is usually in July, by which time stores are selling fall clothes and the remaining bathing suits are on clearance and none of the tops match the bottoms and forget about finding your size. This year I remembered all this and ordered early.
With nine hours of free time remaining before school's out, I've got a big to-do list. Priority goes to things I can't do from home and things that are torture with two kids in tow.
I am thankful for the time I have to get stuff done while they're in school, but I'm also really looking forward to a whole wide-open unscheduled summer. I know structure is good for the kids but I feel like three meals and one nap a day provides plenty of routine to build our days around, providing enough consistency while allowing for spontaneous playdates, picnics, outings, errands, stroller runs or whatever else strikes our fancy.
I've also noticed that for some reason I seem to be more patient with the kids on the days they're not in school. It's counterintuitive but true. Sometimes I think I get so involved in doing my own thing while I'm not directly responsible for them that it makes me more selfish with my time, so that when I'm back with them there's been a subtle shift to thinking along the lines of "Taking care of them is getting in the way of what I want to be doing." Whereas on the mornings when I know I might not get 10 minutes to myself, I'm often pleasantly surprised, not only by how much time they do entertain themselves, but also by how much I enjoy their company when they're hanging out with me (if they aren't fighting).
Kate sent me this stanza of a Robert Louis Stevenson poem a long time ago and coincidentally, I happened upon it again just last week when I bought a copy of "A Child's Garden of Verses and Underwoods" at the Coalition. It's always reminded me of childhood summers:
"Happy hearts and happy faces,
Happy play in grassy places --
That was how, in ancient ages,
Children grew to kings and sages."
I actually have two new bathing suits this year for the first time in years so that's a nice upgrade. The one I've been wearing has been through two pregnancies with me, and a baby bump doesn't do a bikini any favors. Unfortunately, I never think about shopping for a replacement until we're at the beach, which is usually in July, by which time stores are selling fall clothes and the remaining bathing suits are on clearance and none of the tops match the bottoms and forget about finding your size. This year I remembered all this and ordered early.
With nine hours of free time remaining before school's out, I've got a big to-do list. Priority goes to things I can't do from home and things that are torture with two kids in tow.
I am thankful for the time I have to get stuff done while they're in school, but I'm also really looking forward to a whole wide-open unscheduled summer. I know structure is good for the kids but I feel like three meals and one nap a day provides plenty of routine to build our days around, providing enough consistency while allowing for spontaneous playdates, picnics, outings, errands, stroller runs or whatever else strikes our fancy.
I've also noticed that for some reason I seem to be more patient with the kids on the days they're not in school. It's counterintuitive but true. Sometimes I think I get so involved in doing my own thing while I'm not directly responsible for them that it makes me more selfish with my time, so that when I'm back with them there's been a subtle shift to thinking along the lines of "Taking care of them is getting in the way of what I want to be doing." Whereas on the mornings when I know I might not get 10 minutes to myself, I'm often pleasantly surprised, not only by how much time they do entertain themselves, but also by how much I enjoy their company when they're hanging out with me (if they aren't fighting).
Kate sent me this stanza of a Robert Louis Stevenson poem a long time ago and coincidentally, I happened upon it again just last week when I bought a copy of "A Child's Garden of Verses and Underwoods" at the Coalition. It's always reminded me of childhood summers:
"Happy hearts and happy faces,
Happy play in grassy places --
That was how, in ancient ages,
Children grew to kings and sages."
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Disclaimer
This new blog is really ugly. Soon I will make it look better. And soon I will start filling up this blank space.
But first, a disclaimer. I don't generally think of myself as a perfectionist, but I have to admit that when it comes to the written word and related projects, I am, often in ridiculous ways. I intentionally did not start baby books for Claire and Evan because I knew I'd never keep up with them and that would drive me crazy. I have started many actual diaries in my life but have thrown them all away because six months or a few years later I found them unbearable to read. (As if anyone's eighth-grade diary isn't cringe-worthy! -- Anne Frank excepted.) I majored in memorizing AP style, for crying out loud.
Nevertheless, I like blogging because it helps me document my life, and knowing people are reading -- or could be, at least -- or used to, anyway -- keeps me from throwing in the towel when I'm burned out. But the perfectionism still sneaks in, mainly in that I don't like going on the record, especially on the vast and permanent Internet, with thoughts and ideas and opinions that are not fully formed. Sometimes I don't even know an opinion was subject to change until three years down the road when I find that it has.
Writing things out helps me think things through, and I'm hoping to use this new blog, in part, as a place to sort of think out loud about things I haven't necessarily figured out. And don't worry, of course I'll still post kid pictures. All this to say, this blank space will fill up a lot faster if I can bring myself to hit the "publish" button even if it's not perfectly presentable, and I'm giving myself permission to do that. Consider yourself warned.
But first, a disclaimer. I don't generally think of myself as a perfectionist, but I have to admit that when it comes to the written word and related projects, I am, often in ridiculous ways. I intentionally did not start baby books for Claire and Evan because I knew I'd never keep up with them and that would drive me crazy. I have started many actual diaries in my life but have thrown them all away because six months or a few years later I found them unbearable to read. (As if anyone's eighth-grade diary isn't cringe-worthy! -- Anne Frank excepted.) I majored in memorizing AP style, for crying out loud.
Nevertheless, I like blogging because it helps me document my life, and knowing people are reading -- or could be, at least -- or used to, anyway -- keeps me from throwing in the towel when I'm burned out. But the perfectionism still sneaks in, mainly in that I don't like going on the record, especially on the vast and permanent Internet, with thoughts and ideas and opinions that are not fully formed. Sometimes I don't even know an opinion was subject to change until three years down the road when I find that it has.
Writing things out helps me think things through, and I'm hoping to use this new blog, in part, as a place to sort of think out loud about things I haven't necessarily figured out. And don't worry, of course I'll still post kid pictures. All this to say, this blank space will fill up a lot faster if I can bring myself to hit the "publish" button even if it's not perfectly presentable, and I'm giving myself permission to do that. Consider yourself warned.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Check
It's Saturday night. The kids have been asleep for hours, Matt is next door playing poker with the guys, and I'm close to finishing "Anne Sexton: A Self-Portrait in Letters." It won't end well.
I just made brownies for a late dinner/dessert and am waiting for them to cool off so I can dig in.
Don't have a lot to say right now, but I know from experience (as a habitual blog-starter) that the first post is always the hardest, so I figured I'd get it out of the way.
I just made brownies for a late dinner/dessert and am waiting for them to cool off so I can dig in.
Don't have a lot to say right now, but I know from experience (as a habitual blog-starter) that the first post is always the hardest, so I figured I'd get it out of the way.
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