Can I Blend In?

This past weekend we spent in Boise Idaho – the second time we have been there in a month.

After our first visit , I left with this overwhelming feeling that I could see myself  living there – it’s a college town, has a very artistic edgy subculture, and rush hour traffic does not even exist.

After this weekend, I am rethinking that ever so slightly.   I never really thought it a big deal to up and move but it seems like the older we get, the more ingrained we become with our geographical locations and the stereotypes they provide which become so  embedded in us that gradually over time we don’t realize it.    Am I truly a hard-core mid-westerner and I am just figuring this out?

While in Boise, we attended a dinner party with our daughter and her dancer friends along with their parents who were in town for the ballet.  It ended up being a delightful evening, even though there was a tiny amount of angst thrown in the mix – my husband and I had never met these two couples before in our lives or their children.  Outwardly is seemed like we had a lot in common, having children as ballet dancers as the common thread.   We lived in different parts of the country however; my husband and I Mid-westerners and they being west coasters, but that didn’t really matter.   I have no problems meeting new people, we are all adults and the evening went just fine.   On the menu was elk which was hunted in the Boise foothills and prepared on the outdoor grill.

Before attending the party, my daughters boyfriend mentioned that he should visit his grandmother in Oregon – barely an hour away from Boise.  He quickly dismissed the idea, stating she is a hippie type and her home town is just too hard core for him.   She’s a grandmother and hippie type?  What exactly does that mean?  When pressing him to explain, he could not articulate it other than to say  “Oregon is just too out there for me.” I found myself thinking – really?  Where have I been?

After attending the dinner party though, I had even more food for thought.   After finishing a discussion about the elk we were eating, I proceeded to find out that both couples I had just met raised some type of farm animal in their backyards of all places – one raised turkeys, the other rabbits. Not only did they raise them, they farmed them and described how delicious they tasted.  I looked at my daughters boyfriend with a worried look that stated “really?”  and he proceeded to tell me that his family  raised chickens when he was growing up.   What was this?  Is this something I would feel I had to do should I move to Boise?  Does everyone out there shoot their dinner and have a strong tie to farm animals?

This is not standard practice in suburbia Illinois, or in any of the other various mid-western suburbs I have lived in.   I felt like I had a third eye sticking out of my head, a big “I’m from the mid-west and I don’t farm animals in my backyard” sign tattooed to my back.   Granted I did have a huge vegetable garden when my girls were growing up – but an animal raising, from backyard to table type lifestyle other than the occasional domesticated dog and cat animal raising experience?   Just to be sure about this perception of animal husbandry I had about Boise and the surrounding area,  the next day I asked my daughter’s neighbor across the street  if she raised any type of farm animal in her backyard, and she said no but pointed to her next door neighbors and said  “they raise ducks”.

That sealed the deal for me.  This is not to say that everyone in Boise and the surrounding area partakes in this type of lifestyle, but it is a new twist for me on the “I”ll simply up and move anywhere and blend in” notion that I have.

Making It Count

Sounds cliché – right?  Make every minute count.  I guess I never really got that until recently, and I continually struggle with achieving this on a daily basis – that’s right – a daily basis.  I think what comment I go back to when I need to remind myself to enjoy my life is my sister saying to me “I can’t tell you how many things I said no to because I wanted to stay home and clean my house.”  That sounded horrible when I heard those words, but  I must admit, I was in the “must stay home and clean mode” until the past year and a half, when I lost both of my parents.

After my parents passing, I thought – if they both could speak to me now, what would they say about missed opportunities?  Did they have any regrets?  That got me to thinking about things I’m glad I did, and what things I know I missed out on.  Two things stand out in my mind:

One thing I didn’t go to and should have:
My dear friend, Kevin, died when I was only 27 years old.  The last opportunity I had to see him, I was tired and opted to stay home. He died the next week.  This bothers me to this day.

One thing I didn’t want to go and am so glad I did:
Getting a chance to hear Barry Williams, a.k.a Greg Brady – that’s right – Greg Brady – perform at a local bar.  It was a seedy event, but my friends called me to go and I went rather begrudgingly.   It ended up being such a  fun night and such a memorable one.  I ran into people I hadn’t seen in ages and I even got my picture and a quote in the local newspaper.  That goofy event truly was one of  the more memorable I have had in years and it still keeps popping up in conversation – remember when we saw Greg Brady?

Don’t I look like I’m having tons of fun?? (yup –  that’s me on the right with one of my besties.)

I guess I could keep waxing on about missed opportunities, but there is no need.  Try to make this mantra part of your daily philosophy.   Once you do, it really does become engrained in your consciousness and dictates, at least for me, my decision-making.  As a support for daily positive living, visit Tiny Buddha, a website whose slogan is “Simple Wisdom for Complex Lives’.

MAKE IT COUNT!

Too Much Baggage

This post relates to my “Busy Sunday” post on Sunday, September 24 about having too much stuff.  That Sunday, I recall, my husband was organizing our garage and I was in the process of throwing things away.  I probably should have followed up after that post with this one, but as in life, my mind tends to wander and follows an interesting path that takes me from point A to point D and then back to B.

This past weekend I was faced with rainy weather which squelched my plans to work in the yard.  I was left with an afternoon of being inside.  That prompted me think of “what can I do?”,  which prompted me to think about the basement of our house I guess because I don’t go down there too much and I neglect it often.  So, on this very rainy Sunday, I had the time to devote to something and I decided – the basement it is.  I have always wanted out from under all the junk that disappears down there.

As I stared at all the items in the basement that have been there for years, sentenced to the remainder of their lives without use, I made a list of what I needed to get rid of:   Stuffed animals, old running shoes, used soccer equipment, boxes of greeting cards, electronics, paint, books, DVDs, and receipts.  After compiling this list, I dashed upstairs, turned on my computer, sent a few texts, and between Google and my iPhone, I was able to compile a list of recycling options for all of these items.  Most of my recycling efforts are local, but you can find a similar result with a search in your area, I’m certain.  I tried to find recycling centers that are drop off so there is no postage involved. On with the list:

Stuffed Animals:
I hope you can find one of these SAFE (Stuffed Animals for Emergencies Incorporated) Chapters in  your area.   Operating in over 20 states, Chapters is an organization that offers a safe haven and support services to abused or troubled women and their children. Donated stuffed animals benefit kids from these families who are faced with  frightening situations and need comforting. Go online to find a SAFE Chapter near you.  The website also offers guidelines on how to clean stuffed animals.

Old Running Shoes:
Nike’s slogan for reUse A Shoe is “WORN OUT.  PLAY ON.”  What a fabulous slogan for an extremely  well thought out recycling program.   Visit their site to find a drop off location near you – 28,000,000 shoes have been collected since 1990.
reUse A Shoe

Gently Used Soccer Equipment:
I have used this organization in the past, and the donation made me feel really good, although there is some postage involved.  My youngest daughter played soccer from elementary school to high school and we had several good soccer balls, shoes, shin guards, bags and other items to donate to someone who really needs them. Check out GOALS/Haiti – an organization that  works with kids and communities in Haiti to improve their quality of life and empower them to make long-term changes.  You can organize a soccer donation drive within your community or make an individual donation.  This is a very worthy cause.  The shipping label is downloadable.

Greeting Cards:
For years, my parents sent me boxes of greeting cards.  My mother gave generously to many organizations and as a thank you, her charity of choice sent her greeting cards as a thank you.  I used as many cards as I could over the years, but I still had leftovers.  My co-worker told me about a new and used greeting card recycling program through St. Jude’s Ranch for Children (a residential facility for abused, abandoned and neglected children)  This facility offers a program  to teach entrepreneurship skills to children, having them participate in making new greeting cards by removing the front and attaching a new back.   I shipped off about 3 boxes this week to them.  Read the fine print though, cards by Hallmark, Disney or American Greeting are not accepted.

Electronics:
Electronic recycling centers and drop off locations are readily available if you search for them.
Living in Lake County, Illinois, I use SWALCO (Solid Waste Agency of Lake County).  SWALCO offers recycling programs as well as recycling drop off facilities.  Over the years, I have dropped off old cell phones, as well as old TV’s, computers and even a few slide carousels.

Paint:
There are many paint recycling centers throughout the country.  SWALCO, (see above) in Lake County, Illinois has paint collection events, where they accept Latex paint.  ACE Hardware also accepts latex paint, but charges a $2.50 fee per gallon. If you are wondering if that $2.50 is a tax deduction, Earth 911.com is a great website to find out about tax deductible recycling donations.

Books:
There are many book collection events throughout the country, but the best place to drop off books is your local library.  Our local library accepts used paperbacks and hard cover books.  Also – try your commuter rail system.  Metra, in Chicago, has book shelves at many of its covered stops and you can drop off books and grab a new one to read as you train it.

Home Movies
This isn’t a recycling issue as much as a space issue.  We have dozens of VHS home movie tapes that fill an entire bookshelf in the basement, and since we no longer have a VHS player, we have no way to watch them.  While you can by a VHS video converter, I didn’t want to purchase yet another piece of electronics that I would have to learn and use for a limited time only.  I found iMemories, a video transfer service that converts VHS to DVD and allows online video sharing.  I went to their site, downloaded the shipping label, sent the media, and viola! – the movies are digitized and ready for viewing.   iMemories does ship your original media back to you to dispose of how you wish.  Note – iMemories might not be the least expensive option but I found it easy, convenient and worth my time.

Receipts
Here is another item that has become a space issue. Over the years, I have filled many shoeboxes with receipts and documents. Many of the items I threw away, and the remainder I decided to digitize, similar to my VHS tapes.  I downloaded the Shoeboxed app and I plan on joining the 500,000+ people worldwide using Shoeboxed to streamline accounting and bookkeeping. It is a fast way to turn a pile of receipts into digital data to save you time, money and hassle.

I hope some of these suggestions help you.  The items we possess become a labyrinth of baggage that we sometimes lose our way or find it difficult to get to the exit – the end to junk!