Buy Nothing

Okay, I just joined cruchey's buy nothing challenge.

Here are the rules:

• No new clothes
  
• No new gadgets
  
• No new furniture or housewares
  
• No salon services (except haircuts)
  
• No new makeup
  
• No new tools
  
• No whatever the hell else people buy
  
• No eating out (!)

I can live with out a lot of these. I just bought new makeup from my mom. I need a hair cut, but I never get anything else done to myself. I can't remember the last time I bought a gadget. I have all the furniture I need and people are giving me housewares. Tools are not high on my "want list" and well, I need to stop buying random crap anyway. I only anticipate two problems: no new clothes, and no eating out.

The last one is big for our family. I was raised eating out at least once a week. In recent years our family had fallen into eating out at least 4 times a week and now that I have moved out that is probably still the rule. No, we don't eat out every night. Tuesday is girls night out so we eat out with my mom. Then well, I don't really cook that much on the weekends. So yeah, big life style change ahead.

That leads into the first big probalem, new clothes. I am not a close hore. I hate shoping for clothes and I only get sick of looking at everything in my closet once a year. That is usally cured by me buying one or two new shirts, maybe some slacks. Alex on the other hand. She's a kid. Kids grow. A lot and often. She is going to need new shorts and jeans for school. So I guess this will be the frist time I take her to a thrift store to buy stuff. I'll have to report back on how that goes.

Light bulb

So when you take this long to post- blog ideas build up.

Last week Arduous posted on her blog about when she new that she wanted to start changing things. It happend while she was watching the Coberlt Report.

I got to thinking about when I had my moment of decision. I started out slowly, I'm still moving slowly. The moment when I felt like my everyday choices meant something, and there was something that I could change came after reading a post by Plastic Fish. She was takeing a count of her plastic use for the month. She has been trying to get to zero plastic and that month she had a plastic seal from a bottle, a plastic do-hicky that was a part of something she had purchused (before she realized the do-hicky was there), and one other thing that escapes me at the moment.

Anyway, weeks before that I had started reading No Impact Man. He was in the process of turing off his electricity. Already not buying anything, not creating any trash, composting with worms in his apartment, not using any carbon dioxide burning transpertation, and more. He seemed super human. What he was doing was cool, I felt his obervations offered a lot of insight into how one should live, but I wasn't there. I'm not in a place where I can avoid driving or not throw anything away. I'm not bring a tub of worms into my apartment, and I'm not completely turning off my A/C in the Texas summer.

There was something simple about Plastic Fish though. She was looking at her world,and avoiding plastic. It seemed simple. I got up from my computer and went into the coffee bar at work to make my coffee. I picked up my styrophome cup and filled it with ice, used two creamers that come in little plastic packages, got my coffee and then picked up the pastic stirer. I think put the plastic lid on and then reached for the plastic straw that was wraped in plastic.

Wow. Not so easy.

So the next day used one creamer and instead of a stirer I stired with my straw.

I then went to bringing my own cup that has a lid. I don't use a straw and on most days I don't use creamer at all. (I admit that there are days where I can't take it and I use it because I'm treating myself. I figure that if I'm that low, that creamer in my coffee will make it seem better, I need it.)

So from there I started looking at my trash. Now I take the trash out once a week. Not really because its always full, but mostly because I don't have a tub of worms in my apartment and things do start to make their presents known.

Freak Out!

I haven't posted in a while.

There is a whole lot of drama going on at work. This month they have been working on changing my job discription. That's fine, just don't fire me right now, but now I'm in a job I don't like more than the other one I didn't like. There is weird office tention that I know nothing about.

I guess to make it worse. I have been creating drama at home, by trying to make it all perfect and starting new projects left and right.

This weekend, as I was decoupaging a coffee table and then trying to figure out getting a sealant on it I had a light bulb moment. I have lost control. I'm like a manic person without the energy of the mania. I sat down last night and had a "come to Jesus" talk with my creative whims. "Look! I'm only 26. I have a whole life a head of me. Just because I think the table might look cool with pictures from our Disney trips doesn't mean it need to have those pictures right this minute." So this week will be about slowing down, breathing and just being.

Crunchy Chicken's summer challenge: Turn off your A/C.

This is my first summer in a place where I have total control over the thermostat. But this is Texas. Its hot. I didn't turn it off. I just turned it up. I don't want visions of a dead Gryffindor keeping me up at night. Honestly, 80 when I'm at work and 78 when I'm at home have worked great for me. Of course, I'll admit, that it really helps to be in an apartment with ceiling fans in every room. I will never again live without ceiling fans. They cool you off instantly.
I'll admit that the whole "keep yer cool" mode has not gone over well with everyone. My parents especially. They comment on how hot it is in my apartment. My dog must be on the verge of death. Alex will be lucky to survive. I admit, since the family gathering the other day where I caved and set the A/C at 70, I have been having second thoughts. Questioning my sanity. Is enduring the heat really worth it? I admit its more fun to curl up on the couch with a blanket than it is to sit at the table under a fan.
Then, this morning happened. I checked my mail. $60. You read that right. My electric bill was $60! I am NOT caving in to the A/C addicts of the world. I will not let them guilt trip me down to 70 again! I only paid $60 for electricity this month and my electricity isn't cheap. I decided to go with Green Mountain which is a company that invests in renewable resources like wind, thermal and even solar. I'm paying over 15 cents per kilowatt. My parents pay 13 cents per kilowatt. Their last bill was $400. They don't live in mansion. Just a very cold, very expensive 3 bedroom ranch. Considering the savings I think I can brave 4 more months of summer.

As American As Apple Pie

Michelle, Maila, Barak and Sasha Obama at their home in Chicago. Photo by AP

On July 4th Obama granted an interview to Access Hollywood were he sat down with his daughter's for the first time. The most important thing we learned? Obama is more of a pie man than an ice cream man. After his daughter Sasha (7) pointed out that, "Daddy, you don't like ice cream." Her sister, Malia (10) was quick to add, "but you like pie." Obama then confirmed, "Yes, I like pie." So there you have it folks. All this hand wringing over flag pins. His questionable stance during the national anthem. The terroristic "fist bump". It was for not. The man likes pie. What could be more American than that?

So last night I called Alex. We talked about her day, what we would be doing when she came back. Then I remembered:

Me: Hey, Alex. I saw an interview with
Obama and he said, "I like pie."

Alex: Are you serious! (She started giggling)

Me: Yep. He said it, for real and for true. "I like pie."

Alex: I knew he was Awesome!

Reading Lolita in Tehran

So I finished reading this memoir in books over the weekend. (Which by the way, I had an very fun and enjoyable 4th of July.) Before I added my review to my Good Books page, I read through some of the reviews. Have you ever had the feeling when you talked about something you had experienced with someone else and you got something completely different out of it? First I was surprised by all the negative reviews. Some where people complaining that she didn't analyse the books enough.(Um... its a MEMOIR not a book analysis). Other's felt that she was too self-centered or too self involved with her telling of life in Tehran during the revolution. (Um... its a MEMOIR not a history book).

I could go on, but instead of telling you why I didn't hate the book, I'll tell you why I liked it.

For one, it gives a really good picture of what its like to be a person. She paints a wonderful picture of the streets of Tehran, of their culture of the people, good and bad. She lets you into her world and asks you to see Tehran as human, as a town. Not as the Islamic Republic. It gives a face to a place that George Bush calls "Evil". Today (or yesterday?) the Iranian government tested missiles that are capable of caring nuclear bombs into Israel and other places in the regain. As the American and Iranian governments continue to beat the drums of war and push their people into mutual destruction, I'm glad that Nasif had a chance to write this book and publish it in American. I'm glad that "EVIL" has a face and a name. I hope this pushes people to stand up against the foreign policy of "Kill first, ask questions later." (Is that a Rambo quote or something? I'm sure I saw that in a movie.)

Cops

I called the police last night.

Now, to someone whose life is less sheltered than mine, you are probably thinking "so what?". But I have lived a sheltered life. I have never been in a situation before when I felt like calling the police would be helpful. Well, until yesterday.

After I got home from work yesterday I took Gryffindor (my dog) for a walk. There is a "hike and bike" trail across from my apartments. Its really cute. It goes behind the library. I passed a few soccer moms who were taking their kids to the park next door with the latest books in their PBS tote bags. Think Leave it to Beaver. That is probably why as I left the park and walked by the bayou what I saw didn't immediately struck me as a segment of COPS. There is a place on the bayou that is fortified by concrete. There was a teenage boy I would say between 13-15 (as I later told the cops). He had a dog with him. A clearly scared dog. Dennis the Menus? I hoped in the back of my mind. I stopped and looked at him. I made sure he saw me. I was really hoping the kid would think..."O crap" and just leave. He didn't though. I mean he kind of acted like that once he saw me standing there, staring. But I walked on. I got to the bridge, and around the corner and I heard the dog yelp. Gryffindor and I turned around and headed back to the kid and his dog. The kid was pulling his dog on the leash close to the edge. Closer and closer to the edge. The dog fell of the edge. I'm not good at estimating but it was probably a 20 foot drop. The dog was hanging by his caller I ran over there as the kid pulled the dog up by his leash. "Surely to God this kid is going to leave now." I thought. The kid didn't. He patted the dog on his head. Brushed stuff out of his hair and went back to trying to get the dog to walk to the edge. By now I was right across from him. I shouted over the water "Kid, if you don't leave right now and take that dog home, I'm going to call the police." I took my cell phone out for dramatic effect. "You are torturing that dog and its illegal." I probably sounded like a putz, but its the first thing that came to my mind.
I watched as the kid slowly left the concrete area and turned the corner to go into the park. I watched as he went through the gate that leads to multi-million dollar homes. I stood there and watched as he tried to come back. At this point I started to walk over to him. I wanted to grab the dog's leash and take him home with me. I wanted to follow the kid home and talk to his parents. Instead I walked over and made small talk for a minute. I was friendly as I studied is face, clothes and tried to estimate his height. His hair is really really short it looks like it was shaved and is growing back, brown. Blue eyes. Acne. 5'4" -5' 5". Round nose. Caucasian. Wearing a white Memorial High School 2004-2005 t-shirt. It looked faded. Blue jeans, and Nikes. From talking to him I think he is a little "off". Not "off" as in psycho, although he probably is, but "off" as in "special". Anyway I followed him out of the park. When we got to the library I turned to go by the park, he turned the opposite direction. I acted like I was walking away and I saw him turn to go around the library. I waited for a second. I went back to the water. I saw him heading over there. I yelled, "Have a safe walk home." I watched as he turned and walked back to the park again. I watched as he went through the gate to the multi-million dollar homes. I watched and waited for 10 minutes. Didn't see him again.
When I got home I couldn't get that image of the dog hanging off the cliff and that boy pulling him up by the leash. I got out the number for the village police. I called them and told them what I saw. I gave them my description of the boy and his dog. (A terror mix of some kind, short medium build with gray wiry hair). I told them I was worried he would go back there again or torture that dog somewhere else. They said they'd go over there. See if he went back, and keep an eye out. I told them I would too.

Something that struck me about this. I didn't call anyone later. My sister just called as I wrote this. She is being sued by the Easter Bunny. I didn't bring up the boy and his dog.

Upside Down and Backwards

I think its a testament to the craziness of the last few days that I am just now realizing that I miss-spelled yourself in the post below. I make no excuses for the fact that I cannot spell. I couldn't spell when I was in first grade and as I have told countless teachers since seventh grade, "I have excepted the limits of my abilities to guess what people were smoking when they made up the spelling of these words so it's not something I'm going to start worrying about now. I hope you realize that there were no standard spellings for things until the 20th century. The human race survived for a long time without it." Honestly. Spelling is new. I'm convinced it was made up to torture little children.

However, I do know that "Yourself" is not spelled "Yuoself". My gut reaction, when I opened the page just now was to change it, but now I'm not going to. I think the typo says something about my state of mind. My job is changing. I'm learning new things. I'm abandoning people I have worked for. I need to do things I told them I would do and haven't. I need to clean my office and get ride of things that I should have put in the file and didn't. I need to learn my new job and be the best IP paralegal they have had. Honestly. If I don't work out on this docket I will probably be fired. I don't want to be fired. I hate my job, but I love my paycheck and my medical benefits. IP is steady work with not a lot of over time. Perfect for a person who values her time more than money.

Anyway.

I have to get back to work.