The compact crisis

Ok my compact days are numbered. I can't get out to buy used books and I MUST relearn all I ever forgot about horses, continue my urban chicken studies, manage my finances, find inner peace and read everything Dr. Oz and Don Ho has to say about health and serenity. Also, my trial memebership in Amazon Prime, which I am not going to renew, expires in a few days, so I must order books in order to get them a few days faster....LOL.

I haven't dumped the chicken idea-just postponed it until I can walk again. This is middle age, where sanity prevails. Of course, as with all things, sanity is relative.

I think I may be ready to settle down. I realize that I sort of live my life expecting it to change-renting, not buying, this is only temporary. What if I lived it like this was IT? I could always change my mind, right?

I have to say this-the Freecycle thing is a good idea, but full of deadbeats and weirdos. I only found a few people I was willing to give my address to. Some of them wanted me to drive out to meet them in order for me to GIVE them stuff-not even willing to drive over and pick up my bounty. Sheesh. And what happened to the idea of sharing...gimmee gimmeee gimmeee. For safety purposes, I am suspending freecycle efforts until I can walk again.

I really AM going to get a horse this time. That's the one thing I would hate to get to the end of my life and not have accomplished (now that I've seen the Great White Shark that is). And it makes sense to do it while I still have hopes of scrambling aboard.

I'm toying with the idea of finding a place to board where I can pull the scotty to on weekends and camp and ride. I'm also toying with the idea of the little 5 acre plot I always thought I would have. How did exploring the idea of less and returning to my roots (the scotty) turn into becoming a land baron?

My life story is a little like being lost in the forest, where you sometimes have to go in circles before you find the way out. Of course, the way out of life is death, and that doesn't sound appealing on a day like today where the sun is shining and the snakes are basking and the cat is cleaning her fur on top of a big pile of bills.

I do have one discovery worth sharing-it's the olive oil that kills the desire for sweets, not the dark chocolate. I ate some a couple of times yesterday and had to spit out my candy corn I indulged in this morning. So, on with the Olive oil!

Jay and Sue are bringing the girls over today so I need to wash out my armpits, pick up the paperwork and put it in a sensible pile, and charge up the camera. It will be nice to photograph kids for a change.

The Compact

Ok, I joined the DFW Compact group-was actually INVITED to join, probably because I post on Freecycle. I've been doing pretty good about casting off unwanted, unneeded things, but struggle with the buying new. So, maybe buying used items will force me to be more thoughtful about what I buy.

Thank GOD I just sent a big order in to Amazon.com before I was invited to join....Whew, and I just bought a new freezer for the frozen mice.....I did actually try to find a used freezer but finding one that small proved difficult, and the frozen mice were on the way......

As for the Urban Chicken project, does this mean I must recycle the coops? Building a chicken coop is going to be tough in a wheelchair but maybe I can barter some excess stuff for one.

Where did I GET all that stuff?

I am getting rid of some of my extra "stuff". Some of it, well most of it, is quite nice, it just doesn't work any more. I started posting on Freecycle, and some of the responses are unbelievable.

Call me about your free couch..xxx-2222-2222

NO buddy, you tell ME why you want the couch. What ever happened to courtesy? Fortunately, someone who is well spoken always comes along and that's who gets the item. Fair? Well, what's fair. Someone who can take a few minutes to type a nice note explaining (not begging) in a nice manner why they want whatever it is, that's a person I can give something to.

Honestly, I change furniture more frequently than some people change coats. I love that skit from Ab Fab where Edina is trying to decorate and she flips through the magazine and says "I want ALL of these things-I want to BE all these people....."

I, like many people. tend to define myself with my things.....but quite often they reflect who I wish I was (expensive mountainbike) not who I am (current bike, Trek Soul Rider-a cruiser).

I can't tell you how many sets of dishes I have had-some quite nice. Right now I have a set of melmac dishes from Target, not because that's all I can afford, it's just what I wanted at the moment. I think my mother still has her set of Corelle she got when I was a little girl-wow, it's antique now!

My generation didn't have to struggle so hard to aquire things, but we have no idea what to do with them once we get them.