It is a peaceful Sunday. We have had Chinese food, we are full, we are dozy, we are resting in various rooms. All is right with our world. We are happy.
Well, THEY are. I too am full, basically happy HOWEVER, it is the day I must clean the refrigerator. Everyone who knows me knows I would rather kiss a whirling lawn mower than clean my refrigerator, I would rather have a colonoscopy at work than clean the refrigerator, would almost rather have another child than clean the refrigerator, so I wait til the smell is all but overwhelming and then I clean it. It is the only time no one comes near my kitchen when I am in it. No one.
This is the time where we all find out just what that stench is. Tonight, I found a half a box of thawed, molded, fish sticks, in the back. Why they were ever put in the fridge and not the freezer, remains a mystery. No one knows the answer to this. Or will admit it. I finally found the package of bacon I'd been missing since Lent began. 3 oranges that are brown and hard, 1 pomegranate (been in the way back since Christmas; it is now almost May), a bag of carrots that are soft, 2, yes 2, quart jars of maraschino cherries, 2 cucumbers that are all liquid....I could go on and on. The stench is unbelieveable.
And this is when I have an epiphany. What hits me right between the lookers is the realization that I am throwing away more food today than many people have to eat for a month in places like the Sudan. That makes me ashamed. That makes me angry at myself for purchasing more than was necessary and being that wasteful. We are a middle income family. We are trying to be better stewards of what God has given us and here I am, tossing what could have fed us for well over two weeks, away. How stupid is that?
The solution? Well, I cleaned out the fridge, washed it down (again). Then I took the jars, those whose expiration dates haven't come and gone, and made a list of everything left. Now I'm planning a weeks menu based on what I have. We are going to do better. Now that #2 son is done with night school, I will be cooking again. I will strive to use up what is here before purchasing anything more.
Anyone have any ideas on how to use 2 quarts of maraschino cherries??
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Sunday, April 6, 2014
S.A.B.L.E. and what that means to me......
I learned a new word last year from a knitting/spinning blog that fits me to a tee The word is "Sable". It means: "Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy". This, as I am seeing more and more clearly, defines me.
Everyone in life goes through stages. For crafters or "Fiber Artisans" as I now prefer to be called, this is visually evident. In my quilting/sewing stages, when my kids were young and homemade clothes were acceptable, and quilting was a natural outpouring of that period of my life, my collection of all things cotton became sizeable. Because each piece of cotton brought back memories, it was hard to give the leftovers away. Yes, I do have pictures of the kids running around in those homemade clothes (and why YES, they DID look great!) but I'm a tactile person. I can't touch the fabric those pictures show. I can however go to my cotton bin (who am I kidding? Bin should always have an "S" at the end) and hunt through to find the leftover fabric. See I was a visionary way back then. I always bought 1 yard more than the pattern called for, so I'd have a leftover piece for "later". Or "the addiction started here", take your pick. This gave me an excuse to make a quilt with their clothes fabric. Always thinking ahead. Since I preferred cotton for their clothes (wrinkles be damned), I have amassed a rather large stash. Yes, I did make them quilts but they've put them away as they prefer comforters and our daughter prefers a color co-ordinated room that comes out of Target.
Next came my needle work period. I received a computer software program to make counted cross stitch. I already had the first two computer programs that Electric Quilt had made. You design your quilt on the computer, then fill in the pieces with actual computer scanned fabric samples that you could then go to places like Joann's and purchase. This guaranteed a successful quilt. Now here is a computer program that allows you to use your DMC/Anchor floss to design your own samplers, stitchery projects. Terrific! I can so do this! I now have the professional version of Hobbyware's Counted Cross Stitch Maker and a copy of the PCSTITCH cross stitch software. I collected all sizes/counts of Aida cloth, both packaged and by the yard, frames to hold the fabric, the necessary needles, at least 2 of every DMC (the floss I prefer) color they make), and enough kits (my "kitting" stage) to see me through to my next life.
Then knitting. Now Spinning and weaving. I have amassed a substantial amount of "stash". More than I can use in this life. Hubby dearest says more than any three people can use in their lifetimes. I am not pointing this out as if I'm bragging, but as a way to remind myself that having all this also ties and binds me. I feel a little guilt if I purchase 1 more item as I have so much now that I haven't done anything with. I feel chained to holding onto stuff due to the memories that I have of the who/what/when/where of that period of my life. I have enough bins to build my own fortress. Coincidentally, those bins have become my fortress. A wonderful comment in "A Christmas Carol" is said to Scrooge that we forge link upon link, miles of heavy chain, that hold us down. In my case I can always come up with a good reason to purchase just one more item, but the reality is, I don't have a good reason. Not until I use what I have. Or give it away. As I see bin upon bin of acquired stash empty and leave, I can feel my load get lighter. I feel better. I know I am undoing the chain I've forged.
This is also not a "only me" issue. Many, many of my friends and those on the web that I am friends forged by hobby (groups like Ravelry, and Knitting Paradise come to mind) have exactly the same issue. You know it's bad when someone on those sites issues the challenge "how do you sneak your latest purchase into the house or what money did you rob Peter from to pay for your latest purchase" and the answers are numerous. Or like me, when you sit down to give away bin upon bin of magazines and you do a quick mathematical assessment and realize you could have purchased something more tangible than a "here today, gone tomorrow" reading material, something you could have Googled online for free. Or as hubby dearest says, you could have, ahem, SAVED the money. Yeah, like THAT is ever going to happen. We've been married since Noah built the ark and I admit right now, I am so not a saver of cash. I can save sippy cups from my "baby" (although said baby is now almost 15) but for me to save $1.00 would require me to be chained to a bed in a steel cage, with a multi-locked door attached. Yes, I do coupon and do so pretty well I can tell you, but only to fund my fiber addiction. Hello, my name is Deborah and I am a fiber-aholic. Don't judge.
But like almost every addict can attest, if we live long enough, are honest with ourselves enough, we come to a point where we acknowledge our issues, and start mending our fences. My fences are in dire need. They sag, they've rusted through and I've got the scratch marks to prove it. But they are getting fixed. One step at a time.....
Everyone in life goes through stages. For crafters or "Fiber Artisans" as I now prefer to be called, this is visually evident. In my quilting/sewing stages, when my kids were young and homemade clothes were acceptable, and quilting was a natural outpouring of that period of my life, my collection of all things cotton became sizeable. Because each piece of cotton brought back memories, it was hard to give the leftovers away. Yes, I do have pictures of the kids running around in those homemade clothes (and why YES, they DID look great!) but I'm a tactile person. I can't touch the fabric those pictures show. I can however go to my cotton bin (who am I kidding? Bin should always have an "S" at the end) and hunt through to find the leftover fabric. See I was a visionary way back then. I always bought 1 yard more than the pattern called for, so I'd have a leftover piece for "later". Or "the addiction started here", take your pick. This gave me an excuse to make a quilt with their clothes fabric. Always thinking ahead. Since I preferred cotton for their clothes (wrinkles be damned), I have amassed a rather large stash. Yes, I did make them quilts but they've put them away as they prefer comforters and our daughter prefers a color co-ordinated room that comes out of Target.
Next came my needle work period. I received a computer software program to make counted cross stitch. I already had the first two computer programs that Electric Quilt had made. You design your quilt on the computer, then fill in the pieces with actual computer scanned fabric samples that you could then go to places like Joann's and purchase. This guaranteed a successful quilt. Now here is a computer program that allows you to use your DMC/Anchor floss to design your own samplers, stitchery projects. Terrific! I can so do this! I now have the professional version of Hobbyware's Counted Cross Stitch Maker and a copy of the PCSTITCH cross stitch software. I collected all sizes/counts of Aida cloth, both packaged and by the yard, frames to hold the fabric, the necessary needles, at least 2 of every DMC (the floss I prefer) color they make), and enough kits (my "kitting" stage) to see me through to my next life.
Then knitting. Now Spinning and weaving. I have amassed a substantial amount of "stash". More than I can use in this life. Hubby dearest says more than any three people can use in their lifetimes. I am not pointing this out as if I'm bragging, but as a way to remind myself that having all this also ties and binds me. I feel a little guilt if I purchase 1 more item as I have so much now that I haven't done anything with. I feel chained to holding onto stuff due to the memories that I have of the who/what/when/where of that period of my life. I have enough bins to build my own fortress. Coincidentally, those bins have become my fortress. A wonderful comment in "A Christmas Carol" is said to Scrooge that we forge link upon link, miles of heavy chain, that hold us down. In my case I can always come up with a good reason to purchase just one more item, but the reality is, I don't have a good reason. Not until I use what I have. Or give it away. As I see bin upon bin of acquired stash empty and leave, I can feel my load get lighter. I feel better. I know I am undoing the chain I've forged.
This is also not a "only me" issue. Many, many of my friends and those on the web that I am friends forged by hobby (groups like Ravelry, and Knitting Paradise come to mind) have exactly the same issue. You know it's bad when someone on those sites issues the challenge "how do you sneak your latest purchase into the house or what money did you rob Peter from to pay for your latest purchase" and the answers are numerous. Or like me, when you sit down to give away bin upon bin of magazines and you do a quick mathematical assessment and realize you could have purchased something more tangible than a "here today, gone tomorrow" reading material, something you could have Googled online for free. Or as hubby dearest says, you could have, ahem, SAVED the money. Yeah, like THAT is ever going to happen. We've been married since Noah built the ark and I admit right now, I am so not a saver of cash. I can save sippy cups from my "baby" (although said baby is now almost 15) but for me to save $1.00 would require me to be chained to a bed in a steel cage, with a multi-locked door attached. Yes, I do coupon and do so pretty well I can tell you, but only to fund my fiber addiction. Hello, my name is Deborah and I am a fiber-aholic. Don't judge.
But like almost every addict can attest, if we live long enough, are honest with ourselves enough, we come to a point where we acknowledge our issues, and start mending our fences. My fences are in dire need. They sag, they've rusted through and I've got the scratch marks to prove it. But they are getting fixed. One step at a time.....
Friday, April 4, 2014
It is now April and I finally saw my 1st Robin..........
I had to get sick to appreciate this. On April 3rd, I came down with a vicious stomach flu. The "2 exits, no waiting" type. The "I think I just went 12 rounds with Sugar Ray and lost" type. I spent most of the day (when not in the bathroom) curled into the fetal position and hoping to die, and please God, soon! But even with all this sickness, I still had to drive #1 son to work and go get him when work was over. I had to drive #2 son to night school, and go get him when school was over. I hoped the massive stroke would hit me while stopped at a light. Anything for the pain to stop.
I don't care what the calendar says, for me, Spring officially begins when I see my 1st robin. Everyone else in the state has seen them, but not I. But on my sick day, as I hung precariously between returning to bed or just staying in the bathroom, lo and behold, out the window was a robin. Close enough to hear his (her?) singing, see the red breast, and even though I was convinced in my soul of souls that I would see my own demise soon, I finally know that Spring is here. Had I not been sick, I would not have seen this robin.
Spring. Rebirth. All things made new. The purging of the land to make way for new growth. Isn't that what I've been doing lately? No, I don't mean just on April 3rd, where I purged ALOT, but since January. Purging our abode from all things extra and overwhelming. Growth. Realizing that giving up and giving away are not one in the same. That value is something we all have, when we have nothing else. It is not always a question of who you are, but of what "who you are" means to you. I feel comfortable with the "who you are" question. Maybe that is due to age. In my 20's, I was all about having fun, live hard, live fast and die young, leaving a good looking corpse. In my 30's, it was all about "settling down". Starting a family. Finding out who God was and whether or not he was important to me. In my 40's, it was about combining the work I enjoyed with the life I wanted to live. Now in my 50's, it's about defining what life I want to live and how to accomplish and or combine that with the work I am doing. Yeah, I know, the last two are kinda jumbled up. One would have thought the logical idea would have been to define the life I want THEN how to change the life I have with the life I want, but sometimes I tend to put the cart before the horse. My old ADHD kicking in. Anyway, it's through the reexamining of my life that I am able to see who I am and what I value and where I want to be. Sometimes, you have to look back to see ahead. Or look out a window, where God will show you your sign of spring.....
I don't care what the calendar says, for me, Spring officially begins when I see my 1st robin. Everyone else in the state has seen them, but not I. But on my sick day, as I hung precariously between returning to bed or just staying in the bathroom, lo and behold, out the window was a robin. Close enough to hear his (her?) singing, see the red breast, and even though I was convinced in my soul of souls that I would see my own demise soon, I finally know that Spring is here. Had I not been sick, I would not have seen this robin.
Spring. Rebirth. All things made new. The purging of the land to make way for new growth. Isn't that what I've been doing lately? No, I don't mean just on April 3rd, where I purged ALOT, but since January. Purging our abode from all things extra and overwhelming. Growth. Realizing that giving up and giving away are not one in the same. That value is something we all have, when we have nothing else. It is not always a question of who you are, but of what "who you are" means to you. I feel comfortable with the "who you are" question. Maybe that is due to age. In my 20's, I was all about having fun, live hard, live fast and die young, leaving a good looking corpse. In my 30's, it was all about "settling down". Starting a family. Finding out who God was and whether or not he was important to me. In my 40's, it was about combining the work I enjoyed with the life I wanted to live. Now in my 50's, it's about defining what life I want to live and how to accomplish and or combine that with the work I am doing. Yeah, I know, the last two are kinda jumbled up. One would have thought the logical idea would have been to define the life I want THEN how to change the life I have with the life I want, but sometimes I tend to put the cart before the horse. My old ADHD kicking in. Anyway, it's through the reexamining of my life that I am able to see who I am and what I value and where I want to be. Sometimes, you have to look back to see ahead. Or look out a window, where God will show you your sign of spring.....
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