many mundane moments

The times, they are a changin'

For about the third time this year, blogging has been on my to-do list all week. This is actually a common occurence when you consider that I've only had to make a to-do list 4 or 5 times this whole year. If I, the holiday minimalist, am feeling a bit pressed for time this week, I can't imagine what you overachievers are going through. Of course, I'd feel a little less overwhelmed if I'd kept up on clutter over the last 4 months. I entered purge mode this week, at the same time as when I was pregnant with Howie. Family who visited that week may remember the pile of stuff that took two full carloads to deliver to DI. It's just a small box and a shopping bag so far, but I haven't even begun to think about the bedroom yet.

Yesterday it took over an hour to go through the shred pile. That involved separating each piece into the important pieces to be shredded and filler. It wouldn't have been such an involved task if 1. we had done it daily when the junk arrived, 2. someone (not me) hadn't combined the file and shred piles at some point, or 3. we had a shredder that wasn't on its last leg and could accomodate more than two sheets at a time- or even one of those fancy ones from Staples that can do a cd. Do you remember when you had to tear each piece of junk mail into little shreds before you could throw it away?

I've been thinking lately about things we have that make our lives easier and how grateful I am for them. I know that probably sounds trite or contrived, but that's really how it is. It started last week when I was reading a story in a birth book. It talked about a woman who had been in labor all night and still ironed her husband's shirt and made his breakfast in the morning before she even told him it was time to go to the hospital. All I could think was how glad I am that I don't spend my days like that. Wrinkle free shirts and easy breakfasts are essential to survival in this house.

It hit me again later that day when I had the washing machine and dryer running as I finished loading the dishwasher. You know, the little conviences that allow me to spend hours on the computer- blogging, chatting with friends or family, shopping, reading up on parenting and pregnancy and even working. It's amazing how much things have been changed by technology in just the last few years. In part of my purging, I threw out all our phone books- even the brand new ones. It started with the East Bench version which was 3 years outdated and I'd been keeping as I clung to life in our former neighborhood. Once I tossed that one I realized it had been years since I'd used any phone book at all and out they went. If a business isn't online, they don't exist in our sheltered, electronic world. It's a rough day in our house if the internet goes down. Just this week I found several Christmas gifts, even had a couple wrapped and shipped them all directly to the recipients. I know that if I get to the Christmas card item on my list (not fully committed to that one), I can take the picture, edit it myself, print it online and pick it up at a store 5 minutes from my house within an hour. Those are perfect services for a procrastinator like me.

The other day I was going out to run errands that couldn't be done online and noticed that the odometer was finally about to turn to 100,000 (yeah, you're sick of hearing about that. I swear it's somewhat relevant). I wanted a picture, though I'm not sure why. I think it may be related to the disappointment I felt when I tried to take a picture when my first car rolled over to 100,000. I was about 20 and it was a big deal to me. I remember it happened as I was driving over the hill to my mom's house and I had to time just right when it had all zeros. It was late that night and when I got the photo back, it was nothing but a glare of the flash off the plexi-glass face of the dash.

Anyway, this time I took the digital camera along, ran my errands and drove around a little extra to time it just right for getting home when it had the right reading. Cars newer and nicer than a 1988 chevy cavalier have digital readouts, so I could get home anytime in that mile. I could see the pictures right away, so I knew to take another when the first had a glare and the second was blurry because my hand moved. I have no clue what I'll do with it, but I enjoyed the time I wasted getting there. I was able to listen to Christmas music, drive through parts of the ghetto where I had never been and enjoy some candy that I grabbed while running my errands. It took longer than you would think to drive and extra 3.5 miles on residential streets.

Speaking of the candy, I scanned the holiday aisle at the grocery store when I was finished at the bank (the nearest branch is inside the store). I was hoping for bell shaped chocolates that were mint on the bottom half. Sure they're waxy and not that great, but I liked them when I was little and that's what I was craving. I wasn't able to find them and settled for a couple of substitutes. The ones I snacked on whilst driving around were cinnamon santas- eating little men is decidedly more creepy than bears, hearts, bunnies or any other form into which they mold cinnamon flavored gummy candies. The ones I saved for later and hid in the pantry as soon as I walked in the door were Cadbury Christmas balls. The description is cadbury milk chocolate with a crisp sugar shell. Sound anything like Cadbury mini eggs to you? They are equally as lovely, just Christmas colored, not egg shaped and available outside that small window in the spring. Unlike peeps for all seasons, that is a change for the better.

oh, and if you notice those half chocolate-half mint things, keep the pregnant lady in mind.

posted by Valarie @ 11:55 PM