A Truly Merry Christmas

I just finished Hundred Dollar Holiday: the case for a more joyful Christmas by Bill McKibben. What a great book! Kirk and I are constantly looking for ways to make life better while also staying within our means. We probably aren't going to get down to $100, but it gave us ideas for buying happier and better for the world. This has been a long time struggle of mine - to make life simpler, less expensive, and less wasteful while still making life good. I don't want to be cheap or selfish. I want to live my values AND have fun. McKibben has some great ideas for achieving this, talking about how all that commercialism really gets in the way of having a great Christmas.

We're celebrating Christmas with Kirk's family this year. These people have it together. For one thing, the main feature is the meal. Everyone likes to cook and everyone likes to eat so there is always new recipes and great food. The gift exchange is almost a side show after the meal. They also draw names among the adults so that really cuts down on spending. They also like playing games, are actually quite competitive about it.

We picked up some gifts today at our annual church fundraiser. Along with the wonderful German Mennonite meal, they also sell crafts from Ten Thousand Villages and Equal Exchange coffee, tea, and chocolate. I love this stuff. This is the one time of year that we let ourselves go a little crazy with the checkbook. I can't give away details because some of my recipients read this blog!

Why not save the world?

Global Warming: blah, blah, blah. It isn't real right? Well, I think it is, but what if it isn't? The things we do that could help slow down global warming are good for us anyway. When we insulate our homes, turn down the thermostat a couple of degrees, and hang our clothes out to dry, that saves us money on our energy bills. When we walk and bike around town, that makes us healthier. When we eat locally produced foods, they taste better and we support the local economy. It's all good stuff. So even if you think Global Warming is bogus, why not do stuff that makes your life better anyway? Then, if by some crazy miracle, most of the scientists in the world are proven to be correct, you'll know you've been doing the right stuff all along.

Enough?

What exactly is enough? This is my constant struggle. I do not envy others' cars, money, clothes, looks, but when it comes to houses I'm pathetic. Even though I have realized that we cannot afford to change our living situation for a few years, I constantly scan the real estate ads. I make plans for expanding our house. I envy friends when they buy new homes, refinish floors, remodeling of any kind. Sometimes.
A good portion of the time I can keep this in check. I look at our 1000 sq. foot 1920's bungalow and admire the coziness of it. I love the colors we have painted most of our rooms. I love the art created by family members on the walls. I love that our friends took pity on us (we actually had a bucket catching the water under the bathroom sink and duct tape holding our tub together) when I was pregnant with our first son and remodeled our bathroom. I love how little it costs to heat and cool. It is a very snug little house.
But. . . it is impossible to remove enough clutter to achieve the calm look I long for. I had a bad day today. I ended up barking at Kirk that I just don't have time to clean and organize. I'm too busy working, playing with my family, organizing birthday parties, and spending time with my friends. I obviously have my priorities completely screwed up. It also probably was not helpful to check out the book The Simple Home. A person has to have a lot of money and time to achieve that level of simplicity. I must go. The boys are in bed so I'm going to paint the cabinets a little. The house will still be a mess tomorrow, but of course it would be anyway.