Oh the hypocrisy

I don't understand all the rules here. Technically, I'm not supposed to play with my baby sister's toys. Not even one. She, on the other hand, is allowed to touch all my toys. Whenever she wants. I don't get it. I don't hold her toys (except for this one time.....and this other time), why is she allowed to hold my toys?

I just want to hold it...

My mom made her give it to me when I used my very best posture. Thank goodness for moms!

(Meanwhile, Fod was being amused by the torment I was experiencing. Older brothers--so typical.)

"It all sleeps the same"

guest post by my mom

A few days ago, we talked about how you're not that important...you know, in the general sense. Of course you're important to your close friends, family, and loving, faithful 4-legged friends. But often, the material things we think we need are really just projections of what we think others think we should have. In reality, those others don't care. Having an SUV because you have 2 kids, car seats, strollers, and want to fit groceries in the car too? A full-size sedan would do the trick for a much lower price tag (not to mention cheaper gas and maintenance). Don't get me wrong, if you truly love your SUV and it makes your life exponentially better, is within your budget, and fits your family's needs, then by all means. But often times, we have our priorities a little jumbled (more on that later....there's a post coming up next week on developing your priorities!) and don't really need that SUV.

Textbook specimen of "loving, faithful, 4-legged friend"

I've given the "you're not that important" speech and "you don't really NEED" that speech to myself 100 times, so I'm well acquainted with the gist of it.

Enter: Our master bedroom bedding. All speeches immediately fly out of window.

I hate it. I bought it a while ago with the intention that it would last for about a year until we could save up to buy some new bedding. Now, I'd really like to get that new bedding, but we have other priorities on our financial goals list. So, I have to wait. Impatiently.

While I was drooling over the Pottery Barn catalog the other day, it occurred to me. Who cares what kind of bedding we have? You know, other than me? Who? We like to have friends over...when people come over to our house, do they see our bedroom? No. When guests stay in our home do they stay in our bedroom? No. Is our bedroom used for entertaining, visiting, hanging out, or any other time other than sleeping/showering? Nope.

Hm. Interesting.

So, I am bent out of shape about needing new bedding because Jack and Fod care? Not likely. My husband must care! No. He says it "all sleeps the same". Do any of my friends or family care what I am sleeping on? Um, no. So, it's really just me that has an issue with this bedding? Yes, because I'm not that important.

Don't get me wrong. I still fantasize about getting under some freshly laundered Restoration Hardware 800 thread count sheets that match my newly bought Italian vintage-washed duvet. Not that I've thought about this. But now, it's much less painful to wait until we have the funds in our budget to buy the bedding. I'm not that important, but our family IS--and keeping us out of debt is a great reason to remember my place on the totem pole.

Personal space?

My mom: "Jack, get off of me"

Me: ?

My mom: "Jack, please get off of me. I don't like when you stand on me in the morning."

Me: ?

My mom: "You need to work on not violating people's personal space. You're too close."

Me: Too close? I'm not sure I follow...

You're not that important

Really. You're not.

As a cocker spaniel, I am, by definition, very important. You? Not so much.

Hahaha. I'm joking.

Kinda.

In the grand scheme of things, though, you're really not that important. Before you get upset...hear me out...

Think about the biggest barriers to your squaring away your home, work, and financial life. Go head. I'll wait while you think.

Done? Ok. Chances are, most of the things you came up with revolve around your perception of what others think you should be doing. For instance, your housekeeping may be falling behind because you think you're supposed to be devoting more time to work, or to taking your kids to activities. Or perhaps you have a really large house and it requires a lot of time to clean/maintain because you think that at your station of life you "should" have a large house.

Think about the last time you went to a store. Let's say Walmart, Target...something of that sort. How many people do you think you passed in the store? Is 100 a fair guess? How many of these questions did you think about the people you saw?:

- What kind of car do they drive?

- How big is their house?

- Do they use name brand laundry detergent?

- What kind of diaper is that kid wearing?

- Are they paying with cash or credit card?

- Do they take their kids to 5 extracurricular activities per week?

- Did they buy those clothes at a thrift store? What brand are they?

The list could go on forever, but you get the idea. Did you think any of those about anyone you saw? Probably not. Yet, when we're in stores making decisions for ourselves, we think other people care about what brands we use. Of course we do--that's what smart marketing people want us to think. Otherwise, why would things like Tylenol stay in business when you could buy Equate Acetaminophen? Perceived status, that's why.

So, taking it a step further...if you didn't think any of those things about anyone you saw in the store, what are the chances that any of those folks thought those about you? Not likely, huh? Probably because they were too busy thinking about themselves and what you'd think of them! Irony at its best!

I mean this post with nothing but love and encouragement, so if you hear too much cynicism as you're reading it, I apologize. I merely mean it to give you a healthy dose of something we ALL need--perspective! If you're having trouble paring down your budget to get out of debt (and this can be applied to many areas of your life), think about the types of things you honestly notice about other people. Most of us are so trained to be consumed with what people think of us that we don't actually think about what other people are trying to impress us with! Go figure!

So, enjoy the liberation of knowing you're not that important (to the average Walmart shopper) and are free to make decisions that are best for the people in your life who DO think you're important--your family!

Quickie Update

Not much to report on the garden, but I thought I'd let you see the progress at least. LOTS of blossoms, so I'm really hoping for some good produce in the coming weeks!

Gentleman Prefer Blondes

But I think probably everyone prefers blondes. Golden retrievers? Yellow labs? Yep, everyone prefers blondes. It seemed only natural that I give it a whirl as well. And lucky for me, I walked right into an opportunity.

My mom was trying to color her hair and get rid of her roots that had grown out so that her hair would look nice for a wedding she's in. And, um, well, there was a snafoo. A really really bad, bright orange snafoo. Her hair was an amazingly bright shade of orange...but only in certain spots. You can imagine her horror. So she and my baby sister headed out to get hair dye to cover up the catastrophe. They came back with stuff that smelled so so yummy.

Specifically "Vanilla Icing" by a candy company called "L'Oreal".

My mom didn't eat all of the candy and then just tossed it in the garbage. If she didn't want that delicious-smelling stuff, I sure did! So I stuck my head in the garbage and got it. Yep, I did.

And now my ear is a gorgeous shade of dark ash blonde. I feel jipped. I don't know what that stuff was, but I don't think it was candy.

Thankfully, my mom was able to wash most of the dye out of my ear and I'm only left with one small spot. I would not recommend L'Oreal for your next candy purchase, no matter how many coupons you have.

P.S. If the aforementioned bride is reading, all is well, and my mom's hair is now a naturally-occuring shade of auburn. Crisis averted.

I got a new bone

Let's cut to the chase. I got a new rawhide. And I love it.

But my mom also wants me to tell you that she's almost done spring cleaning. But if you've been following her spring cleaning list, you already know that. She also wants me to confirm for you that our house is no longer icky (like it was before).

Now back to the important part of this post. I got a new bone.