Thoughts, Swears, and Female Glares

There are a few things I hope to keep up with this year on this blog.  First off, decluttering, as I've already been doing.  I also would like to keep a monthly report of what I've been reading.  I love to read!  Thankfully, so does my husband.   Another thing I'm hoping to keep up with is reporting on a low-spend year.  When I say low-spend, I don't necessarily mean low dollars.  What I do mean is I hope to spend very little on things I don't really need.  Vet bills, groceries, medical bills, yes.  I'll be spending the money that's needed there, although I am being mindful about what I pick up at the grocery store.   I'm mainly concerned about eating out at restaurants/getting carryout and just overall buying "stuff".  I want to be very mindful whenever I purchase random things.  I've had a few purchases this month, and intend to report back soon on how my January went.

Did I get rid of more things from my house?  Sure did!   *Snowglobe train set *Coffee grinder *Travel toiletry bag *Decorative item my husband was given from his sister's funeral  *Condiment bottle *Two shirts *Baby blanket *Pet water fountain filters *Ornament we will never put a photo in *Random notepads, pen and music CD from VFW  *Attachment to vacuum I no longer have I clean my mil's apartment every 2-3 weeks.  She is a hoarder (which she knows) and also has dementia.  A few years ago she moved from a house to an apartment, the majority of her hoard was either disposed of or donated, and now I keep her apartment as free from clutter as possible. It is difficult to keep your thoughts organized if all you see is piles of junk everywhere, so every time I clean I cull her things.  *3 magazines I had left out for her to read for a few weeks *A trinket box that served no purpose other than to take up space where she needed more. *A random spoon.  S...

To say my house is full of worry about the person now in charge of our country is an understatement.  I'm just working on controlling what I can right now.  Fighting back how we can.  I won't be compliant and I won't be quiet.    I'm not one of those people who can still be friends or have relationships with family who think their beliefs should be imposed on everyone.  I have a few people I put up with in my family because I know it would hurt my mom if I didn't.  When people support someone who thinks I shouldn't be able to vote because I didn't procreate, I'm not going to associate with those people.  When people believe a felon and rapist should be the leader of the country, I'm not going to associate with those people who voted him in as long as I can avoid it.  There can also be no "agree to disagree" on scientific facts.   I can only hope some people eventually feel remorse as they realize they contributed to trying to take down a...

  Many years ago I had a lot more Christmas decorations than I do now.  Now I have about 4 tubs, including a separate tub for ornaments. We have the tradition of buying one ornament each year of our marriage that represents something we did or that happened that year.  And so we have 30 of those, since that's how long we've been married.   Around 10 years ago I began to let some decorations go.  Items that didn't mean that much to me, or multi-item sets of which I decided to just keep one item. This year I decided to take a critical eye and really take note of what I didn't put out or didn't love.   Christmas items that left our house (or more precisely, are in the garage in a garbage bag, waiting to be donated the next time I go to the thrift store): Included are:   *2 rolls of wrapping paper I really don't care for *a stocking my high school Spanish teacher made for me when I was an assistant in her class  *a hanging ball decoration that I ...