Shoot Me! 13 of 52

Can you believe we're already at week 13 of Shoot Me? I'm seriously amazed at how quickly time is passing. It is getting easier and easier to be in front of the camera - who knew?

Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans has challenged us to do this for a year! "Shoot Me! It's time to stop hiding behind that camera of yours. Your family is missing you in the picture. So it's time to post a picture of YOU (yes, you) every Thursday with your child, your spouse, your friend, your dog, or even by yourself. Just get in the picture, you'll be glad you did! And just jump in now with 1 of 52, you can do it!"I told you earlier about the volunteer project the kids and I helped with last Saturday. (You can read the details here - the short version is that we headed up north to help a woman whose husband of 44 years died suddenly last year.) Well, they were taking pictures at the site - a lot of pictures!! After 12 weeks of doing Shoot Me, I can honestly admit that it was much easier to just go about my business with the camera snapping all over the place. No, I don't like all the pictures, but I'm really not bothered by them the way I used to be. People, that is serious progress!So, here are some of the pictures from our time in Bonner's Ferry.

Charming with his mom...you'd never guess I'm 5'10" in this shot, would you? This was when we first got there and I wasn't taking off my fleece pullover for anything...it was chilly until we really got moving.Doesn't he have that, "She's my mom, what can I do about her?" Look on his face?

Valiant and I were transplanting trees...I hope they do well. Still pretty cold.


This is my butt. Oh, and my back. Yes, I've decided to go with full disclosure and show you my butt. I'd discovered the parts for a pond in the back of the yard and encouraged my boy, Charming to dig the hole we'd need (he was so happy with this discovery, let me tell you!)...there were tons of rocks around and another volunteer and I were surrounding the pond with them.

In addition to transplanting trees, Valiant got in there with the nail gun and helped put in a new subfloor.
Then I found the pond and he was our resident pond expert, so he got the pond set up and running after poor Charming dug the hole for it.

Charming proved that years of experience living with me paid off, when he figured out a way to get a massive loveseat out of a room when all the other guys gave up. He was pretty proud of himself and the homeowner was thrilled.


(They were calling that thing a "loveseat", but look at how big it is in the room! This was mobile home, for goodness' sakes!) Hmm...now that I look at the picture, I wonder...Charming, did you bump your head on the ceiling fan?

No one knew who this dog belonged to, but it adopted Buttercup and hung around a few hours before trotting home. It wasn't lost, they just don't have fences up there and it came to visit.


So, there you have it...another week of Shoot Me and a little bit of what we did last weekend. Looks fun, doesn't it? (If you live near me, I want to let you know that the guy who has organized these projects - one a month for a year - is always looking for volunteers. You should think about giving up one of your Saturdays to help out.)

On Simplifying...

One of the things I like to do as I work to simplify our lives is to read the blogs of like-minded people, no matter where they are in the simplification journey. I love to read about the triumphs and the stumbling blocks along the way. More than that, it keeps me inspired to know I'm not the only one questioning the way we live and making the deliberate decision to swim against the current.

To that end, there are some blogs that really make me thing. Rowdy Kittens is one of them. This blog is written by a young married couple, Tammy and Logan, who have recently moved to Portland and have simplified their lives down to the point of being able to count their belongings. They have made very deliberate choices to get them off the merry-go-round of modern life.

A few months ago, they wrote a post about their move to Portland and their appreciation for the help they received moving. They talked candidly about their dependence on others to accomplish this move. It caused me to pause. Since their lives are so different than mine, their post(s) have caused me to have some fundamental questions about simplification, the goals of simplification, and quality of life issues. Their decision to live without a car required them to use their parents' truck, as well as the vehicles of others, to make this move. That caused me to ask, "Does simplifying create of dependency?" and, "If you have nothing, how do you contribute meaningfully to society?" Fortunately, when I posed those questions to Rowdy Kittens, they didn't take offense, as I meant none. I am truly trying to figure this all out.

Please read the original post at Rowdy Kitten and let me know your thoughts.

This was my comment to their original post.

I love that you feel gratitude for the help you’ve gotten along the way and I agree that it is the secret to successfully designing your life. I have a questions, that is not meant to sound disrespectful in any way, it is truly a sincere question. If everyone has a life of minimalism, then how would you move? I am struggling with creating an acceptable level of simplicity for myself and my almost grown children, so I recognize that I’m at a completely different place in life, but it seems to me that you’ve designed a life in which you depend on others to have the resources you don’t care to care for yourself. Does that make sense? As parents, I wonder how difficult it would be if our children couldn’t count on us. I’m not sure I’m communicating my dilemma, but it seems to me that the minimalism practiced by some requires access to the belongings of others who have made the decision to own and care for more.


Tammy responded:

@Erin – I think I understand your dilemma and you are right to a certain extent. For me the whole point of minimalism and/or small living means seeking out community. For example, I don’t own a car. So if I need one I either rent a vehicle or ask friends/family for help. If I ask my community for help, then I can repay them with kindness at a later date. (Like making them a yummy dinner, sending them on a trip, etc.)

For me I think it’s about the larger questions of how we’ve structured our society. There is a notion that you have to do everything yourself and I think that’s wrong. It leads to isolation and the overuse of resources.

Why can’t we share resources within families and our larger community? Does everyone truly “need” a car? Or a 5 bedroom home? I think the answer is no. We need community too truly connect with. We need to build meaningful relationships with friend and family members. We don’t need more stuff or cars.

If everyone lived a life a minimalism, then I would envision more “sharing” services, like zipcar. And the creation of additional community car-sharing programs, investments in public transit, etc.

As a side note, you can always move by bike.

Does that help?

Logan responded:

Hi Erin N.,

Its definitely a paradigm shift to transition to a minimalist lifestyle. We used to have your same fears until we watched a video interview of Dee Williams where she mentioned that by living with less she was able to contribute more. More money, more time with family, and more community volunteering. Everyone’s level of enough is different, however our hope is our friends won’t discount us due to our lack of possessions. Necessity always brings invention and our goal is to contribute to community, and barter for needs and services in alternative forms. The last thing we want to do is mooch off of folks with more stuff and fail to show reciprocity and gratitude.

First off, I am so grateful to Tammy and Logan for taking the time to answer my questions. I have been thinking of this dialogue ever since we initially had it. I've bored my friends and family with discussions about this topic until I think they're ready to throttle me. The conclusion of the 40-ish-year old group that makes up my peers is that a life led consciously ends up with all of us owning and sharing different resources and contributing various strengths to our community. Deliberately creating a life where your major contributions are cerebral might have value, but will still eventually require material contribution .

So, what do you think? Is this what simplifying is all about? Do I not understand? Is it possible to successfully have a large community where all the resources are jointly owned? Am I insane for spending so much time thinking about this? What are your thoughts?

P.S. Tammy just wrote an amazing post on the art of saying "no". You should head over and read it.

Dropping the Boy Off At School...

Obviously, someone has a sense of humor, as this is the sign that greeted us upon our return back to Charming's dorms.


The kids helped their big brother carry his stuff back up to the dorms. (You don't want to know what Buttercup said about the dorms...truly. It is a bunch of boys living together.)

See you later, Charming...have fun these last six weeks!

Making Your Home Sing Monday - Unplugged

It is Making Your Home Sing Monday and our home has been humming right along. Nothing has changed. This past week, we enjoyed having Charming home from college for his spring break. It was really nice. We also celebrated Buttercup's 11th birthday. Now, this week the neighborhood kids have spring break and my home-schooled children have spring break right along with them. I'm taking this time to breathe. Seriously...just breathe.

How does this relate to Making Your Home Sing? We've deliberately unplugging. I'm like MTV, just not as cool! Seriously. Have you noticed that the frequency of my posts has declined? (Oh, please say you have!) Well, anyway, even if you haven't noticed that I'm posting less, I have been posting less. I'm spending more time sewing and taking care of the greenhouse/garden. Getting up and getting out.

So, what have we been doing instead of sitting in front of the computer/game system/television? Well, last weekend we had the opportunity to volunteer on a home improvement project for someone who really needed help. (You can go here if you want to see more about that.)

Saturday evening, we started Game Night up again. I missed it, the kids missed it and craft night was too chaotic. It was fun.

Yesterday, we did quite bit of yard work, getting the backyard ready for spring. (Valiant even mowed the back lawn.)

And today we invited a group of our homeschooling friends to our home for lunch and for play. The kids played outside for a while and then, yes, the kids did play Rock Band, but they played together. (We were hoping for a weenie roast and s'mores, but the weather foiled our plans.) The kids had a ball, the moms enjoyed the time to chat, and before anyone realized it, 1 o'clock became 5:45 p.m.

And that, my friends, is how we're making our home sing. We're trying to give more of ourselves and worry less about things. We're trying to interact in real life rather than living a life full of parallel play with one child on a computer, one child on a game system, and me watching a documentary, reading a blog, or whatever. Tra la la...that is our song!

Have a happy week...I know I will.

Head over to Momstheword to see what everyone else is doing to Make Singing Homes!

Friday Photo Flashback (Okay, not really)

Does it count as a flashback if it was from Thursday? No, I didn't think so, but I wanted to share some pictures from Buttercup's little birthday celebration, so I will!

She didn't want a cake, so this is our not-really-a-cake cake including the silly bear candle holders Aunt Katie sent.


This is my girl with her best friends from the neighborhood, M and L...aren't they all just the cutest?


So, I know I cheated, but hey, I can do that! Head over to More Than Words so see what everyone else came up with for this week's Friday Photo Flashback. I can assure you than most people went a little farther back than Thursday!

Shoot Me! 12 of 52...

Late posting, but for a good reason! Yesterday was Buttercup's 11th birthday and I was busy with her...glad to know I am getting better at leaving the technology alone and living my life. I did not neglect my Shoot Me post this week, however...

This is the view from my dad's new back yard. We've been heading over to his property to help with the various things he needs done before he arrives and Wednesday was so beautiful, I actually thought to bring my camera as well as the kids and the dogs.
This is me with the view behind me. If you look carefully, you can see Daisy in the right lense of my sunglasses and Lucy and Buttercup in the left.


How is this for homeschooling? Valiant was cheerfully doing his math workbook in the gazebo. I guess the world really is our classroom.


Finally, me with the kids...this was the best of the three shots we took...all of us cut off somehow.

There you have it...week 12 is put to bed! Yay, me! Head over to Carin's place and see what everyone else was doing this week. It is always a fun time.

Shoot Me! It's time to stop hiding behind that camera of yours. Your family is missing you in the picture. So it's time to post a picture of YOU (yes, you) every Thursday with your child, your spouse, your friend, your dog, or even by yourself. Just get in the picture, you'll be glad you did! And just jump in now with 1 of 52, you can do it!

The Tails of Mickey, Miss Mous-elline, and Sam-I-Am

(or "Buttercup Has a Huge Heart)

Have I told you we've had construction going on near our house since September? I don't think so. Did I mention that the neighbors have spent the last two weeks ripping out huge bushes that filled their backyard? No, haven't talked about that, either. Honestly, I haven't put a lot of thought into them. (Okay, that is a partial fib...the neighborhood did try to stop the construction of eight four-story apartment buildings, but that is a different story.) Anyway, on to my tale...or maybe I should say, "tail".

(The Mighty Hunter at rest)

On Saturday (yes, the same Saturday of the trailer/automobile drama), Sam-I-Am became fascinated with the refrigerator. Seriously enthralled. Now, don't get me wrong, I really love my refrigerator...it keeps my food cold and provides us with ice on demand, but we've had this refrigerator seven years, so I probably take it for granted. Sam, on the other hand, planted himself in front of the refrigerator and watched it...all day. Uh oh, I thought to myself, I'll bet there is a spring mouse under the refrigerator. No mouse appeared and life went on. Sam kept watch all through the day and into the evening. We just stepped around him.

In wee hours of the morning, I was awakened by the plaintiff meowing of Sam. "Look at my toy! Look at what I am sharing with you!", he mewed. It was 4 a.m. and I didn't care...I just raised my head and praised him, and thought I'd go back to sleep. Alas, it was not to be. Buttercup was awakened by Sam's boasting and went over to look at his catch, WHICH WAS ALIVE! Yes, the mouse, which Buttercup named "Mickey" was alive and quickly ran into Buttercup's bedroom...somewhere. I told her we'd deal with it in the morning. (People, it was four o'clock in the morning! ) Morning came and I fully expected that Sam would have found Mickey and dispatched him to mousy heaven. It didn't happen that way...Buttercup found him, Sam tried to help her catch him, she said, "No" and Mickey lived through the day somewhere in her room.

Sunday night...3 a.m...Sam is fascinated with my closet. Either he's discovered a love of fashion, or he's found Mickey. Crash, bang, skid, slam...

(to be continued...)

Unexpected...

How do you handle stress? What about unexpected mishaps? Do you rant and rave? Do you throw things or slam things down? Or, are you like me? I retreat inside myself even as I work through whatever it is. I spend time in my head and find it difficult to balance all the demands on my energy. The past few days have been stressful for me and I just couldn't blog...I was too busy trying to make things even out and regain my equilibrium. I'm finally getting there and thought I'd share a bit of my weekend with you.

Charming called me Thursday and let me know, "Ooops! Spring Break begins on Saturday and my plans fell through, so you need to come get me." Um, okay. (Don't get me wrong, I was happy to have Charming come home, but I wasn't prepared.) Charming values his independence since he's been away at college and our decision to let him stay in the trailer over Christmas break made for a wonderfully relaxed time for us all. The problem? The trailer wasn't ready! After Charming headed back to the dorms in January, we winterized it. Ack! Okay, okay, no big deal, right? Well, it seemed like "Murphy" was visiting our house. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. I needed to pull the trailer forward 6 feet to have room for the rear slide-out. We needed to hook-up the sewer line, the water line, and get the heater running. So, let me tell you how it went:
We discovered the trailer had a flat tire. Um, okay. We can inflate it; Superman has a compressor. No, we can't: the valve needs to be replaced and the compressor is leaking air and won't build pressure. Okay, Mr. R has a friend who can get the tire repaired quickly and Mr. R has a compressor. All good, right? Um, no. The hose is frozen and we can't dump to the sewer hook-up without water. We lay the hose out and get the thing thawed. Waste is dumped and water is hooked up. Then we go to hook up the water to the rest of the trailer and can't find the various caps we need. Superman put them someplace "very obvious"...Valiant is tearing the trailer apart trying to find them. Without them, we can't hook up the water. Finally! The very obvious place? Inside the microwave! Of course they were...why didn't I look there first? Silly me!


The tire comes back and is put back on the trailer and we're ready to move Charming's car, so I can have access to hook up to the trailer and pull it forward.

Except Charming's car won't start. Okay, okay...this is to be expected...it was parked for three months...we plug in Mr. R's battery charger and wait. Finally, the charger reads enough of a charge that we can start the car. Thankfully, it started right up. So, Charming puts the car in gear and...

...nothing...

the car won't move! It won't go forward...it won't go backwards. The car won't go.

Mr. R to the rescue again! (First, he had to give me a hard time about not being able to change gears...ha ha ha.) To make a long story short, the emergency brake rusted to the rotor when Charming parked it and wouldn't disengage. Mr. R had to remove the tire and the entire brake assembly and then bang the heck out of it with a hammer to break it free. Finally, he got it going and we got the car moved, the trailer moved, the slide out extended and Charming had a place to sleep. (It was a good thing that Mr. R didn't have anything he wanted to do at his house, right? I bought him a huge package of steak to say thanks!)

So, what do you think? Would you be pulling out your hair? I didn't, but I really did start to feel pretty overwhelmed. This was an arena where I didn't know anything...I've always counted on the men in my life to handle vehicles (I'm not particularly mechanical, but that doesn't seem very helpful when stuff like this is happening) and I spent a lot of time wondering what I would have done if Mr. R hadn't been around or able to help and I didn't like the answers. I think I have more thinking to do.

For now, however, things are falling into place, and I'm not feeling so out-of-control. That is good enough for me.