Walking Backwards

Well, we never ended up going to the doctor today. I called the nurse practitioner in the morning and they were out of the office. I then called my doctor in the afternoon and she was at lunch. After that I just decided that the fates were aligned against my going to the doctor today and that I'll just keep my fingers crossed that our ears stop hurting on their own. Good news is that my class was cancelled tonight, so I didn't have to sit through that, and Nico took a three hour nap today, so I got some rest. If the short guy and I are still feeling cruddy tomorrow, I call and make an appointment or just head into the urgent care clinic. I can't have our swim time infringed upon.

Now, about this voluntary simplicity thing I alluded to earlier. Joe and I have decided that we are getting a little tired of the craziness in our lives that comes from our material possessions. I think a lot of it comes from having a baby with all of the plastic and bright colored stuff that that involves. We also have a huge family that feels the need to make us keep up with the Jones'. It's nice to have a generous family, but it is getting to the point that we no longer are able to keep up and maintain the stuff we have; we do not need anymore! Do you have any idea how much cleaning I have to do to keep all of Nicholas' birthday gifts from overwhelming the house? Its also sad to see how much money is being spent for the little reward that is being reaped from it. For instance, my mother bought Nico an awesome bowling shirt for $65 (this alone is unbelievable) that he wore a total of three times before he outgrew it. It's all so crazy. Joe and I are guilty, too. I buy clothes that sit in my closet for months without being worn and if Joe brings any more computer equipment home, we are going to have to get a bigger house. At least we don't spend ourselves out of house and home. I guess we are just tired of being wasteful. That and having to deal with way too much stuff.

So here is what we are planning on doing. First, we are going to stop buying stuff and communicate to our family to cut back on their spending too (or put it in Nico's college fund). Anything that we do have to buy, we are going to try to buy used. I am alarmed at how fast the little one is going through stuff that I might as well give the stuff a head start. Second, we are going to try to rapidly pay off all of our debt. It is becoming the albatross around our necks and we have no justification for it. It has been slowly diminishing, but that just isn't going to cut it anymore. Third, we are going to stop hitting up the convenience food/take-out fairy to feed us. This is going to make our lives so much easier (and cheaper) in the long run. I think it is going to be way healthier to.

Those are going to be our first steps, we'll see how long it takes to implement these before we go to stage two. I'm just amazed that my husband agreed to these ideas. I thought that it would be dismissed as too crunchy granola for him. Maybe he is getting sick of it too. I know the hour it take us to pick up the house at night from the apparent explosion it went through during the day is very trying to him.