Quick Takes, again Not Quick but surely you expect that by now

One: I have a whole half a post written about Housing and Why We Feel the Need to Fill Every Square Inch of Our Homes but I can't bring myself to publish it because it was so boring to write. I thought it would be an INTERESTING post, because all the comments on the original entry were FASCINATING but I seem to have an issue making a rehashed subject palatable. I think the most fascinating thing for me were the comments from people who knew they lived in a very expensive area and were not going out of their minds about the fact that living in an expensive area for them meant very little square footage. I live in a pretty expensive area but that doesn't seem to stop me from dreaming of more space. I'm not going to GET very much more space, but I'm still thinking about it. And yet! Some of you AREN'T! You're CONTENT where you are! And I am hugely, HUGELY inspired by that. Maybe I'll figure out a way to rework that post over the weekend or something, but I did want to say thank you for your comments. I will try really hard to not hate the 10 percent-ish portion of you who are already living in your dream homes. Possibly I could even learn to love you if you send chocolate.

Two: We are approximately two weeks away from our child-free vacation. I had some serious nervous tummy issues whenever I thought about it up until about three days ago, which COINCIDENTALLY is when my children turned into the spawn of Satan and have been crying about everything and writhing around on the floor whenever I do something so unbelievably insulting and hurtful such as turn off the television after two straight hours of Dora and Diego. So vamonos! Off to the grandparents they go, and I am considering not sending any kinds of feeding or sleeping or how-to-keep-them-happy instructions along with them JUST TO WATCH THEM SUFFER AS I HAVE SUFFERED. Oh, I know, LIKE IT WOULD MATTER. They'll be fine. They'll probably be well-behaved, too, as much as that will annoy me. I can hear the phone call from my mother already, “Oh they're being PERFECT ANGELS and they SLEEP ALL NIGHT and yesterday, they asked for green beans and STEAMED KALE for lunch!” Do you hear me, Mom? If there is kale, I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT.

Three: In anticipation of our trip, I decided that I would commit to eating better and exercising every day for the month leading up to departure. I'm not really trying to lose weight (although if a few pounds came off, I wouldn't, like, try to put them back ON or anything, obviously) but I did want to make sure that the six days I spent alone with my husband would be six days that I felt really confident about my body. Not in a... racy way, necessarily (everyone related to me just gagged and logged off). I just wanted to do everything I could to try to prevent Body Issues. You know, that horrible thing that sometimes happens where NOTHING you try on looks good and there's all this PRESSURE because you're going out for a Very Nice Dinner and you have all these expectations for a Perfect Night because you're not going to get another opportunity like this until your 10-year wedding anniversary and you're limited to what you brought in your suitcase and... yeah. That's what I want to avoid. I want to feel strong and confident about my body and the best way I know how to do that is to exercise every day and build strong muscle. I was already exercising at least five days a week, but since March 10, I haven't missed a day and I've pushed myself beyond what I would usually do. I am thinking of it as a gift to Dave. I don't think there's anything he hates more than that pouty, whiny, Nothing Fits AND I HATE MY LIFE and also right now I hate YOU! performance I sometimes put on.

Four: (for A'Dell, who wanted a Kindle update) I am still LOVING my Kindle. I haven't read a ton of stuff on it (it's cheaper to buy books with it but it's still MONEY) but I love using it. I am a convert. It really does read just like a real book and I haven't had any issues with it in that respect. On the down side, using it to browse for books is a real suckfest, so I do all my browsing online or in actual stores, make a list of what I like, and then search SPECIFICALLY for those books on the Kindle and save them in my Wish List. This is actually good for one specific reason, and that is that I don't end up buying a bazillion books every time I turn the thing on. I am looking forward to traveling with it for the first time – travel is the real kicker for me. Every time I travel (which granted, is not very often), I bring a stack books to read, and I end up doing this huge annoying comparison and whittling down of selections. Which books are too heavy or too depressing or all too likely to keep me up all night reading them when I should be sleeping? The Kindle makes it so that I don't have to do anything except bring it along. And if I somehow manage to make it through EVERY BOOK I brought for the trip? I just download a new one. UNBE-FREAKING-LIEVABLE. If you are an avid reader who spends a lot of time traveling, you need one. The end.

Five: I decided to participate in our town's bi-annual Multi-Family Yard Sale again this year. I am already nervous about it. I HATE HAGGLING. I hate the bargaining and the lowballing and the sweaty armpits I have 15 seconds into the process and I really hate doing it when someone's pawing through a pile of my old pants. One time Dave haggled politely with the nice salesperson at Pottery Barn and I had to leave the store and breathe into a paper bag outside. Normally I donate the stuff we clean out of our house and closets to charity, but the current load of stuff sitting in my living room isn't worn out or out of style – it's just stuff that I can't use anymore. For instance? I have this adorable pink J Crew turtleneck sweater but I haven't worn it in three-ish years because of the havoc wreaked on my midsection by my two lovely children. How is it that a sweater that seemed to fit perfectly when I was 20 pounds heavier suddenly DOESN'T after the birth of a child? I DON'T KNOW. So instead of chucking it behind the Goodwill, I'm going to try to profit off of it first. Because this is AMERICA, right? The only thing I have left to do to prepare is think of a way to use all the money I'm going to make so that I can be good and disappointed when no one wants to buy my old pants anyway.

Six: So do you remember a few posts ago (I know, they're fewer and farther between these days, please reference paragraph two) when I mentioned how I was starting to get paranoid about being hit by a tree branch while I was out walking with the kids? WELL WOULDN'T YOU KNOW. About a week ago we were out enjoying the weather, and I was concentrating on making it up a long hill while pushing ONE HUNDRED POUNDS of stroller and kids when I heard this crazy cracking sound and not three seconds later BAM! A tree branch as thick as my thigh and as long as a minivan smashed into the ground and splintered into a thousand pieces about ten feet in front of me and the kids. It was the weirdest thing, actually, because I was trying to force myself into this frame of mind that I thought I should be in about the whole thing, you know, oh, if I'd only been five seconds faster... what if I hadn't stopped to pick up the dog poop?.... what if we hadn't gone back into the house for the water bottles? but my heart didn't even pick up SPEED, you guys. I basically didn't react AT ALL, just noted the sudden presence of an enormous limb and then maneuvered the stroller around a pile of splintered wood and carried on like nothing had even happened. And I barely even thought about it again – I almost forgot to tell Dave about it altogether. Ok, so there's not really a point to this story except that I could rightfully have claimed that I NARROWLY ESCAPED DEATH but I just can't get myself all worked up about it and I'll go right ahead and say THAT SEEMS WEIRD. I thought things like this made people devote their lives to saving baby seals and donating their organs and I was not similarly inspired.

Seven: Can anyone out there tell me why I continue to watch Grey's Anatomy? OR WHY YOU DO? I'm just curious.

Comments

[shayla]

A few random and probably not helpful thoughts for you:

3. Exercising every day can actually cause injury and who wants to be injured on THE vacation? I bet you are already doing it but in case not, throw in a few light workouts like walking and/or yoga. Those will also help you on your 'heavier' workouts.

5. Simply don't haggle. At our recent yard sale, we didn't on the first day. We priced right and most everyone paid what we asked. It was liberating, I tell you! Of course, we still had stuff left over that we donated but I felt better about donating than haggling.

6. Maybe you didn't react because you'd already thought it through so the reality of it wasn't a surprise. Deep thoughts, I know.

See? I told you it would be the most enlightening thing you read all day!

[Sarah]

OMG, you are hilarious.

I just tweeted about how I just can't love Grey's anymore. Why do I still watch?

Also, I am SO jealous of a child free vacation. I am doing a surprise night away in June, as a baby step. Hopefully I can convince my husband (who is the hold out!) that the 3 kiddos will survive a few days without us.

[Someone Being Me]

I don't have a Kindle but I downloaded the free version on my computer. I just download the free books they offer every week including some new books and some classics. They change them out weekly I believe. I just search for the most popular Kindle downloads and download the free ones.

I am still watching Grey's and I have no clue why. Except I do love little Grey and McSteamy and the Christina and Owen thing, so there is that.

[Sarah in Ottawa]

Emily - does your local library allow you to download books to your Kindle? It might be worth a shot to look into it, so you can feed the book love for free.

I hate haggling, too - I've never had a garage sale but I dread the thought of people pawing through my stuff, then lowballing me. You are not alone!

[Gina]

1. I have a million half-written posts and I still complain that I have nothing to write.

2. We won a trip for a child-free vacation last year, and honestly, the kids could have eaten kale or worms or cheetos for every meal and I didn't care: Child! Free! Vacation!

3. I started eating healthy this week and it almost killed me. I learned that you should EASE INTO fiber.

4. I need a Kindle.

5. I did one last year and the scary, crazy, professional haggler, early-bird, show up at O'Dark thirty people scared me shitless.

6. Whoa - any thoughts on lotto numbers? Pass them my way.

7. When you figure it out, let me know.

[Lisa]

So I don't think I commented last time b/c I was too depressed by the chorus of homeowners, but we rent in Los Angeles. We live in an extremely expensive housing market and we rent an 800 square foot two bedroom apartment. I feel like we never have enough space (though we don't have any kids yet). I have family visiting this weekend and I really need to think of how I can make our stuff shrink in size, or grow some extra closets (we only have one in our whole place).

And re: the Kindle, I am dubious since I really love actual books and the act of holding a book, turning pages, etc. But after lugging around the 1000 plus 'Outlander' books on a couple of trips last year, maybe I will look into it!

[Kate]

Regarding that tree branch! Somehow I just missed that in the past post, but now that you tell this story I just have to tell you: that totally happened to me once. Aiee! A huge branch just fell out of the sky and whacked me right in the face. Luckily it kind of scraped down my face and my front, so I got cut more than I got, like, head trauma. Geez, though, I just had a flashback to that moment. I'm glad you weren't five seconds faster.

You're so right about the exercise pre-trip. Nothing makes me feel more confident about my body than when I know I have been working out and treating myself well. I bet you're going to have a great vacation and be feeling fantastic.

Also glad to hear you are loving your Kindle. I keep thinking about buying one but I just haven't committed yet.

[Shelly]

I broke up with Greys early this season. I tried last season, but came back for more abuse. This season, I made a clean break and I have to admit, it hasn't been difficult at all. I don't miss them and when I see the commercials with whatever ridiculous story-of-the-week, I am smugly satisfied I was able to free my time to watch other ridiculous crap.

[Bethtastic]

Haggling makes me hyperventilate.

I have a garage sale every two or three years, always on a Saturday and always from 8am-2pm. I post a sign in the front and by the cash box that says "Prices are FIRM until 1pm - then everything's HALF OFF!"

It's amazing the return crowd that comes at 1, and it really does help with the crazy hagglers. :D

[Anon]

Don't put your Kindle thru the Xray machine at the airport - or if you do...at least bury it under a ton of stuff. Mine was ruined when we went to FL. Amazon customer service said they only have trouble with International Xray machines, but a quick google search will tell you it's definitely a US Issue too.

[Captain Micah]

Now I feel badly about skipping my daily workout at 24 Hour Fitness to prepare for a visit today from my sister and her new baby, as well as from my sister-in-law and her new baby. Eating a piece of See's Candy when I'm out with the girls will make that guilt go away, right?

Oh, how I wanted a Kindle. But I knew I would never be able to justify spending the money for downloads, just like I will rarely spend money on books now. I make special exceptions for Ina Garten cookbooks, of course. But I got an iPod Touch a few months ago, and it has a few apps that allow me to download and read books for free. As long as I don't mind turning the page every thirteen seconds, it is wonderful! Glad you like yours so much.

[Swistle]

1. I forget what we're talking about and/or I didn't read the comments and/or both things and/or both things plus a third thing---but I think for me house-space-contentedness comes from making a trade that greatly pleases me. In my case, we have less square footage per person than usual/desirable because we had lots of children and we live near family and I stay at home---all things I wanted badly. So although I do OF COURSE fantasize about more space, it takes only a brief flash of considering the alternatives I rejected (this house plus only two children, or living in a cheaper area far from family, or working the night shift because we have too many children to afford daycare) and I feel happy and satisfied (though still, I want to emphasize, WITH fantasizing sometimes about more space! Are these other people made of STONE??).

2. "If there is kale, I do not want to hear about it"---AHA HA HA HA HA!!

6. !!!!!!!!!!!!

[auntie]

you are my hero for having the foresight to exercise and eat right in preparation for a vacation - that would have never occurred to me, i'm sure! must make a note on my calendar for later this year...

[A'Dell]

I am such a gadget-y person but I can't talk myself into a Kindle yet. I love to read, but I hate the idea of buying a book and not being able to SHARE it with other people when I'm finished. (Oh, the curses of being generous.) Hmm, I can't decide.

I love garage sales but I hate pricing shit out. Takes FOREVER to tag that crap.

What I have found works best is I separate the driveway into sections. Everything over there is $5, this stuff is $10, that stuff is only 25 cents.

People will naturally haggle with you and if you stick stuff in the category UP from what you really want for it, I find that I usually win. Then, at the end of the day, I put a sign that says, "EVERYTHING IS FREE" on the garage and five minutes later it is literally ALL GONE.

This method is patented.

[H]

I enjoyed your post and really have nothing to add but I had to sneak a peek at the comments to find out why people are still watching Grey's. I stopped before last season and the only time I missed it was when everyone went nuts about who might/might not have died in the season cliffhanger. Like another commenter stated, it gives me more time on Thursdays to watch stimulating TV like Celebrity Rehab or Sober House. (Also, Survivor, Project Runway, The Office and 30 Rock.)

[Allison]

(In reference to number 7):

I DON'T KNOW!!!!! I don't know if it's the fact that I've invested so much time into it already or if I just keep hoping that it will go back to being awesome, but I just can't quit that damned show!!!

[Kelly]

I'm fairly certain someone else will have already mentioned this but I'm at work and don't have time to read the comments. So - you can download free kindle books from amazon. Particulary classic novels - which I have absolutely loved reading even though I wasn't sure if I would (plus it makes me feel like a smartypants to say I'm reading Tolstoy). Just in case you ever run out of books and cash simultaneously :-)

Kelly
http://alovelyspace.com

[Melissa]

No, I cannot tell you why I still watch Grey's. In fact, does it even count as still watching it if I have it on replay, fast forwart through commercials, but don't actually PAY ANY ATTENTION to the show while it's on? I honestly couldn't tell you anything that's happened since George died (whichever season that was).

[Jen]

Oh Grey's. I still watch. I'm a sucker. I have a really really hard time giving up on shows and will watch until the bitter, bitter end.

[mikki]

i want a kindle. i NEED a kindle. we suffer from a lack of space in this house and i have a book collection of over 300 books- most of which are now stuck in storage (my poor babies) as their is no room for them. a kindle would save my life.

[rkmama]

Grey's and I broke up after a really bad rough patch two years ago. A reconciliation was attempted a year ago but it ended badly. And although I do sometimes stalk it by reading the recaps at mamapop, I tell you I am better off without it.

[Dynelle]

Greys Anatomy is like chocolate. Even when it's not good chocolate you still have to eat it because it's still technically chocolate.

[Teresa]

What a great post...so glad that I found your blog....great blog name...Happy Saturday.....Enjoyed your post....
Hope you will stop by my place....Tonight I am drawing for three great giveaways.

Teresa
http://teresa-grammygirlfriend.blogspot.com/

[2littleones]

1.is the kindle hard to read on, i mean, compared to a book. is it like whoa, my eyes are totally going blurry? i think i want one but need a better review
2.um, i think i still watch greys because i am waiting for meredith to get cute again after blowing up like an acne infested changed voice whale. i understand the weight gain in pregnancy but hmm, it really wreaked havoc on her. and because i like bailey.

[Brianne]

i have been asking myself why i continue to watch grey's anatomy for the past four years. i have yet to find an answer. i think it's a brain disease.