Clothing

A significant amount of storage in our place is dedicated to clothing

 It's that time of year....down come the bins full of summer clothes--and in the case of the boys, BIGGER summer clothes--to be traded out with the too-small items, sweaters, fleece pants, and Levi's we won't wear again till fall.  

This was a crazy idea. 

If I sound excited, don't be fooled.  It is one of my least favorite chores around here.  With the sprouting children, I have to do it about every three months, and faithfully put it off till the last possible moment, when they are running around sweltering in sweatpants, or shoving themselves into tight, stained T-shirts.  It can be quite an undertaking, especially when the boys are helping!

However, while getting out my own summer gear last week, I was down right thoughtful about the process. I credit this to two developments: our new, microscopic closet, and, a greater understanding of myself.

First, I discovered I had bagged up a nice little pile last fall to go to the consignment shop.  Way to think ahead about trading!  However, this required me to both iron and introduce my two year old to this modern appliance, which I did on the front porch--I'd recommend an outdoor ironing tutorial to anyone.  It's what got us through the chore.

I've decided to give myself the "closet challenge."  Over this summer, I will try to wear each item in my closet, to test its mettle in my current life.    If something is the least bit uncomfortable, high-maintenance, weird, magnetic to dog hair, stained, or just plain wrong--it's out.  I expect to have very little left by fall.  And then, I hope to slowly re-build what I will call--at the risk of sounding like a total weirdo--"my collection."  Because that is my goal--rather than have a bunch of clothes I consume at random, I'd like to collect what will really work for me for the long-term.   I wore a dress yesterday, to great community surprise.  Evidently, it's a keeper.  Today I got lazy and put on my same-old yoga pants.  They are keepers--but, I already knew that.

I found a great blog by a woman who calls herself Miss Minimalist which outlines how to create your "capsule" of only ten items of clothing. Here are hers:

 (You can check out her philosophy at: http://www.missminimalist.com/2011/03/the-minimalist-wardrobe-aka-the-10-item-wardrobe/)

Obviously, those shoes wouldn't work for me.  Can you picture me chasing two strider bikes in those?

Wish me luck!

Life With The Big Dogs

It's surprising it has taken me a whole year of writing this blog to mention our two big dogs, Cassie and O'Kane.  I really should call the blog 6in629, since our dogs are the size of small people.  However, you cannot put small people in the garage all day when you need space from them, so I'll stop the people:dog analogies right now.  I used to think of my dogs as my children, until I actually had children and realized I couldn't lock them in a kennel all night to prevent them from waking me.

Perhaps they have avoided my critical eye because they have adapted so well to our space.  They each have their bed at night, which I pull up during the day--so we can navigate the main room easier--and wool rugs in our bedroom during the day.  If it's getting intense up here, they go to the garage or the yard or off to work with Scott.  When we moved in, I  bought some nicer looking dog bowls since they are so visible in the space.  We designed one kitchen cabinet to hold their dog food.  Other than that, we haven't done much else to accommodate the dogs.

I sense it could be our last summer with our Cassie.  She is somewhere between 11 and 13, blind, loosing hair, weight, and her back end.  We've got her on thyroid pills and rimadyl, without much effect.  It's getting hard for her to get up and down the stairs.  I'm in this pre-mourning phase which I have practiced with all my dogs since I was six.  The pre-mourning involves imagining life without them, which seems like having a big hole you will have to navigate around forever.  Truly, life seems unimaginable without Cassie.   For being so large, she is the least demanding, most quiet, forgiving, and motionless member of our family.  Which is a nice balance to the rest of us.

OH, and I forgot about Loony Luna!  7in629.....but she's technically not allowed inside.  Even though she manages to evade us.....

Speaking of Trading

By far one of the most beneficial trades I  do is working for our membership at the Old Town Hot Springs.  With just three hours a week of work, I get a membership for our whole family.  This includes the gym,  exercise classes, lap pool, hot springs, and, of course, the essential child care room.  This place has changed my life.  I am able to get my exercise without a summit of synchronizing schedules between my husband and I .  AND, we even get a "date night" every Monday when we work out together.  (Even though I have been forbade from kissing him in the weight room.  It was worth trying.) The place is heaven to me.  On a very hard day with my children, I always know I can take them to the lovely child care room and take a moment to myself,  after which we will all emerge happy.

What is so wonderful about this particular trading situation is that I can bring my children with me while I work.  Where else can you get your family ahead, with your children in-tow?  While the trade is worth an equivalent to $9/hr, if you factor in that you don't have to pay for day-care while you make that money, it is actually worth closer to $20/hr.  And that makes me feel like MONEY!!

Three Cheers for Bartering!

Can anyone tell me why this ugly old propane heater is making me so happy right now?

We just traded this brown thing taking up space in our garage for a new, crystal-clear, crack-free Subaru windshield.  And let me tell you, I feel like MONEY! To my chagrin, after my windshield was installed, the bartering just continued.  Prepared to pay a commission to our friend who stored the heater in his stove shop and set up the deal, he said, "No money!  Just help us install a new front door, and we'll pay you for your extra time.  Oh, and go on a river trip with us this summer."  OK!

 This trade has me extra impassioned about the barter economy.   I've used this little under-ground economy quite a bit in the past.  When I owned a food business, I traded sandwiches for massages, manicures, pedicures, facials, and land-scape design. OMG I was so glamorous back then.  Now I'm excited by a windshield.

In what ways has our current economy effected the barter economy? After all, isn't this the original economy? It makes sense that we would return to it in hard economic times.   I rather like the idea of just trading things for things rather than working for money to trade the money for the things.  In some ways, bartering seems to give the items being traded a more true value.  The two parties agree to its worth, in a very personal way, rather than the infinitely complex monetary economy brewing around us.

Now, we need to find something to trade for the new mountain bike Scott is dreaming about.