Good day to You!

Good day to you!
I work 4 days a week. I have Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays off. Well, I work those days, just not for "the man." Mondays, in particular are spent running errands, now planning the week's menu, doing household chores (which I enjoy...yes, I am a homebody.) and taking Mom out to do her shopping. For a woman who lives in an assisted living facility, she still feels the compulsion to shop. Yesterday, she wanted to go to Tuesday Morning and Aldi. Fortunately both stores are in the same shopping center. Her reason for needing to go was to "reminisce." You know, the good old days when you spent hours wandering up and down the aisles, oo-ing and ahh-ing over everything, picturing what each item would look like in the house...I was brought up to think that if you had just the "right" things, at the best prices, then all was right with the world.

I think going through the depression and World War 2, like our parents and grandparents endured, effected people's mindset. Take my grandfather, for example. He always had a "Victory Garden," kept several working motorcycles (which he never rode, but held onto just in case) and had his entire basement filled with racks and racks of clothes for each member of the extended family. When he passed away, the Salvation Army got one HUGE donation! Or my mother, she loves to shop and see all of the newest dust collecting nick-knacks, you know, all the fancy things that only rich people had back during the war. Of course now it's all mass produced, mostly made in China and everyone's house ends up looking like everyone else's.

I prefer to break free from that mentality and focus on what is truly needed to have a peaceful, calm home. Part of retraining my way thinking is to say, "Do I really need this item? If so, can I make it instead? If not, can I get it from a thrift shop?" Most of the small kitchen appliances we have were purchased at a thrift shop. Enter...the blender.

We love smoothies! Even in the winter, a smoothie is a great treat. But alas, our blender has blended it's last. It is an ex-blender, no blendie no more! So, until we get another one, when Joe wants a smoothie, he goes to Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Yesterday, while I was out and about, I picked up a smoothie and brought it to him at work. That's right, not homemade. Guilt galore! Even though I made this vow to not eat out, not Joe. This last blender was purchased at a thrift store, but we may get a new one, only because we intend to use it a lot. While I feel guilty buying a new product, it will assist in this year of homemade.