Stress of working outside the home

Some days it just doesn't pay to go to work.

It's been an awful Winter for illnesses. No one seems to be exempt. My child is sick again. He's been sick every other week since December. I have burned through all my sick and personal time and I'm using vacation time now. After the cost of daycare I am still making money. We need the money to pay bills. I'm constantly trying to figure out a way to make it cost effective to stay home. The numbers don't add up.

I know that it is most important to take care of my child, but I feel guilt for missing work.

What we really need

So, I've been thinking about what we really need. For survival we need food, clothing and shelter. I'm guessing that all the other stuff we aquire is supposed to help us get and keep these things.

I've been decluttering. It's a mission to get rid of the things that I don't need. When possible I try to pass on stuff to people who can use it. In the end I just don't want to accumulate more stuff to reclutter my home. That's when it becomes frugal. I always wonder about being a poseur when it come to frugality. I don't buy lots of stuff, at least I don't think I do. I stay out of stores all the time. I look at catalogs and recycle them the same day. I have been known to make silly purchases though. I buy new shoes for my son. I have friends who probably think I am cheap. I'd like to think that is not the case. I don't go out to dinner very often, I can make most stuff at home just as well. Good food is important to me. We don't eat organic, but we eat mostly whole foods. I buy good clothes, but not many of them.

Just so it's clear, my frugality/decluttering kick is pretty recent. There is nothing like bringing a child into the world to change your perceptions about "stuff".

Global climate change

So, on my friend Sharon's blog (see my links) someone suggested a Peak Oil party. It's like this, instead of having a party to buy stuff (Pampered Chef, Tupperware, etc.) have a party, with wine, where you can trade seeds or clothes or household items that you don't need and drink and eat yummy food. I love this idea.

Peak oil and global climate change are linked and I tend to think of them as one and the same issue. Now if I could just scrape up a few friends to do this with. I've got seeds and probably some household stuff to start.

February 14th and the aftermath

I turned 41 on February 14th. We had our first snowstorm of the Winter and it was a good one. We had 2 feet of blowing and drifting snow. I stayed home partly because the weather was so awful and partly because my son was sick. He ended up being sick most of the next week too. I'm glad the snowstorm and my birthday are over. Other than the cards I received, and some gifts, I tried to ignore getting older.

I've been letting go of "stuff". It's very freeing. My kitchen if starting to contain only tools that I use. The more I let go of the more I want to get rid of.

The chickens are letting me know that the days are getting longer. Suddenly they are laying lots of eggs. They really did not like January and February.

Global warming

I finally saw "An Inconvienient Truth". It was good. Really good. It inspired me to get better at my gardening. Work towards staying at home sooner.

The next day I saw "March of the Penguins". It's really sad. You can see how the penguins are so endangered. Just like the polar bears. The two movies go together but not in a good way.

We are in a deep freeze here. Not much snow. Supposedly Spring is coming early this year. So says the groundhog.

Yesterday was Sunday...

and I kicked ass cleaning and decluttering. I got up at my normal time, showered, dressed, cooked pancakes and cleaned. After I watched CBS Sunday Morning. The boy helped out in his way. He pretends to vacuum. He also took a really long morning nap. That is more helpful than anything. I decluttered my closet, the cedar chest and my dresser. I can't believe how many articles of clothing I was hanging on to for no reason. I can close my dresser drawers easily now. I cleaned off the top of the piano. Things were starting to accumulate. It changed the whole look of the livingroom (to me anyway).

Sunday afternoons

I'm really wondering what is up with me. The last 2 Sundays I have been sluggish and mopey. It's like I'm 12 again and dreading school on Monday. I hated Sundays as a kid.

Some days I feel the need to DO something. Clean, cook, de-clutter. If things weren't frozen solid I could be making up garden beds. I guess, based on this little exercise, that my problem is cabin fever. I'm between projects and feeling restless. I'm not getting enough exercise.

Next month I'm going to visit my friend Sharon. Hopefully I'll get some inspiration from her. She doesn't get everything done but she seems content to let the little stuff go. She is way busier than I am. Every now and again I need to get reinvigorated and inspired about the things I feel are important (my child, growing food, wasting less, our health).