The List

It's time to start The List again.

You know, The List of things we want to do/buy once we get the house paid off. We had a List last year for after we paid off the last of the non-mortgage debt and it turned out to be a pretty good motivator during that last push. It had everything on it from a garden hose and food chopper to a new A/C unit for the house. This time we've kinda had a general List started in our heads, but haven't started writing it down yet. Now we're looking at hopefully being done by the end of July, so I think it's time to officially start The List.

The List

1. Shower curtain hooks
2. Air purifier
3. Disney Trip (December or February)
4. Beach trip (anniversary)
5. Vacuum cleaner
6. Washing machine/maybe a dryer
7. Large skillet with lid

The List is something of a living creature, it'll grow and change over time. And yes, I know it's silly to have something on there like shower curtain hooks, but to be honest, those are the little things that remind me that there's a line between necessity and luxury. I don't have to have them. We have enough to hold up the curtain. Barely. And every time I take a shower I'm just a little more motivated. The big ticket items aren't as real to me. They aren't things I could go out and buy today if I wanted to anyway. It's the little things that remind me that I'm sacrificing now so I can appreciate those things that much more later.

That's the big lesson I've taken away from the work we've done to pay off all of our debt. Three years ago I wouldn't think twice about spending smaller amounts of money, even $20 or $30. Today I realize that there are things I need and things I want, and there isn't a thing I want that I can't wait a few weeks or months for. And very few things I need. I hope I don't lose that lesson once we're done!

Deadliest Ninja Chimp

Being sick sometimes comes with the risk of addiction. For some people it's pain meds, for some people it's things like cough syrup and nasal spray. For me it's something far, far worse. I'm addicted to the Deadliest Ninja Chimp.

I admit that I'm the one who has said that I can live without pay television service. I didn't miss it when we ditched our cable, and was ambivalent to getting DirecTV when Greg decided he needed it. That's all well and good, until we spend a full week at home sick. It started with the 3 full seasons of Deadliest Catch that we had on the DVR. I've loved this show from the first season and had seen most of them before, but they had a marathon on a few weekends ago and we went ahead and recorded them all. We've now watched them all. Including all of the "Best of" shows.

But most addicts end up desensitized to their drug of choice after a while, needing something more to keep them going. Like Women of Ninja Warrior on the G4 channel. No, I didn't make that up. And I've seen two entire years' of challenges in the past week.

But even ninja warriors are only on for a half hour at a time. Even when the schedule is expanded to include the Unbeatable Banzuke, there's still a jonesing for more. After a while you find yourself needing to Escape to Chimp Island on Animal Planet.

Seriously. I have to go back to work. The TV is killing me.

For Sale

For Sale:

One pair of lymph nodes. Used, 33 years old. Very active, larger than usual. Will trade for smaller set or consider other offers.

You Know You're Getting Well...

All of our attempts at eating healthier over the past month or so have gone by the wayside over the past couple of weeks. Between work stress, being sick for two solid weeks, and trying to take care of other people, I don't think I've cooked a real meal in weeks. Cooking real food, much less healthy meals, takes more energy and planning than pasta-in-a-box or a burger from Sonic. Since Greg's gotten sick too, food hasn't been a priority at all. We can't taste anything and can hardly swallow, so eating's just too much trouble. I have lost all interest in being in the kitchen at all. Until now.

I've been laying on the couch going through one of the new cookbooks I got for my birthday - the Paula Dean The Lady & Sons set. Holy. Cow. Before I got out of the appetizers I'd found five things I wanted to cook. Greg had made a joke when I got them about how there wouldn't be a thing in there that we could eat if we were eating "healthy," but I've actually found quite a few things that are either not slathered in butter or are easily adjusted to be more healthy . Besides, we've both lost 5 pounds on the "too sick to care about eating" diet, so I think I can a few liberties. As long as I stay out of the dessert section, with its Double Dutch Chocolate Fudge Upside Down Cake. And the Sour Cream Caramel Cake. And the Caramel Apple Cheesecake. Oh my. Ok, back to the main courses. Baked flounder. Basil Grilled Chicken. Pepper Steak. Corn Chowder... Sigh. I think I'm getting better. This is the first time I've been really hungry in two weeks. Too bad there's no actual food in the house!

Please

I've noticed that sometimes the more I have on my mind the less inclined I am to write about it. I was thinking about that driving in to work this morning while the DJ's were talking about the National Day of Prayer.

The past week has been a wild roller coaster ride, not so much because of anything going on with me, but because of some extremely difficult times someone I care about deeply is going through. It's one of those things you want so desperately to fix for them, but there isn't a thing you can do to help other than just listen and be there for them.

I was giggling a little at the talk about the National Day of Prayer because for me I feel like I've had the National Week of Prayer. One night I literally sat in my floor, started to pray for my friend, and all I could do was repeat the word please over and over again. I don't even know what I was asking for, but somehow I figured God knew what I meant.

I noticed during all of this that I have been disinclined to blog. About that or much of anything. I was reminded of Mayberry taking a break from her blog to reconnect with God, and I realize that's kinda how I was feeling. It's not something I wanted to talk about, it wasn't something I wanted to share with anybody, but the need to pray was stronger than the need to talk about anything else. So that's pretty much what I've done for the past week. I've posted about being sick, but nothing else. Nothing seemed important.

We still don't know how the situation is going to end, but I've seen an interesting series of events taking place. I have no intention of sharing the story, it's not mine to share, but at some point I think I may want to share the process. I'm seeing some things that I believe are nudges from God, perhaps an answer to my prayer of please, but as my former minister used to say, "If you're 100 steps away from God, he will take 99 of them. The last one is up to you." I don't know if this person is anywhere near taking that last step, somehow I think that is still a long way off, but I think they've at least glanced in that direction. It's a start.