Spending Time

Wednesday, 07 January 2009

Nutrtion/health-wise, I’m doing fine… aside from a slight organic walnut and dried fruit pig-out after co-op pick-up yesterday. I was starving when I got home, the kitchen was a mess and I still hadn’t thought of anything for dinner. While putting away groceries, chopping up veggies and dealing with a crabby baby, I downed several excess handfuls of walnuts and dried apricots, and a couple really tasty dates. But, it was nothing overly guilt-inducing, and after a brief period of disorganization and fatigue, my energy kicked in and I made salads for me and Darren, and beans and rice for the kids. Our evening then proceeded without any other dietary glitches.

One of our other New Year’s Resolutions, is to start off the year with a one month spending freeze. That means really distinguishing between wants and needs, and limiting purchases to only the NEEDS. Cutting out Starbucks, and an occasional trip to one of our favorite natural foods destinations for dinner shouldn’t be too challenging, but I realize the importance of just staying out of stores all together. Tonight, while waiting for Flo during her music lessons, to get out of the cold, I wandered around BestBuy for awhile. I didn’t need or want anything when I went in, but as I looked around, I could see how easy it is to get lulled into feeling the need to just buy something… My internal dialogue went something like this…

Self - “Ooh… look, this cordless phone is on sale. The caller ID on the phone in the kitchen doesn’t work anymore. We NEED a new phone.”

Self 2 - “No, we don’t NEED a new phone. Before we came in here today, you weren’t even thinking about a phone. And if someone calls, and you want to know who it is first, you can just walk in the other room and look at THAT caller ID display.”

Self 1 – “Ya, you’re right. I have an hour to kill during Flo’s lessons… let’s just walk around a little more. Ooh… look. This looks like a cool yoga work-out DVD. I want to do more yoga. It’s been a goal of mine for a long time.”

Self 2 – “Last time I looked, you had four or five yoga videos collecting dust in the basement. Why don’t you dust those off, and try them for awhile first. If you committed to incorporating more yoga into your routine, and did so for awhile, THEN it would be reasonable to consider purchasing another DVD. Right now, it’s not a NEED.”

Self 1 – “Ok. What else can I do for another half an hour? I’ll go to the bathroom. I have to pee…. Ok… that only took three minutes. Hmm… Ooh… look… digital video cameras. I so want to get into taking more videos of the kids, and the old video camera is a pain. I know I’m not going to buy one today, but we really should look into getting one soon.”

Self 2 – “Why? Doesn’t your regular digital camera take video?”

Self 1 – “Well, yes. But, it doesn’t have zoom, and isn’t the highest quality.”

Self 2 – “Are you taking videos from a football field away, or are you usually right up close, anyway?”

Self 1 – “Well, yes… I guess we generally just take video clips, anyway, and aren’t producing films for production. I’ll put that out of my head for awhile and revisit it later… maybe around my birthday.”

Self 2 – “That sounds like a reasonable plan.”

Self 1 – “Oh, you know what I really NEED? A printer. Our printer only prints in funky colors because the yellow ink spot doesn’t work.”

Self 2 – “Are the funky ink colors a problem?”

Self 1 – “Well, yes. What if I want to print something professional looking?”

Self 2 – “What if you did?”

Self 1 – “Argh! I suppose the only things I ever print are for my own use for the co-op or homeschooling, and anything professional-looking I’ve wanted printed out, I just upload to Kinkos.com and pick it up for a few bucks. And I’ve only done that a few times this year. So… forget the printer…. Moving right along…. 20 minutes left… I think I’ll just stand here in the TV section and watch the “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” DVD they have playing on this huge TV. Johnny Depp looks weird. Why haven’t I seen this movie before? Probably because whenever my kids are watching TV, I’m trying to get stuff done during the interlude of media-induced solitude!”

Self 2 – “Yes, speaking of television… what about that cable bill of yours? If you want to talk about wants versus needs…”

Self 1 – “Shut up! Let me just stand here, pretending to watch TV, while eavesdropping on a couple trying to decide whether to buy a TV or not. That’s entertaining.”

Self 2 – “Sorry.”

Self 1 – “Man, I really want to go to Starbucks. A hot coffee would go down so well right now.”

Self 2 – “Look. Only five minutes left and Flo will be done. You can go warm up the car and head home, make yourself a nice cup of coffee, have Darren watch Zofia for a few minutes, and write out this nutty conversation with yourself, before you forget!”

Self 1 – “That’s a good idea. Looking at it that way gives it a sense of creativity, and takes the edge off just feeling anxious standing around in a store thinking about all the things I WANT, but don’t need. I think next week, I’ll just bring a coffee and a good book, hope the baby falls asleep, and sit in the car while I wait for Flo!”

Self 2 – “Good thinking!”

Self 1 – “Thanks!”

So, as anticipated, long ago, when I began my attempts at weight loss, there are multitudes of other challenges in life that exist, both related to, entwined with, and outside of my physical health. Of course, feeling physically well provides some clarity to the rest of it, but there are all kind of fortitude needed in life!