Free

Sometimes free doesn't mean free.

The Kohls near us routinely sends out $10 gift cards. Unlike other stores where you have to buy a certain amount to get the free money, this is $10 with no strings attached. You can walk in and walk out with a $7 tank top by just giving them the mailer card. In the past I have used the cards to get shorts, a skirt, and tank tops for nothing (or pocket change). This weekend I had another $10 card so we walked over to Kohls after eating yogurt <aside> if you are in Kyle, check out Chill Out frozen yogurt; really nice owners and good yogurt</aside>. I looked around and couldn't find anything that wasn't cheaply made and/or manufactured overseas. My husband also looked, but when he wasn't thrilled with anything we both decided that there was no point in getting something we didn't absolutely love.

It can be a challenge to pass up free stuff. It doesn't seem like that long ago when buying a new pair of shorts or a new shirt was a big deal to me. It was special because I had limited funds so I carefully picked out what I most liked in the price range I could afford. Back in high school or when I was in college the first go round, free stuff was like found money.

Even with a stable income, it is still hard to pass up free or almost free stuff when it is new and looks nice. I make sure to ask myself:

• Do I absolutely love it? If not, why bother?
• Am I willing to pay to house this item? The less stuff you have the smaller the space you can live in.
• Is it an item that will either last a long time and/or an item that will be desirable to someone else used? For example, solid wood furniture will last a long time and will be much easier to find a new home for if you no longer need it than cheap particle board furniture. These days cheap clothes are no longer in demand. Most thrift outlets and charities have more clothing than they know what to do with. Check out this article or Google "disposable fashion" for statistics and analysis: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/fashion/2012/06/the_salvation_army_and_goodwill_inside_the_places_your_clothes_go_when_you_donate_them_.html 
• What am I supporting by taking this item? By accepting a "free gift" that was produced under poor conditions and shipped around the world, you are letting the giver know you are okay with that. This obviously applies more to promotional items where the giver will just continue to order more of the same item than it does to accepting your friends or neighbors used clothes/housewares. And it certainly never should apply to actual presents given to you!

American

Some things I love that are uniquely American (the North American continent, not specifically our little portion):

• sweet corn
• chipotle peppers
• yucca
• prairie dogs
• bighorn sheep
• blueberries
• sunflowers
• avocado
• bison

We've exported some of these, but they all originated right here on our beautiful continent. I am not always the most patriotic about our country since politics and arbitrary lines are tedious, but I love this geographic region and think a shared pride between all human beings on our continent is far better than isolated, nationalistic tendencies.

Getting Ready to Sell

We are about to sell our house (it will be listed tomorrow!). That is easier said than done. Unless you keep your house looking like an excerpt from "House Beautiful", it is a massive undertaking. We have kept our house fairly well tended to and clean, but the idea of someone looking in all your cabinets and closets and scrutinizing your baseboards and corners really kicks things up a notch. You can certainly sell "as is", but you take a huge price hit (based on what I've heard). So we have been cleaning, and painting, and packing for some time now. Here is what I've learned:

• In all the years prior to selling, don't buy anything you don't really need. The less you have, the better your life will be. No, really. Trust me. I have gotten rid of so many things I now wish we'd never bought.
• Use Home Depot boxes and U-Haul tape. I've tried lots of brands of both and those are the best.
• Going to the dump is fun! If you have anything broken or defunct, load it all up and take it out there at once. It is only $35 for a full pickup truck load and it is lots of fun tipping stuff into a pit. Just make sure you cover your load to save an extra $20 charge.
• Give things away. I was too lazy to try to sell our stuff so we have been giving it away for free. It has been immensely satisfying. I don't think the amount of money I could have made would have equaled the happiness we have brought to others or the needs we have met.
• Start decluterring 2 and a half months in advance and cleaning/repairing a month and a half in advance. Leave the last few weeks for prepping/staging.
• Be ruthless. If you don't love it, get rid of it.
• Don't paint cabinets. It is not worth it. Even if they clash with the other decor, just deal with it.
• You will get an amazing workout. Expect to lose weight and experience lots of muscle soreness. Also, expect to get very little sleep the last few weeks before you list the house. Set a date to take pictures with your Realtor and then just pretend you are getting ready for finals in college and tell yourself it will all be over soon.
• Put your environmentalist tendencies aside. You will be dumping water on the lawn to keep the grass green. You will eventually break down and eat sandwiches every day off of paper plates because the thought of doing dishes while keeping the house constantly looking like no one actually lives there is overwhelming.
• Go ahead and pack all hobby related items. You will have no free time.

And for some comic relief now that we are done: http://hookedonhouses.net/bad-mls-photos/. Be sure and check out "The House That Loves Paint" (among many other funny ones).

Minimalist Packing

I really enjoy the concept of minimalist packing. It keeps you from feeling weighed down when you travel. It frees up time and mental energy. When you return home, there is not a mountain a laundry to do.

There are lots of resources on the web, but here is my take on traveling light from my last week long trip:

From upper left, clockwise: shorts and shirt, shorts and shirt for pajamas (but could be worn to go for a walk/exercise), flip flops, grey leggings, snack bars, a magazine and notebook and my Kindle, chargers (phone, Kindle, camera battery, and headphones), shoes, comb, Tide to-go, 3 pairs socks, 4 pair underwear, swimsuit, jacket. Not pictured are deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, face cream, sunscreen, and camera. All of this fit neatly in my small backpack with room to spare. I wore a lightweight dress which was my primary clothing except when hiking or sleeping (or swimming, obviously!). You can buy "travel dresses" from REI or various websites, but you can save a ton of money by locating one with similar properties at the thrift store or Ross. A good dress for travel should be lightweight, a dark color, a conservative cut (so it works at a variety of places), and a high percentage of synthetic fibers (except nothing strecthy). Most synthetic fibers will dry much quicker than natural fibers. Just think of the shorts and skirts that dry the fastest when doing laundry at home and try to find a dress (or pants/shirt if you are a guy) in a similar material. Quick dry is important because then you can wash them in the sink, hang them up, and have them be dry within in a day.

My husband and I did a similar minimalist packing experiment when we went to Ecuador. That time we did invest in REI pants. That was the best clothing investment ever. After the trip, I wore those pants to do hundreds of hours of field work in rough conditions. They held up beautifully and are only just now getting too worn out to travel with (unfortunately, I snagged myself climbing over a wire fence and got concrete adhesive on them).

LA

I went to Los Angeles and back twice within two weeks. Once by train and once by plane. That was fascinating because you realize just how different the perspective is between the modes of transportation. The train gives you a sense of the vast distance. However, since it was a clear day and I had a window seat, the plane gives a sense just how much the great American desert was shaped by water. I love flying over the southwest US! The terrain is utterly breathtaking from the air. I still prefer the train, though. Air travel never leaves me feeling relaxed and happy like train travel does.

If you find yourself in LA, here are some recommendations:

1. Eat at a restaurant called Lemonade: http://lemonadela.com/. Healthy, fresh, and utterly delicious. I would also recommend Cha Cha Chicken in Santa Monica and Poquito Mas in Burbank.
2. Hike in Griffith Park. It is not strenuous hiking, but make sure you bring good sneakers and water.
3. Avoid the 405. The stories are true. It is a tedious nightmare even at non-rush hour times. The other freeways were no worse than Austin at rush hour and the city streets are surprisingly easy to navigate.
4. Expect people to run red lights and then honk at you for being a careful driver. Those folks are a bit impatient. However, they do let you over if you have your signal on.
5. Talk to people. While I love Texas and her people dearly, I think LA residents may give Texans a run for their money in terms of friendliness.
6. Stay at Safari Inn in Burbank (http://www.coasthotels.com/hotels/usa/california/burbank/coast_safariinn/overview) or Vagabond Inn in Pasadena (http://www.vagabondinn-pasadena-hotel.com/). I was particularly pleased with Vagabond Inn seeing as it was the nicest $70 hotel I've stayed at anywhere in the US. Clean, secured hallway at night, free parking, free wireless, free breakfast, and walking distance to lots of restaurants.
7. Visit the Cal-Tech campus if you are in Pasadena. It may not be worth a trip on its own if you are on the opposite side of town, but it is a beautiful campus. Also, if you peek in the windows as you walk around you get to see labs that the rest of us can only dream of playing in.
8. Don't listen to the reviews for Corner Cottage in Burbank. The breakfast burritos aren't really all that. It was fun to watch them make them in mass, but pretty much any breakfast burrito I've got in Austin has been better.
9. LA is cheap to visit. Hotels are reasonable, food is cheap, activities and entertainment are often free. I'd always heard it was expensive, but aside from real estate, it is very reasonable.
10. Use the Metro Rail. It is easy to use and quite efficient. I went from the airport to Pasadena which involves transferring to 4 different lines. Even with the transfers it was easy and fast. The trains run frequently and there is enough to do within walking distance of the stops that there is really no need to rent a car if you are just going to LA for fun.

Amtrak

We took the train to and from Los Angeles this past week. It was awesome! I love trains, so I may be a little biased. If you have never taken a long trip by train, you should try it at least once. Here are some tips:

• Book a roomette if you are making an overnight trip. They are great. During the day you have two chairs facing one another and at night they convert to bunk beds (surprisingly comfortable beds at that). There is a shower and three bathrooms in each sleeper car. All of your meals are included. You have plenty of privacy when you want it and your own temperature controls. Coach looked pretty rough by comparison. I used to travel coach on Amtrak as a kid, but never overnight. It did not look fun.
• The dining car food is pretty good. They feed you plenty, so leave the snacks at home. I would bring a large water bottle and consider refilling it or buying a new one at the stops. I was more thirsty than usual and the bottles of water they give you are tiny and disappear pretty quick (our sleeper car attendant started rationing them). There is perfectly drinkable tap water, but the way it is pressurized means that more water ends up on you and the floor than in a cup or water bottle (and regular sized bottles won't fit under the spigot).
• Get out and walk around at the "smoke stops". It feels good to stretch your legs. Don't stray too far because they will leave you. We heard stories from our attendant about near death experiences of people clinging to the side of a moving train. The station at Tuscon is great both inside and out, so definitely check that out if you stop there.
• You don't need to bring much to do. You get three meals a day where you sit with other people and chat (it is mandatory to share tables at meals). It was fun to meet new people from all walks of life. We met a reporter, a professor, a lead dealer, a freelance writer, and a copper mine blast technician. They were all nice and I really enjoyed learning about their professions, where they were from, and where they were going. I finished one book, but other than that enjoyed the scenery and talking.

Birth Control

Kids: I love them! I enjoy meeting other people's kids. I wish there were more kids in the family to play with at holiday gatherings. However, there are so many wonderful things about not having kids. Young people out there, think long and hard before you decide to have children. Take responsible steps to ensure you only have children when you want to.

Lots of people talk about how wonderful having kids is. Some people even get incredibly upset when they can't have kids. Let me point out but a few of the great things about not having kids:

1. You have a lot more free time.
2. You have more money to do fun things.
3. You can watch dark comedies whenever you want.
4. You can wake up and go to bed whenever you feel like it (within the constraints of your job).
5. If you don't feel like cooking, you can have wine and cheese for dinner.
6. You can have a smaller house.
7. You can have 2-seater vehicles.
8. You have much less responsibility.
9. You have much less stress.
10. You feel bad when you neglect your cat, but they can't send you to jail for it.
11. Your house stays cleaner.
12. You can be alone with your thoughts on a regular basis.
13. Your carbon footprint is smaller (if that matters to you).
14. You are not contributing to overpopulation (if you think that is an issue).
15. You don't have to deal with anyone until after you've had coffee.
16. You have less laundry.
17. You never have to deal with head lice.
18. You never have to deal with morning sickness (or other unspeakable horrors of pregnancy).
19. If you are married, there is much less to argue about.
20. You get to choose how you want to make the world a better place with the time and money that would have gone into raising children (not all reasons are selfish!).

This isn't an anti-kid rant. This is just some encouragement to find happiness in yourself first. Children can't complete you (neither can a spouse). You will only be truly content when you can be happy with yourself.

Whatever choice you make on this issue, just make sure it is your choice. You can find happiness on either path.