Reboot is now including SIMPLIFYING Life

Time for the early Sunday morning rant!

Has anyone actually thought about how much money you spend in a month? I hope it's constant knowledge in order to KEEP order in your personal household. 

Seriously.  This is not going to be one of those BUDGET BUDGET SAVE YOUR MONEY discussions.  I'm HARDLY the one to have that kind of talk.  I had a revelation about what the industries have been pushing us to believe we can't live without and how much money is spent on it daily, monthly, and yearly.  It's money that could go in our own pockets, into our savings, for our retirement, for our kids' futures, towards eliminating debt!  Yet we think it's reasonable and necessary to give it to someone else. 

Frugalista.com challenged her readers to avoid spending for just the month of February and I noted joyful tweets of savings of up to $956.00! I was ecstatic FOR them!  Could that be done in YOUR life?

Let's get out a pen and paper....Yes, I said a pen and paper, not the computer or your Iphone.  It's necessary psychologically for you to actually write it down and see it and make it real.  Later you can review and make your own determination of how you want your money and your life to be spent.

Answer these questions as honestly as possible.  This means you may have to retrieve the actual bills, which are, hopefully, all in one place anyway, and reach deep into your subconcious to pull out the numbers.

How much do you spend per month on a cell phone?  More than one phone?  (write it down) 
Do you also have a house phone? How much is it and does it have unlimited calling? (write it down)
How many times per month do you have your hair styled?  Your childrens'? (write the cost down, plus tip!)
How many times per month do you have the mani/pedi done? How much does it cost you? (Plus tipping!)
How many times per month do you shop for clothing, accessories, etc.?  How much do you spend? (write it!)
How many times to you go to the grocery store each week? Average amount spent? (multiply x4 and write it down)
How many times do you eat out in a week? Average amount spent? (multiply x4 and write it down)

Are we being honest today? PAINFULLY honest?  Then let's continue.

How much do you spend to watch television? Satellite? Cable, TIVO, whatever? Pay per view films? (write it)
Do you have a car payment?  On more than one vehicle? (write it--now I've gotten into my sing-song voice)
Paying for the computer internet service/WIFI, etc to read this right now?  How much? (write it down)
Going to the movies a lot in a month?  Matinees or evenings? How much in a month?  (write it)
Making an addiction-run into the drug store to 'browse' or into the beauty supply store? (write it down)
Do you always have to be the first to have the lastest, greatest, fastest, smallest, biggest just advertised toy?
WRITE IT DOWN.


I'll stop here.  These are mostly just the things that amuse you, make you feel better about how you look to others, or to seem busy, or worse, actually MAKE you busier than you need to be!  And we wonder why we are always playing 'catch-up' with our finances?

Remember when someone called and we couldn't answer....they'd call again.  Move it up some years. Let's say they called and could leave a message.  We didn't feel the need to have any discussions in the car besides with the other person riding WITH us.  You called people BACK.  I understand a child's need these days to have a phone to communicate with parents.  I think it's great that it's available and would have saved me many gray hairs raising my daughter back in the day.  However, do they REALLY need to make the calls and texts/sexts that they do?  In my opinion, sorry kids, but the simplest, LEAST expensive prepaid plan would do for them.  Ten bucks and done!

There's is a reason you have a kitchen to cook in.     It's there to care for yourself or make family dinners instead of the garbage served by drive-thrus.  And if you saw the kitchens in most restaurants you'd triple the prayer you say before eating it!

I'm not trying to call anybody out here.  I want us all to think about where our hard-earned money is going.  Is it working for us or are we rewarding ourselves with 'stuff' and 'activities' that aren't necessarily necessary to feed some other need in us or out of boredom? 

This is coming from a not so smart decision to have a 'smart' phone.  I realized that I had access to Wonderful World of the World Wide Web through my husband's desktop, my laptop, through the WII system on the tv, and on my phone!  For what reason would I need THAT much access to games, movies and YouTube videos!  Do I REALLY need to advise everyone on Twitter and Facebook what I'm thinking at that exact moment?  Am I that full of myself? Hope not. I'm returning my cell to simply minutes again with text (only to keep in contact with my out-of-the-country kid in emergencies!).  It will save us hundreds this year!  Sprint's gonna HATE me!

I resolved to plan and shop ONLY once per week for groceries we need for me to make meals at home, including breakfasts and lunches.  It's been proven that we spend WAY over our budget (sorry, bad word!) when we are in the store 2, 3, or 4 times per week just to pick up this or that.  This or that ends up costing what a car payment might be!

And, Ladies, when did we stop knowing how to do our own nails and hair that we have to pay someone to do it regularly for us?  If your hands work, should be working on you!

And for everyone with more than one vehicle payment (plus insurance!), I ask myself this everytime I hear about Jay Leno's car collection.....how many cars can you drive at a time?  A car was meant to get you from A to B safely.  That's all that's required.  I don't want a car OR phone to talk to me, guide me (they have maps for that), tell me things I can find out myself with a little effort, show me movies, make a call FOR me, or choose the restaurant I'll treat myself to that night!  When did we give up so much control of our own decision-making and autonomy to, well, machines?  Think on that one, John Connor.

OK...done with the Sunday morning rant and ready to head to Mass to hang out with Somebody I love and can trust and is showing me the WAY to live in this complicated world without it being so complicated of a life.  Sigh.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, All, and have a blessed and enlightened week!

New York, New York...it's a wonderful town! STILL!!

(Reposting this particular blog as I remember the fantastic time had in the most fascinating city on the planet!  I pray that everyone and everything is where they should be--safe, in NYC and in every town/city affected by Sandy.  To be elderly, disabled, alone, or young, and scared of such natural disasters is a horrible thought!  Much love and blessings and may everyone help one another through as we should.)


But it kicked my butt!!!

There was an instant realization that I could NEVER live in a large city again where everyone says, "It's just a 10 minute walk from here."

Not at the pace I walk, it isn't.  I found myself trying to stay in the right lane of walkers, the slow lane.  No one told me THERE ISN'T A SLOW LANE!  So I tried my best to stay out of the way of those with good healthy working legs, barely being trampled or shoved out of the way, and showing my 'touristness' by saying "excuse me" and "sorry". 

All in all, when you think of large cities like New York or Chicago, you think of getting around as rather easy.  I'm here to tell you that when you have any type of disability, it can be rough.  There is a lot of walking, climbing stairs, getting on, getting off, moving out of the way, quickening your steps crossing streets or catching buses or trains or elevators, bending, squeezing through, standing, waiting...Sheesh, I'm exhausted just thinking about it again. 

My challenge is coming up here.  There is a commercial ad on TV that has women wearing a bell bracelet while they move through their day.  I challenge everyone to actually pay attention to EVERY move you make, including getting yourself ready for the day, and to write it down.  You have my permission to skip the bracelet. That whole 10,000 steps in a day/pedometer requirement is a joke!  You do more than you realize if you live in a large city!  Kudos to you for getting through it!  And, some in high heels!!

Now, imagine that you have a disability or are elderly, that you maybe use a walker.  I hope it makes everyone feel a little more compassion and patience when you see someone moving a little slower than you. 

On the 'up' side, we did get in the main sites through that WONDERFUL HOHO bus (that's hop-on/hop-off), my daughter and I played Sex and the City in a nightclub, and we swayed around on top of the Empire State Building.  Therefore, it is more than worth the weeks of recovery I'll have to go through for it. 



I highly recommend Congee Village Restaurant in Chinatown.  It's off the main drag of people trying to sell you junk.  They actually take you to China through the most authentic food and atmosphere!



There are musicians at the Liberty and Ellis Islands ferry and amazing undiscovered talent in Battery Park!  So much to see and to do and to appreciate...so little time.



If you get to Times Square, on top of the Forever 21 store is a HUGE Jumbotron that you can see yourself on from across the street!  We had a blast with that!  I've always known I was destined for the big screen!  Although, I look quite small here.  I can't even tell which is ME.



Of course, my dear husband, who protected me and helped me SO much through the trip, mainly wanted pizza.  And BOY did he have pizza....like everyday!  It made me happy because it was his birthday week and he got pretty much everything he wanted.

Bottom line is it's such a fun and exciting city that offers everything you could ever want on earth but I wouldn't want to live there. 

However, I have begun my Physical Therapy sessions.  When I regain my balance and strength in my legs, watch out Big Apple!  I'm gonna take you on again, the right way!

2011 Ended With a Whimper...2012?

Bumping my head on exercise equipment then being nipped by my neighbor's dog, a few falls, one friend entering Heaven, and one starting a fight for her life...the beginning of loss of sensation in 1 1/2 fingers and palm of my left hand is almost welcome.

Ironically, this is not a result of the Multiple Sclerosis but from a bulge in the area of my cervical spine that is causing nerve damage to the ulnar nerve that affects your pinky and half of your ring finger.  Just a little anatomy lesson for those who are not in the medical field. 

Having MS is, I believe, a lot like Life.  You wake up and you don't know what the day holds for you. 

It is a frustrating prospect only because you feel you have no control of your life.  In reality, we really do not, but refuse to admit to it, most of the time.  I've made my peace with not being the same "let's go-spontaneous-go 'til it's done-what do you MEAN you're tired!" multitasker.  It may sound crazy to some but the MS has been a blessing.  I'll explain.

I have this condition which has forced me to slow down, to reevaluate, to pay attention.  We go through life, generally, with the expectation that each day will be the same as the last and the same the next.  With that attitude, we are truly taking Life for granted.  When you don't know if you'll go blind in one eye or both, how long it will last, if it will end, IF your leg will work, IF it will stay that way, will you get to the point where your skin is so hypersensitive that no on can touch you, you look at the day a little differently.

You learn gradually, after making some peace with it, to be grateful for each day life is breathed into you and wakes you for a new one.  You take better care of yourself while you can.  You live out your dreams, while you can.  You take the chances you fear, because you still can.  Again....this is not unlike anyone's life, with or without MS.

So, yes, there was a time I could hold down 4 jobs at a time, raise a child, run 5ks, hike, earn belts in Kung Fu, and play 'real' tennis not on the WII.  Now, I make a list of tasks and consider it a good day if I get a few of the items completed before my battery needs recharging with a nap.  It's not a bad thing.  It's not a bad life.  And it, certainly, could be a lot worse.  I read it everyday on the forum and pray for those who suffer more than I do with MS and anything else out there.

You see?  Live the life you are given, whatever may be in it.  It's not a dress rehearsal.  This is it.

RECALCULATING ROUTE!

So...I made a detour at Baby-Girl's-Home-for-a-Week Drive hoping to find my way back here but ended up on Thanksgiving Boulevard.


Strangely, I've been down that road many times before, but forgot it leads to Christmas Island.  Silly me!  My GPS kept screaming, "RECALCULATING ROUTE!" so often I wanted to strangle that little lady. I gave in and made the hard right turn onto the New Year Bridge.  I think the official name is I-2012.

I'm praying there's no toll charge because I never have money on me. 

Anyway, here I am, back on the right path and should be at my destination...well, whenever I get there. I make no promises.

However, there is one matter I mean to attend to this year. It's not a resolution, in traditional terms, so don't be afraid to keep reading.

It involves a private 'discussion' with Father John earlier in 2011, or possibly late 2010!

He said, "When are you going to write that book?"

That's not a grammatical error. I wrote he SAID because it sounded more like a command than a question at the time.

"How did you know I wanted to write a book?",  I asked, dumbfounded.  I'd never mentioned it to anyone and never to him!

He grinned slyly.  "I know everything."

Looking back at 2011 and good people I know that didn't make it to 2012, plus one dear friend who is still fighting to make it here, I can't sleep thinking about just how much I've taken time for granted.  I've wasted a tremendous amount of time considering it is a gift given to us like everything else we have, like waking and breathing!

Anything we have said we want to do...we'd better get on it and do it, say it, live it, pray it.

Even if  "failure" is the result, at least, we can say we tried it. There's a certain dignity in that which we should embrace instead of the fear of starting.

As Liz Lemon said, "I want to go to there."  Wherever, there may be.