Wrapping Up 30 Days of Nothing

Lest you think avoiding stores has kept consumerism at bay, Lily likes to leave the above signs all over the house--attached to sticks. She likes to make hats and masks and necklaces, etc., and sell her wares to anyone willing to part with their nickels and dimes.

I have 2 more days to go in my challenge. Since I began on Nov. 3, I am ending on Dec. 3. I have a haircut appointment on Thursday afternoon, but it's close enough. And who's really counting minutes?

All of my kids need pants in one form or another. Carver needs a new lamp. (His blew a fuse--of course.) The car desperately needs to be washed. I want a peppermint latte. I need socks. We have no vitamins. I owe my mom stamps. I missed some killer deals at Amazon.com. My hair makes me look like a wookie. However, we saved way more than I expected and I don't really need to go out on December 4th and replenish an entire household of goods. I want to make sure that when I do start spending again, it's not a knee-jerk reaction and that I ease back into the consumer world with care. I'm just saying.

I had a head-smacking moment yesterday. The kind where you're jawing about something and, ping! A lightbulb goes off over your head and you realize you've acted like a noodle-brain. I was jealous of someone else's wealth. Someone I know that was able to afford something extravagant that our family cannot. And I was grumbling about how lucky they were and wishing I could have some of what they had. And it hit me. I was being ungrateful and, in a word, lame. I reeled in my wayward thoughts and recalled that I have enough. More than enough. And to just shut it, already.

I am already considering repeating 30 Days of Nothing in January. Apparently, I still need the lesson.