Poor Planning

Day 3

I should also probably mention early on that “The Simple Year” has a plot twist that involves a little more than us not overspending at Target.    When we found out Chris was deploying, we were living in Del Rio, Texas.  Now for those of you unfamiliar with Texas geography, Del Rio is about three hours west of the nearest Starbucks on the Mexican border.  I’m not making that up, truly, 155 miles to Starbucks.   Forget Alaska, THAT my friends, is the last American wilderness.

So it will probably not surprise you that we decided to head back to Colorado where we have lived before and the company I work for is located.

I’m a “consultant” which makes me sound smarter that I actually am.  Plus it immediately shuts people up.  The conversation goes like this:

Them: “Oh, you work, what do you do?”

Me: “I’m on consultant status at a small human factors training firm.”

Them: eyes glaze over and nod “Oh, um”… “Can you believe how crazy the weather has been?”

See, you were bored just reading about it.  I should remove that part.   In any case, the military was not inclined to move us from Del Rio for this particular time-frame.   Well, actually they were not inclined to PAY for us to move.   So, you can see how “simple” becomes much more appealing when faced with the prospect of moving yourselves and your possessions 550 miles at your own expense.

So, about 75% of our collected stuff went into storage and 25% went into a U-Haul.  In retrospect, I did not put as much thought as I should have into what went where.  For instance, I DID bring a cherry pitter and about four coolers, I DID NOT bring a mop or a dustpan.

Case in point, here is the living room:

Is this worth a thousand words?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is my closet:

As you can see there is some imbalance in my life as to the difference between a need and a want.  My children are in the same boat.  When we were preparing to move I asked my oldest which books and toys she wanted to take to Colorado for a year.  “All of it,” she stated, and then one more time for emphasis, “I NEED all of it”.    And that is why we are in Colorado with an empty living room, one skillet, a 13 x 9 pan, 6 teaspoons and about 2,000 pounds of toys and books.


9 Responses to Poor Planning

  1. Minus one pink Barbie Jeep which has made my children extremely happy. Especially my son. He loves the pink Barbie Jeep. But that’s a different subject…. Thanks again for our “new to us” toy!

  2. I applaud your attitude and attempt at the simple life for 12 months. However there might be a few amendments, like buying shoes and undies. They must be NEW! Keep me posted on how it goes and any really good garage/estate sales. If you need a trumpet I have one you can buy–CHEAP and 2nd hand.

  3. Pingback: Pottery Barn Dreams | The Simple Year

  4. Please come to my house — please!!! You can have 75% of my stuff for free!. No shopping involved. I will gladly fill your living room up!!!

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