Musing – Page 2 – Our Lustron Home

This time of the year has become pretty crazy these last few years. I don’t have experience with that many Christmases since, as a child, I wasn’t terribly aware of the stress and culture that existed around Christmas.

Consumerism

This year like the previous two, Walmart started their Black Friday sales at six o’clock on Thanksgiving night. This action perfectly represents what is happening to our culture related to Christmas: Consumerism. This of course causes stress to different types of people. Some people like to shop, causing stress to their close relationships, because of the inability to stop or consider the consequences of shopping. Others buy gifts to one up other family members and for “bragging rights”. While others overspend hoping to impress, buy the affection of their spouse, or fix the distance in their relationship with their child. Some are in constant stress wondering what bills can be pushed off another month in order to have money to buy gifts, because they live paycheck to paycheck. Parents struggle to afford to buy gifts that will help their child fit in, and others struggle to have food on the table, lights on, and even heat. To some, Christmas has become a hassle and never worth the meaning behind it. Their years of hardship make Christmas a burden, and keep it a burden. Years of striving to out perform last Christmas and rushing for the biggest piles under the tree, ruin any joy that others may experience related to Christmas. The stress is all consuming and is a terrible storm that disorients your heart as well as your mind.
I am reminded though of the gift-giving love language from Gary Chapman’s Five Love Languages. If we were all able to see and experience giving in that way, I feel the season would be easier. That way, referring to the way those with the love language will give gifts as a sign of love, and in the same way, they are joyful to receive any gift because they see love as a gift, even if it is just a flower, note, or gift of time. But, I suppose the human heart is greedy and not teaching gratitude at such a young age can grow a greedy and even entitled heart.

Remembrance

Besides consumerism, we also see remembrance. Christmas is also a time when we remember those we’ve lost and reflect on the year that passed. Many times Christmas is shrouded is sadness and despair. Memories of past Christmases prevent us from enjoying what we have now, and who we have. The “Ba Humbug” sentiment can still be felt and quietly echos through the lives of someone you may know. Change is usually unwelcome but sometimes the way you react to the change can cause more damage than the acceptance ever would. Flexibility can help with some changes, such as changes to family structures or life events or changes in location/jobs, but others just require acceptance of reality and the finality of life.
Remembrance is normal and should be encouraged since there is much to gain from the past and better times, but constantly looping better times and being consumed by the change is not healthy. Remember those you have with you and take time to do things that are good for you, even if you do not fully want to or feel you deserve them.

Generosity, A Hope

However, we are lucky enough to see generosity. It is true that many have a “me” mentality, others still exist with a generous hand they are always willing to offer. Drives this time of year that are gathered within the community they wish to serve are examples of generosity. Toy drives, clothing drives, and even food drives directly benefiting those locally that need help remind us that this season encourages a helping nature and a desire to serve other. Even a simple action like caroling to nursing homes, or delivering cookies to a neighbor can make a large difference to the bleakness some face. One thing that continues to bring joy, is the fact that we are trying to reach our elders and children at this time of year. Christmas is a holiday for everyone. Though not everyone receives help or friendship this time of year from others, the fact that some do, still brings some joy and reassurance that we have not completely lost the spirit of the season.

I could start rambling now about how Christianity fits into all of this, such as Christmas being a day and time to celebrate Jesus’ birth, however, I do not feel I have to do that, because it is in the name. If you celebrate Christmas, than you are celebrating in his name. Even if you do nothing some would consider “generous”, a simple gift to a family member, a co-worker, or a neighbor is an act of generosity, an act of service. Though Christmas has become a time of consumerism and remembrance, Christmas retains the spirit of generosity despite all else that gives a sense of hope that things will get better or we can muster on because we always have. Hope is a great gift to give to others.

If you’ve made it this far, allow me to thank you for reading my Christmas musings.

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a good day today.

To start this blog, I’ve decided to give you a little update into where we were, and where we hope to head in the future with this house.

So far, we’ve been working on the house since we bought it in June. We started with outdoor work. We’ve trimmed the magnolia in the front yard cutting it significantly back, removed cedars that were along the rear edge of the garage, removed two yews along the side of the garage, and done basic maintenance including washing the siding, and cleaning gutters and fixing the broken ones along the front of the house.

When we moved in there was quite a bit of neglect to the house. The back screen-door handle was broken, leaving only the push button to open the door. We found out after we moved in that the refrigerator leaked and the freezer formed excessive amounts of ice, the dryer hose was busted so the lint was being thrown everywhere behind the dryer and the pipe it vented to had completely rusted away leaving just ducting tape. The doorknobs didn’t work because the mechanisms inside were plastic and ruined with the bathroom being particularly bad. The drain for the kitchen sink was almost completely blocked, and though they vacuumed, the house needed some serious cleaning.

Thanks to my husband, all of these problems got solved over the first few months. Josh changed the handle on the screen-door, got a new dryer hose and the piping to replace the ducting tape. He tightened the bolts of the refrigerator and freezer and used petrolatum jelly to create a better seal on the doors. He changed out the doorknobs in the house with the old front and backdoor knobs. And the kitchen drain, after trying Liquid Plumber many times, we ended up buying a pipe bladder that created enough pressure to force the gunk out of there! We then scrubber the walls, windows, doors frames, and tiling with diluted distilled white vinegar, which worked well on grease, dirt, and significantly reduced the lingering smell of dog.

We also bought new hardware for the kitchen cabinets and replaced the old. We took out the old medicine cabinet in the bathroom and replaced it with a new light fixture and re-purposed the mirror from the front of the cabinet to be our new mirror temporarily. We also installed a new double towel rod in place of the old single towel rod. We bought curtains for all of the rooms, 84″ blackout curtains that reach the floor, and sheer curtains for underneath. We’ve installed a projector screen, because we decided to buy a cheap projector rather then a TV. And, we removed some of the carpet in the guest bedroom/cat room/home office/storage-room.

Our upcoming projects
Right now, we are working on removing wallpaper that goes from the dining room through the living room and into the hallway. We plan to remove the wallpaper sections at a time, plaster the areas that have previous damage, sand it all flat, then paint it with satin white latex paint since we received a free gallon from a local hardware store.
Also above the cabinets in the kitchen, you will see there is a hole. We discovered that a couple months ago. It is a spot where someone just wallpapered over the old vent hole, so we plan to cut a piece of wood that will fit, attach it in there and seal the hole, then paint it.

There are still many things we hope to do, from painting cabinets and walls, to removing carpeting and adding new flooring. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you soon!