Goodbye Winter!

The calendar says Spring is 6 days away, but Mother Nature thinks differently. The rhododendron has lavender flower buds and the bare spirea branches are sprouting leaves.

Further evidence that Spring is here: the vinca is blooming and sprouting new vines with tiny leaves. Unfortunately, it also means that it’s time to start weeding the planting beds.

With many unseasonably warm days alternating with cooler days this winter, you pretty much had to check the temperature daily to decide how warm a coat to wear. My new winter coat didn’t get worn much and now it’s time to put it away.

Goodbye, Winter.
Hello, Spring!

Snow Fun

Seems like my phone always rings at lunch time! Usually it’s a telemarketer for one of several charities that call on a regular basis hoping I’ll change my mind and agree to donate. Monday’s lunch time caller was my neighbor.

“Hello.”

“Susan?”

“Yes.”

“Is it OK if Bob blows the snow off your driveway?”

Seems Bob had a new toy. A brand new snow blower and he’d waited all winter to play with it. We finally got a couple of inches of wet snow on Monday and he was having fun moving snow.

In no time at all, Bob had cleared my driveway and most of the sidewalk between the driveway and the front steps. He certainly saved me a bit of shoveling, though Mother Nature melted much of the snow the next day.

The next best thing to no snow is a friendly, helpful neighbor with a new snow blower!

Volunteer Time Has Value

Do you spend time volunteering for a favorite charity? Do you wonder how much your time is worth?

The Independent Sector estimates the dollar value of volunteer time at $21.36 per hour for 2010. This is based on the average hourly earnings of production and non-management workers, not including farm workers. Twelve percent is added to wages to account for benefits.

$21.36 is the average value for the entire United States. Independent Sector’s Value of Volunteer Time lists the dollar value of a volunteer hour by state. In 2009, the value of a volunteer hour ranged from $11.31 in Puerto Rico to $32.79 in Washington, D.C.

In 2011, I knitted and crocheted 58 hats for a local homeless shelter, averaging over 3 hours per hat. I also finished 2 afghans (40 hours??), stitched 17 small quilt tops (about 3 hours each), and finished 33 blankets (at least 3 hours each) all for Project Linus. That’s approximately 364 hours of volunteering at $18.57 per hour (Missouri rate) for a total value of over $6,700.

What was the value of your volunteer efforts this year?

Why Not Look Your Age?

Browsing through the TV listings, I spotted “Why Look Your Age!,” an infomercial for Lifestyle Lift®. I dislike 2 things about this infomercial.

1. The infomercial implies that Lifestyle Lift® is a revolutionary new medical procedure that is quick and simple. It’s plastic surgery!
2. It propagates the notion that you need to look young and wrinkle free to be happy and feel good about yourself.

What is wrong with looking your age? I’m not ashamed of being 55. Every wrinkle and grey hair that I have came naturally and I earned them.

Why is it acceptable to let anyone tell us that a youthful appearance is good and anything other than youth and beauty is undesirable?

Grow up people! Be who you are and embrace the way you look. Leave the plastic surgery for disfiguring scars and abnormal growths. Reject the Botox® and the anti-aging serums with their unknown side effects.

Everyone gets older. Every 24 hours, one day older. It’s something to cherish, not something to be ashamed of. Dress nice and be well groomed. Get a flattering haircut. Surgery and expensive products are not required! Have respect for those that are willing to age gracefully and stop trying to look forever young.

Nobody’s perfect. Make the most of what you are and enjoy life on your terms.

Impulse Buy

I walked into Costco and was immediately tempted into an impulse buy. Impulse buys can be bad for your waistline or bad for your personal finances. Sometimes both. Fortunately, this purchase was calorie-free and made a small dent in my budget.

Entering Costco, I was greeted by windshield wipers for $7.99 each. Hmmm. It’s been a couple of years since I changed mine and that seemed like a good price. I consulted a booklet on the display to determine the sizes I needed (24″ driver’s side and 18″ passenger side) and selected my wiper blades. Then I saw that it was a buy one get one free offer. What a deal! $7.99 for 2 wiper blades.

My records show I last bought windshield wipers in August, 2009 and the pair cost about $20. Many sources recommend replacing your wiper blades at least annually, but most of us don’t change them that frequently. My car sits in the garage about 6 days a week, so it gets little sun to deteriorate the rubber. Rubber gets hard and dry even without sun, so it’s probably a good idea to replace the 2 year old blades. Especially since I got such a great deal.

When was the last time you changed the windshield wiper blades on your vehicle?

Downsizing the Trash

96 Gallon Embarrassment

Remember this 96 gallon embarrassment I was cursed with 4 years ago? It’s history now.

In a move to avoid using a trash hauler to be designated by our city (a coming change), my homeowners association (HOA) and our trash hauler have conspired negotiated a new contract that replaces the 96 gallon abomination with the dynamic duo below: a 64 gallon trash cart and a 21 gallon recycling bin.

New Dynamic Duo

The coming city change specifies the trash hauling fee is based on the size of the trash container with different sizes available. An RFP is out for bids for a single trash hauler to service our entire town except neighborhoods where the HOAs have a contract for solid waste disposal. Curbside recycling must be offered, but may be an added charge.

I haven’t had curbside recycling since I left New Jersey in 1995. It’s been available the last 4 years, at a cost of $8.75 per month. I chose to take my recyclables to a drop-off location for free instead. I’ll continue to take my glass to the drop-off recycling. Glass isn’t allowed in our recycling pick up because it would break and contaminate the load of recyclables.

The 64 gallon trash cart is still larger than I need. It’s much lighter than the old cart, which is a nice change. I welcome the recycling container and hope to see all of my neighbors using their recycling container. From what I’ve seen on morning walks, some of my neighbors needed motivation to recycle. This makes it easy with no added cost to them.