Peaches and Beaches at the Wednesday Hodgepodge

Happy Wednesday everyone! Isn't Wednesday a great day of the week? Monday is a distant memory and Friday is within sight. Come join me and lots of other fun people at Joyce's place, From This Side of the Pond for the latest installment of Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. The first week of August is National Simplify Your Life Week...what's one thing you could do this week to qualify as a participant?
That's easy, toss out most of my clothes and then move into a tent. Seriously, I continually re-examine my life and surroundings in the desire to declutter and simplify my life. I am always thrilled to add one more item to my ever-present bag of donations.

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2. It's also National Peach Month...peach pie, peach cobbler, or please pour me a Bellini?  What's your peach pleasure?
My peach pleasure is fresh and juicy right off the tree.

3. Eleanor Roosevelt once wrote, "Do one thing every day that scares you." Agree or disagree...explain.
I think this is a great piece of advice. Overcoming fears and challenging ourselves to try something new are great ways to grow.

4. What's your favorite household chore?  Yes-you have to name one.

I would have to say cleaning the bathrooms. They're small so they don't take too much time, and there is a sense of instant gratification because they shine and smell so fresh when you've finished.

5. Fodors recently listed (what they've dubbed) the ten most beautiful sunset spots in America. Click here to read more and see the pretty pictures, but this is their list:

Butterfly Beach in Santa Barbara, CA, Mount Haleakala in Maui HI, Old Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe NM, Laguna Beach CA, Hopi Point in Grand Canyon AZ, Four Seasons in Miami FL, Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica CA, Gay Head in Martha's Vineyard MA, Ensign Peak in Salt Lake City UT, and Mallory Square in Key West Florida.

Have you seen the sun set from any of these spots?  If you could choose to watch the sun set this weekend from one spot on the Fodors List, which would you choose?  Where was the prettiest sunset you've ever seen?
Unfortunately, I've never seen the sunset at any of these places - although we used to live fairly near Butterfly Beach. I would choose to see the sunset there because I love Santa Barbara, CA. I don't remember the prettiest sunset I've ever seen, but saw many incredible sunsets at the beach when we lived in Ventura, CA.

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6. What's your favorite or most used app?  If you don't use apps how about your favorite or most visited website?
Call me a weather geek if you must, but my favorite is the Accuweather app.

7. We've recently passed the halfway mark for 2013...write a seven word sentence that sums up your year thus far. 
2013, an ongoing whirlwind roller coaster ride.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
My 19 year old son went in for allergy testing yesterday and is apparently allergic to everything. I think I am going to get the Worst Mother of the Decade Award for not taking him to an allergist sooner.

Hoarders

I've never watched the popular cable show about hoarding, but I can understand how people who tune in might feel a sort of horrified fascination. I think it might be akin to our interest in reading celebrity gossip columns in the newspaper or magazines. (I officially know I'm getting old because I've never heard of most of the people being written about.)

Sorry, I'm rabbit trailing. I want to talk about hoarding for a moment - virtual hoarding .

After receiving my Kindle Fire for Christmas last year it didn't take long for me to find out how I could receive daily emails informing me about free or low-cost ebooks. Before I knew it, my Kindle library was stuffed with dozens of fascinating books I knew I would love to read.

How many have I actually read? I am too ashamed to reveal that pitifully small number.

The other source of virtual hoarding for me is Pinterest. I think I joined Pinterest last year and initially spent hours trolling through everyone's newest pins every day repinning like crazy. (Here's a major confession. I went onto Pinterest to double check something while writing this, got sucked right in and was pinning and repinning before I knew what hit me.)

Do I ever go and look back to see what's on my boards? No.

Does this suck hours away from my day?  Yes.

Are Pinterest and downloaded ebooks inherently evil?  No.

Is downloading books I won't live long enough to read and pinning ideas on my boards that I don't even bother looking at a wise use of my time?  No.

Why do I feel compelled to become entangled in virtual hoarding? In real life I'm the antithesis of a hoarder. I'm constantly sorting through my possessions and donating or throwing them away. I am entranced by the thought of simplicity and minimalism.

I don't like piles, I don't like mess and I don't like chaos. But I do like books and reading. Storing books on my Kindle allows me to indulge my passion for reading at no expense of money and space.

I also like recipes, humor, decorating and craft ideas and Doctor Who (I really need to write about my Doctor Who fixation sometime soon.) and Pinterest allows me to collect and store all of these "ideas".

I don't have any collections of things in my home (mainly because I hate having to dust), but Pinterest allows me to collect whatever I like for free and without having to find room to store my collections or dust them.

But, realizing the ridiculousness of hoarding virtual books and ideas a few months ago, I stopped reading the daily emails that lured me to download lots and lots of free books I might want to read someday. I just open those emails occasionally. When I see something interesting I stop and ask myself, "Will you really, honestly read this book?" Most of the time I ruefully answer myself, "No, you idiot." And so, I don't download.

What about Pinterest? I just stopped cold turkey. Every month or two I'll pop on and take a look, but at the end of my browsing I see that an hour or more has passed and am shocked that I've used so much time accomplishing nothing. That realization is what keeps me from away from Pinterest.

So, like all things in life, I need to exercise moderation. The things I am attracted to and enjoy aren't usually bad, but should probably be enjoyed in very small doses.


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