Wesley loves to play board games but the games were kept in prime avalanche conditions in the closet or on the upper shelves of a bookshelf. Every time he wanted to play a game, he needed help to get it. That screwed up the spontaneity of game play and made it harder for me to dodge another game of Sorry. I thought it would be nice to put some shelves into the closet so the games would be out of sight and easily accessed by the shorter people in our household. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the rest of the closet. I was thinking about putting more shelves in, but I didn’t want to build storage just for the sake of storage.

Then I had a crazy idea. I could find an interesting way to display Paul’s guitar and amp so they would be easy to get to; he wouldn’t have to dig the guitar out of its case and the amp out of its box every time he wanted to play. I had it on good authority that Santa was bringing the kids a guitar of their own, too. I planned the shelves so there would be room for his amp underneath them. I used online tutorials to build the shelves and they were done for less than $35. I had the shelves in and Paul was putting his guitar case in there one evening.

Paul: I don’t know if you’ve thought of this, but wouldn’t it be cool if you made the rest of the closet…

Me: Shut up, you’ll ruin it.

So he figured it out. It was pretty obvious, anyway. I’m not really sure how I thought I was going to keep it a secret with all the painting I’d have to do in there. He was going to find out or I was going to succumb to paint fumes in a closet with the door closed. I told him my idea which I usually do with fear and trembling, because he’s great at shooting down my ideas for stupid reasons like “faulty logic” and “that’s a load-bearing wall.” However, he gave this project a thumbs-up.

I didn’t have it done by Christmas, but that worked out well, because Santa brought me a ukelele. (I think it was Santa’s bid to get me in a grass skirt and coconuts, but the joke’s on him because coconuts don’t come that small.)

This is the finished product:

I don’t usually travel far from gray and bluish gray when it comes to painting walls. Any bright color in our house is Paul’s doing and I’m surprised they even let me into the paint section at Lowe’s by myself. Since this project was behind a door, I felt branching out would be less risky. I picked out paint chips, brought them home and set them behind the instruments. I got the final colors in sample size for about $2.50/each and it was plenty for two coats. The walls were completed with a pint. We found some great guitar hangers on Amazon that easily adjusted to different instruments. Instead of using the screws they came with, I attached them to studs with drywall screws. The shelves were painted with a white semigloss we had in the garage. I let them cure for two weeks before putting anything on them so they wouldn’t get tacky. Everyone can reach their instruments and they’re getting a lot of use.

I named it The Music Room. Paul said it didn’t count as a room if you couldn’t get more than one person in there. In the middle of showing him how two people could fit in there quite comfortably, he agreed that I could call it anything I like.

I was born without lower wisdom teeth and my upper ones have been in for years with no problems. The only issues I had with them were that they were basically useless since they didn’t have a matching set to grind against. They were also the place where any fibrous bit of veggie or gristly bit of meat would hide. (Not so much hide as wedge itself in tightly and force me to attempt delicate maneuvers with floss without accidentally swallowing my hand.)

Around Christmas, my teeth began to rebel. They hurt and they were making the rest of my mouth hurt. A little tricky work with a mirror and a flashlight revealed the little bastards were turning outward for no good reason. I simmered in my pain for about a week then set about trying to find a dentist. I hadn’t been to a dentist since Gracie was a baby, mostly because the dentist I had gone to for one visit had a racist receptionist. Really? I live in the South. I hear it enough without having to pay someone so I can hear it some more.

Unfortunately, it was the time of year when dentists take off for the holidays and I was getting desperate. I had gotten to the point of googling “how to remove my own wisdom teeth” (btw, even the internet thinks that’s a bad idea). Paul suggested Aspen Dental. I was able to make a same-day appointment online. I was a happy camper, except for the fact that I actually had to go to the dentist.

It wasn’t all bad. After x-rays, I made the joyous discovery that there was a little TV right in front of the exam chair that I could control. Add that to the list of places where I can watch HGTV. (Right under “on vacation.” It’s a short list.)

The dentist agreed that my teeth were of no use and they had to go. Off I went to the manager’s office for a financial consultation. She told me my options: I could have them pulled that week with local anesthesia or I could wait for the dental surgeon who could put me in a “twilight state.” (I think that means they give you enough drugs that an emaciated boy who sparkles in the sunlight starts to look attractive. That’s a lot of drugs.) However, the dental surgeon wouldn’t be around until the end of the month. I opted for local anesthesia because I figured it couldn’t be any worse than the one painkiller and a pair of pliers plan I had been considering.

She pulled up the cost and said, “Simple extraction. This is going to run you $675.”

“Fine.”

“Oh, your insurance was just processed. Make that $40.”

“Whew!”

Yay for a man with dental insurance. Also, yay for a man who will take off early from work to watch the kids in a waiting room.

I have never, ever had a cavity, so I have never had to suffer anything more than a cleaning at the hands of a dentist. Also, I’m not a big fan of needles. I was a nervous wreck. Luckily, I had my phone with me so I could text Paul.

Me: BP 78/50

Paul: You might be a zombie.

Me: I’m also drooling on myself. The transformation is nearly complete.

Paul: You are constantly hungry and ready to cause pain at a moment’s notice.

Me: Dude, I nearly passed out during the shots. Now I’m all shaky. I’m such a wuss.

Once the anesthesia kicked in, I felt no pain. The whole yanking-things-out-of-my-skull process went very smoothly and I was happily out of the office and driving myself home.

Downsides:

• Mouthful of gauze
• Liquid diet
• Limited activity for two days

Upsides

• Limited activity for two days
• My kids are big enough to take care of most of their own needs and some of mine. Wesley went from making sandwiches for lunch to asking me if I needed another protein shake or a drink of water. I was spoiled.

I spent two days lying on the couch while the kids watched PBS documentaries. The appropriateness of the documentaries was inversely proportional to the amount of painkillers in my bloodstream. Let’s just say that they know a lot more about the difficulty of childbirth in rural India than they should.

I want to lose 20 pounds. I’m going to run a marathon. I’m going to quit smoking. I’m going to organize my house

These are common New Year’s resolutions, but they tend to be self-defeating. First of all, they start in the dead of winter, so there isn’t a lot of motivation to go out into the freezing morning air for a 6 am jog. Secondly, they tend to be over-reaching.

There are alternatives:

Make monthly goals instead: During 2011, Erin at Unclutterer made 2 small goals a month and it went well for her.

Never make a goal again: Josh Millburn at The Minimalists is living goal-free. I must admit the whole idea makes me a bit twitchy, but it works for him and others.

Review the last year: What worked for you in the last year? What had the most influence on you? For me it was minimalism and the paleo diet. Last year, it was overcoming my procrastination.

How do you celebrate the new year?

I don’t know what it is about winter, Doc. I’m just sad.

It’s possible you’re SAD.

What?

There are plenty of reasons to find winter depressing:

• It’s cold and I hate being cold. (Yes, I live in the South. Yes, I consider anything under 70 degrees to be cold.)
• Everything is dead: the trees, flowers, bushes, my will to live.
• It starts out with my least favorite holiday: Christmas.
• December is Paul’s busiest time at work. He works long hours and he’s completely shot by the time he gets home. For the whole month, I know that I’m going it alone as far as parenting is concerned.
• It’s dark.

I used to have a hard time keeping my spirits up every winter. If fact, I would fail miserably and be a mess by the time spring finally rolled around. Last year, I finally shook it off. I thought I’d share what works for me.

Here are 10 ways I overcome the bleak depression of winter:

1. Cut down on holiday stress
2. Start a savings account
3. Plan a vacation
4. Avoid New Year’s resolutions
5. Bring some color into your home
6. Pick a project
7. Spend time with friends
8. Get outside
9. Change your winter milestones
10. Stay warm

Each week, I’ll pick one and go into more detail.

What’s keeps you going through the winter months?

Vanilla ice cream
Milk
Bag of miniature peanut butter cups
Blender

Tips from a pro: The hardest part of making this is shelling the peanut butter cups faster than you eat them. I noticed that I can chew one up in the time it takes me to shuck the next one. The trick is to chew slower and peel faster.

1. Once you have 5-6 peanut butter cups out of their wrappers, place them in a bowl and break them into smaller pieces with a spoon.
2. Add a random amount of ice cream to the blender.
3. Add a tiny bit of milk so that the shake isn’t too runny.
4. Blend.
5. Realize the ice cream is just sitting there.
6. Add more milk.
7. Blend.
8. Now the shake is way too runny.
9. Add more ice cream.
10. Continue this process until it reaches the perfect consistency or there is no hope of fitting it into one glass, whichever comes first.
11. Add peanut butter cups to mixture and blend for 2-3 seconds. This will ensure that you have chunks in your shake and not the dust of over-blended chocolate.
12. Enjoy!

No more late night runs to Dairy Queen. Goodbye, drive-thru. Hello, diabetes.

Warning: Make milkshakes at your own risk. This blog and its writer will not be held responsible for any damage to your home when the nice firemen have to cut a hole in your wall and take you out of your house with a forklift.

My mom gives us the best present every year

When the kids were younger it was a membership to the Creative Discovery Museum. As the kids have gotten older, she now gets us a membership to the Tennessee Aquarium. We have a year of free, fun, educational trips and every trip I remind the kids, “Grandy got this for us. Isn’t she awesome?”

It’s the perfect gift for the kids because she gives them an experience. She gives them memories they will treasure forever. She gives them sting-rays to pet, otters to feed, and a butterfly garden. She gives them a chance to explore downtown throughout the seasons.

It’s the perfect gift for me because I don’t have to find a place for it. Aside from a membership card, there is nothing tangible that I have to care for. She gives me peace of mind because I don’t have to console them when it breaks. I don’t have to buy batteries for it. I don’t have to pick it up off the floor fifty times.

What is your best present?

The Minimalists is one of my favorite blogs. Not only do I enjoy the subject matter, but I also like that they are so genuine. They are very upfront about the unhappiness that made them change their lives and the challenges they faced on their journey to minimalism. I bought their first book, Minimalism: Essential Essays, a few months ago. Like their blog, the book doesn’t go into the what of minimalism (what should you get rid of before you get to be a minimalist), it goes into the why. Why minimalism?

Minimalism is a tool to achieve fulfillment in life…There are no rules in minimalism. Rather, minimalism is simply about stripping away the unnecessary things in your life so you can concentrate on what’s important. – Minimalism: Essential Essays

Last week, I had the honor of meeting Josh and Ryan on the Atlanta leg of their Minimalist Meetup Tour. I worked with Josh when I edited his book of short stories, “Falling While Sitting Down,” so I was glad to have the chance to talk with him in person. It was also good to meet Ryan and the group of people from the area who were interested in minimalism. The Minimalists were just as genuine in person as they are in their writing.

They are doing a 33 city tour on their own dime. There was no cost to participate. We all simply showed up at a coffee shop to talk and bounce questions and ideas around. Josh and Ryan didn’t come with prepared speeches. They came wanting feedback. They wanted to know what led each of us to minimalism. They wanted to know what our struggles and situations were. They wanted to find out what they could include on the site and in future books that would help people most.

Their new book, Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life, came out today. I received an advance copy and I’m very impressed with it. They say it best in the foreword:

Whatever stage of life you’re in right now, this book can help improve the most important things in your life: your health, your relationships, the pursuit of your passions, your growth as an individual, and your contributions to other people.

To read through the essays on their blog, check out their books, or see if they’re coming to a town near you, pop over to The Minimalists.

Their tour swings back by our area on March 7th with a stop in Nashville. I’m getting a group from Chattanooga together to travel up there. If anyone wants a free ride to Nashville to hang out with The Minimalists, email me (MySpinningPlates1[at] gmail dot com) and let me know. It doesn’t get more minimal than that. Unfortunately, I can only offer this to the first 5 people.