April 21, 2020 — Today’s musings from the New Normal…I miss a few things, I DON’T miss others.

I do not miss those days of being gone all day and arriving home exhausted to lots of undone tasks. Getting to stay home, in comfy pants, is something I treasure every day.

I do not miss the long sessions of Mom Taxi, the over-crazy schedule that had me leave the house sometimes 3 or 4 times per day. (in the future, I am going to avoid that as much as possible!) Being with my kids at home, rather than yelling, “We’ve got to go NOW, we are late! Do you have (items)??” is preferable to that stress mess.

I do not miss the awful Austin traffic and the demonstration of poor attitudes behind the wheel. The pointed dagger feelings of desperately unhappy people’s stress out in rush-hour traffic. I know my car is enjoying the break, and I can’t remember the last time I got gas!

I do not miss that “oh crap” I’m out and about and didn’t make a dinner plan…drive thru it is, again. We are cooking and eating at home all the time! Including unearthing things from the freezer…it’s liberating.

I do not miss worrying about my kids at school: drugs, bullies, sadness and stress. They seem happier than ever.

I don’t miss my neighbors zooming past, head down, in a huge hurry. It’s a breath of fresh air to see so many people out and about, walking, waving and talking!

I do miss other things, though.

I miss getting together with peeps at restaurants. I miss group exercise classes. We are social creatures and there is energy to give and receive in those types of settings.

I miss walking into any store WITHOUT wearing a mask and gloves. It’s flat-out scary, unsettling and reminds me of the many dystopian novels I have read. A lit-tle too close to home right now!

Which leads me to share something near and dear to my heart that I miss…

I really miss my regular trips to my favorite thrift stores. I would breeze through if I needed say, a desk lamp, white collared shirts, hard plastic sandwich containers, white dishes, athletic shorts for the boys, a curling iron, a frying pan, pyrex pie dishes, so many things you can get on the cheap, secondhand, before hitting Target or Amazon.

I found this beauty for a DOLLAR and paraded it around at my recent 50th bday bash!

These stores depend deeply on donations and shoppers, which FOR SURE are way down now. Thrift stores are frequented by so many economically-diverse groups, and honestly, I love the accessibility and sustainability of the model. I love a cause.

Because it makes me happy to think of my thrift stores, please indulge me:

FAVE #1: Salvation Army. I know there are mixed reviews of their advertised non-acceptance of all people, but their stores are epic. Color-coordinated, tidy, good prices, and half-off clothing on Wednesday draws a big crowd. Great furniture!

FAVE #2: Savers. Very tidy, arranged by size, even the SHOES!! Great prices, happy people, and a clever way of “bundling” like items in the household goods section. I got my favorite spatula ever there.

FAVE #3: Goodwill. While GW doesn’t brag the best prices, nor the tidiest presentation, they are always well-stocked because they get the lion’s share of donations. The term “Goodwill” has become synonymous with “donate” practically. And, here in Austin, I have witnessed first hand that the mission behind the stores is amazing. I have toured several of their facilities and they are making a huge difference! (that’s another blog post for sure!)

FAVE #4: Austin Creative Reuse. Ohhhh pause for a moment with a huge sigh of love (and sadness)… This arts and crafts (and so much more) thrift store has RAVING fans and recently outgrew its location in the Linc Village. After much push and pull with the City, they found their new home in early March…ONLY TO CLOSE within weeks! I didn’t even have a chance to see the new store yet!! When I say raving fans, I am not being flip. Their typical hours are Wed-Sunday. With the aid of their volunteer army, they moved the whole store’s contents on a Mon-Tuesday, opening up on the next day! http://www.austincreativereuse.org

I’m getting long here, so I’ll save all the reasons I love ACR for another blog post. I could keep us both here way too long if I start in right now:)

Please keep boxing up your donations during your quarantine decluttering. The thrifts still need them!!

Cheers! –ryan:)

Thanks for reading! I mean it every time when I say, I am honored.