Living on the Light Side -- a different meaning

I just finished reading the book The 100 Thing Challenge by Dave Bruno. I would have linked the book title to Amazon but then the author's challenge to himself was to live for one year with fewer than 100 things. How could I really encourage anyone to buy the book. I got my copy from the library.

Dave Bruno's  purpose in living with so few things was to unhook himself from the intravenous drip of American consumerism. It's a good read though a very difficult task for most. I found myself trying to imagine how I could do this. I can't imagine it. I am pretty sure that I could not reduce my stuff to100 things even within a single category in many cases--clothing, fabric, books ...

One of his thoughts: "when is the moment we stop looking for something of value and start desiring something that we think will make us more valuable ourselves?"  It did give me pause, a chance to consider why I buy things and perhaps make a commitment not to go to the mall. LOL

Would you be able to take this challenge?

On another note, my son, Nick, celebrated his 24th birthday on February 17 and I was remiss to write about it here. He sent me this photo snapped by a newspaper in Asheville, NC, where he lives. He was running a 5K or a 10K. I'm not sure which. He could do the 100 Thing Challenge though he would probably have to buy some things to get to 100. He has not bought into American consumerism. 

You go, Nick, and happy birthday.

Living on the Light Side

The Wildly Funny Internet

So today, I tried to cancel a car reservation that I had made for next week. The original res was made with Orbitz via Alaska Airlines. The car rental was from Budget. Orbitz' cancel link did not work: "They are aware of the problem and will get to it shortly." Should I be grateful?

Next I tried dealing directly with Budget. I canceled the res in their system. I received a notification that I had successfully canceled the car I was to pick up in July, 2015 but needed to return by March, 2013. Oh, OK!
I'm not sure if I should worry until 2013 or 2015...

Just sayin'...

Here is a photo to soothe...

Traci Murphey Designs Blog Blitz

Whoa! Check out this new kit Ring It In by Traci Murphy Designs.

Isn't it just spectacular! You gotta love the colors, so useful for many

celebrations. And what about those masks. Makes you want to go to

Mardi Gras.

Traci gave me a copy of this kit and asked me to use it and write 

an independent review.

The first thing I look at when purchasing a new kit are the papers. 

Traci has included 23 beautiful hand distressed papers in Ring It In. 

I wanted to use as many as I could in my layout. I picked a template 

that would allow me to showcase the papers. I prefer simple layouts 

that help me tell my stories. This kit worked beautifully on many levels.

In addition to all of the papers, there are 10 elements and an alpha,

all sparkly and glittery. Ribbons and swirls and word art and frames...

It's all here.

Wouldn't this kit be amazing in hybrid projects too. I can imagine

making small boxes and bags and tags and...yeah that too. What about

printing a two sided paper so when folded, you get a totally different

view. Oh my!

I bet you wanna know more about Traci. Check her out here.

You can also find her:

At Her Store | On The Team | In The O Gallery |  On Facebook | On Twitter | Her Blog

Whew! She's a busy gal.

Did I mention that there is also a contest...
1. It's a Gallery Crawl: .Love Traci's designs? Ready to try a new designer?

Well keep reading for a chance to win a $20 gifty code to Traci's store.Visit

Traci's designer gallery - http://bit.ly/TraciMurphy-gallery. For every comment

you leave on a layout in the gallery, you'll receive one entry (one per layout) into

the drawing for the $20 gifty code to Traci's store. Deadline: All comments must

be left by 10 p.m. CST Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011. The prize will be awarded

using Random.org by Sunday, Feb. 13. We'll post the winner in Traci's welcome thread.

Here's the scoop:

1.) Grab a spot in this thread: http://bit.ly/TraciMurphy-welcome

2.) Go to the Traci Murphy's Designer Gallery - http://bit.ly/TraciMurphy-gallery -

and start leaving comments on layouts!

3.) After every comment - copy the link to that layout and paste it back in this thread -

http://bit.ly/TraciMurphy-welcome -  by editing your original post! Each post should

hold approximately 100 links before you need to create a new post to continue your

list. Please do not create a new post for each link.

We only ask one thing.....

Please do not copy & paste or leave one word comments (beautiful....gorgeous...

lovely). We want to make sure that the members are receiving genuine comments 

and love. Thanks for understanding!

Bonus - Bonus - Bonus
Earn a bonus entry into the random drawing for each blog you comment on, part of 

the blog blitz announcement. (One entry per blog).Start by leaving a comment  

right here, right now.

And then go grab Ring It In and scrap away.