Remember Laura Ingalls Wilder and her memoirs? Her books were so quaint--oranges in stockings for Christmas, scarlet fever, murderous Indians and poplin on sale. Her Little House on the Prairie books transported me, a middle-class kid with two working parents, into a simple time, where little girls did grown-up chores, and families were poor but clean and industrious and most importantly, happy in a regimented Christian-Westward-Expansion way.
Well, look. If you substitute "Little House" for "rented shitbox" and "Prairie" for "The Most Unstable Economy in the United States" you'd get "Rented Shitbox in The Most Unstable Economy in the United States".
And that's where I live.
Yes, we've been hit hard with the financial woes of being overspenders and underachievers. And living in Detroit. You'd think that two folks making decent money could like, you know, handle it. But we can't. So, we've had to simplify. Like, a lot.
First, the dog went. Ka-ching. Then, Michael's motorcycle. Then, Michael's camera. Now, my motorcycle is up for the kill. Then, the Infinity speakers. Probably, the guitar. Tivo? Gone. Sirius Satellite? Gone. Starbucks? Gone. Smoking? Well. Let's be honest--cut back. Fabulous salad bar at the liquor store where I get lunch everyday? Forget about it. Subway? No way. Yarn? Done. Fresh market? Too pricy. Friday night dinners out? Hasta la pasta. Say hello to the simple life. And say hello to it while still being in debt up to your eyeballs (with the goal of being out of debt in four years).
Now, I'm not suggesting the meaning of life is wrapped up in TiVo, Starbucks, and rockin' music coming through superior speakers. I'm only suggesting that a good portion of my life is wrapped up in these things, so the weaning process is not going to be entirely enjoyable.
It's way boring on the prairie. I don't know how Laura and her blind sister ever made it through the winters on basic cable and macaroni and cheese. But I guess I'm going to find out. Someone get me some wood so I can whittle Michael a Christmas present.
