A fridge? Who needs a fridge??

So, the first week of my adventure held some interesting challenges.  You know, like getting ready for work that first Monday and knowing I had shoes somewhere in the piles, and socks had to be in one of the bags...although I could give my boss a good reason why I was wearing flip flops to the office....

Anyway, part of my getting organized was getting used to and setting up my tiny kitchen. Knowing it was tiny, I didn't bring much to stock it.  And while it has a two-burner gas cooktop, I still needed to get a toaster oven and a mini-fridge (yes, a mini-fridge - did I mention the kitchen is tiny??)  I was using a small ice chest in the interim, and eating take out the first couple days - mainly because I still had piles of crap containers of valuable items piled on the counter top and in the space where the fridge would go.

No problem - the first week I can just be "camping" until Saturday when I have time to go get a fridge and toaster oven.  First stop at the grocery store - OK, let's see - some simple foods to get, that don't need more than a small frying pan and a 2 qt saucepan to prepare.  Oh! grilled cheese would be good!  Oh, wait, need butter and cheese and those need to be refrigerated. Didn't really want them floating in my ice chest.  Hmmm... Eggs!  Eggs are easy, and can be made several different ways!  Oh, wait, those need to be refrigerated too.  Hmm....  Pasta! I can make a bunch of pasta.... except the leftovers would need to be refrigerated.   Hmmm.....peanut butter and jelly it is.  Oh, except the jelly NEEDS TO BE REFRIGERATED. ARGH!!!  Peanut butter and honey it is.  And fresh fruits and veggies THAT DO NOT NEED TO BE REFRIGERATED. Sheesh.

I think that Saturday I was the first one in the door at Home Depot to get my fridge.  Of course, after I purchased it and had the nice Home Depot person find a way to make it fit in the back of my giant car (did I mention I now drive a tiny car too? Honda Fit), I realized I wasn't sure how I was getting it out of my car and into my spacious abode.  Hmmm...guess I'll figure that out when I get home.  

I'm assuming none of my neighbors was paying attention and did not have their cameras out or the video would have hit YouTube by now.  Me, shifting and sliding and managing to get the nice heavy awkward box out of the car, then dragging it up the sloped parking area up to my front door.  Must have been a pretty sight. 

Get it in the door, and then proceed to terrify the cat while I'm destroying the box around the fridge so I can slide it across the tile floor into the space where it needs to go - and then look like I'm playing a game of Twister to get the stupid thing plugged in to the really well placed plug....aaannd it works!  Woohoo!! In 24 hours it will be cold enough and I can buy some food!!!

There are more tiny kitchen stories to come.  The lesson this time?  We can make due with what we have more easily than we think, and we are way more creative and resourceful than we realize.  I could have gone longer without the fridge, but it really does make life easier, and this little exercise helped me to appreciate the conveniences we have available to us.  We are damn lucky to live where we live.

Take care, and appreciate all the small things.  

Light, love & laughter

New Start, New Lessons

When last we left Lynette, she was off on a new adventure, parachute opened and hoping for a soft landing (http://lynettes-nutrition-adventures.blogspot.com/) ....what happened next? did she land? how was the ride? did Timmy get out of the well?  Oh, wait, wrong story....

So Lynette landed in a most marvelous place called Laguna Beach, and the ride has been exciting, terrifying, gratifying, fun, frustrating - you name it.  The last six months have been nothing but lessons, both expected and unexpected, hence the new blog with the new title.  It'll take the next six months to tell you what I've learned, and, I have a feeling, the continuing lessons that are coming my way.

Just before my dad passed last year, we were gathered at my step-sister's house sitting around enjoying each other's company and watching TV.  We watched several episodes of a "Tiny House" show, and wondered and discussed how you could live in a place that small.  Little did I know that at that time we were discussing my future.

250 Square Feet.  Hmmmm..... makes a good sized bedroom, small hotel/motel room.  Or, it could be your entire living space.  When packing to move, I thought I had downsized and was only bringing "the stuff I really need."  And, I figured after I got settled, I could take some of the stuff up to my mom's.  "Ahahaha!"  That was my reaction the first night, sitting on the floor amongst my stuff, with no room left to make a bed. It was really quite humorous.  Slight miscalculation, considering I still had no furniture.

Took a couple days to get organized enough to get organized - and I am still sorting and reorganizing.  Lesson One - what stuff exactly do you "need?"   I'm finding I need less and less.  A lot of the things I thought I would never part with and would store at my mom's have been donated/given away.  The longer things sat here in a pile, the more I realized they were just things.  The memories attached to them were the real value.  I can keep the memories forever - I don't necessarily need the item if I'm just going to store it.  What if someone else could use it to create their own memories??

Lots more stories, lots more lessons, and we'll leave it here for now.  I absolutely love living in my large estate tiny studio in Laguna.  I get to live in a place that people from all over the world come to visit.  I get to reset/recharge every day at the beach.  Every frickin' day.  And I am more grateful than words can express.  

Yes, I guess you can say, while it's been a bit bumpy, I have had a good landing.