Old Habits

This past Saturday evening, I attended a stake conference meeting. The speakers talked about self-reliance and managing personal resources. One speaker gave a quote that his grandfather used frequently, “Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do, or do without.”

As a young girl that is exactly the way, we did things. Never did I get a new pair of shoes because I wanted them. If I didn’t need them, I didn’t get them. Money was tight and unless you needed something, you didn’t get it.

This was not a bad thing. It was the way life was. When I search the stores for gifts to buy, I can hardly believe how much some things cost. For instance, one of my favorite pastimes as a child during the long winter was playing with paper dolls. We didn’t spend the money for them, although they didn’t cost what they do now. We cut our own dolls and clothing out of the Sears Catalogue. I never lacked for something to do. We always made do with what we had.

My upbringing carried over into my own family. We passed clothing down from one child to another one. I notice my own children doing the same thing. They even pass clothing from one family to another one. I always shop for bargains or for sales. I never pay full price for anything. I see my own children also doing this.

With money being tight, I’ll bet some people are in for a rude awakening. Some children have always got everything their hearts desired. Our family has not. Old habits are hard to break, and it’s hard to give someone something they don’t need. I think many people will be going back to the old saying “Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do, or do without.”

The New Year

As I mentioned I was going to be away for awhile. Well, I'm finally back and ready to start my tour of churches, but there's a problem. My laptop decided to die. Not just for a few hours or days, but forever. All my pictures are on that laptop so this is going to take longer than I thought. First, I need to find time to go find a new computer. After I do that, then maybe one of our family computer specialists (my son-in-law) can retrieve all the goodies on the old one. Meanwhile, I'll get my mind thinking of something else I can write about because without all the pictures the stories aren't nearly as good.

My husband and I brought in the New Year in Colorado, sound asleep. December 31, was my grandson's 10th birthday. I planned on celebrating in style. I took party hats, and noise makers from home. The children, all six of them, were excited. Meanwhile the day before, grandma caught a major cold and felt pretty awful. We all went out to lunch, but then I had to crash. There was no way my head was going to survive a noisy party. I did manage to wake up just before the new year to listen to all the children celebrating. I was astonished to find that all but two had fallen asleep. There wasn't any noise. I guess they still had fun bunking together on the family room floor.

I hope everyone else had a nice holiday and that you're all ready to begin a new year.