does everyone want a big house?

This is a question i've been thinking about. Is a big house the be-all end-all of life? And if so, why? Right now, we live in a very small apartment. It has a little living room, a small kitchen, one bathroom, and an OK-sized bedroom. It is all we need, at least for now. It takes very little time to clean it entirely. When we have overnight guests, we give them our room and we sleep on a comfortable air mattress in the living room. OK, that situation is not ideal and something you'd want to do all the time, but we probably have overnight guests only a few times per year -- and it's really no big deal. It's hard to lose something in this apartment for very long, because there are only a few places it could be. The rent is cheap. The utilities are low. There is actually a lot of cabinetry/storage space for such a small apartment. It has charming built-in bookcases in the kitchen and in the living room, and an ironing board that comes out of the wall. The board itself is small, which is great becuase you can put a pant leg all the way over it. :) I hate ironing pant legs --how do you iron one side without the other side getting wrinkly?

I can think of a few reasons to have a big(ger) house, such as kids, but mostly I can think of high property taxes, high insurance, high mortgage, and high maintenance. So why is it the goal of so many people to have a house way bigger than they need or can possibly use all of? Is it status? Or is it just relaxing to have a lot of room to move around in? Or what?

the unexpected perils of winter sport

We went ice skating at the seasonal downtown rink last night. It was the grand opening of the rink, the first night, so they had these balloon arches over the rink. The wind was blowing. On my first or second trip around the rink, while I was trying to get accustomed to my skates, ahem, I was looking down a little bit and suddenly I felt as if I was being strangled and then my progress came to an abrupt halt. I grabbed for my neck where the pressure was and realized I'd been clotheslined by the stupid balloon arch!!! It had dipped to neck level in the wind. I grabbed it off over my head and managed not to fall, but it was...somewhat disconcerting at worst and embarrassing at best. I yelled, "Where did that thing come from?" and one of the employees looked at me apologetically. The next thing I knew, another one was taking the arches down. I said to him, "Hey, did you see that thing clothesline me?" He said, "No.....but I heard." "Is that why you're taking it down?" "Yep." I felt so powerful. I was glad nobody mentioned that maybe I should have been looking AHEAD of me, like where I was actually skating, rather than down at my feet. Ah, the little perks of the tort-litigious society.

today is a beautiful day where I live

It's sunny and pretty warm, like t-shirt weather. However, there is also a temporary outside ice rink downtown. I almost feel like Archie Andrews and his friends, who live somewhere with the beach, snow, and the mountains all put together. Sweet!

i love new york

is there any reason why, if you live in a cool place, like San Diego, you can't trade apartments with a new yorker for a week and have a cool vacation that costs only plane fare plus food and entertainment (and if you had an apartment, you wouldn't have to eat out all the time)? Assuming you appropriately screened the new yorker? I mean, i guess, if you rent, and I do, you would either have to ask your landlord or not ask him and hope the new yorker didn't burn the place down. actually, you would hope that no matter what. My lease doesn't say anything about guests. I think it's something to consider! I love new york.

this is my favorite thing to say while running

When I run, I like to talk to myself to distract myself from the fact that I'd probably rather be drinking hot chocolate and reading a book. Sometimes I talk out loud, not always. No, I don't care what anyone thinks. Anyway, this is my favorite thing to say:

I am up before the sun. My day is full of moments and I make them all count. I see that my needs are met. I am strong and reliable. I always want to feel this alive.

I think it's like a commonly-known affirmation or something, but I saw it on an advertisement for a vitamin supplement about 10 years ago. It always makes me feel strong and healthy and like I can keep going. Aside from the first sentence, which is ridiculous, fictional, and nothing I aspire to, but which I just like saying, because it sounds good and is part of the affirmation, I like the other ones to be true.

OK, that's all I have to say about that.