What To Do?

This year has required we live very small. This translates to us carrying around with us as little an amount of “stuff” as we can. This is hard, especially around the holidays. It is so easy to walk through a shop, see something appealing, and buy it. Either for myself, or (more often) for one of the girls, because I just know they would really love it, at least for a moment. After so many years of working to use and have less “stuff”, I still find it hard. I have to stop myself, and ask, “How will I/they use this? Is it beneficial? Will it just sit around and get stepped on, or dusty? Will this be a momentary pleasure, or will it last?” Though I want the joy, it is important to decide if whatever it is will be used/treasured, or will be forgotten in a short time (we don’t have room for forgotten). As a result, we are more and more, attempting to give the gifts of experiences. This is also harder, because I find that more often than not, experiences are more expensive than that cute pair of earrings, or that kitchen gadget that looks like it may be useful (but more often than not, ends up contributing to that drawer that never fully opens without a good yank).

In that vein, this holiday season is even more challenging. Without a home base, we don’t have room for “stuff”, and adding to what we are carrying won’t help anyone. What to do? We still want to see the joy.

Answer number one has come a little early this year: we are going to take a SCUBA certification class, as a family! Merry Christmas, Fowler’s! We will take classes December, diving in the freshwater springs around north-central Florida! Yes, it will be chilly, but we will be wearing wetsuits that will help. Also, the springs stay a constant water temperature of about 72 degrees F, no matter the outside air temp. This is a bit chilly for me, but I am willing to tough it out, because I can’t wait to explore the underwater beauty around here. Then, while we are in south Florida, hopefully we will get to dive a couple more times, and really explore the area. I am totally psyched about this, and from what I can tell in their willingness to study, the girls are excited too. So, Merry Christmas, a bit early to the Fowler’s!

Saturday morning will be our first time in the water for this, and it will be in a pool, but we are all looking forward to the experience. Woo hoo! Now I just have to remember to charge the underwater camera!

Now I am wondering, what else can we do?