I wanted to write about a little experiment my family did last year in hopes that you might consider it for this year.  In order for this experiment to work for us, we had to start at the beginning of the year.  What was the “experiment”?  We stopped giving adult gifts.  No I don’t mean those kind of gifts - I mean we stopped giving gifts to the adults in our lives.  This little brainstorm came about a few years ago when we found ourselves surrounded by stuff we didn’t really need.  Don’t get me wrong, it was nice stuff, but it was just…stuff.  We didn’t need it.  We didn’t even know where to put it.  We appreciated the thought, but we were thinking why on earth do we run around like crazy buying this same “stuff” for other people?  They don’t need it either and they probably don’t have any better storage options than we do.  So we came up with an alternative solution. 

Rather than spend an entire year exchanging an assortment of “stuff”, we decided to send out an email to all family members at the beginning of this last year requesting that they don’t buy us any gifts for our birthdays, anniversaries or any holidays.  Instead, we asked that they make a donation to a charity of their choice in our names.  In turn, we would do the same for them.  It was risky, but we clicked ’send’ anyway.

There was some resistance at first, but ultimately it was accepted and the experiment began.  We were quite satisfied to receive a simple card for our birthdays and for other occasions.  We didn’t miss the gifts.  The important thing for us was spending time with people during those occasions - not receiving a gift.

The big test was at Christmas time since that’s when we spend the most and make a big hoopla about exchanging presents.  My husband and I wondered if it would be awkward to show up to the family gathering with presents for the little ones and cards for the grown-ups.  It wasn’t.  Other family members exchanged gifts and we just observed.  We didn’t feel cheated or out of place.  If anything, we felt even more fortunate for having all of our physical and material needs met and even more grateful that we could share that abundance with those who need it most.

Seeing that the experiment was a success, we fully intend to continue it.  If we had any doubts, the peaceful Christmas we just experienced erased them.  Perhaps this may spark some ideas for your own family.

Happy New Year!

Hmm…I’m going to cheat and steal 7 answers from my facebook entry of 16 things, but I’ll be nice and expand on some of them.  That’s fair, right?

1. I have a collection of puzzles like rubik’s cube, pyramids and missing links on my desk that my friends and family mix up for me and then I solve them whenever I am on the phone and need something to do with my hands.  I just put my pyramid back in order this morning.  Who wants to fess up to scrambling it?
2. My first two cars were a Camaro and a Corvette - both red. Now, thanks to my two lovely children, I drive a silver mini-van.  There is some kind of twisted irony in there somewhere.
3. When I was 14, I was hit by a drunk driver and I have metal plates in my back. During a routine scan last month, they discovered that one of the screws is cracked. So I guess you could say I have a screw loose.
4. My entire kitchen is decorated in Coca-Cola, however I usually only drink water and green tea.
5. I am a total computer geek. If I could implant my iPhone in my arm, I would do it.
6. I don’t like chocolate - unless it is mixed with peanut butter and even then I only like it in small quantities.  On the flip side, I absolutely love celery, but not with peanut butter.
7. My high school friends know me as a trombone player, my friends after high school know me as a drummer.  I think it’s funny to connect with high school friends on Facebook and have them say “You play drums?”  It’s even funnier to explain to them that I majored in percussion in college.  Guess that was a well-kept secret back then. 

Now for the hard part…finding 7 people to tag:

1. Kelli
2. Cali
3. BikerBetty
4. Jan
5. Julia
6. Jenn
7. You…pick up the ball and run with it! Facebook-It, Twitter-It, whatever.  Just post your link in the comments. 

Here are the rules:

• Link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog.
• Share seven facts about yourself in the post - some random, some wierd.
• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
• Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or Twitter.

“Maybe we’re crazy. But we wanted to do something different.” - Lamia from Accolade

So not only are they female, but they play rock which in itself has been a form of music much rejected in their culture but seems to be making a splash among the young adults.  So kudos to Accolade for taking a stand and paving the way for future Saudi rockers.

Here is their only recorded track (so far):

Very cool, ladies. Very cool!

www.pmsclan.com

Please report anything strange you may encounter in the comments of this post and I’ll look into it asap. Comments, complaints and general feedback are also welcome.