By Sandra Miskie Ph.D.
(aka Grandma Geezer)
Well, it has been three months and a few
days since I've lived in my house after the fire and I am astounded at what I have
learned about myself. You never realize how inventive you can be until
you have none of your stuff!
1. I am able to live without a dishwasher.
Washing dishes by hand made my hands softer, it didn't take that long to finish
the task and with one sink and no counter space I had to become inventive. I
opened the silverware drawer took out the cutting board as a balance put a
towel over it and placed the dish rack on top of that. I then wiped out the
sink and placed the clean dishes in the rack, in the sink. Voila!!!
2. Cooking with one frying pan and no
lid to cover splashes made me inventive. I had a round pizza pan in which I
placed a steak and covered it with an aluminum square cooking pan, stuck it in
the oven and let cook for 10 minutes on each side at 350 [it took awhile
to figure out the exact timing]. Voila! A perfect medium rare steak. I
really missed my George Forman Grill and actually had a picture taken of me
hugging it when I found it in a box two days ago!
3. Having a small television with no
cable network was a bummer. I had an antenna but it got two local stations and
four other stations that were not religious or in Spanish. If I got up and
turned my antenna knob a few dials I got two other local channels and three
stations that were not religious or in Spanish. I had to get inventive. I went
to my friends apartments or downstairs and watched television there.
4. Living in a 368 square foot
apartment can get really get boring. I had to be inventive. So I started that
exercise program I had been promising myself for many years. From the 12th
floor I would walk to the other end of the hall, go down the stairs, walk the length
of the next floor and so on until I reached the first floor. I lost six pounds
all together and have a lot more energy. Who would've thought?
5. I have learned that you can push
through overwhelming circumstances beyond your control with only a few tears if
you have the right friends. I didn't call them all the time in my blubbering
and feeling sorry for myself because for some reason they had me on their mind
and called me. I reinvented my "hostess with the hostess" attitude
and invited several people at different times for dinner, which I cooked on my
miniature stove. Needless to say they were all quite impressed as we laughed
about the circumstances and my camping out attitude.
6. Doing laundry had rules that were
posted on the walls. You could use one washer and one dryer. Now I'm used to
throwing in a load of laundry, leaving, coming home and sticking it in the
dryer. Not allowed here because too many people have to use the facility and
there are only four washers and dryers. Be inventive I told myself...doing
laundry at 6:00 a.m. is not that bad because I could get my exercise in at the
same time.
7. My furnished apartment had one small
trashcan in the bathroom and one in the kitchen. I did not realize how I could
fill those up so fast. I had to be inventive or I would be taking trash down
every day. I had a porch so I took one of those Glad bags with
Febreeze [incredibly awesome invention] and placed my trash outside the door.
8. Last but not least was the wardrobe
fiasco! I was left with two dresses, three skirts, three blouses and one pair
of boots. I had to be careful with money so I reinvented my
wardrobe. I bought three pairs of shoes, two blouses and one black
sweater. This actually increased my wardrobe outfits to two weeks or more of
different looks!!! I was looking pretty spiffy if I must say so myself.
Trust me on this...
...You can make anything
work,
If you change the
perspective.
I
said this in my last article and I can't emphasize it enough.
You will avoid
crippling depression, physical breakdown and fatigue if you do this. I learned
to listen to my body, knowing that depression, lack of sleep and bad eating
habits could all be a part of my journey.
I paid special attention to get the sleep,
allow myself a short pity party and give myself permission to rest as much as I
wanted, not letting others demand things of me. I turned off my phone, took
long drives, went window shopping without my wallet, ate healthy and allowed
myself a dose of chocolate every day. Now I have the daunting task of unpacking
boxes stacked to the ceiling five high and three rows deep. I'll follow the
same pattern I just laid out for you...and this too shall be conquered!
Back in the Game - Grandma Geezer is my name!
