This. Is. War.

Gentle reader. We have declared war on our children. Well, specifically, kid crap. Good NIGHT! How is it possible for 3 short people to accumulate so much STUFF?! And how is it that they've come to feel so (insert explicative here) entitled to it?! Ultimately, that responsibility lies squarely on our shoulders for thoughtlessly indulging. A mistake we hope to learn from.
Either way, our kids will learn from our mistakes as they will (ironically and forcefully) adopt a very minimalist Zen approach to...stuff after this weekend. Very specifically, I told them that they were going to be handled much like I'd handle the more troublesome spots of the Middle East:
1. You have until 9 pm next Saturday night to organize the things you want to keep with an explanation of why. With the exception of Legos, books, and art supplies, those individual things need to fit into a box with rough dimensions of 18x30x14. Anything unaccounted for will be donated. Period.
2. Any toys or Legos left out after clean up time or that I hurt my foot on will be exiled to the hostage bin or trash.
That's it. Total scorched earth policy. Yes...we will be donating hundreds of dollars worth of stuff. Yes...there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Yes...we are going to do it anyway.
According to my studies in criminal justice, and yes, that is applicable here, consequences need to have the following attributes to be effective deterrents: swift, severe, and sure.
I like to borrow from a friend who consistently encourages his kids to travel lightly. His words of advice to his kids: choose wisely. In a "who knows where in the world we'll wind up" scenario, I think our kids will thrive in the art of traveling light and choosing wisely. A bike? A pencil? A book? ...possibly a Xoom? (just being practical...) What else do they need?
Wish us...and them...luck as D-Day approaches.

Death by Committee

You know that song "Animals" by Neon Trees? The chorus lead in is looping in my head: "what are you waiting for? What are you waiting for?"

As a quintessential non-planner, I can see the details of getting from point A (the IDEA of less stuff=more adventure) to point B (the actualization of selling the aforementioned McMansion) sucking the Esprit de Corps from me. The big, ugly, festering, mechanical list of tasks has been made...and we keep discussing it to death. Shoot me instead.

The Punchlist

I now know why the tasks for getting a home ready for sale or occupation are called a punchlist...because the list makes you want to (junk?) punch someone. (Yes. I just wrote that out loud.) Or, at minimum, it makes me think of this Saturday Night Live clip of Andy Samberg punching people.

I don't know if it's my perception or reality...although a philosopher would ask what the difference was...but each home sale and move is more work than the one before. YUCK! If ever a case could be made for downsizing, the following list is it. And keep in mind...we travel light! When we moved to Texas from Virginia, I sold almost everything that wasn't nailed down. Literally. And...pat myself on the back...a lot of it for more than I bought it for! See the beginning of an avalanche below. 

Home Repair / Cleaning
6		1	Refinish front door	3
7		1	Paint - General Walls	3
8		1	Paint - Doors and Trim	4		Note:  Probably best to outsource
9		2	Paint - Garage Floor	3
10		2	Restain exterior fence	8
11		1	Carpet Cleaning	Outsource		Note:  Mack's carpet is a disaster and has multiple stains
12		????	Replace Carpet in MSTBD	Outsource
13		2	Clean grout	??
14		1	Clean all exterior windows	??
15		1	Touch up / stain kitchen cabinets	??
16		1	Replace tiolets seats	2
17		2	???Replace Sink ???
18
19		1	Deep clean	Outsource
20
21			Landscaping
22		1	Lawn	4		Initial clean up; consider a service mowing or at least treatment
23		1	Front yard	????
24		1	Mulch	Outsource
25		????	??? New Items???	????		Budget for plants, etc.
26
27			House Staging
28		1	Setup new shelfs	3
29		1	Buy boxes or packing material for garage	2
30		1	Donate Clothes - Round 1	4
31		1	Throw Away Junk - Round 2	6
32		2	Pack clothes and boxes	8
33		2	Organize garage	12

Pens and Paper at Panera

The seeds of greatness are in those elbows pictured above...
The other day I organized a little 'brainstorming breakfast' at Panera with a few people whose minds I seriously respect. (Minds, that by no small coincidence, are part of my running dream team.) Minds that transcend 'the box'. I hate that colloquialism: 'the box'. So much so? I invented my own NEW colloquialism: anti-perimeter thinking. (I will make sure to beat it like a dead horse throughout this post. Wink...) I got these guys together so we could build a basis of camaraderie, mutual support, and creative thinking. And...perhaps...a little bit of self-congratulating for giving our respective selves permission to bow out of the 'bigger, better, faster' race...
I remember reading in an article about leading an optimized life that if you want to see who your real friends are, tell them your wildest dreams and plans. There's some truth to that; I've gotten my fair share of those funny "huh?" looks in my years: starting a business, homeschooling, moving to Texas on a whim, and now massive downsizing in order to fund full-time adventure... And another reason for brainstorm breakfast is cast...having some company on what may be a lonely road sure is nice.
And lonely roads are something each of us is well acquainted with. It's not without some interest that I observe that we each have long distance running in common. The sociologist in me begs the questions: is there a disproportionate number of LD runners that think outside the perimeters? Do runners tend to be anti-perimeter thinkers? Or do anti-perimeter thinkers tend to be runners? And round and round my brain goes... But the real point is this: it was refreshing to share how each of us is reformulating our lives on our own terms. Looking at where we are in the process. Discussing some of the challenges and opportunities for restarts. And what came out as a simplified business plan: passion (discover your passion) - following (create an online community or 'following') - business (leverage captive audience)...can easily be turned around as a life mantra: business following passion (create a business around following your passion).
And alas the seeds can germinate. 

McMansion

We realize that before we can do A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G, we need to McSell the McMansion. It makes me wonder if Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famed "I have a dream" had a follow up "I have a plan".

Ugh. 

UGH.

I hate selling houses. I've sold enough of them to know...and know better.

How did we get INTO this place anyway? I'll tell you. It started with a move from suburban Washington, DC. to suburban (yawn) Dallas. Well. No. It actually started well before that. Like...in our youth. In a lot of collective youths, I imagine. We were taught that you buy the biggest home you can afford and that the promotions will come. The home buying equivalent of "if you build it, they will come." And we followed that kind, if not dated, advice. For a really, really long time. What we DID'NT recognize at the time is that we are significantly different from our parents in 2 important respects: 1) our lifestyle and accompanying choices are far different from those available and acceptable to our parents and 2) the security once concretely available to our parents is now illusory myth. Instead of our house being our home, our community is. Instead of wanting things, we crave experiences. Instead of security, opportunity and risk. 

Alas...I digress.

But it's pertinent. 

We moved from the higher cost of living area of DC to the more affordable DFW burbs being sure to pack our "if you build it" philosophy. On steroids. Because in Dallas? You get a LOT more bang for you buck. So we bought a lovely...McMansion right smack dab in the middle of the suburbs with the accompanying expectation that happiness and satisfaction would soon follow. And you know what? It didn't. Sure, we were happy...ish. But not satisfied. We weren't...aren't...living an authentic life. So...after much discussion? We've come to the conclusion that the primary roadblock to our living an authentic life? A life...perhaps...less ordinary? Is our mortgage. Our spot in the bubble. Therefore? We are actively exchanging the illusion of security for the risk of opportunity. We are eschewing our things in search of adventure. We are expanding the walls of our home to embrace the world.

The Beginning

I wonder if I will look back at this picture in hindsight one day and ask myself, "was this the beginning of the end? Or the beginning of the rest of my life?"
Deciding to do something different ... and actually DOING something different are two separate things. It is one thing to have a yearning to explore and absorb the best...and worst...the world has to offer; it is another entirely to uproot a comfortably suburban family of 5 in actual search of proposed adventure.
This piece of paper was the first serious list with actual action items and bullet points (decidedly official). It outlines our first financial steps toward popping the suburban bubble in search of...experience.