Not That Guy
John and I have been doing this thing in the past few months we call "Not That Guy." "Not That Guy" is the guy you wanted to be when you bought all that stuff for, say, scrapbooking. You wanted to be That Scrapbooking Guy, but you're not scrapbooking; it's all sitting there in the closet gathering dust and taking up space. You're Not That Scrapbooking Guy. So it's time to get rid of That Guy's stuff.
So far John has admitted he's Not That Woodworking Guy, and we sold the bandsaw and Shopsmith that have been taking up space in the garage, unused for five years. I have admitted I'm Not That Drumming Guy, and sold my beautiful quinto drum that has sat in a corner of Josie's room, unplayed, for more than 15 years.
(Quick side note: We discovered in this process that we are Those Biking Guys, however, and we took the money from the sales of Those Other Guys' things and bought some new bikes. I am now the extremely happy owner of an Electra Townie 21 speed, the Purple Poem one. Go get on a Townie, they will renew the joy of biking that you lost somewhere in middle school. And John converted his mountain bike to an Xtracycle sport utility bike, which is the coolest thing EVAR. He can haul a week's worth of groceries AND LouLou on that thing. And we have a tandem. I highly recommend tandem riding for couples, it is hella fun.)
The greatest thing we have had to acknowledge, though, is that we are Not Those Gardening Guys. I was That Gardening Guy, but that was before my illness. Now, I'm Not That Guy any more, and I never will be again. 
After a lot of thought, we have decided to sell our extra lot, the yard next to our home. We had considered moving--we even looked at condo living--but in the end, selling the lot is our best choice. It severely reduces the amount of maintenance and/or guilt we face, it allows us to pay off our mortgage, and it puts us in a much better position to improve the house we have. It needs insulation, new, more efficient windows, a new kitchen (our kitchen is falling apart and we have no dishwasher--aagh!), and the laundry needs moved upstairs from the basement. If we did those things, we could stay in this house happily for at least another ten years if not longer. We love our neighborhood, and we want to stay.
So, Not That Guy. We wanted to be That Guy, but we're Not That Guy.
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Good for you
Good for getting rid of things cluttering up your life. Too many times we keep stuff just because we bought it once and thought it would be important, and we're unwilling to let go of something that no longer interests us. Major purge happening in our house, too.
Congrats on the Townie, too -- I convinced a friend to get one a couple of months back. She was trying to get back onto a bicycle but had some mobility limitations that made it both hard for her to get on a bike and hard to move her knee to pedal. The Townie was the only bike that set the seat far enough back in relation to the pedal to give her knee some relief, and she loves it. I've ridden it a couple times, and compared to my hyper-twitchy lightweight road bike, it's so stable and fun to ride. Highly recommend Electra for anyone who wants to have a fun bike ride again.
Electra Townie - Purple Poem
I am doing google searches to try to locate one of these bicycles. Your blog popped up. Where did you get your bicycle? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. gayle
Hi Gayle!
I got my original Townie at Bike n Hike in Portland. Sadly, I don't think the Purple Poem art bike is made any more. I would recommend Electra's bikes highly; I currently have an Amsterdam that I love. It's seven speeds, and even without my blessed electric assist, I find that's all I really need. If you're having trouble finding an Electra, I strongly suggest you just contact the company directly: http://www.electrabike.com/ Have fun!
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