Resisting materialism

I am a minimalist- meaning I try to keep the least amount of items I need of something. For example, I share a closet and a bureau with my husband. I use 1/3 of the closet and only 1 drawer of the 4 drawer bureau. I wash my clothes every day so I don't need much of anything. Recently I was going to the eye doctor's office and I saw a sign at a consignment store to fill a bag for $15. I was SO SO tempted just to pick out some new items, but I resisted. Just mentioning this as the temptation to BUY BUY BUY and SPEND SPEND SPEND i s all around us. Now I think of how I can use that money towards a visit to a country to visit our sponsored children and how that will bring me much more happiness.

A transformed room

 In the back of our house on the second floor is a relatively small bedroom that has had various occupants over the past 36 years we have lived in our house. At one time it had a built in bookcase and had lots of toys in it. At another time, my daughter Bridget, who loved cats, agreed to foster a mother cat with seven kittens who lived in the closet for about a week. At another time it housed a bunk bed with two boys and the last occupant is our youngest son, Francis. It was painted an ugly color of bright blue with yellow trim because one daughter decided that's what she liked.
     We decided to raise the ceiling to the roof line and add new flooring and paint and recessed lights. The room had foam insulation in the ceiling that had to be adjusted for the skylights. Below are some photos during the process, showing the finished product.Here are the before photos:

Here are the after:

Posh public toilets in USA!!!

I recently read about how a public restroom in New York City received a $300,000 makeover. Here is part of the story:

A toilet fit for royalty is open for business in Bryant Park after a $300,000 makeover added luxurious touches including self-flushing toilets, fresh flowers and classical music.

A "toilet paper ribbon" cutting ceremony for the newly-renovated, Beaux-Arts bathrooms near the New York Public Library and the subway entrance unveiling the classiest public restrooms in all of New York City Thursday.

"At Bryant Park, we strive for perfection and only settle for excellence," Dan Biederman, executive director of the Bryant Park Corporation, said.

"This philosophy pervades every operational aspect of the park, including the restrooms. We have created a facility that rivals even some of the finest hotels."

Among the new improvements: imported floor and wall tiles, coffered ceilings, crown moldings, all-weather temperature controls, energy-saving LED lighting, self-flushing toilets that have alternating seat covers, fresh flowers and a sound system playing classical music.

All I could think about after reading this article was the lack of toilets I saw when I visited Kenya and Honduras. A whole community may have one public latrine, A whole school may have one pit latrine. Here are some photos of public toilets from these countries:

It seems so sad that in the USA we spend $300,000 on fancy public toilets while so many in the world suffer.