It’s been an interesting week. The Teen is driving. He took his first lesson and he’s been driving all over the place with us. He’s not bad. Better than I expected him to be. I told him that if a zombie apocalypse should overtake us, he can at least drive us out of it. Progress.
I’ve been working on a project at work and it’s coming together. It taps my creative side so it’s nice to use that part of my brain. However, my eyes! All that close computer work is really getting to my eyes which affects my reading, to a degree. I just load-up on eye drops and tough it out because let’s face it, the act of reading must continue or I’ll lose my mind. It’s my only break in the day.
Right Now:
As I sit here enjoying my first cup of coffee, I am pondering my house and all the stuff in it. TOO MUCH STUFF. Which is why we ended up in debt, no sense trying to hide it. I used to buy stuff all the time, especially when the kids were younger. That stopped years ago when furloughs hit and my husband’s business started to tank. I’ve learned a lot from the experience. Mostly, that I am happiest when I don’t have a lot of stuff. Sitting here, warm, under a blanket with my family around me is really what makes me happy. Not the stuff that I’ve accumulated throughout my life.
I hate clutter. Hate it with a passion so I am always tossing stuff out but I am thinking there is a lot more than can go. Especially since I’ve come to terms with it all and accepted that I will never be a “spender” again. I see all of the waste and it makes me physically ill. After church today, I plan to go through the garage to see what can go. It’s not all that relaxing but it makes for a satisfying day.
Also, if any of you struggle with simplifying, like I do, check out this awesome post on how to become ‘unbusy’.
This Week:
Not a whole lot going on this week. Same old rehearsal stuff but no extra meetings or anything that I know of. I guess I will be picking up a few things in preparation of Thanksgiving. The Girl wants to pick out another puzzle to do that day. We sucked when we tried to do the last puzzle. It was a Titanic theme, so cool, but it was all blue and dark and there were too many pieces, it was too large and the pieces were too small. I kept having to get up close to it to see it and that was a major pain. The eyes. Them again. They betray me these days.
What else? I have a door that needs painting. Exciting, huh?
Reading:
A group of us are reading Stephen King’s Revival for #ReviveMe2014. It is so hard to pace myself when reading this book. It’s not like we have a schedule or anything but usually King’s books have some heft and this one does not. It’s relatively short, for him, so I find myself rationing out bits to myself here and there. I am really liking what I’ve read so far but where is he going with it? It has been advertised as his return to true horror but as of yet, I don’t see it. It’s a good story though. He always tells a good story.
Watching:
I did end up watching Snowpiercer. The first hour totally sucked. Good premise but it was weird and strange and dark and seemed way over the top with some of the acting. One of my friends said she walked out of the theater, it was so bad. That first half was horrible, but the second half was pretty good, or at least I feel it redeemed itself.
American Horror Story continues to be all about Dandy. What a strange character. I find myself loving his Man Child ways. When he loses it, I lose it. I find him so interesting.
The Walking Dead fizzled out a little with the last two episodes but I know how it works. Back story for any of the characters always slows it down but then it picks up again. I am expecting a lot of action tonight.
Still watching a lot of I Love Lucy and yes, Chrisley Knows Best and Kendra On Top. I think I just lost bonus points with you all for admitting it but those shows, along with all their drama is what entertains me at the end of the day.
Making:
After attending the Newhall Old Town holiday lights kick-0ff last night, I opted to enjoy a cheese tamale and did not go to the market. That means I have nothing in the house to cook. My family abandoned me for church this morning so maybe if I go to an earlier service, I can hit the market on my way home. Still not sure what to make tonight though.
Grateful for:
Very grateful for our beautiful home. It may not be perfect but it’s cozy and with this red-flag wind warning, I am very happy to be inside, nice and warm.
Happy Thought For the Week:
This week I am saying goodbye to the glorification of busy. I know lots of people who thrive on a full calendar but that’s not me. I am going to start blocking out time in my planner that is just for me.
What are you doing this week that is just for you?
Book Chatter 
I love reading about your changes because it really truly helps me to sort through my life, too…I think we get to a point on our lives when stuff doesn’t matter! Did you know that Chrisley…Todd…is rumored to be bankrupt and owes tons of money? Taxes, etc…some reality…I think he lost his mother’s house, too!
I totally hear ya on the living simply thing and without clutter! I had to simplify to a certain extent over past years because we bought such a small townhouse, but it is amazing how I still managed to fill every shelf and drawer with little clutter, LOL. I am learning to let go. Just this morning I finished a project of cleaning out our living room bookshelf and now it looks so nice. This is after go aging about 150-200 books hehe and it’s not the first time we’ve made a huge donation from these shelves! (Now to work on the “reading room” shelves… Oy!) Anyway, I’m going to go check out that link!
I battle clutter every day because The Girl is a mess-pot. She keeps everything. Strings, twigs, you name it. The house can be totally clean and when she gets home, within five minutes there are shoes on the floor, socks on the couch, hair bows or ribbons hanging out by the bathroom sink and school papers everywhere!!
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Simplifying is good. My need for constant busy-ness comes and goes. I learned long ago that I am the type of person that needs quiet time, needs me time or I won’t be good for anyone else. One of the things I am most looking forward to for the rest of this year is the time I have to rest, and, yeah recover, but I want to take full advantage of the time. Read lots, catch up on movies and television, and get some of those little projects done I never have time for. If I get to them, great. If not, it’s okay. It is all fun stuff. Nothing taxing. 🙂 I don’t think of it as keeping busy, but rather doing stuff I enjoy and mostly for me.
As I read your post, I instantly thought of my mom who has to be busy all the time. She is visiting for the next three weeks and I can already tell I will have to be firm about what I can and cannot do. She already is planning for us to go out to lunch with friends and run quite a number of errands. I told her yesterday I don’t know if I will be up for any of that so soon. I stressed the words REST and HEALING.
And I understand about the spending and debt. Right there with you. We’ve had to cut way back, especially given the car situation and vet bills. We’re looking at ways to save–like cutting the cord and getting rid of cable. I hate clutter too, by the way. We’ve were out a lot over the years and while we still have more to do, I’m much happier. Now if only the toy clutter would be more manageable. LOL. I wish asking for no toys for Christmas would woek.
You think your mom will still try to get you to do stuff while recovering?? I hope she doesn’t. I hope she realizes that you need to recover and not do a thing.
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This might seem strange, but what I do for myself is blogging. Besides reading, it’s the one thing I do that isn’t a chore, for school, or for my family and friends. I’ve got an exam tomorrow, the week of Thanksgiving is going to be extremely busy, and then I’m headed into Finals week, so this whole week I’m going to be spending any free time I get to myself reading and writing.
The blogging thing makes perfect sense. I’ve never treated my blog as a business. It’s always been my thing, and my thing only and I think that’s why I still enjoy doing it.
Good luck on your finals! I hope you do well. I use to get so excited around finals. It’s stressful, but at the same time, progress is progress and it feels so good to finish that final exam.
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We just went through a purge here this weekend! We’re paying to have the car stuff fixed, which has taken us about 2 weekends to get through. I’m hoping that’s all of it at least until the new year. And we’re always looking to save since we still have daycare things to pay for and her ballet.
I just try to take each day as it goes and not worry too much.
I still pay for daycare too!! The legal age to leave a child home alone in Ca. is 13. I had a friend once that left her very responsible 12 year old home and the house caught on fire. She was nearly arrested for child abandonment and endangerment so I fork over my $400 every month.
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Today, just for me: same old, same old, reading Sunday Salon posts, napping…maybe other reading if I can decide what to read. I’m looking ahead to Thanksgiving reading that it’s hard to focus right now.
Clutter? We’re still working on weeding books and other things here, but at least our living room is fairly clutter-free as is our kitchen table (for the time being anyway).
Most of the clutter in the house comes from The Girl. The Teen and I joke that she will be a hoarder because she saves everything… bottle caps, strings, etc. She has a junk drawer that we allow her and just that so she has it pretty stuffed until she cannot fit anymore in, but then she uses the space under her bed. The dog has a field day under there.
I never did clean out my garage but I did paint the door I had to paint. At least I can check that off.
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I always have grand plans to declutter but feel so inexplicably tired when I try to start it. Or else I do one section of the house, pat myself on the back for my hard work and do something fun, only to come back to the same section, weeks later, and do it all over again. I hope you have better success with it that I do.
Grand plans. Yep. Meant to get to my garage but painting the door in gale force winds took longer than I thought and then I was chilled to the bone. At least I finished the door.
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I go to Andre’s, I read and go to book clubs, and I attend Polish classes. These things I do for me and me only. It does make me busier, but I have to remind myself it is good busy and keeps my mind occupied with positive thoughts. And we loved Snowpiercer! In fact we have plans to watch it again. We just loved the dark strangeness of it. I love Dandy too…him and his fits. I mean, he is a homicidal sociopath, but details. And I’m still there with the Walking Dead. Every week I get so excited. I hear we get a few new characters this week.
No new characters after all! I liked the episode but the Carol flashbacks, the numerous ones they showed, make me think she is going to die pretty soon. It was like a memorial to her or something. And her getting hit, and them coming out so quickly with a stretcher was so weird, almost cartoonish.
And Daryl taking that book about child abuse. That was interesting.
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I hate wasting weekends with the clutter debriefing etc but it is soo satisfying when it is done!!! And i too hate the “busy” thing….2 coworkers were babbling about “3 holiday parties all on the same weekend…teehee” and all i could think of was just sbut up lready!!! Love lights etc just not crowds.
And i have resorted to taping the walking dead and watching it the next day…whats up with all the commercials?? Have a great week
Some people really thrive on busy, don’t they? They bug!
I never did get to cleaning out my garage but I did pain the door that I needed to pain, in gale force winds. I have paint in my hair from it whipping around.
The Walking Dead and the commercials… ugh. I hate the gaming commercials. I noticed something weird this year with American Horror Story, it’s like they added run time to accommodate the commercials. Sometimes the show is 90 min and sometimes just and hour and ten minutes. My DVR sometimes gets confused over it.
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Congrats to the teen on the milestone of driving! When mine could drive it helped cut down on all the running around I did. The year that I got sick of myself and all the buying of stuff, I seriously decided what to keep and what to sell or give away. I had a garage sale and was floored to earn over $1000. My daughter tried to get me hooked on Kendra on Top. Have a great week.
You made $1000? Wow! I had a garage sale once. I didn’t price stuff well and ended up making $350 or so but I had a lot of good stuff and could have made a lot more had I priced stuff better. I didn’t know!
Kendra is drama, drama, drama but so entertaining.
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One of the many things I love about being in Florida is that our place there is much smaller, less cluttered and everything is simpler. I come back home and feel overwhelmed by stuff, upkeep, etc…. you are on the right track!!
I love that whole tiny house movement, where people build 700-900 sq foot houses, thoughtfully laid out, and then live debt free. It fascinates me.
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Now that we have the kiddos, I’m more apt to not want to be busy. I have a tendency to always be doing something but I’ve been forcing myself to relaxing during naptimes. It means my house is messier and dirtier, but I feel a bit more sane. Busy is absolutely a choice!
Though the clutter! I need to be so much better about throwing things away. I’m terrible at it, especially if it is MY stuff. I’m much less tolerant of the other three’s clutter/mess.
Snowpiercer was so strange. We watched Begin Again this weekend and both really liked it.
Yeah Snowpiercer didn’t do too much for me. Did you see W&D last night? The Carol and Daryl show! Carol is tough. 2 more episodes left! Going to get intense.
I’m with you on the de-cluttering. We’ve moved houses twice in the last couple of years and they’ve been an opportunities to lose the dead weight. Also, every time I do a wardrobe exchange (my closet is not big enough to hold both summer and winter clothes) I give away everything I haven’t worn in over 1 year. Before my birthday parties I also do a clean-up of the bookshelves and give books away to the guests. It’s such a good feeling to simplify and make space!
That is one thing good about living in California. I don’t have seasonal clothes really since the temp rarely changes…or so it seems.
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I am a huge non-clutter person. Jim is too. That doesn’t mean that we don’t gather large amounts of stuff, but we are very good about going through closets and storage and getting rid of the stuff we no longer want or use. In fact, I’m due a big purge of holiday decor that hasn’t weathered well over the years. I am also due another closet purge. You are absolutely correct that they aren’t relaxing but they are so satisfying when you are done. That means more to me most of the time.
The Teen is driving? Yikes! So soon!!!
I know exactly what you mean about scheduling time for yourself. I really need to get better about that. Taking a lunch, finding some time to squeeze in a walk. Reading more often. All of this has fallen by the wayside for me in recent months. Slowly, I’m getting my time back, but it is difficult. Good luck with your me time schedule!
You reminded me that I have some Christmas bulbs that really need to go. I hesitate because I have had them for a really long time, before marriage and that was over 20 years ago but they are worn out and practically transparent! Somehow, they look good on the tree but individually they look like they are on their last leg. Maybe I will keep a handful and toss the rest.
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I ended up cleaning out my closet on Sunday night and will probably start going through the Christmas decorations as we pull them out this weekend. I’m actually looking forward to it. Go figure.
We are all decorated now, thanks to The Girl and The Hub. He put the lights up on the house and she did the rest. I just wasn’t in the mood with it being so hot. We are supposed to get 4 inches of rain on Tuesday, which will totally flood us out if it happens. Our hillsides are too dry to absorb any of it.
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The boys are going out to put up the lights right now. I finished decorating yesterday. It turns out we lost a ton of decorations because mice got into my storage boxes. At least that is one way to declutter!
Too hot? Oh, wow. I can’t imagine. We have snow cover still in spite of yesterday’s temperatures that almost hit 50 degrees. Good luck with the rain. That’s scary!
I love the idea of blocking out time just for you! I think I really need to consider doing that myself, especially considering how much I live by my calendar!
I know I need to get better at decluttering than I have been; this house should not be so full that when one person moves out, there is enough stuff to fill the room back up without really creating big open spaces! Thanks for the reminder that now is the best time to think about – before more stuff comes in at Christmas.