Over the Backyard Fence

First, I want to thank Anita for hosting the Write28Days blogging challenge. Anita writes a wonderful blog called Blessed (But Stressed), and it's all about self-care for caregivers. She also has a website about self-care and finding what nurtures you. You can find it here.

Much of this month, not all of it, has been about simplifying and decluttering my surroundings. For me, it's been a lesson in self care as I learn how to calm my surroundings and in turn feel calmer inside. I've always wanted to do a monthly blogging challenge, and this one suited me just fine. My topic was much lighter than what other bloggers chose to do, but it felt right for this time in my life. And I sure got a lot done around here!

Some takeaways from this little exercise:

Self discipline is a matter of planning and not trying to do everything at once. I could have done better on an overall plan, but each week I pre-planned my posts. Doing something each day -- sometimes big, but often small -- adds up.

Using the Timer! -- Initially, it was to get me started on tasks. I soon realized, that it is a necessity in keeping me moving and not getting so lost in carrying on with one area, that I haven't any energy or interest left when it's time to move on and clean up another area. When the timer goes off, I have to stop. So, cleaning up the top of the dresser won't become another hour lost in sorting through the jewelry drawer, and then walking into the messy kitchen and feeling that I really haven't accomplished a thing in the grand scheme of things.

Making choices -- I simply can't do it all. I tried to pick one thing and go with it. The rest of the list will be there tomorrow.

Having a friend to work beside makes any challenge 10 times more fun! Thanks to my dear friend Dianna for hanging with me!! We met through our blogs last fall? I think, but we have had such fun getting to know one another as we've worked through our kitchens and pantries. Love ya, Dianna!

Last, I've learned that I'm just not a daily blogger. I have some favorite blogs that I read every day, it's a part of my morning routine like reading the newspaper. And, these ladies inspire me to blog more often. However, daily is just more than I can manage. I'm going to try very hard to attempt a couple (maybe three?) days a week. We'll see.

Tomorrow is Friday's Fave Five. I'll be back for that!

My task yesterday was to attack the catch-all file drawer at work. As it turned out I had enough time to do that AND a desk drawer, so I felt pretty good.

Overall, I think it's been a pretty good month. I didn't get all the way through the kitchen (there's still one cabinet I need to go through), but I organized the places that really needed it. I've come up with a plan for what's left in my closet. I hung everything "backwards" and as I wear something I hang it back up with the hanger the right way. What is left at the end of the month (that's tomorrow!) I will reconsider keeping. The car was another area that got cleaned up and it's still looking good!

Today, I'm going to take 10 minutes and clean off the top of my desk. I need to make this a part of my daily routine, so I'll come up with a plan for that as well.

One more day. . .

I don't have a lot of time to check in this morning. Tuesday mornings are my Mondays, the first day of work for the week. I always feel a little bit rushed to get out the door. As my thoughts turn to work today, I thought it would be a good idea to spend 10 minutes there, cleaning out the dreaded bottom drawer of my file cabinet. The place everything goes until I find a place for it, the supply cabinet, the lost and found. I may have to break it up into two 5-minute stints, we'll see.

There is still the lingering odor of skunk in the house. (Don't skunks hibernate in the winter? What's up with that?)

Here she is. . . "I thought it was a cat, Mom. Honest."

  

Friday's Fave Five is a time to take stock of the week, and take note of the wonders that occurred, both big and small. If you would like to join us, here's the link.

1. My husband is using ancestry.com to trace our family history. One night my dad and aunt came for dinner and afterward Dan set up his computer so that we could all view the website on our television to help him look for leads and information about my family. We found the address for my great-grandfather's grocery store in New York City, and with that I was able to go on Google and find the exact building! It felt like a trip back in time to see the building, the setting for many family stories, still looking much like it did back then. We also found documents written in great-grandfather's hand.

2. A book club meeting on Wednesday evening -- We met at the home of one of our members. She's an incredible cook! Great food and much laughter and conversation, about a book that drew mixed reviews. (The Soul of Octopus by Sy Montgomery.) Oftentimes, these are the books that make for the best discussion.

3. It's time to pick a new book to read! I'm looking through my TBR (to be read) pile, trying to decide where to go next. A trip across the world? Through time? A peek into someone else's world? I'll let you know how it turns out.

4. I came home from work on Tuesday to find our son Joey camped out at the house. He took Sam to work and rather than go all the way home, decided to come by and hang out with us for the afternoon. It was so nice to have that unexpected time with my eldest son.

5. This month I've been looking for little 10 minute exercises to do each day to tidy up my house. It's encouraging to see how much progress you can make with those little bits of time. One of my blogging friends has been doing this right along with me, and it has encouraged me on days when I feel my motivation slipping.

This month I've been looking for little 10 minute exercises to do each day that will help me tidy up my house and/or simplify my life somehow. This list, 25 Ways to Simplify Your Life in 10 Minutes or Less has been a great resource. And by participating in the Write28Days blogging challenge, I've managed to stay on task, finding something to do almost every day.

Today, I'm cleaning out my mailbox. Electronic mail, that is. I'm going to set a timer for 10 minutes and go through the delete box, unsubscribing from all those great newsletters I once thought would be just what I needed to change my life, or mailing lists I don't even remember signing up for.

Here goes. . .

As I declutter and make things less complicated around here, I'm finding how happy I can be with the simple pleasures, choosing things that fill up the heart rather than my cupboards and basement shelves.

Today, I'm marking Task #17 off my list of 25 Ways to Simplify Your Life in 10 Minutes or Less. 

This reminds me of the article I read earlier this month, about what naturally tidy people do. Just clean as you go. This practice in taking 10 minutes to do a task has motivated me to do more of that.

In honor of President's Day, I tried to find an appropriate quote by Washington or Lincoln. (That I could not, isn't an indication of their lack of tidiness.) Here's a quote that resonates with my goal:


Happy Monday!

It's blooming again! The Christmas cactus that my friend Pam nurtured back to health for me, is just thriving. I'm so tickled whenever I see it come into bloom, like I did something to make it happen. Well, I guess I did, I've actually remembered to water and feed it!


How was your week?

Good morning!

Well, I 'tripped' yesterday, and missed posting, so there goes my 28 days in a row of blogging. But, it's not about perfection, so let's pick up from Monday.

I'm going back to the 25 Ways to Simplify for today, and have chosen #22 on the list:

This will be a quick post today. My day is suddenly filling up, but I want to get back to the 25 Ways list, which was my original intent for this month, as I blog for 28 days.

I'm posting a little bit late today. Dan and I did our second 5K this morning! It was 27 degrees at the start of the race, but the sun warmed us up. Neither of us are runners, but we had a bit of a friendly competition with ourselves to try to improve our time since the Turkey Trot in November. We shaved 8 minutes off our record, so not too shabby.


This afternoon, I'm getting back to my theme for #write28days, and I'm going to continue working on recipes. This time, it's the recipe file box. My goal is to make my recipe collection something that I can use to easily plan menus, so I'll weed out cards that I've been holding onto forever and still haven't tried. I'm also making a section for recipes that I want to save, but don't often use -- I have a collection from Dan's grandmother, some from my grandma. I can't part with these, they are such gems, seeing their handwriting on those old-fashioned recipe cards.

Let's see how this goes!

I'm on Day 5 of the #write28days challenge.
Yesterday, I came across a post called 5 Things People With Tidy Homes Don't Do. You can find it here. Number one just made me laugh out loud:

Oh, my gosh, this is ME! Anyone that knows me, would not call me a slob. But, I tend to go through the day with my mind 3 steps ahead of the task I'm on, and it's not unusual for my husband to be closing cabinet doors behind me. I'm an 'out of sight, out of mind' kind of person, so I have lots of little piles laying around.

Then at the end of the day, it seems insurmountable, and I go to bed determined to get it all together tomorrow. One of the things I've learned is to accept that this is my nature. That doesn't mean I can't strive to do better. I'm doing this challenge, after all. However, for me to be tidy takes planning and concerted effort. I want to be tidy!!

Today, I'm taking on #1 of the 25 Ways to Simplify Your Life list.

This is Day 4 of the #write28days challenge.

When I was growing up with my three brothers, there were inevitably times when we got pretty rambunctious. I remember my dad saying, "Time to simmer down." After going great guns the first few days of my challenge, I slowed it down a bit yesterday and did my planning for the week and let it go at that. This is supposed to be about finding simple, 10 minute projects after all, and creating good habits. So often, my enthusiasm gets the best of me when I start organizing, running with the momentum, overdoing it, and then crashing.

So, back to a small 10 minute project today. Time to simmer down. Taking a task from the 25 Ways to Simplify Your Life in 10 Minutes or Less, I'll focus on my car today and give it a quick sweep, putting things away that don't belong in the car and wiping down the dash with the wipes I bought just for that reason (a month ago, and I have yet to open the package).

It's Day 3 of the #Write28Day Challenge. Yesterday went well, by the way. The cupboard I worked on is one of the busiest corners of the kitchen, right over the coffee maker and next to the stove. It houses coffee cups, coffee and tea, and baking supplies. I took everything out, and made four areas on the counter: keep, put somewhere else, give it away, throw it out. Then I wiped down the shelves and put back only the things we'll use. I didn't end up with a "keep for 30 days" box -- the decisions were easy to make, so that will come in later for another cupboard. But, I did go on to clean out the silverware drawer! I'm on a roll!