Declutter & Accountability - January 2012

Subject: RE: Declutter & Accountability - January 2012
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 12 - 09:09 PM

I walked both dogs today, and have done some of the gardening I wanted. I weeded, moved four Swiss chard plants to a more protected area, and dug a couple of the areas for potatoes.

Back to work tomorrow. The rest of the world has the day off, but classes resume during our truncated winter semester, so we're all back.

SRS

Subject: RE: Declutter & Accountability - January 2012
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Jan 12 - 08:57 PM

Solid PW pool workout; 45 min aerobic up to 180 BPM susteained and 10 min flex.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Accountability - January 2012
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 Jan 12 - 07:31 PM

My husband and I played with the Wii for over 2 hours...that counts for exercise! We played tennis, bowling and golf but the real exercise came in the form of boxing....at which, I might add, I ROCK!!!!   *GRIN*   That was fun AND a great work out!!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Accountability - January 2012
From: mouldy
Date: 01 Jan 12 - 06:11 PM

Having cleared the debris from Christmas visitors out, I have also cleared up from the evening with friends last night. It was a late one, of course, as we were out in the village for the torchlight procession and the firework display.

I don't want to believe what I read on the bathroom scales yesterday evening. They told me I had put about 10lbs back on in as many days since I was weighed at WW. I'm going away to Paris for a couple of days this week, to celebrate my 60th (a treat from my daughters) and I think I'd better eat soup for the duration!

My cat decided to try and do a runner out of the front door about 1am, but I managed to grab him. Today, he went out back late morning and did a disappearing act until I managed to coax him in at 7pm. He hasn't eaten all day, and I didn't even get his meds into him this morning. He seems quite frail at the moment. Hopefully his appetite will be back tomorrow. I think he's stressing because all of a sudden he's got a rearranged house and no builders, and while he's trying to adjust to this, it keeps getting invaded by visitors. I daresay the fireworks down the road didn't help. They were very loud (very impressive) and lasted a good 15 minutes.

Washing, packing and an attempt to sort out that bedroom of mine tomorrow, I think.

Andrea

Subject: RE: Declutter & Accountability - January 2012
From: Janie
Date: 01 Jan 12 - 05:39 PM

Whew!!

Another closet and the spare bedroom nearly done, stuff moved around from closet to closet to put "dead storage" items in dead storage, put stuff that I occasionally need to get to where I can get to it with a little less digging and work, and stuff that I have wanted to get to mor eoften but haven't because it was inaccessible in places where I can get to it rather easily. Another large load of stuff for Goodwill. I could use the money from a yard sale, but when I factor in the time and prep, and keeping all this "stuff" until an opportune time for a yard sale, Goodwill is the sensible choice. I wish my local ecumenical ministry thrift store was open for collections on Saturdays. They need the dollars much more than Goodwill to stock the food pantry, etc.

It was sad and difficult to make the decision to get rid of my extensive hand-thrown pottery collection. No pleasure, however, in having all those pieces wrapped in paper and packed in cardboard in a back closet. This house is simply too small to either use the functional pieces in the kitchen, or to have much sitting out. A few pieces were small or flat enough that I was able to hang them on walls when I moved in, and I have kept a few favorite vases in the hope I will one day have flowers to cut again, but 98% is out on the carport. Annie called as I was going through the boxes, and is going to make it a bit easier. She has a large circle of friends and old-time musicians. She is going to pick up the entire collection and find good homes for the individual pieces among her far-reaching crowd of friends that she travels to play music with - gifts for people who host her, etc. Hauling it all to Good Will felt really bad. These pieces were carefully and lovingly collected over 30 years, and most have memories and emotions attached to them. Now, it is likely they will have meaning to some one else who receives them as a thoughtful gift from some one they care about and with whom they have made memories.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Accountability - January 2012
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 01 Jan 12 - 03:48 PM

I am very grateful for a lot ...including probably renters for my rental house, which I sorely need...still have my job in an uncertain economy..only a couple of years until I could retire. I think the best thing for me to do is just to keep things minimal and as low-stress as possible. I really need a better cash flow and have to look at ways to achieve that without having to summon up get up and go which I do not have...I have put ads out for doing a modest amount of shopping, housework etc. in exchange for free rent, rather than look for another part-time job..which would conflict at times with my main state job...I hope to go to more music camps this next year..already signed up for Rainycamp and Singtime Frolics and Camp Alexandra...hope to make it to Princeton again..would love to go to one of the Georgia Straits but they are pricy...hope to work with others to get at least one group CD out this year and maybe another on canneries for the local cannery group here. The one word that comes to my mind when I think of 2012 is travel...my feets are getting itchy...Had VISA almost paid off..down to under $3k and loss of renters has upped that quite a bit...but hopefully I can pay that off and then my car, which I must say I am enjoying after being without one for several years. mg

Subject: RE: Declutter & Accountability - January 2012
From: katlaughing
Date: 01 Jan 12 - 02:41 PM

Thanks for the reminder about Wordpress, SRS. I forgot I have a blog there. I just spoke to start logic where my website is hosted. I think I'm going to park my domain name through them for $24 a year and have it point to a blog or two. That will save us a little bit of money and make it a lot easier for me to work on and also to feel motivated to work on. It has been so cumbersome otherwise I just haven't wanted to do it to keep it up the way it should be. So, that's one good start, one item crossed off the list for the new year.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Accountability - January 2012
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 12 - 12:59 PM

Kat, I've been using Wordpress for a couple of blogs for a while, and have a blogger site. The benefit to the blogger site is that it is automatically indexed in the Google searches (Google owns it.)

When the fireworks and shooting started last night I got up and watched the dogs - they were excited - so I invited them in and we did tricks for treats for a few minutes until the worst of it settled down. They thoroughly enjoyed coming inside for food!

Getting set to take my girl Cinnamon for a walk by herself. She came in to do timeout - a while ago Poppy snapped at Zeke for getting to rough and Cinnamon gets upset when anyone snaps at her friend Zeke so was all set to clobber Poppy. I gave her a boot in the rear, shooed her to the garage for a couple of minutes, then brought her into the house. I've snuck the leash (it rattles, so I had to be careful) to this room and closed the back blinds so the others won't see the door open. Poppy barks at the door every so often, but in a few minutes I'll take Cinnamon for a walk to remind her who is the pack leader. They each raise a ruckus if they think they've been left behind. I'll do the same later with Poppy (they benefit from these one-on-one walks). I benefit from the walk also. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: Declutter & Accountability - January 2012
From: katlaughing
Date: 01 Jan 12 - 12:34 PM

You don't have much winter there, do you, SRS? It sounds lovely. The sun has been out here, but temps have still been chilly, though yesterday it did get up into the 40s.

Thanks to Morgan, we have a drainer full of clean dishes and swept and mopped living room and kitchen. He came over yesterday and for a while I let him play a computer game. At the time I had my arm out of the sling and on a pillow with ice packed around my elbow. It hurt a lot and I was fairly upset. Morgan said to me, "Mama, is there anything I can do?" I blubbered that I didn't know at which point he came over to me, put his hand on my shoulder and said, "What can I do for you that you cannot do?" I still really couldn't focus though I did tell him how sweet he was and how much I love him. At that point, he said he knew just what to do and proceeded to wash the dishes and then to sweep and mop! I did get it together enough to read him a couple of my favourite stories from the old Childcraft books: the Shoemaker and the Elves and Nanette Visits the Château. I told him he reminded me of the little pixies or brownies that came in the house and cleaned it up while folks were asleep. The Shoemaker story was the only one I could find, at the time, that reminded me of what he was doing. It was just so sweet and such a nice way to get ready for The New Year.

He was excited about the new year because he was going to be able to stay up the whole night. I called him at about 930p. He was loud and excited and asked me what in the world I was doing up so late that I usually was always in bed by then. I told him I was getting ready to go to bed and wanted to wish him a Happy New Year. We then had a discussion about it now being 2012 but not the beginning of third grade. He was a little confused because were always talking about next year when you're in third grade. I think he finally understood. It was funny. I haven't heard yet, this morning, if he lasted the night or not.

I have done a few things over the past few days, laundry, paying bills, etc. Roger took off work from Thursday through Monday so it's been nice to have him home. Today we hope to clean a bit and I, also, will be working on clearing my hanging files to make way for the new year receipts etc.

If my elbow is not a lot better by Tuesday, I'll be going to the doctor. What exercise I have done has mostly been stretching all my parts but the one.

Last night as we were in bed trying to go to sleep, the neighbours decided to set off some fireworks at midnight. We quickly found out Luna is afraid of loud booms! I got up to go to the bathroom and as I sat on the edge of the bed a furry head peaked out between my legs from under the bed. Poor thing, she was really frightened. I talked her into coming out from under it, she followed me to the bathroom, sat down and leaned against my legs and finally just lied down on the floor as I spoke to her and petted her. She followed me back to the bedroom but didn't go under the bed this time, just stayed in the bedroom for while. Up until now, we have never been able to get her to sleep in the bedroom. She's always gone back out to the living room to lie on the couch. She wouldn't even stay in the bedroom with a nice cushy dog bed.

On Saturday, I did start work on a marketing e-mail for my first e-book. Learning a bit more of what I can do in Microsoft Word with pictures and other fancy bits. I also have to decide whether to keep paying for my website or just dump it and keep a running blog. A website doesn't really seem to be that important or useful, but I think that's mostly because I don't utilize it as much as I could. It's a lot easier to enter things in a blog than to go into the host server, log in and then use their tools to add to the website. If I dump it it would save us $12 a month which isn't a lot but every little bit helps, right? If any of you have any thoughts I be interested to hear them. I'll be working more on the e-mail and try to get it out this week. I think I'll be having Morgan over after school at least one or two days per week now as he is no longer going to the late day classes. He's quite excited about getting out at the usual time.

I really am loving having Dragon Naturally Speaking! It has been a great tool especially at the moment.

So here we are in the new year. I hope that it is a prosperous one for us all in all ways and I give thanks that it is so.

luvyakat

Subject: RE: Declutter & Accountability - January 2012
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 12 - 11:53 AM

The sun is out and the yard looks lovely, a great way to begin the year. Laundry is drying, the kitchen is clean, the table is clear and inviting.

It's time to file a bunch of papers then start a new folder for this year's bills and receipts. I have a couple of these annual holders around: I'll leave the 2011 stuff in the 12-pocked folder and get the 2010 one to use now. Those 2010 bills and receipts will be bundled into a manila envelope. After a while they'll be shredded.

Vacuumed yesterday but noticed that I couldn't get everywhere I wanted because there's stuff on the floor. So today part of my goal is to file papers, pick up stuff, and find places where it can go on shelves, etc. I have to take down the rest of the decorations, and I need to go turn over a portion of my garden to put in the potatoes.

The new year starts looking much like the old year, but I did finish some big deadlines, so it feels pretty good.

How are all of you doing exercise-wise? I figure my mowing yesterday was a great start (it took about 2 1/2 hours of steady pushing to get it all done, plus after raking leaves from the curb to the lawn and passing over them to mulch them in.) The bandaids on my thumbs are my "pink badges of fitness," though blisters aren't mandatory. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: Declutter & Accountability - January 2012
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Jan 12 - 08:49 AM

Planned January Daily Fitness Schedule:

Sun-- Evening Club Pool w/Hardi; BackHab, Ai Chi

Weekdays (11:30 AM and about 8PM):

Mon-- Club Pool; BackHab, Ai Chi, Aquajogging; evening light cardio w/Hardi
Tue-- PT Dry Clinic; strength and balance training; evening light cardio w/Hardi
Wed-- Club Pool; BackHab, Ai Chi, Aquajogging; evening light cardio w/Hardi
Thu-- Home weightroom; Upper Body workout, evening light cardio w/Hardi
Fri-- PT Pool; Cardio and Stairclimbing

Sat-- Active REST DAY/Sat Svc

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Accountability - January 2012
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 Jan 12 - 12:22 AM

Happy New Year!!!!

XXOOXOX

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Accountability - January 2012
From: katlaughing
Date: 31 Dec 11 - 11:49 PM

Happy New Year!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Accountability - January 2012
From: LilyFestre
Date: 31 Dec 11 - 10:43 PM

Great intro to the new thread SRS!!!

My goal for this month is to make half of my home office into a play room for Jeremiah. The other half will house bookcases and all my crafting gear. I'd like to have it set up so that we can play up there for the majority of the day with just a few toys in the living room area. Ideally, I'd like to work on my beading while the baby plays but we'll just have to see how it goes.

My house is in better shape than it has been in some time but as an unfinished old farm house, there are always projects in the works. It's nice to know that I'm not the only person who doesn't live in the land of Martha Stewart!

Happy New Year Everybody!!!

Michelle

Subject: Declutter & Accountability - January 201
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Dec 11 - 10:24 PM

Last time I checked, we're into our fourth year of this enterprise that we call "decluttering." For some of us it means getting control of the stuff in our houses, for others, it means getting control of our lives, and for most of us, it is a mix of the two. The "accountability" part came from those who are working on getting regular exercise on the path to better fitness.

I don't think we all live in horribly messy houses, I don't think any of us are hoarders. But we have too much stuff in the places where we live and it is our aim to reduce the amount of stuff and along the way streamline the way we live. The goal here, for most of us, is to have a beautiful space at home that we can enjoy and can open to our friends and family when we wish. We want good health and to be able to enjoy whatever adventures come our way.

Here's to a year in which each of us will create a space in our homes that is worthy of Architectural Digest, and our homes will be so organized that The Container Store and Martha Stewart Living come knocking, looking for ideas. And make it a year in which we all stop beating up ourselves for not being perfect, and along the way, achieve fitness (and have Richard Simmons come knocking looking for ideas!)

Have a great 2012, all, and here's looking at you! (Previous thread)

SRS