Band Wagon Thinking

If you read blogs, you can't miss the January theme of the month - simplify, de-clutter, organize!!

Image:  julielomoe.wordpress.com 

What is it about the simple month of January that brings out this clean-up, clean-out feeling in folks?  Why does everyone jump right on this band wagon very single January?

• Is it a reaction to the rampant consumerism of November and December?
• Is it that the pathway from your front door to your refrigerator has gotten too narrow to negotiate?
• Is it that you bought yet another hammer, because you can't find the 5 others you own?
• Is it that you are trapped in your house for the first really cold month of the winter, and you are forced to face down all your crap? 

 "Holy Crap!!

  Where did all this crap come from?

  Is the crap multiplying on its own?

  Have 5 other families moved their crap in when I wasn't looking?

 Crap, crap, crap!!

  Guess my new favorite word!

  :-)

No, I am not going to bore you with my January Simplicity Post du gour.  I have already done that 16 times over the life of this blog.  It is not a new topic for me.  In fact, to be successful at de-crapping cluttering, it shouldn't be a new topic, or a January topic, or a seasonal project.  

It needs to be a life style!

So, how is that for NOT blogging about de-cluttering!!

Achy breaky knuckles

For the last few weeks I have noticed a definite change in my hands.  Specifically my knuckles!

They are sometimes achy.

Like today.  Outside it was cold and wet and my knuckles were very achy.  Enough that I needed to pop a few Advil!!

So what the heck is that all about.

I am 65 and those knuckles have served me well for many years without complaint.  They aren't particularly beautiful, and they aren't knobby or wrinkly or bumpy or crackly.  They are just knuckles.

They have done their job for many years without calling attention to themselves.

And now they are becoming attention-getters!  Crap!

Could this be the early signs arthritis?  No.  My mom and sister are plagued with this condition, but I have always felt blessed to have missed that bullet.

Double Crap!

Now I am not feeling so blessed.

Triple Crap!

Settled Down

After the celebration of the holidays and the flurry of activity when my son and daughter-in-law moved in ... and after the Christmas take-down of all the decorations ... things have finally settled down in our household.

The new normal has evolved in my life ... it kind of looks like this ...

• Early to bed, early to rise - now I have working folks in my house, and they are up early and out the door.  So I am up early to be with my grand dogs.  No more staying up till 11:00 pm or midnight - not if I want to find my way to the coffee pot and happy dog faces at 6:00 am.
• Dog walks, dog walks, dog walks.  All the time.  Meaty so loves his pee breaks.  No more waiting for 8 to 10 hours for is papa to come home for a pee break.  Now he has "pee breaks on demand."  Life is good.
• Grimace is my new companion for visits to Assisted Living. Meaty prefers laying on the couch.
• The kitchen table is busy almost every night - not just on the weekends.

• Company while I blog and canine editorial suggestions are the norm - Grimace has very definite ideas.

It has been a very busy period, but the routine is now settling down.  And I am loving it.

Grow Your Blog

Or better yet ... discover new blogs!

I follow a pretty phenomenal fiber artist blogger ... Vickie at 2 Bags Full.  If you aren't familiar with her blog, check out this link.  You won't be sorry.

As an experienced and successful blogger, she wanted to "give back" to the blogger community through a Grow Your Blog event!  I have participated in a few of these in the past, and I made an interesting discovery. While I usually get new readership and always enjoy new followers, the real joy for me ... is discovering new blogs.  You meet the most remarkable people, learn the most interesting things and generally expand your own universe when you find new blogs.  Through a sponsored event by a like-minded blogger, the participating blogs are usually of interest.

So on January 19th, I will be participating in the "Grow Your Blog" party sponsored by 2 Bags Full.

My participation will look a lot like this:

• On January 19th, I will post an introduction of who I am and why I started blogging.  Long time followers already know me and my story, but new visitors who pop in will need to catch up. 
• The post will also include an invitation to participate in a contest - my first ever contest!!  Visitors who stop and comment will be eligible to win a prize.  There is no requirement that a visitor be a follower of my blog or have their own blog.  They just need to make a comment to be included for a chance to win a prize.  
• The winner will be announced on my blog on February 1, 2013.

So if you are tootling around the internet on January 19th and you find me talking about myself - just out of the blue - for no apparent reason other than I like to read about myself ... :-) ... you will know what I am really doing.  You will know I have not gone totally insane.  :-)

At least, not yet!

   

~~

The New Year Looks Different

Day 2 of 2013!

Already the New Year looks very different.

Over the holiday period my son and daughter-in-law moved temporarily into our home.  2013 is the year that they prepare their townhouse for sale, sell it, buy a new place closer to work and move again.

But for the near future, my home has once again expanded to shelter family.  And this time the  "family" included my two grand dogs.

In fact, as I sit here on my couch at 6:30 am typing away, my two dear boys are sacked out on either side of me snoring away.  That is their usual schedule on a work day: get up, walk with Papa, get fed by MoMo, and go back to sleep.  The only difference for them is that now they have a grandma nearby every single day to give them lovies and walks.

Oh the difficult life they lead!!  :-)

Of course, it helps that the dogs are here and won't be underfoot while their former home is spruced up for sale and shown.

So the New Year is different with many changes expected in the future.

I welcome it all.  I am enjoying every moment of it as I sit here on Day 2 of 2013.


PS - I love having family under my roof.  I love the feeling of a filled house.  I know this situation is temporary.  All the family move-ins over the last 10 years have been temporary - as they should be.  But I have loved them all.  One day it will be our turn, and my husband and I will move into less space.  We won't have the luxury of opening our doors this way ... but for now, it is grand!

On the other side of my mountain.

We are on the other side of the holiday season - and I welcome it each year!

Yes, that is me!  

Struggling to the top,

 each and every year.

I try to simplify so that this desire to "get passed" the season is reduced.   But still my mountain looks a lot like this:

Create a "to do" list right after Thanksgiving.  

(My reduced list this year had about 25 holiday items on it.)

Decorate the tree.  

Christmas shop.
 (This time online shopping saved a bunch of time.)

Wrap presents.

Make Christmas cookies.

Plan Christmas Eve menu.

Plan Christmas Day menu.

Plan Holiday Gamer Party menu.

Food shop.

Food preparation
 (About 50% food prep done by the grocery store.)

Clean.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day

Holiday Party

Clean up.

Take down and pack away holiday decorations.

Update the new 2013 calendar.
Sit back and recover.

This is my simplified list, my simplified holiday.  I know it looks a lot like your list, your mountain.  But I desire a simpler holiday.  

On this first day of 2013, I am in a celebratory mood.  I have reached the other side of this mountain.  My to-do list each day has gloriously shrunk.  I celebrated with a walk, my first walk in many weeks.  It was short - only 30 minutes. It is a start (I am a big starter.)   And my stretching routine - well, I need to start over on that.  My husband and I went out to eat at a restaurant this New Year's Day ... where someone else cooked, delivered the food to the table, and cleaned up.

But best of all, I am past the mountain.  Now I can enjoy my truly favorite season of the year - Winter.

Happy New Year!

Pondering the Holiday

If you are here and I am here, then it is safe to say that at least the two of us survived "the end of the world."

My tree is decorated, the gifts are purchased, wrapped and under the tree, some of my Christmas cookies are made - at least the cookie dough is prepared, and the holiday cooking is in full swing!

This holiday has been a very carefully staged event.  Nothing too big, just the basics.  Time spent with family enjoying the season, gazing at my very lovely Christmas tree, rubbing the ears of my dear, dear grand dogs and crocheting. Yes, time spend on crafts that give me a peaceful feeling.  (Knitting would give me more peace, but the project under the deadlines is crochet.)

And here is the biggest Christmas gift of all ... 

an English Bull Dog, named Meathead,

who is healthy, happy, ornery, stubborn, and loving.  

How dear that gift is.  In the beginning of November we feared that this dear soul our family has come to love with an intensity that is fearsome ... this dear dog might not make it to Christmas.  He is well and appears to be going strong!

The best gifts don't come wrapped in holiday paper and ribbons!

Merry Christmas to all!

***

Posting will resume after Christmas.