Reality Check

So I came to the realization in the last 24 hours that I could be moving in six days, six months or sometime in the next six years and the concept frightened me beyond words.  How much stuff can a family that grew collect in the short space of 10 yrs... and how much of it do I want to move??

Understand my house is not like those houses on TV - it's not Hoarders here, though sometimes I cast an eye around and feel like it could be.  I lack storage more than anything.  And I lack the discipline to put things back!

You see, I have lived in this house for the last 10 1/2 years. My oldest was four months old when we moved in. Three additional children later, all-girls I might add, and you have a recipe for disaster. Now throw in the fact that I'm a reforming packrat (that is a packrat that is trying to mend her ways!), and you begin to realize the magnitude of my problem.  I am a knitter, crochet'er and sewer, which compounds the clutter.  Yes, I have thrown stuff away in the last 10 years, and donated yarn, usually when my clutter got under my skin, but I homeschool too, and as homeschoolers tend to do, we have amassed a collection books - both school and general fiction, so the problems continue to grow!  As a packrat thinks, I often say - oh well I can use that again for the next child ... not fully comprehending that it is only useful if I can find it again when said child is old enough - so it needs a place to live in the mean time.

For years, I have been trying to follow Fly-lady, and when I didn't see results with that, because I lacked the follow through and ability to follow routines, I would wander off to organizedhome.com or Cindy's Porch - which is now Cannywomen.com, so I have been doing stuff, just never with my full heart and intentions of getting somewhere, UNTIL NOW!

My clutter is getting to me!  It's making me REALLY grumpy.  I spent the last couple weeks stepping over stuff to get through the door into my laundry room, trying not to kill myself with the full clean laundry baskets on the way out again!

It's official though - I have decided that I need to finally bite the bullet and get myself out of this mess.  There is nothing I love more than a clean surface and a clean area to sit down comfortably and just enjoy my surroundings.

I haven't posted on this blog regularly in recent months, I'm hoping to be better about that, I will be focusing on my efforts of decluttering, cleaning and simplifying our mess.  And the occasional knit/crochet/sew project or two!  Emotions are sure to flare as I pack away my stuff and get rid of things that I just don't need anymore.

So let's begin!!  

This passed Friday, I received some Method soaps and detergents from Soap.com - we've been using them for ages, anyway, after school lessons today - I re-purposed the box - I used it to pick up all the mess of STUFF on the floor in the laundry room.  I gave the floor a good vacuum and scrub.  Got rid of the shoes the girls have outgrown or don't wear!  Got rid of the empty bottles of detergents from the cupboards that I was going to refill with homemade detergents.  In the end I got rid of a bag full of trash - no, none of it was reusable!  Though what could be recycled was and a couple of shoes went  into the Goodwill Bag.

I spent 2 hours in the laundry room, digging out stuff that needed gotten rid of and freed up some storage space for curriculum materials that I'm not currently using but know I will use for sure for the youngest!  I also managed to clean up some other stuff that was lying around and tossed on a couple loads of laundry.  

I'm throwing in the stuff I do on a regular basis as well, just because I'm working on routines!  Laundry happens M, T, Th, F (and sometimes Sat,)  my oldest does her own laundry now (W) because she refuses to put it away if I do it, so I made her responsible for her own, mess!  

Tomorrow's goal is to empty my new "SOAP box" and deal with that clutter so that I can use it again for the next round of stuff that needs done.  I'm hoping to declutter my home, one soap box at a time - 15-30 minutes a day (a la Fly-lady!!)   :)  I figure I can declutter for 15-30 minutes and then re-load my box for the next day's 15-30 minutes worth of stuff to declutter.

New Habit:  So as of now, the tops of the dryer and washer need to be tidied each night after the last load is done! :)  This needs to be how it looks each night!  (21 days to a new habit!)

Potty Learning Project

Today, I and my 3 yr old, are embarking on my 3rd and hopefully final, her first and hopefully only journey into potty learning.

She is my most stubborn child. But I have faith that she'll get there in her time, I'm hoping by the end of the day she will agree that NOW is the time. LOL!

It's odd that each time I have done this with my children it seems like a complete mystery to me and something that requires study and relearning on my part. I teach my children at home, but for some reason this potty learning poses a huge challenge for me to teach.

Without further ado, we begin! Wish me luck!!

Summer / Solstice - Wordless Wednesday!

Day 22 - operation 295

As predicted my plans to succeed over the holidays kinda fell down.  But I have also been investigating a new eating plan!  I love WW, love that I can track cals and eat with a specific idea in mind of when I've had enough.... but recent health issues have come up that I'm struggling with the whole idea.  I've discovered that I need to eat wheat and gluten free... and while that isn't new to plenty of folks, its new to me and quite a challenge and quite a learning curve.  I have room to play, I don't have to be super strict, but I do need to proceed with caution.  So anyway, I'm looking at Eat Clean with a little WW thrown in just so I can track what is going on and what my comparisons are.

So I've got 2 of Tosca Reno's books and am reading through them trying to set things up to work with it.  While balancing the girls on the other side.  And that is where I'm at.  Since I eat next to no fruit or veggies at the moment, I'm going slow and moving it in!   I can do this!

I ate really poorly over the holidays... and gained some.... Weigh in on Sunday will tell me how much.

On the exercise front, I did none over Christmas, but this morning oDD and I went for a 2 mile walk, and despite the cold, I dragged the hubs and other 2 girls out late this afternoon for a fun walk 1.45 mile walk!

Tracking my miles here:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

And I have tomorrow's oatmeal (Bob's Redmill Gluten Free Steel Cut Oats) in the crock ready to be turned on at 4 am! I'm getting ready!

Knitting / Crocheting for Special Olympics

So here is my first scarf for the Special Olympics.  It is the 2012 Colours of Red Heart SOFT -  Really Red (9925) and Navy Marine (4604).

I started it at 4:30-ish pm and finished it around midnight.  Making dinner in between and watching TV!  Hoping to get my kids involved with making some of these!

Day 11, 12, 13 - Operation 295

The eating OP isn't going so good, but we did take in a mile on Friday and another 1.5 miles today (even the littlest walked the whole mile - well she ran half of it! LOL!)

Since I'm not posting regularly it is tough to caculate the miles... but I'm getting in at least 2 a week I think!


Weigh in:


up 0.5 lbs  (boo hiss! but I knew that would happen!)


Last night's Lasagna, left me bloated and overfull - even though I didn't eat all of it.  I think if that hadn't happened I would have stayed the same.  Oh well.  Roll on next week, and better laid and kept plans!

I'm printing my journal for the week and tomorrow morning planning out the menu.  Dh's birthday is this week (so a party!)  plus Christmas Eve, then Christmas and Boxing Day...


To all my weight losing friends good luck.

Day 10 - Operation 295

It is early in the day right now - so exercise hasn't happened yet!  But I got started on this post early and hope to be back to finish it! :)

So after yesterday's slacking post, I really did print my journal for the week, and we really did have lunch, and we really did go for a 2 1/4 mile walk around the block (yes big blocks in the burbs!)

The weather is unseasonably warm, for December in our part of the world.  So we took advantage of it and took that walk and my 6 yr old announced that she'd like to do that everyday - I think I've found a walking partner in crime! LOL!    We hung at the park for a little while, the girls played and I shot photos.  Got some really nice outside photos of the girls for my Project Life book! :)  So pleased.

Thanks for keeping me honest.

Today's Mileage - 2.25  mile (yesterday)
Weekly Mileage - 2.75 mile (Goal 8 miles)
Overall 295 Mileage - 6.25  miles!  (week 2)

Day 7, 8, 9 - Operation 295

Ya, can we say slacking.

This is what happens everytime I embark on a weighty adventure, by the 2nd week I collapse in despair and give up - my whiney innerself complaining that it isn't happening fast enough! While my normally logical mind knows full well that it will take more than 6 months to get rid of the weight!  My whiney innerself also stubbornly refuses to plan out a menu and go shopping.  My whiney self doesn't want to take my 2 yr old shopping knowing full well that she won't sit in the cart.  We look like a 3 ring circus in the grocery store lately and that just gets my ire up!!  Yet my logical brain also knows full well that if I provide dh with a shopping list, he'll get what I need him to get and just what is on the list, this is win win right?!

No walking has happened.  But lots of sleep is happening - no not really a good thing -- I so don't love this season! and when pressed the other day as to why, I really had no answer!

I find myself tucking into comfort foods of high sugar and salty foods and high fat foods too!  I haven't even printed my journal for the week which I should have done, but someone reset my computer and we ended up leaving the house for most of the day on Sunday, and I just never got back to it!!

I've got plenty of excuses, but the buck needs to stop here.  Now printing my journal for the week as I type here.  Then we need to figure out a reasonable lunch.  I think the girls and I will have lunch in a sec and then I'll drag them for a 2 mile walk around the block, it's such a beautiful day!  A short stop at the park on the way home will also be in order.

Thanks for keeping me honest, and giving me a boot in the rump to keep on plodding.  Today will be a better day!

FWIW, I said I'd post back on Sunday if we made it out walking, and I never posted.  We did go out.  Walked about 1/2 mile maybe, with me carrying the sleeping 2 yr old most of the way!


Today's Mileage - 0 mile (so far!)
Weekly Mileage - 0.5 mile (Goal 8 miles)
Overall 295 Mileage - 3.5mile!