4 Priorities

It seems that everyone is touting having 4 priorities that you focus your attention on:

Zen Habits

Far Beyond the Stars

Live It With Less - The Big 4

So I have been doing a lot of thinking about my big 4.

Right now, I am concentrating less on what I ultimately want to do, and more on what will get me there, therefore my big 4 for the month of May is:

1. Get the girls' promoted to 3rd grade (they are due to graduate to 2nd, but their teacher agrees with me they would be bored in 2nd and do better in 3rd)- so far I have met with their teacher, who gave her blessing and recommended that I meet with the principal. I have emailed the principal and intend to call her tomorrow. I understand they don't have a history of skipping students, but I think my girls deserve to be in a class that challenges them.

2. Finish all projects in the home that I am responsible for and continue decluttering. I have finished all the pillows, curtains, and cushions for the den. I am waiting for my husband to help me finish making the covered buttons and once I sew those on, the den is done. I have cut and started sewing the kitchen curtains. I have cut the curtains, shams, and roll pillow covers for the bedroom. I hope to have all this sewn tonight. Then all I will have to do is paint our family tree painting. I am decluttering each day, never purging less than 5 items a day. Husband is collecting them all in the garage for an upcoming garage sale.

3. Get work in order. Ugh. This is the one I am dreading. Due to a family emergency and several doctor appointments last week, I have only been at work less than 2 days in the last 2 weeks. I have errands to run in the morning and intend to stay a little later each day this week to try to catch up.

4. Blog. I want to keep this blog up to date as much as possible, not just to track my progress on simplifying, but also to document my recent art projects, home projects, and general goings on. I have a tendency to start and not finish and I want to make this blog a priority..

Now onto sewing! The faster I get this stuff done, the faster I can get to organizing and decluttering, which is much more fun right now!

30 Days to a Simpler Life Challenge

30 Days to a Simpler Life by Connie Cox and Cris Evatt

There are multiple challenges out there like the Neil Armstrong Approach by 365 Less Things and the 10 Things Challenge by Simple. Organized. Life.. Of course, there is the 100 Things Challenge which has been followed by people having less and less things- some people having less than 50. That challenge has caused a lot of drama about the blogosphere.

I personally can't get anywhere close to having less than 100 things. I have over 200 books just on the tiny bookshelf in my bedroom. I could give away one thing a day or 10 things a week, but I decided to try a new approach that will involve more than just giving X number of things away in a certain time frame.

Tomorrow I'll start Day One. Today I read the intro chapters- "Before You Begin" and "Simplifying Your Life Day by Day".

"On your journey, you will let go of things that are stressful, distracting, and uncomfortable. You will keep what brings joy, contentment, and a sense of well being. Simplicity is about achieving a higher level of comfort. Simplicity is about eliminating the excess so you will be free to discover who you really are."

This resonated more with me, because it specifies what I will keep. I don't want to keep everything, but neither do I want to give it all away. I just want to eliminate the excess and pare down my possessions to what I love and need.

In the intro chapters, the authors identify several benefits of simplifying, most of which you surely know:
* Saving time
* Saving money
* Encouraging creativity
* Organization
* Better for the environment
* Peace of mind
* Allowing you to focus on what is important

They coin "The Five Types of Simplifiers-Serene, Comfort-Seeking, Downshifted, Elegant, and Organized Simplifiers". I definitely identified most with the Comfort-Seeking and Downshifted. I do identify a bit with the Serene, but I love color and I don't mind decor. I don't want a sparse cold space. I prefer a warm inviting environment. I love red, blues, pinks, and earth tones. I'm not a partier and don't socialize much. I am much more of a homebody. While I don't like a lot of noise, I do like to be surrounded by family and those noises are happy.

I mostly want a comfortable, happy space, that is more environmentally friendly. I like the simpler things like walking to the corner store for a snack or drink. Lying on a blanket outside reading a book while the kids play.

I've been purging for over a month at least. I have boxes and bags of stuff in the garage that my husband is convinced he can sell in a garage sale. Today I went through my socks, shorts, and bedroom dresser tops to create a pile. Tomorrow I start Day One, which is to fill up a bag of stuff. I already have a nice bit to put in and am sure I'll come up with more tonight. The hardest item was a large glass paperweight thingie with glass fish in it. My son gave it to me for a holiday when we lived in Miami. I know he wouldn't care now, but the little boy who gave it to me would be devastated if he were to see it in the give-away pile.

I am really wresting with some personal stuff - uncertainty about the future- which is making it hard to know what I should get rid of. I think I will probably simplify for the life I am leading today and store what I can't imagine giving away (due to future possible change) in the attic. Once those issues are resolved, I will know whether to get rid or keep those things.

The roses are blooming...

First, I had no idea they would be white. I suppose I should have asked. I just assumed they would be red.

It was my idea to plant climbing roses to go over the arch of the front doorstep, but I didn't go with my husband to pick them out.

It was so lovely to go out the door this morning and see all the blooms. I enjoyed them as I sat on the stoop waiting for the bus this morning with the girls.

My Favorites Sites... oops, I meant Sights

When I hit the driveway each day, these are my favorite things to see:


The dogwood that is always filled with birds clamoring about the feeder:


The azaleas and my gnome friends:


The birdhouse Tab painted:


The birdhouse Tris painted:


The wisteria bush that blooms for oh, so short a time:


The climbing roses we planted last year have almost made the arch and are ready to bloom: