The Taming of a Nemesis

I have been struggling with my nemesis for decades. This entity creeps into a home or work space ever so subtly. It's body presents itself in stacks and piles that at first seem so innocent, even logical. Initially, the face of this dreaded, foul creature can cause a smile, outpourings of love and sometimes moments of joy. It's voice often creates a source of information or security the first time it is heard.

"What?" you ask.  "How can something that brings such good feelings, and seem so helpful, be thought of as your enemy? Your personal nemesis?"

The creature starts as something small. An invitation or picture. A statement, sales flyer or catalog,  or something one of the kids has created, accomplished or needs. The innocent item would soon find it's host. The desk, table or counter. I am sure the host varies in different environments. After some time it begins to grow. Slowly, day by day. From time to time it is rifled through, but overall it is left to grow? What would I do with the growth?

The Paper Monster. When I could no longer be blind to the pile on my desk or table, my first impulse would be just to slide it all into the trash. That would be too easy. I actually had to deal with this stuff. About once a month, I would plow through it, grudgingly, and get the bills paid. The trash was shredded or recycled. But there was often a surplus of things I needed to keep for future reference or a later action. The surplus would get dealt with about every 3 or 4 months. Papers were filed and slates were cleaned. All was well. I'd made a great accomplishment. The feeling would last for several weeks, until the next time I'd need to use my desk. The angst returned. Moments that would otherwise, I can only imagine, be serene. Carefree. Spent sipping tea on my patio and reading the next book on my reading list. That realization that I now have to encounter said monster and deal with it or not meet my responsibilities. Bit by bit the things in the pile have lost their face and pleasant voice and are connected to the rest of the body that is leaching to the silent, overwhelmed host.
 
Over the past few years, and especially in the last months, the monster has diminished greatly, but still rears up with all its ugliness when I am ready to work at my desk each week. I have persevered. After many attempts to search for a system to do it better, and experimenting with a few ideas, my mind is still  a bit unfocused. I have some good ideas in play and am still tweaking until I get this working for me. I have mapped out a path to work on different paper "systems" until the monster becomes a pet of sorts. Needing frequent, even daily, maintenance, and yet a necessary part of my life.

A New Year and I'm on a Roll

Yes, I am missing my Washington family, and this picture of the New Year in Seattle is a definite "Wish I Was There" moment! The fireworks in the picture represent the energy I feel as I begin this new year, 2013! My wish to all my readers is that you enjoy good health and find contentment in the days and months to come. Be kind to others, but as importantly, be kind to yourself.


It is a new year, and I am ready to gear up for my yearly home maintenance at Organized Home's New Year Grand Plan Challenge. I am highly motivated thanks to the eighteen weeks of focus offered by House & Holiday Plan based on CEO (Cynthia Townley Ewer)'s book Houseworks. I have used this plan for the past couple of years, and when they say practice makes perfect, I feel that I was much better equipped to keep up this time around and had a very calm and enjoyable holiday season including hosting/co-hosting two large and a few small family or friend get-togethers. I have also spent the last week of 2012 on a challenge to get the house Clean By 2013. With the help of my Twisters (Twitter Sisters) I entered the new year with a clean slate; literally clean floors, drawers and more.

I have been doing some form of the Grand Plan for a couple of decades now. It was originally developed by a fellow SHE, Katie Leckey, on the SHE message boards in the days when computer networking was message boards and list serves. The plan was a sequel to her Holiday Grand Plan. The SHE boards were my life line a few decades back, just as my FLYfriends and Twisters (Twitter sisters) are today. 

So I started reflecting yesterday during a reorganization of my storage closet, where I store tubs of Christmas decor and other seasonal items, as to why I have so much more energy to get things done and follow through with my routines. I didn't make any resolutions this year, nor did I set any new goals. I think that having made neither might be a first for me. Tweeting with my online community is a big part of why I feel motivated. They have really inspired me on good days and shared challenges on bad days. I have also built the habit of focusing on one area to improve on each week and also continue maintaining my routines (well the basic ones anyway), and have done a much better job delegating the things that I just hate doing. I still am responsible for toilets being swished and swiped, as everyone here seems to hate that routine. Of course I now do it without thinking about it. Amazing how a mindset can change over time.

So I am rolling on, and the nice thing about momentum is that it takes a lot to stop me once I start rolling. I just need to make sure that I don't get off the track of what I want in life. My goals that I set for myself in the past are still in full force today. I guess that is a benefit of gaining years of experience in getting and staying organized, attempting to live life to the fullest, and remembering that people are far more important than any things can ever be. Getting control of my home was the first step for me in gaining control of my life, or at least making sure I control what I have the power to do for myself, my family, friends and neighbors. I still have moments, or even days, from time to time when I feel stressed, off-beat or simply in need of a swift kick in the tush. I also have times when I get side-tracked. I did tell you I was a SHE, right? The important thing is that I just look towards living better and being the person that can deal with whatever comes my way.

I challenge you to reevaluate or choose your goals and pick a plan, be it following FLYLady's focus areas or jumping in for The New Year Grand Plan Challenge. Find an online or real-life network of fellow SHE's to share your ups and downs and that will help keep you accountable, inspired and encouraged. If you are not sure where to start, you can do a Twitter search; #FLYLady, or on Facebook "like" FLYLady or Organized Home to begin a search for a network. 

What plan do you use to Get Organized? Where do you get your support and inspiration? Having these as a part of my life has made all the difference in helping me to become more organized.

Living Life on Hold

There are many lessons I am learning during this period of time that I am convalescing after a recent surgery. For a person that is normally running full throttle with my job for much of August through May each year, I kick it down several notches and redirect my focus to family and home for the remaining two months of the year. Things were thrown out of the norm when I had an unexpected illness in March that brought me to a quick stop and a slow restart. This uncovered another health condition which lead to the need to have surgery during my summer break. I normally make plans during the early spring months for many summer activities including day trips, vacations and entertaining family and friends throughout my warm weather break. Projects around the house and time to just hang out with my kids at home are also planned around a few training days and professional development opportunities for work. This year was different. I didn’t plan much, if anything for the summer break time, but I did invest in memberships to the zoo, the children’s museum and a season pass to an amusement and water park. My surgery was delayed several times, so I took advantage of the month between the end of the school year and my surgery date to do some family activities that I knew I would be unable to do later in the summer. It was not really an ideal situation, as I didn’t know from week to week how long it would be before my activities would be restricted, but I tried to make the best of it with several impromptu day trips. 

My first lesson has been in patience. The act of waiting for others to decide the “best” time and conditions for my actual procedure was frustrating. I thought that I was ahead of the game by getting recommended tests and consultations scheduled before the school year was out. Since I was expected to need a full 8 weeks for recovery and my break is just shy of that, the plan was to have everything scheduled for a week or two into my break. This would leave me with time to prepare and do a few fun things with the kids and ample time for recovery before I was back at work with a heavy workload during the first month to six weeks of my annual contract. Regardless of what I tried to plan for, there were delays. I was expected to go through further tests and wait a bit longer. What I have learned about myself is that I am not patient. Patience is a virtue that I was forced through circumstances beyond my control to accept. I am still working through my patience during recovery. I have a long list of what I would like to do, but most of it is not practical with my current restrictions. I have a list of down time activities that I thought I’d be able to do, but haven’t had much of an attention span although that is finally getting better. I was planning on doing some reading, writing, scrapbooking and watching a few movies. I have yet to stay awake through any movie and can barely focus on reading a blog, my friends’ social network updates or even magazine articles. I hope my attention improves as the medications diminish in the days and weeks to come. Scrapbooks are very impractical as I am not able to sit at a table and layout pages, pictures, etc. yet. I hope that that condition improves as well, as I would love to get some progress while I have days of time to invest in the next few weeks.

Another lesson has been in giving up control. Someone else is doing the shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc. and although I can tell others what I want, it sounds awfully ungrateful to complain to my family, who are nearly waiting on me hand and foot, that they are not doing things my way or to my standards. This acceptance that all is fine the way my family is doing it, leads me back to my first lesson, which is patience, as I must wait until I am able to take these tasks back in hand. I am grateful that my lack of control is temporary. Even when I was in the hospital, I was contemplating why I can’t just enjoy someone else doing all this for me. But I could only think that it will be x number of days until I can get home and then x number of weeks before I am back to my old self. Almost two weeks ago, I read a blog about a mother that went into the hospital to have her second child and gave an amusing account of how it was like a vacation for her. She noted that she and others thought of a hospital visit as a bit of a mini vacation with meals prepared and cleaned up, kids being cared for somewhere else by someone else, plenty of time to read. My view of hospitals is far different. I so wanted to avoid the place that I had my youngest two children at home. Yes, if I had the choice I would vacation at a spa or resort and it would probably cost much less in the long run, the food would be better, and I would not have to deal with the fog that comes from the drugs that the hospital must administer to keep me comfortable. 

There is another lesson that is peaking my attention as I am at day 12 of my actual confinement. I need to keep focused on living my life to the fullest I am able despite what it brings. My mantra to live and love life must come to a head every day. This starts with appreciation of the people that love me and are here today, whatever the given day that I am blessed to live. I must also make sure the activities I choose are positive and I must live in the moment and not miss what lessons, opportunities and gifts living this day brings. This sounds a bit sappy, especially for me, but if I don’t focus on loving my life, and the people that are on this living journey with me, then I very easily fall into being quite pessimistic and once I start focusing on the faults that can be found in any situation, I find myself feeling dissatisfied. This is not a new lesson for me, but something that is back in focus after the fog of anxiety, anesthesia,  narcotics and being totally off track has set the agenda to just surviving day to day. I want to live life. There is a big difference.

So even though the restrictions of my current situation still have me on hold with many of the things that I think I should be doing, I need to be patient with myself, let go of control of what I can’t do and decide what I can and will do today. I can write today. I still am experiencing a short attention span, but through multiple attempts at the keyboard, I have written this blog. It should be enough for me to be satisfied if I actually live well and make accomplishments despite my limitations.

The Great Closet Cleanout Begins

This is the fourth year that I have challenged myself to clear out the closets at the beginning of my summer break. And I'm not limiting myself to closets this year, but I will also declutter and organize cabinets, drawers, shelving and the sheds outside. Since I have already done a clear out last year, and a spiff up of some of the drawers and cabinets during my winter break this should not be a daunting task. On the other hand, I did acquire some new kitchen gadgets and tools at my latest Pampered Chef Cooking Shows that I have hosted or attended. I have also purchased some new tumblers and a serving tray to match the patio dishes that I got last summer, and a NuWave oven for cooking on the countertop, outside and when we are at a camp spot. I hope to have some new outdoor kitchen storage before too many weeks pass as well. It would have been great if FLYLady had a Super Fling Boogie Challenge going about now, but I'll just have begin one of my own.

     Where to begin? I started late last week in my master bedroom. It is supposed to be my place of refuge and peace and so it made sense that it come first for me.As I cleaned out my bedroom closet, I noticed a small bag and a box that were items that were stash-and-dash from a quick cleanup a few weeks back. I pulled out enough clothes to fill a small bag that I will donate and then straightened up the shelves. I still need to figure out a solution for my shoes. They are currently lined up across my closet floor under the hanging clothes. I looked at a couple of different shoe racks yesterday at the home and garden store, but really haven't found what I want yet. I'll keep my eye out and do some online research as well. I also straightened up my clothes dresser. It took all of five minutes. It feels really good to have these two areas checked off my list. I still need to put away the stash and dash items that are now on my desk, but they were not technically a part of the closet anyway. As for the rest of the bedroom, I am not going to touch Joe's closet, but he promises to revamp his own in the near future. I will also tackle the entertainment center, desk and bookshelves at a later time. I'm not really sure how much effort they will require or even when I will begin. But next, I am on to the kitchen...

                                                                                                                                          Break Time!!!!

     Pantry cleared out for shelf build                                            

 

FLYLady's plan has us working in the Kitchen Zone this week, so that has become my second area of focus. We have decided to expand the shelving in the pantry from five 14x21-inch white plastic shelves to four-15x81 inch shelves.and room for storage bins and the dog's sleep crate underneath.  We picked up the finished shelving yesterday, but they only had 5 of the 12 L-brackets we need for the project, so I spent some time today prepping the area in wait for Joe to come home. He worked later than normal tonight, but stopped to pick up seven more brackets so we could get the shelves up tonight. I have also started with the sorting and decluttering of  the cabinets in the kitchen. The canned and boxed goods are now sorted into like items on the dining room table and waiting for their new home.

 

 New shelving in pantry. Moving food and appliances will wait until tomorrow morning.

My Summer Bucket List

There is a lot I want to do with my family and friends this summer, and there are also a few personal goals I want to accomplish. I know that if I don't get these things on the calendar they won't happen. I have just a short ten weeks and the little boys have about 11 or 12 weeks left (and they've already been out for over a week now) until we have to report back to our time-pressed school year schedules. Some days and activities will get some extensive planning and other days will be carefree with nothing at all on the agenda. Most days will be somewhere in between, with activities that don't need a lot of preparation or effort. 

Oh, the Places We'll Go: We plan to go on a weekly day trip (zoos, amusement parks, water parks and play fountains, museums, etc.). We also plan to head out to do some serious camping at least once each month during the summer months, including September.

Oh, the Things We'll Do: We will have a family night and spend the evening together at home once or twice each week  watching a movie, playing games, working on craft projects, etc. And I plan to spend a day or two each week creating pages in the family scrapbooks.

Oh, the People We'll See: The best part of summer is getting the chance to visit family and friends, go together on day trips  or invite them over to swim or have a cookout. We will not be venturing far from home this year, so we hope that some of our family from out of the area will make their way this direction.

Oh, the Books We'll Read: I'm planning on reading some good fiction (nearly) every day, mostly with the help of my Kindle and my new electronic library card. The little boys will read with the Summer Reading Club. We will visit the public library and new and used book stores, as well as accessing our home library to get books that they are interested in delving into during summer's quiet moments.

Oh, the Things We'll Grow: This year, for the first time in a couple of decades, I have a small kitchen garden in which the boys and I have planted fruits, vegetables and herbs. It's only 160 square feet, but there is a variety planted there. I also have an even smaller flower garden that has been started and several pots I plan to put flowers in around the patio.

Oh, the Food We'll Eat: We want to go to great places to eat: some that are new and others that are family favorites. The kids want to explore places where they can eat "free" so we may do some Monday and Tuesday night dining out, as those are the days that most commonly have the offer available. We will be visiting the local farmer's markets and at least once we'll go to the city market that is about an hour's drive. During the trip we'll get a variety of fresh produce and enjoy an experience my boys have learned to love. I also want to introduce new foods and cooking styles into the menu at home and finish our outdoor kitchen so we can do the bulk of the summer cooking outside (and hopefully a lot of autumn and spring cooking as well).

Oh, the Closets We'll Clean: This is the time of the year that I find it easiest to lose a bit of house weight. Closets get reorganized each year, and for the past several, I've done the purging and straightening up over the summer months. No storage area will be left untouched. We will also organize the cabinets, drawers, shelves, bins and sheds.

Oh, the Blogs I'll Write: I really miss creating my regular blog entries. Time has just got away from me. I hope to write on a more regular basis as I have a lot of ideas I'd like to share.

So my bucket seems to be filling up fast. My family and I are ready to dig into summer. I hope you enjoy more than a few lazy days enjoying a summer breeze and a cool beverage yourself, and then that you accomplish any goals you set for yourself or your family.

My Life in Organized Disorder- Part I

"Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer." — Denis Waitley  

When I think about what I want to be, to have and have accomplished, I am looking at my future with varying degrees from necessity to wishful fantasy.While looking in to my future, I set goals and try to live in the present. I work toward what I want, sometimes with great fervor and other times with distracted failure. There is not much in between. I am an all or nothing kind of person. If I keep my eye on the future prize and avoid distractions, all is well. Of course when I allow distractions to enter into my present, I lose the focus of what is to come. Sometimes that is okay. The present moments are more important than the goals of the future in some instances, especially if the present moment involves relationships with family and friends. But when the distractions are just that, often mindless, solitary disruptions to the routines of my life, then I get off target and at best achieve mediocrity.

     In reflection I find in the past several months, despite working toward one goal or another, I have lost my drive and with it focus. I have felt burn-out in my career and challenged in my spirit and health. I have found myself feeling both careless and unappreciated at work, and the load of responsibilities have increased steadily over the past several years. Health and spiritual issues have forced me to reevaluate my priorities and shut down in those areas that are not at the top of the list. I need to get back on track and get all of my priorities straight. Thank goodness for my family and good friends that have picked me up in my personal life and a few of my work colleagues that have gone above and beyond to help me with focusing on the "have-to" list at work and picking up the slack on those extra things that are expected.

     I have worked these past months on setting goals, making lists, and even naming the time that I want my goal to be accomplished. Some things have happened, just as planned, because I wanted them to happen and allowed others to take charge. These accomplishments are few. The other things that I have set as goals have nearly vaporized due to lack of effort and attention. I feel a bit sad thinking how little effort was put into the things that I would have liked to have happened in my life. Am I depressed? Is this a result of the burn-out I feel at work? Is this a response to my lack of control of my health? Whatever the cause, I need to rise out of it all now. I feel the need to regain myself and take back control that has been lost.

    So how do I get back on track? What do I need to do to increase my motivation to achieve my goals, let routines guide the mundane tasks and cut out those pesky, but in-the-moment enjoyable, distractions and disruptions? I guess that would be to recognize my distractions, list them, put them in the forefront so I may deal with them as what they are; goal-killers, routine-avoiders and time-wasters. If I don't do this, I will continue to lose control. I will lose who I am. I feel that in the moment, my free time has been great, but my spirit, my family, my health, my finances and my career need a boost. I find it hard to focus on more than one of these at a time, but they all need to get both short, and long-term attention. It is almost selfish to continue as I have, avoiding what I need to do and what I can do to improve the areas of my life.

     My distractions and diversions are many, but usually work in cycles (as does my productivity when I'm in gear). I think my habits of allowing the phone, computer, TV, books, social networking, games and often people get me off task are easily recognized as distractions. But there are other time-destructing habits that I find I must bring to light. Shuffling papers that should have been dealt with when they first entered my home or desk at work, doing things myself when they should be delegated because I want the control, and procrastination of tasks that are high priority or routine are probably more a problem than the activities that can be used as rewards.  I read an idea that made me cringe, as I really don't feel the need to control others, just my own personal space. Never-the-less, the avoidance of doing what you should, being late, and procrastination are all really ways of taking control in a passive-aggressive way. So really, I am treating myself badly. And that reflects on to the people that I have chosen to include in my life and personal or professional space. OUCH!!!

     In order to become more in control of my life in a more positive fashion, all of the enjoyable activities that I have placed in my life are now going to become my rewards. I do not want to cut them out completely, but to use them as a reward for accomplishing my short-term goals, for completing steps accomplished toward a goal, and for following through in those mindless tasks that are part of my daily/weekly routines. And likewise, all of the habits and behaviors that I have adopted to try to gain control in a passive-aggressive manner need to be replaced with positive and effectively productive behaviors. Hmm.... There is much to think about and change in my future. 

 

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"My success, part of it certainly, is that I have focused in on a few things." — Bill Gates 

365 Out

I am not into making resolutions for the new year, but I am all for setting goals for myself. As this year started up, I was floundering at getting some focus in my life. I seem to have the normal routines down, but being a working SHE, I feel that I need a bit more going in my "stuff" filled life. I need a guideline to keep me engaged in the quest for more peace.

So I thought about setting some expectations for myself. I thought about doing a daily fling, but that is more of a short term solution, and often is a task that goes by the wayside in the world of the work week. I had also read about the minimalist that challenged others to reduce their belongings to just 100 things. Well, that may have been possible if I only had me to worry about, but it still had me wondering if I am still way to thing heavy. So I came up with a couple of guidelines for the year that hopefully will not be too tough to accomplish, and that I will be able to follow through with over the course of the year.

First, nothing new into my space without losing two things in the same general area (could be the physical area where the new item is going or just from the general area of my life).

Then, over the next twelve months I will lose 365 additional items.

AS FLYLady says, "You can't organize clutter." And my favorite CEO (Cynthia Ewer, Organized) in Houseworks and Organized Home, the one-in, one-out rule and going on a no-buy diet are good ways to keep clutter from coming back into your life once you get it under control. So since I think I still have too many things in my life, and I know the reality that I won't completey curb obtaining new things, this new commitment seems to be the answer for me. Baby-stepping all the way to less "stuff" in my life. 

I have steadily, year by year, reduced the amount of stuff that I possess. I have slimmed down from closets and a shed stuffed with boxes and tubs of things that really were in the way with day to day living. Even so, I am really going to get serious about getting down to a lot less stuff. I don't think I will ever get to the point where I own just 100 things, but I do want to have the things that I need or love close at hand. The rest has just got to go.

As with most goals, the beginning seems to be going smoothly. Christmas gifts came in during the last week of the year, so I gave myself a jump start getting rid of  several no longer loved things 

*Kindle and two new books in, six books out---nice thing is that new Kindle books will not be clutter in my house

*Kindle cover in, two more books out---okay, I know the Kindle cover actually is an accessory, but since it won't always be on the Kindle I need to make some more room

*Travel mug, giant cocoa mug, soft throw, penlight key chain, stationary and memo pad with magnet on back in, 6 more books out (what can I say? I was on a roll with the book declutter)

*Blu-ray player in, DVD player and a no longer watched DVD out

*Necklace tree in, an unloved candle from my dresser and a broken necklace out- not sure why I was saving the necklace, since it can't be fixed but it was a favorite

*New bottle of perfume in, empty bottle out as soon as I finished with the last drops, along with passing along a small tube of scented lotion that was sitting on my dresser, unused for way too long 

Last week I went shopping and bought a new 6 quart crock pot as I needed to replace the 16 year old model, a 5-quart that had questionable temperature on low with one broken handle. I think limiting myself to getting rid of the old crock pot and an old cookie sheet (now too dark for baking cookies) was hard to do. My kitchen is in a very full state at the moment and I will enjoy lightening that load as time goes by, but it's not the time to do more just yet.

I will say that shopping is becoming a new kind of experience for me. Contemplating that I will have to get rid of two items in order to bring something new in is making me think twice. So unless it is something that I need to replace or something that I really have planned on getting for some time, I am sure I will just skip the shopping altogether.

Mail in, twice the magazines out. I haven't been counting the junk that went straight to the recycling.

I still need to focus on the 365 additional things out...so far six home improvement idea magazines are out...that leaves 359 more things to go. I can so do this.

Christmas in July! Er, August?

Organized Christmas Rudolph Club

Every Summer on July 25th, my year-round Christmas on-line group the Rudolph Club has an assignment to choose a holiday plan for the year. There are many to choose from these days. And since I so enjoy kicking back over my holiday break, sipping eggnog and playing games with my family, I like having all the planning and preparations finished and my house squeaky clean down to the inside of closets and cabinets well before the big week arrives. I have had a few bad years, especially my first years as a wife and mother, and I would not have even considered starting to get ready until the weeks just before Christmas arrived. That created several very stressed out, over-spent and ill-prepared years that made me crabby when I should have been enjoying my family and friends.

The holiday plan that I have been doing for nearly two decades, with slight diversions to try something new from time to time, is Katie Leckey's (and the Get O list serve group's) Holiday Grand Plan. It starts in late August and gives a system of deep cleaning the house from top to bottom, or end to end, room by room, from late summer until the late fall/early winter celebrations begin. You also get a system of holiday preparation tasks to make sure you are calm and sane when the weeks of celebration begin.

Cynthia Townley Ewer of Organized Home and Organized Christmas has had a Christmas Countdown plan around since 1998, that basically focuses on getting the holiday tasks completed over a six week stretch. I have done this a few years, usually when I was so disorganized that the Holiday Grand Plan had got started before I was ready to commit, and CEO's Christmas Countdown saved me (and my family).

Cynthia's newest version of Houseworks

This year I am ready for year two of the Housework's Holiday Plan, also created by Organized Home's CEO (Cynthia Ewer, Organized) that is part a Houseworks book club and part a tweaking of the Holiday Grand Plan that focuses more on areas of living rather than room by room cleaning. It went very well for me last year. This year I am teaching nearly until Christmas Eve, so I can't wait until Christmas Break arrives to get it all together. So I am starting this week, today in fact, with planning, dusting off my holiday planner and getting my home office area in ship shape as a beginning to a stress free autumn/holiday season.

For those that are not ready to start a holiday plan just yet, but want a plan that will help them Cruise Through the Holidays, FLYLady Marla Cilley's plan will begin in a month or so, and can help you to babystep your way through. I have many FLYFriends that have used this stress-free plan and had very nice results over the holidays.

So let the Houseworks Holiday Plan begin...and remember there are only 117 days left until Christmas. And as Cynthia likes to ask, "Will you be ready?"

Summer Half-time Report

Today marks the beginning of the second half of my summer break from teaching. During the past weeks I've pretty much kept up with my routines, except my often neglected desk day duties. I've cleaned out my bedroom closet, my mud room entryway and my drawer in my home office desk. I thought cleaning out my overflowing desk drawer would help motivate me to work on the stuff on top of the desk. No such luck. I've made a list of some furniture and a few organizing accessories that will have me on the lookout when I'm out and about in the next month or so.  I've read a few good books (nothing great yet), took a few day trips, went to see a few movies, and relaxed  while occasionally  getting splashed in the pool. I have had several days that I really didn't do much of anything. They were days when I just did the basic, bare minimum, routines and whatever I wanted to do like catching up with my television programs, reading all day and even into the wee hours of the morning, cyber-socializing and surfing the net, hanging out with friends and family, or sitting by the pool drinking something cool and refreshing. I've also kept up with work as most teachers do, reading parts of a couple of education books, getting caught up with reading my education journals (magazines), spending a day at a workshop with a couple of colleagues, and working on plans to restructure the classes I teach and preparing for a smooth start for the new year. Planning and writing has started for an education themed blog that I hope to launch soon, and I am currently playing around with a couple of specific ideas for its name and purpose. I've spent a couple of days in my classroom getting supplies, books and manipulatives uncluttered and labeled, and at least an hour or two each week I've spent working on planning for the smooth start for the new school year.

So much for the reflection of the first half. It's done and whatever my level of productivity, I feel rested, semi-organized and ready for what is to come. Now it's time for the pep talk to prepare for a great second half. Very soon we will be on the go as my family has been planning our summer vacation for weeks. It is hoped to be an exciting trek north and west to see Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park,  the Seattle, WA area and our family living there, the Olympic and Rocky Mountains, my favorite city, Colorado Springs, CO, and everything in between. Joe is staying behind this time to work as this is the busy season for his new job. He has a long list of projects that he is hopeful to complete while the boys and I are away, and hopefully some quality fishing time. I've arranged for neighbors to take care of the flowerbeds and the dog as those are things that Joe may not have time to deal with day to day. My almost ten year old and I will be celebrating our birthdays during mid-July and when we return, we will also have an extended family party here at home. Before school begins again we are planning to see a couple of movies when they are released in theaters, a day trip to the zoo and another one to a theme park. We will do some camping on our trip northwest and hopefully will do some lake time and more camping with Joe when we return. And before it all begins I am working on getting a lot of things organized. Whew! Is that enough? I'm amped to get as much as I can out of the rest of this summer break. Ready....Set.... Just do it!!!!!

Be Very Afraid!!! It's My Closet

I have a good Twister and FlyFriend, Diane from Denmark, who has been facing things she has been putting off for one reason or another, but ultimately needed to give herself a dose of courage to begin. She has been working past her excuses, trying out things that are new or tackling tasks that have been on her to do list for far too long. She calls these Scaredy Cat Challenges. Then she blogs about them. Thank you, Di, for the inspiration to challenge myself.

In rising to the challenge, my goal is to follow Unclutter Your Life in One Week. Day one, Monday, asks me to focus first where I begin different parts of my day; my personal closet in the morning, my desk when I arrive at work and the entryway when I return home. Closets are the places where things can be stowed away, unseen by anyone passing through the room. Why am I so reluctant to deal with these spaces? Why the fear? My personal walk-in is large for a closet, and holds far more than what I need in a simpler life. And scarier still is the fact that my home has many closets. I had them built into the design as I have lived in several homes without adequate closets. In hindsight, I did omit a couple of important closets in our current home, an entry closet for coats and backpacks and a linen closet for the boys bath and linens. In my personal closet I have clothes that fit from all seasons, clothes that fit well just two years ago (and now do not *insert heavy sigh*), shoes, coats and jackets, an iron and ironing board, mending tools, gift bags/boxes and many items that are my personal belongings that just don't have another home. This closet has thirty square feet of floor space with ten feet of hanger spaces and above that 10 square feet of shelving. Joe has his own, identical closet, that seems mostly empty, and his also contains his dresser and most of his personal items. My dresser, in my bedroom, has drawers that contain more clothing and the very large bottom drawer stores my collection of purses and bags. How do I find the courage to take on the "Monday" challenge? Knowing I can conquer anything for 15 minutes at a time.

Where did I start? Being a follower of FLYLady, I had a difficult time taking everything out. The rule is you should never take out more than you can deal with and return in an hour or less time. But I had a different plan to follow and was determined to complete the task. First a sorting of the clothes. They were all laid out on my bed. Everything. Every piece of clothing that I have was laid out. Nothing left in the laundry or seasonal storage box. All was being considered. The sort resulted in about two-thirds of my clothes going out the door. Some, my mother reminded me, I have had for far too long. 

After the sort I returned the items I wanted to be keepers to the closet. Most of these are now sorted by type of clothing and then by color and are hanging on colored plastic hangers. All that remain can be worn this season, fit and have actually been worn in the past year. My work clothes, following the same guideline, are also hanging there ready for mid-August to arrive. Only 3 things are on the floor; a line of shoes, an ironing board and a bag of gift wrapping items. I am looking for something that will work for my closet to get the shoes off the floor, and my shoes are down to where I can live with the "one pair in/one pair out" rule. I have two pairs that could use replacements, but I need to find the perfect fit and style before they can be trashed. I should also be searching for a hanger to put the ironing board on the wall and off the floor and hang up the bag of gift wrapping and then the floor will have nothing on it. On one of the shelves above the clothes-hanger bars I have one large Space Bag that I’m using to store clothes that are out of season. Also on the shelf there are jeans and shorts folded neatly in a pile, although the jeans very well could end up on a hanger since I don't have an overabundance of clothes in there now. The other shelf stores my iron and mending tools, a couple of hats and a few other personal possessions that live best in their long time home in my closet.  

For those things that were in the closet and were not clothes, they either were trashed, passed on or found more appropriate places in my home. There was a large bag of clothing that was trashed and a large box and bag of clothing that was loaded into my van and taken to the donation drop-off dock.

The next stop in getting uncluttered was my desk at work. I really can't set it up right now, as the items and tools that normally sit on the top of my desk in my office and the desk in my classroom are packed up, but I did prep everything so that I can come back in early August and just pop everything out as Unclutter Your Life in One Week, Day One outlines. I will revisit that part again when I am ready to set up my desk, but for now getting everything ready to flow helps. I look very organized with my desks completely cleared. During any given school day though, it can seem a bit of a mess. I have also considered buying a product called WonderFile Portable Workstation, but I haven't found any reviews from people that have actually purchased one, so I am yet wary of making the purchase.  It is a desk area that folds up to a portable size. I think that would really work for me, as I carry my work home almost daily, and spend more time than I like reorganizing things as they move from school to home to the school desk again. I'll keep researching this, including keeping my eye out at the As Seen on TV stores, as a television commercial is where I first saw the product (watching the History Channel).

I have already established the habit of clearing my desk before I leave work every day, having the things I need set out and ready for the next school day makes a very smooth start to my day. It is also nice to be prepared in case I have a substitute the following day, as no one can know when illnesses are eminent or when something is going to come up and I end up dealing with a student situation or have an unscheduled meeting first thing in the morning.

I spent my work day in early June getting the supply cabinets in my classroom organized and even labeled. I still have a couple of file cabinets with paperwork and plans, etc. that need to be organized, but after two years in my present classroom and five years at my present school, I finally feel that all that I have are the resources that I actually use and not a lot of extra materials from my predecessors. My paperwork files need some work this summer anyway as my class structure is going to change drastically in the coming year. I will need updated assignment lists, activity materials and assessments, but I am spending at least a day each week this summer to work on getting ready to gear up.

The last area of the "Monday", day one, assignments in Unclutter Your Life is the entryway. It is the area I first see when I walk into my home when I return after work, and is the last of my firsts. For this house our entryway is the “back porch”, which is essentially a mud/utility room. This is where shoes are removed upon entering and put on again before leaving. It also has a washer and dryer with flat surfaces that have proven to be real hotspots for items that belong either out the door or inside the house somewhere. I have a functional shoe rack and a chair for people to sit on as they take their shoes on or off as they come and go. There are three doorways that take up a large part of the wall space and need to stay clear. One door leads out to the outside patio area, another leads to the kitchen and the last is a doorway only (as we removed the door) that leads to my pantry. When you walk into my home you can see the porch and pantry, so they both really need to stay clutter free. Kids frequently leave multiple pairs of shoes, boots, flip flops, etc. in the floor and not neatly on the rack. The rack was overfilled as each of the family members has multiple pairs of shoes that they believe should live on that rack, and several pairs of shoes were really trash as they had been replaced. There was even a pair of shoes that had been on the rack since my last clean out and still no one claimed them. Out they went. My shoes are stored in my closet unless they are dripping wet, muddy or covered with grass cuttings. I clean them off and return them to my closet  regularly. I try to encourage the rest of the family to put the shoes they don’t wear frequently in their own closets, but it doesn’t always work.

I do not use the porch as our launch pad as the book suggests. I already have a system that works for me. My launch pad is next to my desk, a place where I keep my purse and workbag. Keys always stay in a pocket of my purse. There is a place for my laptop and cell phone to charge and my iPod to sync and charge when needed. It is close to where I work on projects and plan or prep for work, make grocery lists, catch up on personal or work e-mails, and just about anything else that may need to be added to things that come and go from my home. The boys have their own launch pad, locker that we keep at the end of the hallway near their bedrooms. This is where they keep anything that does not belong to them (i.e. library or school materials), and things they take out the door including backpacks, coats or jackets. a drawer for hats and gloves, and there is a space for visiting cousins to stow their belongings when they come for a sleepover.
 
So I am now on a search for an attractive shelf with hooks or pegs to hang in the back porch above the shoe rack and a more sophisticated piece of furniture to use as a launch pad to replace the locker the boys are using now. Also on my list is a nice shoe holder and a hanger for the ironing board/iron in my closet. It would be nice if the portable desktop turns out to be legitimate as well. I guess I have some shopping in my future.

Cardivascular Jump Start

After morning routines were completed yesterday I felt that I needed to get my workout back into being a part of my morning routine. Now that mornings can start at 6:30 or 7 a.m. (as opposed to 5) and I don' t have to be anywhere early for the next few weeks, it's a good time to get workouts out of the hit and miss time slot of afternoon or evening and back in the morning. My workday will be starting earlier when I go back in mid-August, so getting this habit well under way will help to energize the change when it comes.

So, after I put on my heart rate monitor to measure my workout, I went in to get my EA Active fired up. I usually do a fitness check with Wii Fit first so started that program on the Wii and the balance board wouldn't turn on. The batteries needed replaced. No big deal, I thought. I found the charger in the wall and a freshly charged set of batteries were ready to go. I put the batteries in and pushed the button again. This time the board flashed the blue light on and off over and over again. Now what? Do I need to sync it? Well I got it to work during the Wii Fit balance/fitness check, but not for the EA Active workout. So to save time and any further frustration on my part, I just did the workout without the Wii balance board. I think I will settle for my workout DVDs for the bulk of my fitness plan. I just hate how slow the interactive workouts are. EA Active is better than Wii Fit when it comes to time between exercises. Even so, I burned 449 calories with a maximum heart rate of 172 bpm in the 46 minutes it took me to get through the workout which varied between cardio and resistance exercises.

Yesterday also was time to get the yard mowing done before the next rain. I had a little help with the rider over the middle and bottom yards. I did two separate push mower workouts to do inside the fences in the top yard. It was an awesome day for cardio. Mowing burned a total of 891 calories in  a total of 76 minutes. And that adds up to over two hours of workouts. I really needed that.

Today, my workout was with an old friend, my Denise Austin DVD. I love how her workouts always have a variety of types of exercise. It sure keeps it interesting while I work up a sweat. I am so ready to start running again. I can't wait until my body has joined my mind.

Summer Challenges!!!

It's been a while since I updated my blog. Busy, busy, busy...that's my life. I am enjoying slowing down a bit and focusing on some personal and home goals during this brief, but much appreciated, break from work.  

I have purchased the book Unclutter Your Life in One Week by Erin Rooney Doland. I bought it several months ago thinking I could focus on one day in the book for seven weeks, but even that proved too much of a challenge for me. I only made it through the first two "days" in the book and it took me over two weeks to complete them. So I am going to begin the process again and follow through with it during the next week and see how far I get.

I have several other goals I want to explore over the next two months as well. I have a large stack of books to read, and I haven't even started after almost a week of surplus time. I did get caught up with The Tudors series on Showtime. I had been recording the new episodes since April and just caught up on them this week. Bittersweet. There are only two episodes left, and I wish the series would continue beyond the reign of King Henry and onto those of his children. I really love that show. Oh well, I'll have to find more good novels to read. Did I ever mention I am a big connoisseur of history? I love reading both biographies and historical fiction, but will also spend time reading fantasy, science fiction novels as well. Another item on my to do list is to get back into working out daily so that I can be in shape to run again. I miss the level I was working at even a year ago and how healthy I felt. I need to get that back on track to enjoy some new energy. And the last goal I have is staying connected to the people who mean so much to me. I really enjoy keeping up on Facebook, but have also attended many family and friend events over the past two months, taken a few day trips, as well as welcoming family over to visit on many occasions in May. I am planning a trip in July to visit family and national parks in the Northwest with all five boys, but Joe will stay behind to work. That should prove interesting, as I have not taken a vacation without Joe, aside from many day trips with my sisters or kids. Joe has taken several "fishing trips" with the boys, including a productive trip to fish for sharks, crab and salmon with my cousin in Washington several years ago.

My life and home are buzzing along pretty well, with daily and weekly routines and my ability to delegate some of the household tasks to my husband and children. But every life and home can do with a lightening, a decluttering, and simplifying by dealing with less stuff. For today, I am going to reread the chapters I have read previously and begin the "Day 1" tasks which include decluttering and organizing my clothing closet and drawers and working on getting my office and desk streamlined. I hope to report back with progress later. Onward and always upward!!!!!

Let the Challenges Begin

I am a sucker for a good challenge. And I have been presented with two new ones over the past few weeks. When I first heard about each of them, I knew that I was up for them both since they so closely mesh with the goals I have set for myself and my life. One is the Fitness Challenge that Jonathan Roche has given to those following the No Excuses Workout system.  It matches up very nicely with my goal to get healthy by working out often. The second challenge came from Crystal, aka Money Saving Mom and Jessica, aka Fishmama. I have been focusing on menu planning and freezer cooking, and their challenge pricked my interest.

Jonathan Roche's invitation is to workout with a plan each week, and record them for accountability. This is the seventh challenge he has given and the third I have participated in.This competition is twelve weeks long starting today. Yesterday was my one year anniversary in using the NEWO system. So for this round of my fitness venture I have had a good start, today doing an interval workout using Denise Austin's Cardio Blast workout DVD. I did the warm-up, the Kickboxing and Cardio Dance segments, and the cool down. I did stop the DVD and slow the pace when I needed to so I could get my heart rate down for the intervals. Each of the workout segments on the DVD are 10 minutes long. There are two other cardio segments, Athletic Intervals and Retro Aerobics. I have had this DVD for two years and enjoy coming back to it over and over again. 

The menu planning challenge is one I have read about over the past two weeks from some of my friends on Twitter and some really great food blogs. They soon led me to Menu Saving Mom and Life as Mom's websites, as they are the source of this challenge. Both web authors felt that their pantries were full and that they needed to use what they had and inspired many others to follow them. I too have spent the weeks leading up to the holidays stocking up. In addition, I have also spent some time preparing meals that are now waiting in my freezer. So this week, and maybe the next several, my family's meals will involve eating solely from my pantry (and freezer). After paying my electric and propane bills this month, I am sure my budget will appreciate the break in grocery spending. I'm sure I'll have to get fresh milk, bread and just a bit of fresh produce, but everything else we'll need for the week is already here. Now I need to see how many weeks I can stretch this challenge.

Friday Fog

The thick fog that covers the land makes it quite difficult for me to get to work on time. Traffic on the highway slows this morning to about 40 mph. It is just past the point of the morning when the day begins, but clouds make it difficult for the sunlight to stream through so many layers of the dust and moisture. On the highway, it is difficult to see how many vehicles are preceding mine, but from time to time a get a glimpse of a very long line of taillights, and then the light quickly fades. We move together, in and out of the clouds that are hanging, clinging, permeating the blacktop and surrounding landscape. Our caravan, in our brief moment out of the cloud, view a vision of trees that are off to either side of the roadway. The trees are thickly frosted, and have a promise of a radiance of their own if only the light would send a stream of energy their way. They seem to be wanting the fog to lift as much as I do. We drive into the next fog bank.  I can barely see the small truck that is directly in front of me. The outline of the tailgate brightens and dims over and over as the traffic changes the pace of travel throughout the drive. I look at the clock on my dashboard thinking that the trip is taking longer than the extra five minutes I had allowed. I reset my iPod so I am listening to some upbeat music as the twenty minute podcast has ended and left the air hanging quietly. It is too silent until the selection is made. The familiar rhythm of an old favorite brings a smile to my face and soon our entourage melds into the traffic of town as we join local traffic. The fog thins, but is still a frame of all that I can see. I pull into my parking spot, and the fog tries to follow me into the building. I push it farther behind me as I walk into the glow of florescent lighting and smiles of favorite people. The fog evaporates and is left outside to battle the sun for dominance of the day.

Tuesday Training

I had a training meeting this morning, so after spending an hour after work yesterday preparing for a substitute to take my classes half the day, I enjoyed an extra 45 minutes this morning at home before I had to head out the door. The training was great, but the nice part was the information was relevant to what I am doing now, and I had some of my brilliant colleagues to collaborate with during the activities and discussions.The district did have a continental breakfast there, but after my morning shake I skipped the bagels and donuts, and ate a banana and had a small glass of orange juice. Two fruits down for me!!!! I was very, very good.

I returned to school in time for lunch (leftover pasta and yogurt) and a plan session, taught my afternoon classes and headed home in record time. A very good work day.


My body training started in the late afternoon again today. I was a bit of a slug this morning, too, since I had stayed up so late last night. After work and dinner I did my NEWO with Jonathan Roche's DVD and called it a day for my workout.



There is still a foot of snow that has yet to melt in our yard. Raymond's poor trampoline is bulging from the weight. I hope it bounces back after the thaw.

The boys and I have been enjoying bird watching. The bird feeder in our yard attracts all kinds of birds and over the past weeks the birds have been very hungry. My favorite visitors are the cardinals. We had at least four pairs of the red birds that show up this afternoon at the same time. I think the birds are getting the word out, because every day there are more birds than the day before.

The melting starting yesterday with temperatures just above freezing. Today we were not that fortunate. Icicles hanging from the house over five feet long. The day started out foggy and dreary. The day ended dark and dreary. I am so hoping for promised (forecasted) sunshine tomorrow. And a warmer day too.

Made It Through Monday

Finally back to work today. It was a bit of a relief to return to a normal routine. I was up at 4:30 (that's a.m. for you people who sleep until it's light outside) and at my workout in the great room by 5. Today I again tried the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. It is a kick your tushy workout for sure, and I only worked the level one session. There are two higher levels that you progress through after doing the workout four or five times in a week, and you progress to the next level when you are ready. With the 30 day title, I interpret it to mean about 10 days at each level, so next time around I should be ready for level two. As I am mixing up my DVD workouts I have noted that this is not my favorite, but it is definitely challenging. And I am a sucker for a good, healthy challenge.

I didn't do much toward my own happiness today. Well I did write two blog entries, snuggled with the little boys as they fell asleep, and watched the new episode of House with Joe and our three oldest boys. But I stayed at work far longer than I liked (and finished), had to run to the store since Joe didn't get around to it yesterday (and picked up my coffee I was nearly out of) and didn't get home until the boys had already had their baths, had their stories and were just tucked into bed for the night (did I mention we snuggled for a bit?). A productive day I suppose, but I'll need to work on getting home extra early tomorrow.

Grandma Gann

My mother's mother's 89th birthday is today. She is one of the loveliest people I have ever known, and up until the past few years she has been my biggest cheerleader and has listened intently to every word I have spoken in her presence. If you know me well, you know what a feat that is, and I so adore being the center of her world if only for five minutes or a half hour at a time. Actually I am happy to share the bright beams of her attention with any of my family.

My earliest memories of Grandma are of me sitting in her lap while she told me interesting stories, shared how she and her brothers and sisters worked and played in her childhood, revealed her dreams, and always gave unwavering proof of her love of me by holding my hand in hers as she talked. I can remember her trying to explain to me that while my sister Anne was older than me, I could one day be bigger than her. I really didn't get it until years later remembering her words. I must have been only four or so. Other memories include the strong scents of her kitchen. Pumpkin pie spices and mincemeat always remind me of watching her baking when I was about five. The smell of mint takes me back to visits to her herb garden. The sound of her laughter takes me back to sitting in the kitchen watching her reading letters that her family or pen pals had sent her. I remember thinking how much I wanted to write letters to people. It seemed to bring such joy to her. Sadly, although I do write a lot, I do not write many letters. And funny that most of the letters I have written have been to her.

As I hit that confusing age of 13 our family moved closer to my grandparents. We would spend time in her garden as I shadowed her, weeded, harvested, and talked about all of her favorite flowers and herbs.  Afterward we would sit around drinking the sweetest sweet tea as she talked with me about things she had read or seen, and she would also give me some of the best advice I got in my life. Like how to make chocolate cake taste good even on the third day (serve it with pudding), how to decide if a man is husband material (see how he treats his mother and sisters), and how to get smarter (read, write, do puzzle and play challenging games like Boggle or Scrabble as often as you can).

I remember snuggling up in the softest quilts as I was growing up, too. I don't remember what happened to the quilt that she made for me, or the one she made for my doll when I was about seven or eight, but I can still picture their patterns and blend of colors. My mother also makes quilts, but I obviously had some gene defect because I have no skill with a needle, let alone the artistry required to be a quilter. I am very fond of the small lovey-sized quilts that my grandmother made for my four oldest boys. Each quilt she created had its own story, its own personality and matched the temperament of each boy who delighted in dragging it around as a cape or wrap, throwing it over a table or chair to create a tent or fort and later to have it draped over them as they napped.   

It has been very difficult for the past several years for me to see Grandma fade from her role as a vibrant, creative and witty spirit as she continues to slip in and out of the here and now. She is no longer at home, and when I go to visit her now, I am ever hopeful that she will find some comfort and recognize me as one of her "folks". I am delighted, ecstatic,  if she recognizes me for me. If I can get a giggle, or even a chuckle out of her, I feel my mission is successful. Even if she thinks of me as one of the neighbors she is so fond of, we have a good visit. January 11, 1921 was a very great day. Dorothy Ellen came to be a part of the world and later became the mother, grandmother, great grandmother and great-great grandmother to a bunch of lovely people I call my family. Mwwaah Grandma, I love you so.

A Soothing Sunday

I really like to look at Sunday as the beginning of my week. What happens today usually sets the tone for how things go for the rest of the week. An ideal Sunday includes a combination of renewing my spirit and getting prepared for the rest of the week. Sometimes my efforts are a big flop all the way around, and sometimes I start my week prepared and mentally refreshed. Days of being able to actually renew myself have been pretty lean this past autumn. I am hoping to improve that this year by keeping ahead and delegating as much as I can. I think today was a success as I seem to be refreshed and prepared. I hope the rest of the week follows suit.

I need to spend some time this week reflecting on my basic plan for the week. I need to get it where it works for me. I usually do my Weekly Home Blessing (see FLYLady for how it works) on Sundays. And I think that it works for me. I am home and have the block of time, and usually can get someone to give some assistance. It is also the day that I plan what I am going to wear each day (if it is a work week)  But I think I am trying to do too much on the weekends (like lesson planning and meal planning and bill paying) and really need to focus on using an hour each day just to get targeted stuff done. Maybe if my energy level stays up, I will be able to make the plan I should be using more effective. I'll keep thinking about it as this week plays itself out.

I am happy to report another success with moving somehow for yet another day. I did a 40 minute Interval workout using my personal trainer Jonathan Roche's NEWO system. I used the music from Podrunner Intervals (available for free to download on iTunes). I have also added to my Sunday to-do list planning my workouts for the week as Jonathan suggests. I plan to do one workout each day this week. I am feeling stronger than I did last week. It is nice to be making positive changes and not just sitting around wishing that I would.

I am doing some reading to work on my happiness goal. I have been reading F. LaGard Smith's The Daily Bible since the first of the year. It is compiled in chronological order, and I have read it through three different times in the past decade or so.With all the time I've had off from work lately, it has not been difficult to keep up. I have read the Bible through many other times, but I have also stalled out on the book of Genesis while beginning to read through the Bible more times than I can count. I have several other books, four actually, I have yet to start that are sitting on my desk ready to be read. Three of them were written by favorite authors. I have a couple of books I would like to read for the Literature class that I teach as well that should be fun. light reads. And I have also been online, with all of this time on my hands, looking at several books, and I am working on a wish list that should have me reading good novels well into the summer months.

Ahhh, Sunday. The beginning of what I have decided will be a wonderful week, whatever comes my way.