{Intention}

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{31 DSP - Day 5 - Laundry}

I yelled.  

I yelled a lot this morning.  

At my sweet 8 year old who was not ready for school when we needed to go and I had to remind him 5 times to do things he does everyday!  

One problem was he couldn't find any clean clothes...because I haven't put away his laundry for three weeks.  I know you are thinking..."well why doesn't he put away his OWN laundry?"...and I would say "you are exactly right!"  He should be putting away his own laundry.  We just haven't got there yet. 

That is a pile of clean clothes.  They are all clean.  For two+ weeks this pile has been in our bedroom (to the left of this picture).  I moved it to it's present location two days ago....

What is wrong with me?  Actually the reason is I don't want to carry it all upstairs.  *guh*  I am so lame errr lazy!  This morning we scrounged around looking for clothes and I was ugly mommy and sent him off to school with that memory.  I feel terrible about it.  He needs a system for his clothes that works for him (like laying out his clothes the night before), but first that I need to move this pile from out of my kitchen!!!!    

Today I am going to put away the kids laundry!! 
& evaluate how to help them do it themselves 
(that doesn't involve stuffing it under their beds which leads to no clean underwear)!!
(update: I didn't get this done.  I did get the guest room put back together though.  Last night I pulled out clothes for the kids so they didn't have to dig for them this morning, that helped a lot!)

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{31 DSP - Day 4.2 - Organizing Books)

One of the things I needed to do today to put the guest room back together was to get the books back in the bookcase.  I've never organized my books in any kind of order.  I kind of know what is there and can usually find what I'm looking for at a glance.  A month or so ago I saw some bookcases on pinterest that were organized by color....

I was unable to find the original source.

I was unable to find the original source.

via

SWOON!


So I decided to arrange my books the same way.  I figured if I hated it I can always change it.  :)

LOVE IT!
LOVE IT!
LOVE IT!

I look at it and I immediately smile and feel calmer.  I actually am able to find books faster this way!  Is that totally crazy?  My brain must just work in color.  I am so glad that I took the leap and did it! 

I'm adding this to my 31 DSP because...well let's face it...those books could have sat on the floor for weeks!  

10/5/2011 Update:  I think Nester and I were separated at birth...or that she is the big sister I never had (although she could very well be younger than me).  She always talks about making your home what YOU want it to be and not to be afraid to take risks doing things other people say you 'can't do' in your home (hello painted wood, stone, nail holes!).  She has helped me so much to over come the design limitations that others (but mostly myself) put on me.

Today she has a post where she talks again about doing things in our home to make US happy, regardless if anyone else likes them.  That hit me because when I was looking through someone's ELSES pinterest boards I came across one of my beloved 'books organized by color' pictures.  This is a board where she posts things she doesn't like.  You know what?  When I first saw her pin my first thought was "Well I shouldn't do that I guess."  Then I thought of Nester and smacked myself.  This woman (pinner) doesn't even know me, she will NEVER be at my house, and even if she did why should I care?  I love it (and Ben doesn't care) and that is all that matters.  So DO things in your home to make YOU happy!

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{31 DSP - Day 4 - Replant Basil}

Yesterdays DSP (Day to Stop Procrastinating) was EPIC.  

I mean...I PAINTED a whole room!!  I did it and it feels great!  It's a job that I can CROSS OFF THE LIST!  I won't have to do that room again for a long time.  I LOVE non maintenance jobs!


I do want to say that not all my goals will be so huge.  


Today it a much smaller, much sweeter, much tastier goal.  


Several weeks ago I discovered a little Thai Basil plant growing next to my fence.  He (I don't know if it is a he but it seems right) must have seeded from our neighbors garden.  Unfortunately he is in a  precarious spot and is in constant danger of being mowed over or trimmed down with the weed whacker.  Ben has been SO good about being careful in that area until I could transplant the basil to a pot, and thus safely out of harms way.  Well it's been weeks...maybe a month or two...I can't remember.  Two days ago he said "Move the basil or it is going down next time I trim."  Fair enough.  

Today I am going to pull on my garden gloves, grab my shovel and save my little Thai Basil from certain destruction.  
(update: DONE!  Here are the pictures of my little guy! 
I apologize for my pictures...I'm not very savvy with my camera)

mmmmmmm...Thai Basil....makes me dream of Singapore....


Maybe I should use him to make a little hawker stand style soup?  

here is a little inspiration to get you motivated today!

via The Love Shop

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{31 Days to Quit Procrastinating - Day 3 (err 1) - Painting the Guest Room}

One of my favorite bloggers The Nester and a few other bloggers are having a series called "31 days..." and have invited their readers to join in. The idea is to choose something to blog about each and every day of October. I have decided to join in (not sure if I'll link up) and do "31 Days to Stop Procrastinating" - which is fitting because it is now October 3rd and I've been putting off blogging about this!

There are SO many things I have procrastinated on that it is stealing my peace of mind.  It really bothers me that we have lived in this house for 9 months and there are still piles EVERYWHERE.  I hate that I feel I'm just putting out fires...not doing what I would like to do.

So my goal is to do at least one thing each day that I've been putting off and then post a picture of it at the end of the day (Yay accountability!).  So....

TODAY I WILL FINISH PAINTING THE GUEST ROOM
(update: FINISHED! It took me 8 hours - since I also had to keep my children from going totally feral.  Once the color was up and I could stand back and look at both rooms I decided that I do love it!  Hooray!)

please ignore the stuff piled in the middle (duh)

I am having slight 'buyers' remorse about my paint color for the office and guest room.  It isn't quite gray enough.

This was my inspiration room - I LOVE this room, which is painted in SW Knitting Needles:

via dwellings by devore 

SW Knitting Needles

I brought a sample home and put it on the walls.  It was MUCH darker than it looked online (I knew that colors look different online, which is why it is so important to try a sample).  It also might have been because the rooms don't get as much natural light (another post).  I did like the tones of the color so I went back to Sherwin Williams and had them mix it at 50%.  The sample looked great!  So I decided to go with that.  I liked it enough in my office, which mirrors the guest room, but it seemed to look more blue than gray.  Unfortunately when I started painting the guest room on Saturday Ben walked in and said "It looks purple."  Uhhhhhhh NOT the color I am going for, but I keep telling myself that it is the same color as the office (aka NOT PURPLE).  I'm hoping that when I'm done and the room is put back together I will like it.  The idea of repainting...well I just can't talk about it...

Anyway!

Join me as I quit procrastinating and become the kind of woman who gets things done...not just the kind of woman who makes lists that never get completed!

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[soundtrack]

This song has been popping into my head a lot as of late.  


Jars of Clay- Like a Child


Dear God, surround me as I speak
The bridges that I walk across are weak
Frustrations fill the void that I can't solely bear
Dear God, don't let me fall apart
You've held me close to you
I have turned away and searched
For answers I can't understand

They say that I can move the mountains
And send them falling to the sea
They say that I can walk on water
If I would follow and believe
With faith like a child

Sometimes, when I feel miles away
And my eyes can't see your face
I wonder if I've grown to lose the recklessness
I walked in light of you

They say that I can move the mountains
And send them crashing to the sea
They say that I can walk on water
If I would follow and believe
With faith like a child

LITTLE GIRLS:
"i've got joy like a fountain"
"be kind one to the other"
"in Jesus Christ your son"

They say that I can move the mountains
And send them crashing to the sea
They say that I can walk on water
If I would follow and believe
They say that love can heal the broken
They say that hope can make you see
They say that faith can find a Savior
If you would follow and believe
With faith like a child


I think what has been tugging at me a lot as of late is the last few lines, love can heal the broken, hope can make you see.  


My daughter has been having a difficult time lately.  And as much as I want to sort of relish in the awesome of taking things easy and not having lists and tasks to do, she needs them.  I feel like a child, whining "but I don't want to!"  i don't want to have to repeat the same steps every morning and night. . .but she needs them.  So we will have lists.  And I hope it helps.  I want her to have joy again. Pin It

[better]

i laugh, just typing that title.  


today is better despite many things being worse. i think i am getting a cold, it's just at the beginning, but i took a set of nyquil caplets last night anyway.  because i am all over pharmaceuticals, i did years of "i'm trying to conceive/pregnant/breastfeeding" where i took nothing more than tylenol and tums, i now fully embrace the bosom of the cold and flu remedy aisle. . .i have to make up for lost time.   


the boy has impetigo and the visit to diagnosis him was excruciating.  he wouldn't stop interrupting to ask if he could take their book home (it happened once before) and Penny alternated between acting like she was on crack and screeching like i was going to beat the living daylights out of her. . .despite never having been spanked or struck, ever.  well except that one time i smacked her head when she bit my nipple, with teeth, while breastfeeding. . .guess i did scar her forever.


the cool part about impetigo is it is contagious and no one wants to be near us so that cleared our schedule for the next three days.  the pediatric dentist actually laughed.  yeah, no, we won't don't want your kid here with his oozing contagious facial sores.  damn, because i was really looking forward to that today on the cusp of our successful hissy fits at both appts yesterday.  


after i cleared the nyquil fog from my head this morning, i decided to make myself tea.  the same tea i made myself on the oncology unit, which was a purposeful act of self care so deep that the smell of that kind of tea infuses straight into my core.  i've never been a tea person, but that warm cup means a lot to me, in ways hard to explain.


which lead me to something awesome this morning, some clarity (see yesterday). i've been working with a web designer for so long on a new site and wondering what i would do with it, and lately, what would become of my contribution here.  and today it struck me, the purpose is already there, defined.  


my new site has all these sections i already pre-defined but the main part i told her to simply call "stories."  i love to tell stories, it's how my memory is ordered.  stories filed away with tags that trigger them.  i have so many stories i want to share with my kids, that i want to get out of me.  it's so easy for me to approach in that context.  a picture for each post, of the trigger, and then the stories it extracts from me, what they mean to me.  


that seems like an endless prompt for me as everything around me triggers a story, it's how i work.  and it's unique.  i'm not looking to build a web presence, but neither was pioneer woman, and i don't want to be a copycat or just be another mom blogger with a daily journal out there, because, that's my business.  but this seems like something that could work, not only for me, inspiring me and letting me tell stories and be creative, but i think it could maybe appeal to people, inspire others to tell their stories to their family.


here, i love here, with mary, the two of us struggling and succeeding, inspiring each other.  being honest.  and that will remain, always.  and that makes me giddy in such tender ways.  she and i have so many things we want to do, together, that is a certainty.  it makes me take a deep breath, and exhale, it is all going to come together, in a way i never imagined.


but as i looked around my house and suddenly heard all of these stories crying out from shelves, it felt calm, and warm, and happy, like a mug of tea.  i felt better. i had a little slice of clarity for breakfast.  


and then i made a heap of mac n cheese for the kids, and they both finished four helpings.  better.


to-do list:
put away laundry mountain (it took three days to wash it, time to put it away. . .so I can wash more of course)
call make-a-wish back
change out of my pjs
change sheets on master bed
enjoy better Pin It