Day Two, Tuesday Night

I meant to check in last night to see how on target I was but it seemed silly to post yesterday morning and then again last night, and this morning I was swept away into my day, so here is today's housekeeping, tonight:

First the list:

• Blog check in
• 10:00 foot appointment
• Call piano movers again ( I called twice yesterday!)
• Big kid carpool 
• Middle kid carpool
• Donation station
• Clean up/out/around craft shelf in L.R.
• Groceries
• Pick up veggie box
• Clean out fridge & freezer
• 5:30 stables 
• Call to drop off old blue car
• Cancel fridge appointment
• Email Mr. K re:media drop off
• Email K about volunteer opportunities
• Drop OBC to mechanic

SO the tasks that fell by the wayside yesterday, groceries and donating stuff, those are two of the tasks I face that most often get postponed. Two thoughts arise as I write that, do you really have enough stuff to have a fairly regular task of donating unwanted items? The answer is an emphatic yes, I have waaay more stuff than I need or really even want. I seem to be stuck in the rut of believing that whatever thing I think I want will make me feel better, thinner, more organized. Somehow the gadget I am holding in the kitchen store will make me want to cook more often, or whatever household storage system looks fabulous and oh-so-streamlined in the display at Crate and Barrel will magically keep my house clean and clutter free. Then it all becomes clutter, I shuffle it around from place to place and finally it gets tossed in a bag destined for Salvation Army or Goodwill. I once saw a purse in Salvation Army that I bought at Thrift Town, kept but didn't use for about two years, and donated. It was so odd to see my used possession in my local thrift store.

My second thought is to ponder (slightly) why I ALWAYS put off grocery shopping. Could it be because it's no fun to do it alone? Or maybe because no one wants to make a list with me but everyone complains about what I didn't buy.  Perhaps it's because I know that I really want to eat out and I will leverage that in the end, so groceries end up in storage until well past the expiration date when in a fit of desperation for a cleaner house, I toss it all into the compost. Wait, sounds a bit like the purse story, I will see those groceries again... in my garden... I'm all done with those thoughts, now onto the dissection of my day!

Today felt fairly productive. I got everything on my list done plus a few silly extras, like brekkie with TR who worked from home today. I even made breakfast for the kids, which I don't really do when I am working. I think it makes them feel cared for, and it does make me feel like a good momma to feed my kiddos before sending them out into the world.

Yesterday I ended up at ex-work and stayed for a couple of hours showing the New Me some tricks I have learned. I really do like her, she feels like a kindred spirit, albeit a much younger kindred spirit! I was requested to attend the staff meeting which I thought nothing of and, SURPRISE! there was cake and a sweet card to say thanks and goodbye. I was touched and pleased and felt very loved. It really is a wonderful community.

Brekkie with TR was fun, we brainstormed a name for the cottage and came up with: The Badger's Den (named for all the badger's we've never seen nearby), really the whole thing, that's what we decided to call it, well for now anyway. I am secretly pleased with the name, I do love badgers, though I have very little experience with them, they seem like marvelous animals and their determination delights me. So that's the permarary name for our teeny tiny cottage.

I don't think I will be able to get there on this leave of absence to fix it up, which saddens me because I was really looking forward to it. Perhaps this will help me focus my resources on funding that project instead of trickling it away on purses that end up back in another thrift store. Is there a lesson somewhere in there? Probably. Will I learn it right away? Probably not.

I think I need to follow through on the list everyday, but instead of putting a hundred little tasks, tomorrow I will list out steps to accomplish a bigger task. I have been saying I want to clean out and get rid of the sideboard for years, maybe that will be the project. Maybe I can spend tomorrow taking inventory of substantial projects I can do over this break, paint the bedroom? Arrange new carpet in the carpeted areas? Keep getting yard sale stuff ready? The possibilities are endless and aren't confined to the indoors, there is always the yard and the cabin/cottage to look at.

Now I see as I read through this, I didn't remark on the accomplishments of today's tasks, which I will attempt to do....now. Piano move is all arranged for next week, (yay!) that will free up a lot of precious square feet (inches) in the basement. Getting the Old Blue Car to the fix-it-up-chappie is a big step, we have been procrastinating that for years, but with Prima getting ready to drive, it's the perfect car for her. It's the car she grew up in! I guess that's really all the remarks I have.

Once again a whirlwind of thoughts, sweeping me up and carrying me away, far away from my goals. I have been busy these past two days, but I think that at the end of these 8 weeks I would like more to show than a notebook and blog full of errands I have run. Tomorrow I AM going to look up the mediation training, tonight, now I am going to bed.

I will leave this thought behind tonight: at my foot appointment I read a quote that said "Be who you are and say what you mean, those who matter won't mind and those who mind, don't matter" something I was trying to explain to my boy a few days ago. Thank you Dr. Seuss for saying it so well!

 As a final goodnight, a fellow we watched securing his treasures in the park outside Buckingham Palace.

not a badger, but a squirrel hiding a treasure in St. James Park