Is it me?

While leaving a museum in the spring me and the kids made a pit stop at a park.  This sign was as big as day I had to post the picture of it.

Late last night I went to Starbucks for an unreasonably expensive coffee. Which by the way was good to the last drop.  I bought my ipod and a magazine to read but, couldn't bear to sit in the clearly loved over sized velvet green chairs.  All I could think of was that they were probably riddled with dust mites and bedbugs.  So as quickly as I sat down, I got up and left and took my "Me time" snack & entertainment to another location.  But this episode of paranoia got me creepped out about another destination, Barnes & Noble.  Same issue, overstuffed chairs which are probably never vacuumed out or spot cleaned let alone shampooed probably have tons of dust mites and bed bugs.  I get that same creepy feeling at the kids dr.s' office and in almost all waiting areas that have cloth chairs.  I don't like seats in movie theatres for the same reason- but you wouldn't know that given the last time I went to the theatre was about a year ago.  Nevertheless I was able to find a comfortable spot back in the Mom-mobile, which happens to have leather seats not cloth.

Decluttering

No this is not my home but, it looks neat and organized.  A couple of weeks ago I went on a quest to make my life and home more @ peace.  And to me that means taking care of less stuff.  I have been nesting and purging like crazy and over the last week I made about 3-4 trips to the thrift store to unload my loads and get to a place where I am enjoying my space.  So last night I organized all of the books in on the shelves in the hallway, My shelves are about 7 feet high, built in and can hold tons.  I managed to cull 1 huge box of textbooks and I'm still not done.  Last week prior to my successful yard sale, I got rid of everything - or almost every thing I didn't need in my kitchen, Boxed all xtra clothes that were outgrown or not loved, toys that have gone unplayed with and paper whose proper home was the t-r-a-s-h.....got rid of it all!. 

 My bedroom had become a playground and laundry storage center and I had to reclaim my domain this week. Laundry, books, toys and anything belonging to anyone else other than the people that sleep there -all gone.  My jetted tub is accented by a small stone fountain, -and I mean small, and candles, No more rubber duckies or kiddie loofahs.  Walking into my Master Suite now evokes peace and tranquility. No more stress and chaos in my resting place.  I do thank FlyLady.com for the inspiration and Miss Shaun T for the jump start and who in about an hour and a half- helped me bag and box up 4 large  boxes of stuff for the salvation army, and inspired me to create a space that  requires less maintenance for my little people I still think we can still do away with more books and toys.  She was ruthless and I found myself explaining myself when she asked me whether or not I needed certain things.  She was tough but, tough is what I needed. I know that this is the beginning of something great. And it feels so freeing!  It's a huge challenge for those of us who school at home but, my goal is to be done by November 1.  Less stuff=Less stress.

I'm back

I can not believe that I haven't blogged in nearly a month! I can't imagine what I've been doing with all of my time.  I dare not play catch-up because, half of the stuff that was worth blogging about has long been forgotten so, I'll have to start with today.  This morning I lugged a 13 gallon garbage bag full of little people clothing to the thrift store along with my 8 year companion- and no , I do not mean one of my children! I mean the double stroller that I received when Rocco was a little Rock.  I finally gave up the double stroller after 8 years and 4 children.  I had it in my van last night, because I donated more stuff last night to a thrift store and couldn't bear to drag the double stroller out of the car.  But somewhere between driving home and waking up this morning and loading up more stuff to donate, I had a light bulb moment, "If the double stroller spent all winter and spring on the porch, chances are, I don't really need it.  So today was the day that I single handedly carried it into the thrift store and slung it into the donation bin and did not look back to get a second glance at the little vehicle that chauffeured my babies around for 8 years.  I'm not sad, I still have  a red Chicco stroller left.