January reflection

Well, I'm back after a long absence from blogging. With this last day in January, I have been working around the house, soaking in the wonderful sunshine, and reflecting upon some goals I set for this month.

• To eat from the freezer and pantry for a month
• To walk at least 10,000 steps a day
• To come up with a system for motivating the boys to complete household chores

Eating from the freezer/pantryTo accomplish my first goal, I had to get organized. It has been a bit easier since I have had several Saturdays at home. Last year both boys were wrestling, so every Saturday from December through February we were occupied with all day meets.

Except for purchasing some perishables such as milk, butter, eggs and cheese, every meal has been from our "storage." Since I work full time, I do much of our meal prep on the weekends:

• Making our bread and tortillas (I buy gluten free instead of making it because I can’t master making any loaf bread that doesn't feel like a brick.)  I am soooo thankful for my bread machine. I have had it since we were first married--it is 16 years old. Thankfully we didn't chose a cheap machine. It is a workhorse and worth every penny. I do bread dough in it that I then use in many different ways. 
• Cooking a week's worth of meat on the weekend (We have quite a bit of meat in the freezer. I love meat, especially pork, from a local farm. They raise pigs and chickens and process them to sell at the farmer's market. I stock up during the warmer months.)
• Planning menus a week(or more) at a time (A February goal is to develop a more organized system for doing this.)

Walking  at least 10,000 steps a day 
I purchased a computer bracelet that tracks my steps and sleep. Some days I exceed my step goal by walking as I work and other days I have to do more walking in my "leisure" time to reach the goal. I have a bit of a long term goal to get back into running. This is -very- long term since I have to shed quite a few pounds to ease the stress on my knees. I miss running, especially the benefits of weight loss and endorphins.

Motivating the boys to complete household chores
Good ol' Pinterest--I used pinterest to find a system to use. I adapted a couple I found into my own system. For us, each chore week begins on Saturday. This is so the boys can earn their weekend screen time. We do not watch TV or play video/computer games during the week, because several years ago I grew tired of the battles at school night bedtime or during our morning weekday rush. Then the boys were grouchy when I asked them to turn off the devices. Therefore, they earn their time by completing all their required chore, homework, etc. cards by Friday. Another help is we each have assigned laundry days.

Also, by having them complete chores by Friday, I am not spending my Saturday trying to play catch up or nagging them.


My February goals are:

• creating a system for easier, more organized meal planning
• beginning to "run" some each week
• going back to a weekly family night.

lunch:
leftover quiche, 

leftover buffalo chicken chili

bread

listening to:
recorded episodes of "the pioneer woman"

currently reading:
the last girls

praying the scriptures for your teenagers

Psalms

today grateful for:
sunshine!!!

when boys play outside in the sunshine

my elderly neighbors down the road who are so kind to us and especially to our sweet dog

God's peace

january funk, resolve, and vacillation

I have not blogged in a while because my focus towards creative or productive thought has been erratic. When I am away from my home and my computer, which is most of the time, I have moments of clarity and inspiration of topics for blogging. When I have my laptop in hand, I cannot think of what to write so I tend to read instead. As of late, I am not successful in backtracking through my memory and finding my lost brainstorms.

My January funk or malaise only hinders my ability to focus. Once home, I vacillate between determined and unmotivated. Since our winter break, I have continued to sleep more and do less around the house during workdays. Many weekdays I am in bed as soon as possible after I put the kids to bed. I am sleeping 8-10 hours so I am not an early riser these days either---at least by my standards (rising early means awake before 6 AM). It seems to be a regular cycle of wake, have quiet time, dress, pack lunches, eat breakfast, go to work/school, attend the boys' after-school activities(athletics, bereavement groups/counseling, scouts), monitor or cajole homework, teach/remediate, fix/eat dinner, coordinate bathes, do bits of housework, bed... I squeeze in reading and grocery shopping while the boys are at their athletic practices.

As winter progresses, I have a few goals. My main goal continues to be to simplify and declutter in order to move towards a somewhat minimalistic household. The kitchen has been the easiest place to start and make progress. I have cleared out most of our tupperware, rubbermaid, and the like. I want to eliminate plastic completely from our kitchen, so that when we heat up, cook or store food it is done in glass or metal. I have eliminated half of our knife collection as well as half of our pots, pans, and baking-ware. I am slowly clearing off the kitchen counter tops and making room to store many things/appliances inside cabinets. The coffeemaker, microwave and vitamix warrant their spots "above ground" though. Since mid-December, we have taken a car load every week to Goodwill/consignment store/dump. My eldest took it upon himself to select a garbage bag full of gently used stuffed animals to donate to Gleaning for the World's Teddy Bear Brigade. (big mom smile) I have packed away many knick knacks and self-standing picture frames from our great room. I enjoy the visual peacefulness .

I am currently reading a book that I am enjoying and hoping for further inspiration towards my goal of simplification. It is entitled, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker. Hers is a Christian point of view towards minimalism in order to eliminate distractions and get closer to God.

In his book, Money, Possessions, and Eternity, Randy Alcorn discusses this perspective as well. (He is the author of one of my all time favorite books-Safely Home.) [I am buying ebooks so as not to have physical book clutter. One advantage of ebooks is that since I have both the Nook app and Kindle app on my phone, I can carry my "library" anywhere I go.]
I have read other secular books about decluttering and simplifying:
Give it up! by Mary Carlomagno
Simplify by Joshua Becker
Miss Minimalist Inspiration to Downsize, Declutter, and Simplify by Francine Jay
Living in the land of enough by Courtney Carver

I follow Peter Walsh on Facebook/Twitter and his show "Extreme Clutter" on OWN is one of a handful of shows I watch. I like his philosophy of having a vision for your space(s) and using that to motivate and guide you.

Time will tell.

currently listening to:
boys playing

breakfast:
me--egg white & spinach sandwich
kids--toast & fruit

currently reading:
the final battle
7: an experimental mutiny against excess
proverbs

today grateful for:
my boys
home
God
provision
safety
laughter
coffee
sunlight

Getting things done

I often wish for a few free days in order to clean and organize my house. For the past week or so, I have had my wish but I have not been making the best use of my time. In reality, when I do not strictly schedule my free time, I waste time and in the end I am more disorderly that on my busier days. So I need to find a way to make myself feel like I have a frantic deadline to fool myself into getting myself in gear.

Truth be told, I have a few OC tendencies which paired with my perfectionist, procrastination avoidance tendencies are an unhealthy mix. I inherited my mom’s depression era flawed thinking of “I might need this someday.” Arggh! I hate that I cannot just go through my clutter swiftly and dispose of stuff. Occasionally I watch those horrific hoarder shows in order to scare myself. Grief has not helped in that; sometimes I want to cling to some of Andy’s things. I think I do not want to deal with the feelings related to parting with them or I want to keep them for the boys. I hate having emotional attachment to things.

Those same perfectionist tendencies keep me from blogging, since I sometimes will work on a blog writing and rewriting and still be unsatisfied with my efforts. So today at least I am publishing this post without reconsidering it so that I can get off my duff and off the computer and get to some of the necessary tasks at hand.

Currently listening to:
the portable heater

Breakfast:
oatmeal

Currently reading:
Be Joyful
How to unspoil your child
A walk in the woods
Two chai day
Heaven is for real
(I tend to read multiple books at a time-my indecision and moodiness.)

Today grateful for:
being able to get my hair done
good child care
good health
working automobiles
vacation time
God’s provision
God's presence