Belated Happy New Year

We had such a nice break.  This was the first winter break in a long time that we didn't travel, and it was just so much simpler.  Some good hikes, a couple field trips, lots of time just playing at home, and the most perfect Christmas morning.  Simple.  The goal and the word that just keeps coming to mind.

And now somehow it is already January 9th, 2012.  2012!

 December was good.  And, looking back at that list of goals, pretty successful.  I cleared a bunch of extraneous crap stuff out of the house. Not all of it yet, but it just feels so much cleaner already.  The 100% plant-based diet kind of flew out the window mid-month, but it did make a big difference in how I felt so I haven't given up on that.  It may not be sustainable, but it is worth the effort.

I did sew a present or two for each of the kids.  Ollie's sheep pajamas and a Shirley (giant sheep) stuffed animal/cushion that is actually with him in school today for 'S' Share Day.  I made Ella a little bedding set for her doll bed and got most of the way through a silk velvet-y skirt (with one for her doll to match) before we realized that I had made the waistband too small.  That one needs to be revisited and finally finished.

And eieio?  Besides a couple custom orders last month I haven't even touched it.  But I've thought a lot about it and am getting ready to move forward again.  The first thing I need to do is some kind of lighting setup.  Soon...

And the goals for January?  They are already in full swing.  The house is getting picked up and cleaned on a more regular (even daily!) basis and I am getting ready to go downstairs to empty out my bedroom in preparation for painting.  There's more that I'll put into a list before the month is over.  I promise.

Striving for Balance

I'm beginning to realize that you can spend your whole life striving for balance.  Balance between work and life.  Between income and expenses.  Between time spent on the computer and everything else you need to get done.  Between working and taking care of your house and taking care of your family.  Between the attention you give your children and ...  There are a lot of balls to juggle in life and I think balance - or near-balance - can only come intentionally.

So the kids have been in school together for two and a half weeks, now.  And I know it will take some time to catch up on all that was neglected over summer vacation, but I am still floundering.  I think I need a schedule.  The two largest pieces of my day should be made up of sewing (I was recently accepted into Art Star's very first Holiday Bazaar!  WooHoo!) and cleaning/working on the house.  By cleaning, I don't mean just dishes and putting laundry away.  I mean deep purging and organizing.  This house is messier than it has been in a long time.

I can break the day (really 9-230) in half.  I can stagger going back and forth.  But really, I just need to do it.  And do them both.

So I am going to pick one room each day (on top of the regular dishes, laundry, picking up) and spend two hours on that room - I am deciding this as I am writing it, but let's see how it goes.  I will start at the top of the house and work my way down.  Since things from the first floor tend to make their way up and stall on stair landings where we look at them everyday when not tripping over them.  This way, things can work their way down and then out of the house.

I have more - about what happens after the Holiday Bazaar - but I'm going to save that.  Let's see how this goes for starters.

** These pictures have absolutely nothing to do with the post.  I can't very well show you pictures of my incredibly messy house, can I?  They were taken a couple weeks ago up at a Girl Scout Camp nearby.  See the image in the sky in the third photo?  We watched, amazed, as a pilot practiced painting smiley faces in the sky.  Pretty cool...