Another year, another home organization project
So it's the last week of the year, and if you remember correctly, last year I tackled cleaning out and organizing the sewing room to make room for the quilting machine. You may also remember that the quilting machine didn't get much action this year, a fact that I'd like to remedy in 2010. So I bit the bullet and did what I thought I ought to do when I first moved into this flat--I'm putting my sleeping quarters in the front, smaller bedroom and moving the sewing and quilting and craft room into the back, larger bedroom. Seriously, how much floor space does one need for sleeping and dressing? (And if those of you with master suites with walk-in closets and sitting areas could just keep that answer to yourself and not chime in with your square footage, I'd be much beholden.)
Monday didn't see much action, as I was driving home from Illinois and stopping along the way to pick up things I needed and check out an after-Christmas sale or two. So Tuesday was my first day of really working on this project. I'm proud to say that I got the sewing room emptied out, the bed and two dressers moved in, and a bunch of the sewing room stuff into the sewing room. Unfortunately, things are still crazy, with a lot of sewing room stuff still in the living room and dining room, in addition to the room they're supposed to be in. But I was able to sleep in my bed last night, so that's something anyway. Turns out, head pointing east works for me. The bedroom is by no means tidy and finished, but having most of the furniture in the right room is a good first step. Meanwhile, it's on to the chaos. Just me, my handtruck to help with the heavy lifting, and my MP3 player. Send organizing thoughts my way!
A lot to do, but a lot accomplished
Yesterday's creative endeavor--the one that I forgot to take a picture of--was dinner--chicken enchiladas verdes, spanish rice, and strawberry shortcakes (from Jiffy muffin mix). I have leftovers of all of it, which is just fine with me. Rich was appreciative of a homemade dinner and I love those enchiladas. And they freeze great, so I can take them for lunch in the days to come.
Meanwhile, over the last few days, I've been getting organized around here. I did a bunch of cleaning up, finishing up the sewing room purging from back in late 2008. I feel like I got a really good handle on what's there to make and my own personal pledge is that I do everything I can to convert those raw materials into finished projects to give as gifts this Christmas. And my pledge is that whatever I don't have turned into projects by the end of 2009 goes to some other creative soul who might want to create something with them. With one exception. I don't think I can give away the printed embroidery-ready pillowcases that I got when my grandmother passed away almost a decade ago that still need to be embroidered. I don't know who will want embroidered pillowcases once I finish them, but I feel the need to finish them anyway.
I've got all of the pieces and parts organized in containers. Now to just figure out what to do with the containers. Maybe once I get the papers and stuff that were from the sewing room and are currently on the sun porch all sorted through, the containers can go out there. Or maybe there's space in the closet in the sewing room... I know, one step at a time...
Still under the weather and fighting the elements
I braved it today, going into work, but I didn't make it a full day. Don't know what this illness is, but it's more powerful than I thought it was. And with the snow overnight and the wind chill of 9 below, I find being home in my slippers and jammies to be a pretty good place to be. I have a retreat tomorrow for work, so we'll see if I make it through tomorrow without needing a nap.
I am doing a little more in the decision making of the crafting supplies--looking at projects, realizing I'm never going to make them, and finding new homes for them. It's getting neater around here, but I still have a long way to go.
On the quilting front, I still haven't tackled the big machine. (I think I need to name her/him--suggestions are welcome--leave a comment with yours.) I have to get this place in order before I start playing with my new Voyager.
What will you BE in 2008?
I've been bumping into a lot of information lately about resolutions, finding your authentic self, the secret to changing your life, etc. Transformation is often the focus of January, as resolutions come and, very often, go. And I ran across an article that Sandra Magsamen of Living Artfully wrote for Oprah.com that talks about not making yourself over this year (or any other year for that matter) and just learning to BE. I agree with her thoughts, as I see life as a journey, not a "do-over" every year, starting at Jan. 1 and ending at Dec. 31.
As I read her post, I was struck by the fact that she's encouraging you to be who you are while encouraging you to make changes in your life to reflect who you are (or discover who you are). She talks about being on a journey to create ourselves, and I agree with that wholeheartedly. Where I'm not in total agreement with her is where she makes the assumption that "You have put a lot of time, consideration, and heart into all the decisions you've made to create the one and only you." Depending on how you look at it, some people may not have honestly put a lot of time, consideration, and heart into creating who they are, they might just discover themselves there, and they need to have someone or something challenge them to consider what a new, different them might be.
For many years, my weight was slowly creeping up on me. I wasn't watching what I ate and I wasn't exercising. I occasionally thought I was putting "a lot of time, consideration, and heart into ... creating the one and only me", but I was making up the rules as I went (exercise for 30 minutes, follow up with ice cream) and there weren't many rules. Amazingly (she says sarcastically), I wasn't seen results. It took some honest and, at the time, hurtful words from a friend for me to realize what I was doing was just pretending to put forth effort. That kick-in-the-pants comment, someone else suggesting that a "new, different me" was possible, helped me find the motivation internally to take a long, hard look at myself and realize that I was just fooling myself if I thought that my former strategies would ever have been effective. I sought out external guidance to educate me on how I could stop pretending and actually make an intelligent and successful change. Here I am, almost three years later, having kept off the 20 pounds that I lost. It took work to get here, and it took me wanting to change the "me" I was into a different, new "me"—not necessarily trade in who I was lock, stock, and barrel, but improve who I was physically. As I worked to lose the weight, I learned about myself. I learned I was stronger than I thought. I learned I had discipline. I learned that I had to take control of and accept responsibility for my decisions. I learned that a walk with a friend can be fun and that a walk alone allows you time to decompress and that both are enjoyable. Am I done with this physical journey? Nope. I still want to be in better shape, and I know I'll have to make an effort to do that, as it's not easy for me. I'm not driven by any Hollywood image of what I should weigh. I'm driven by wanting to be healthy now so that it's easier to stay healthy as I get older. I want to be healthy for as many years as I can—I have a lot of supplies in that craft room of mine and I want to get time to work with all of them! (Yes, I know, I'll need to live to 150!)
I share that story because it's the first place Sandra's story took me, but it wasn't the final reason I'm sharing her posting with you. Sandra also got me thinking about a piece of paper that recently surfaced while going through some papers--a note about having a goal. My goal from early in 2007 was to learn more about blogging. And several of the points in Sandra's blog entry, such as "BElieve in yourself," "BEgin today," and "BEcome what you dream to be" address my journey of the last year. My blog started as a little bud of an idea—a "what if" that was based in some scribblings made at a trade show. Sometimes, when you're away from the office, you have time to think and process in ways that you don't have when a deadline is looming or a computer screen is flashing meetings and deadlines before your eyes. Your mind has a chance to process what it's seeing and spit out ideas like the fortune teller machine in the movie Big did. And before I'd even read the encouraging words that Sandra shared, I "BEgan today," by sharing my thoughts, and I discovered that I could make something happen.
