Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Bring it on 2012

I feel bad when I don't blog.  The neglect of the blog sits like a brooding animal at the back of my mind, nibbling at my conscience until I convince myself it's been too long since I last blogged and I may as well just shut it down all together.  So I get on Blogger, sift through the links, peruse past posts, chuckle over the comments of my friends (some of you are hilarious, by the way) and then fall in love all over again with blogging.

I guess I did that tonight.

I also take pictures, dozens and dozens of pictures each month.  They are carefully stored on my computer and there they sit.  Doing nothing.
Does anyone out there scrapbook?  I can't bring myself to do all the froofy cri-cut stuff where you have all these paper accoutrements in awesome layers angled around each other on the page...with one picture.  But I can handle it if it's just cutting and pasting and writing cute stuff and adding some fun paper with stickers or something.  And yes, I'm 12.
But I have NO scrapbooks of my children, just boxes and folders and computer files full of mementos.  Will someone please come and organize me so I can make scrapbooks for my children?  (Yes, mom, I agree, we need to get my craft room in order so I have a place to work.  Will you come over one night after the kids are in bed and do it with me?  Will my neighbors too?  That'd be great. Thanks.)

What other random thing can I bore readers with....food?  My kids love barbecue sauce.  Which is why, every day that I teach piano lessons and I finish right at dinner with no time to prepare anything we eat quesadillas with some kind of meat and barbecue sauce.  Doesn't matter what else is in it, they'll eat it if there's barbecue sauce.  Come to think of it, I'm kind of like that with chocolate sauce.  Or Nutella.  I've eaten that on tortillas before.  I guess it's true about apples and trees and all that.
(Speaking of which...about piano lessons, not about barbecue or chocolate sauces or Nutella or even apples...if anyone's interested I'm teaching piano again...)

See, this is why I don't blog more.  I could bore anyone to tears without even trying.  

I'm trying to declutter.  I got this burst of energy the last 10 days or so that translated in my brain as "you have too much stuff and your house is messy and unorganized and cluttered and wouldn't you like to live in a place that looked like it belonged in a magazine with only a few tastefully selected items on each surface and all color coordinating and bringing life and energy into your living space?"  My head voices are long-winded like that.  Of course, I can declutter all I want.  I will never be able to make a house look like it belongs in a magazine.  I need to bring in some talent for that.  One thing at a time...first I have to convince my husband that it's OK to throw things away.  The stories I could tell of the things he keeps ("we could totally use that!") and after months of sitting on a desk, the floor, a bookshelf, it hasn't been touched and I just throw it away.  See?  He never even misses it.  (Except that he does occasionally check on this blog and might actually KNOW that I do that stuff now.  I love you sweetie!  Let's go watch 'Hoarders' k?)  Just trying to do my part for our family.  Keeping my sanity, that's what's good for our family.  (On a related note, I found a website that is currently my inspiration: Discardia.  If any of this un-cluttering nonsense appeals to you, check it out.  It made me happy.)

There is quite a list of things that I'd like to work on, improve, change as this year begins.  I never actually made a list of resolutions or anything like that, it's more like just a feeling of things changing or getting ready to change, of wanting to be different somehow.  Better different.  That obnoxious, talkative burst of energy that pushes me to become more how I envision myself and less how I apathetically settle into life.  Does that make sense?
However, it is 9:00 and I'm feeling more settle-ish than energy-ish so I'm settling in for the night to watch (again) "Once Upon a Time" from this week. *excited giggle*

What about you?  How do you make changes to yourself or your life, especially on those long days where all you want to do is put in a movie and fade into oblivion???

5 comments:

  1. I'm about one step away from being deemed a hoarder. Seriously, have you seen my study? Horrifying. I always think that I might actually want to see a piece of paper again, instead of just throwing it away. Sigh. Anyway, congrats on starting to teach piano.

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  2. Do you know what I would do if I didn't already have shelves full of scapbooking supplies? Digital scrapbooks all the way. It's SO much cheaper and easier (especially trying to get something done with babies or toddlers around). I really like Picaboo as far as options, but Shutterfly, Kodak, and many more also offer them. You can keep it as simple as you want - the important thing is preserving the memories and getting the pictures out where the family can see and enjoy them, right? (:

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  3. I like to scrapbook, but I'm with you--I can't spend two hours on one picture. I consider myself a minimalist when it comes to scrapbooking, but the reason I still do it is that I love to dedicate myself to reliving that moment of the pictures I'm scrapbooking. And I love looking back through them.

    I'll come over and help you organize!!! (Although you might not want me if you could see my scrapbooking space.)

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  4. Jeana, it's a deal! You come help me and I'll come help you if you want to organize! We can motivate each other. Otherwise another year will come & go and my poor room downstairs will look just the same.

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  5. Erin, You're funny. On the decluttering note. I think of your apartment in KL - now THAT was minimalist! As for blogs, I just try to put my photos in the right month folder and when I get to it, I'll upload the most comment worthy ones. (That means the ones with funny stories or food. :)) Photos are always good! On BBQ sauce. Just in the last year did my kids stop singing "BBQ Sauce!" from the Arby's jingle. It's a good thing. :) Good luck and keep writing. I enjoy the posts!

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