De-cluttering - still!

If you've been here long, you know that I/we have recently tackled this downsizing and de-cluttering thing. I read about it often, I think about it AND I try to do it. I have much to learn about doing it better. So I keep trying.

Reading through yet another piece on the topic this evening, I realized that I was feeling a little... I don't know... Maybe a little smug. I guess I was nodding my head and thinking "yep, yep; it sure is nice to live with less" - and I was probably thinking that this might not apply to me right now.

A year ago I was in the middle of a HUGE de-cluttering project. Way too big and taking way too long because I was dealing with a lifetime of piles and bins and boxes. But right now, I'm out here on the road on the other side of the country in our little casita with only the stuff that fits in this 29-foot fifth-wheel trailer! Yay! I don't have to declutter this year because this place is so small that I have to keep things in order all the time, every day, just to stay sane.

In the midst of reading and nodding my head and feeling grateful that I don't have to deal with clutter this month, I slowly remembered that little vertical shelf unit tucked in next to the refrigerator. It's a great little space to keep my tote bags handy and my caps for sitting out in the sun... and a few other things that I want to have ready for heading out the door... and this and that. Yah, that cabinet. The one where the pile is getting precariously high waiting to topple over when I open the door. That cabinet.

And then there is the little cabinet above the bed that I've been noticing needs some sorting and straightening. Oh, and the under-bed storage. I was going to sort through that stuff and re-pack - putting things that I don't need so often into the new bin I just bought that goes in the underneath cargo compartment. Yep, I need to do that before we hit the road again in a couple weeks.

Oh, dear; I guess I do have some de-cluttering to do. Too much to think about tackling after a busy day. Too overwhelming. Yah, that's what clutter does to you.

But hey, I could do just that one little cabinet...

And so I did! Yippee!!!

Is habit a good thing?

“Habit simplifies our movements, makes them accurate, and diminishes fatigue."

- William James

Thoughts on aging

Looking through some of my old posts I am.
Since this is the month of my birth, I notice the ones about getting old so here they are again.

----

Never resent growing old.
Some are denied the privilege.

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Optimists age like wine....
Pessimists age like milk.

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George Burns:
You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you're down there

----

And the camp-meeting preacher used to speak of furniture disease:
when your chest drops into your drawers.

What a good thing wonder is

Wisdom begins in wonder.

~Socrates

Thankful Thursday: mixed feelings

It feels like too long.
Most of the time it's okay, but today it feels too long.

When we agreed to take this five-month commitment which would become part of a seven-month journey, I was afraid it would be too long. Too long to be away - particularly from the grandkids. They change so fast and I miss them so much. Last night before going to sleep, I grabbed my phone to listen to some of the precious sweet voice memos that I had recorded of my little grand-daughter. We listened and chuckled despite the lump in my throat.

Back in December, when we were deciding about that commitment and making those plans, we thought we would break up the seven months with a trip home to Michigan in April or May - so I thought I could make it. But then we made an unexpected trip home in February so there probably won't be one in May.

Besides missing family, I also just plain miss the month of May in Michigan. It has always been my very favorite time of year. I love the colors of spring - the yellow-green light that came in through the north window from under the canopy of trees as they were budding out for another season of growth, the frothy-pink blossom of the redbud trees and the bright yellow daffodils.

So now it is May and I think I have accepted the fact that I probably won't get back there - the first time in my life to not be in Michigan in May. And now I have a choice about what to do with that fact. I could moan and groan - and I probably will - more than once. In fact, I guess maybe that's what I'm doing at this very moment. But I can also find lots of things to celebrate. After all, I have been able to get the jump on spring this year. I've already been enjoying warm temps. I already have a good suntan. I already have to wash smelly sweaty clothes. I already have to turn on the AC more often than I would like. I get to live in sunny California for yet another month even while preparing to pack up and hit the road for the next adventure. I have no cause to complain.

And I get to be with my youngest daughter for my special days this year - something very much worth celebrating.

I also celebrate modern technology. I love cell phones and Facebook and e-mail and Facetime! Lots of us grandmas originally joined Facebook primarily to be able to keep up with photos of our kids and grand-kids whether near or far away. I especially love FaceTime and being able to tell the little guys good-night and be silly and blow kisses with them. What a wonderful world we live in where we can do such things!

And I have lots of exciting things on my May calendar and on my to-do list - way more things than I will ever be able to get done. Some things will be hard and some will be fun. And some will be both. There will be tears and sadness and there will be celebration. Life is worth celebrating.

So on this first day of May, this first May away from my home state, I choose to have a good month. On this Thursday, there is much for which to be thankful - so that is what I choose.