I'm Alive

Wow, it's already ten days into 2010.  Needless to say I've been busy, you know with the whole trip to Pensacola and then to Nawlins, but Honey I'm back.

First up, my trip back to P'cola was great.  I love getting to see my grandparents down there, and as a bonus my aunt and cousins got to see my mother can't stand up drunk.  Luckily my stay only overlapped with my mother's stay for two days and one of those days I took the car and left for two hours and then went over to my aunts for dinner to minimize the overlap.

Then I rented a car and drove to Nawlins.  It was a wonderfully pleasant drive, oh how I miss the south and can't wait to get back down there in May.  I stayed the same place I stayed last New Year's and as always it was wonderful to be a block from Canal St.  I rented a moped and drove over to Metairie to do some apartment hunting.

Seeing the studios in person really helped me to see where I can make more reductions in my life and even though I thought I was done decluttering, I'm happy to have a renewed spirit for my move which does include more reductions (hey, less stuff means an easier move, right?).  Sadly it was raining while I was apartment hunting and had a minor wipe out.  Thankfully it was just my pride that took the biggest injury.  I was more worried about whether or not my jeans where ripped than the fact that my knee was skid.  Since I only have one pair of jeans I need them for waitressing it was a very good thing that they weren't ripped.

I had to cut my Nawlins trip short since I'm waiting tables and couldn't get away with missing Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day, so I flew back on New Year's Eve, which really isn't a big deal for me since I'm not a big partier nor do I live for fireworks (though they are fun if I'm not too close that they booms hurt).  I made it back to my apartment about 30 minutes before the ball dropped for the east cost.

While I was away I got two calls for interviews which I wrapped up on Friday.  The first interview was for CBP as government position.  It was actually with a bunch of people that I know so I feel really good about it.  I should hear back from that one in two weeks with a tentative selection offer.  The other interview was for Catherine's (same parent company as Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Petite Sophisticate).  I got the call yesterday and I got the job.  It's only part time, but they don't have a full staff at the moment.  I start training next week up in Springfield while the new store is being renovated from a Petite Sophisticate to a Catherine's.

Also one of the guys I'm waiting tables with is going to move into the master bedroom as soon as he gets his second job.  He's coming over today to look at it, but basically said he need to get out from his mother's and it's just a matter of getting the second job.

So while things are still going to be tough for the next month or so there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Moped/Scooter Purchased!

Well I did it.  I've got me a shiny new (to me) scooter.  Ok, technically Zoe is a motorcycle, but only cause she's got a 150 cc engine.

I've paid down Baby Car and am just waiting for the payment to clear (by Thursday) and then Baby Car is going to CarMax.

December Challenges

Alight, so I'm actually getting to posting my December Challenges in a timely manager this month. So without much futher ado, here they are:
→Clear out unused furniture
→Eat three meals a day
→Make own solid deodorant
→Reduce beauty routine (make the minimal used now even less)
→Sale baby car
→Use up pre-packaged items in apartment

First up is getting the bed frame and dresser that are no longer in use out of the apartment. Currently they are both sitting in my living room as a painful reminder to harass my dad to come pick them up or to ask one of the ladies from my women's group to help me take them to my parents house.

Next up is one of my new lifestyle/health changes.  The focus is on simply stopping and eating something three times a day.  I'm not worried about what exactly I'm eating or if it's enough, the focus is simple to get my body used to eating three times a day.

Next, I'll be making my own solid deodorant from coconut oil, provided I use up the last tube of deodorant that I still have hanging around the apartment

Then, it's on to my beauty routine.  I've finally found a no 'poo shampoo that my scalp likes and an amazing vinegar rinse that got my locks manageable.  Make up is down to chap-stick when my lips are dry or a touch of lip-gloss and eye-shadow when I want to feel like I'm glammed up.  I've forgone any extra moisturizer for my face, I just don't need it.  Now I'm still trying to find the perfect face wash: honey or LUSH's Baby Face solid.  Once I settle on this I can check this off my list.

The next big lifestyle change for me is selling baby car.  Now I can't go without any transportation, public transportation just isn't reliable enough and I'm not able to handle the hills on a bike (nor am I in any type of physical shape to manage biking locally...just not there yet).  So I've decided on a moped.  Much more economical (for the environment and my wallet) than baby car.  I've actually looked at one last week at a little mom and pop shop and will own it as soon as I've sold my car (will definitely have it in the next two weeks!!!!!!!!!).

And as always I'll continue using up the pre-packaged items in the apartment and replacing them with either homemade or Earth-friendly alternatives.

November Wrap Up (a little late)

November was a bit of an off month, to say the least.  The November Challenges that finally made there way up to the leader-board were:

→Make own solid deodorant
→Use up pre-packaged items in apartment
✔Cut my own hair and bangs
✔Make tooth powder instead of using tooth paste
✔Tolerate Green Smoothies

I'm going to give myself a pass for not completing four challenges since November turned into the "get Hope out of her depressed state" month and "get Hope working on her final paper" month.  Let's just say thank goddess for antidepressants, cause if you were depressed and had to pay for antidepressants without insurance it sure would make you depressed (nearly $400 0.o).  Towards the end of the month I began feeling like my old self and then completely freaked about my paper.  Though I'm happy to report that I'm currently at 34 pages of the 40 page requirement.  Alright, before I ramble on too much more lets get to the challenges that I attempted:

→Make own solid deodorant So this one didn't happen yet, only because I found more deodorant when I went on a middle of the night cleaning spree (more to come on this later), but I did finally find and acquire all the ingredients for this, so it's only a matter of time for this one.

→Use up pre-packaged items in apartment Still an on-going battle, but I am down to my last roll of paper towels and finally on the absolute last tube of deodorant.
✔Cut my own hair and bangs There were lots of hair trims this month, still not great but better than nothing
✔Make tooth powder instead of using tooth paste I definitely succeeded in this endeavor, though I had to add an extra 10 drops of peppermint oil and it's still a little on the icky side but I can definitely handle it better now.
✔Tolerate Green Smoothies nuff said about this already

I'm still struggling with my insomnia, and let me tell you depression and insomnia are not a fun combo.  But I'm back to my old ways of handling my insomnia: massive cleaning sprees.  Ok, so we all know how I've moved out of the master bedroom in my two bedroom apartment and into the smaller bedroom.  Well, I still had quiet a bit of stuff just hanging out in the master bedroom.  So since I still don't have a job I'm trying to rent out the master bedroom (still no luck there), which meant that I needed to finish cleaning out that room.  The biggest culprit of stuff still hanging out in there was the bathroom.  Remember when I said I thought I had successfully decluttered the majority of the bulk from the apartment?  Well apparently I was wrong when it came to the bathroom.  I found all sorts of stuff I had no idea was even in the bathroom, like a unopened back of cat litter. Well after three days of purging I'm happy to say everything fits in the one half bath without the counters and cabinets overflowing.  There are still somethings I could probably toss, like my caboodle and my make up that I only were once in a blue moon but I did empty the caboodle and only kept my green eye shadows and favorite lip glosses/chapsticks.

No, My Paper Hasn't Killed Me Yet...

but there were definitely a few days/weeks that I felt like the pressure was going to.  I've finally gotten my spirits up, have some motivations, and have a plan.  So after my one day pass not to work on my paper turned into a four day pass I've got to crank out two chapter this weekend and then I won't be technically behind.

Other than that I've had to take a hard look at my finances and see where I can make cuts, so I will be trading in my car before the month is out to get my car payment down. I've already cut out Netflix and reduce my cell phone bill by $40. I'm trying to sell one of my time shares, and will be talking with the time share company for my other about selling it back.

But in other more exciting new I've made a big decision: I will be moving out of Virginia when my lease is up (May 25). I have decided to really overhaul my life which has started with getting me eating three times a day (like I should be) and getting me active again.

After New Years I will be looking for the first retail job that I can find that will hire me (I no retail experience). My current dream job is to work in the Apple Store (and eventual get enough training to become a Genius Bar Genius, but I'm willing to working my way up through the retail bitch food chain and put in some long hard hours) and to bartend at night to make up the difference in pay/for extra cash on hand.

So where will I be moving? New Orleans. Which means while I'm there for New Years I will be making my housing arrangements, a studio apartment. Why New Orleans (besides the obvious, they have a Apple Store)? Because it's about three hours from my grandparents and aunt: close enough I can go visit but far enough to deter them from constantly being in my business.

I'm also very excited to being having a Florida Christmas this year. I used some of my school money for plan tickets to Pensacola for Christmas and then I'll get dropped off in New Orleans for New Years and fly back from there.

Well, I've got two of the nephews here so I'm gonna run.

Tooth powder

Alright, I've been MIA for a few weeks while I tried to cope with everything that's going on.  I was hoping that a few weekend trips to see friends and be around people would be enough to pull me out of it, but it just made going back home that much harder.  After spending the last couple of days in bed until late in the afternoon, I convinced myself that I need to have another trip and work on my paper at the same time.

On a happier note, I finally finished all my tooth paste so I've finally made some tooth powder.  Here's the recipe I used:

• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 6 drops of peppermint oil

I'm a free woman, so to speak

I made it through the last days in the office and officially signed my termination release from my company. I'm a free woman, so to speak.  On Monday the fun and joys of my Directed Research Project begins, so I've given myself a few days to slack off and catch up on that much needed sleep that I just haven't had the luxury of having.  I met with my on campus adviser on Thursday and have a plan of attack for my DRP.  Today I hit the grocery store and got some more green smoothie supplies.  And I even managed to handle a little more spinach in my last one!  I've moved into the second bedroom and have just a few things left in the master bedroom and closet.  I'm slowly working on moving the remainder of my things from the master bedroom half bath to the hall half bath.  The decluttering effort is almost complete.  I'm extremely happy that I'm living in one less room and not tripping over crap.  I'm confident by the end of the month I'll be able to confidently check off "declutter apartment".

Check: Sale oversized desk in living room

It's day three and I'm still going strong! I've just completed the sale for my oversized L shaped desk in the living room, and at the first asking price! I'm so ecstatic. For the moment the living room looks bare, but I'm hoping to tackle the carpet with a good cleaning (and hopefully removal of stains) before I start moving things into the living room once again.

I've also so far kept my fast food ban and no meat challenges, though I had to get a little inventive when I had to go to a doctor's appointment yesterday during my lunch break. But I managed. The fast food ban is the one that really tempts me, though finding something healthy on the run did challenge my creativity. I now have to lunches out next week, so finding meatless options will definitely keep me on my toes.

Now that I have a little money in my pocket I'll be hitting the grocery store for some green smoothie ingredients.

Check In from Day 1 of October challenges

Today is the 274th day of 2009 and according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac there are 81 Days until Winter on this 1st day of October. And I have progress on the decluttering the apartment front! I have officially moved into the spare bedroom and am working on clearing out the master bedroom. And out goes the mattress tonight and in comes some $$. So far the futon couch has turned out to be very comfy and not bother my back even when insomnia sticks (like last night, which lead to a middle of the night bathroom cleaning spree). I’ve also got a potential buyer for my desk at my first asking price! I thought I may have to come down on the price. Hopefully this comes through and out the door it can go. One day in and I haven’t caved on the fast food ban, it will be harder next week when I have work, chiro appointment and then meditation with only about 1 hour total in between after traffic. But it will also be my last day of work as the funding issue is going to be ongoing for at least a couple of months. So I’m gonna work on my last paper for my masters and see what happens. I’m actually relieved that I can focus on that and getting me healthy. Reiki here I come.

October Challenges

Well, tomorrow starts a new day and it’s time for a new set of challenges to add to my 52 Weeks collection. First up will be the on-going challenges and my one carryover challenge:

→Declutter apartment room by room – Here I should probably differentiate between clutter and cleanliness. The two are not mutually exclusive, like I would consider my apartment to be clean but cluttered. So the goal here is to move to that more is less mind frame and actually reduce the amount of stuff I have. It’s about evaluating what I have into what I need and use or what I want but don’t use.
→DivaCup Mastery – October will be my second month of my DivaCup challenge. A recap is that I want to use my DivaCup for two full days of my cycle for two months before I make a decision to incorporate the DivaCup into my monthly routine or just break it out on occasion. I’ll give a full report on this either the end of October or early November.
→Give away/sale oversized desk in living room – This is my one carryover from last month that I was hoping to have completed by October 1. I have finally cleared away everything on the desk and posted the desk for sale, now it’s just a matter of getting a buyer. I’ve got my fingers crossed that this will be sold quickly.
→Use up pre-packaged items in apartment – Slowly but surely the pre-packaged, chemical filled items are being used up. I’ll continue to post on the bigger items that are replaced by eco-friendly alternatives.

On to the October specific challenges! This month it’s all about getting me healthy.
→Ban fast food – I have a fast food problem. It’s easy and convenient, but oh so bad for me and that’s why I have to declare a fast food ban.
→Begin a daily meditation – I do a guided meditation once a month and love how relaxed I feel even on the days that have been crazy. A daily meditation will force me to stop and slow down from the fast pace I tend to live at.
→Eliminate meat from my diet – This should be fairly easy since I have stopped preparing meat at home and with the fast food ban I will be enforcing. The only temptation will be when I eat at a restaurant (which I already know I will have to on the 7th) but should not be all that often.
→Introduce Green Smoothies into my diet – This will by far be my hardest challenge of the month as I do not like vegetables. Lettuce you can forget me even trying that one again, but I will give metallicy spinach another try with lots of berries to try to cover the taste and hide the color. My goal for this challenge is to do a 1-2-3-4 approach; 1 green smoothie in the first week, 2 green smoothies in the second week, etc. and hopefully by week 4 I’ll have changed my mind on spinach (as least in a smoothie).

September Wrap Up

Well, September is finally winding down. It feels like an incredibly long month with all the uncertainty and emotional ups and downs with the job situation. But I have survived, and I’m actually looking forward to an extended break from work to finish my masters and work on getting me healthy (which is the theme for October’s challenges). So on with the recap of how I’m doing with my challenges.

✔Get that body moving -- I have worked the Five Tibetan Rites in about 15 days this month. The idea was more, but I’m happy to have made progress. I will continue to try and work them into my new daily routine.
✔Shut down and unplug electronics -- I’m happy to report that this challenge turned out to be one of the easiest of the month with the exception of my desktop. This week the shut down script gets modified with an earlier time and I will be removing the desktop from my sleeping quarters at some point this week.
✔Switch to eco-friendly dish detergent -- This again was easy as I don’t use my dishwasher very often. I have noticed that I need to be more careful and pre rinse some items. But I am other wise happy with the switch and will continue to use it.
✔Turn down the AC and keep it down -- The positive effect this had on my electricity bill has proved that the heat is well worth the cost. I’m just hoping as the cold weather sets in I’ll be able to keep it up, maybe the down stairs neighbors will keep their heat up high and that will help. And I have my down comforter back and that will definitely keep me toast.
→Declutter apartment room by room -- Progress is still slow on the home front of decluttering, but I did finally manage to clean off the desk in the living room which was a huge feat. This one remains open but with the amount of time I will be spending at home starting in October I suspect this will quickly be managed. I also managed to sell a few things on Craig’s List that either I no longer needed (the TV stand) and items that had never been opened.
→DivaCup Mastery -- I’ll let you know how this goes after the two month experiment is over.
→Give away/sale oversized desk in living room -- The desk is going up on Craig’s List tonight. I can’t believe that it’s finally cleared off. That was probably the biggest battle in completing this challenged.
→Use up pre-packaged items in apartment -- Slowly but surely the prepackaged items are making their way out of my apartment. This morning I finished my mouth wash and my never ending supply of tooth paste is dwindling (though I actually got a travel size tube in the mail last month..crazy!).

I thought I’d also give an update on how I’ve progressed with my challenges from August.
✔Give away TV -- I have no regrets about this one. My desktop functions perfectly as my movie station and I didn’t have cable before so I’m not loosing access to anything.
✔Give up using handicap parking spaces -- I still struggle with this one as I try to use other spaces, but when pressed for time or just feeling lazy when there is a crowd I have used the handicap parking. I’m aware now and will double my efforts even on the crappies of days to look a little harder.
✔Switch to eco-friendly laundry detergent -- I love the smell of the laundry detergent. It last a good while and my clothes seem to be holding up with no new issues.
✔Take unused items to the Salvation Army -- I have a few boxes in the need to take now mode, but over all I’ve been doing good with continuing to donate to the Salvation Army.
✔Unplug and Freecycle flat iron -- The only times I miss the flat iron is on days I’m lazy and don’t feel like taking the time to do my hair. But I do enjoy the slight lessening of clutter in the bathroom.
✔Use Freecycle and Craig's List to declutter apartment -- See above, I’m making progress and I’m pleased as punch with myself for the effort.

Good Bye TV Stand

Though I would have loved to have spent the entire weekend decluttering my apartment, I have to say I did not. Instead I had a movie feast in bed most of the weekend with a major headache and then insomnia.

I did however manage to wash a load of dishes, and do three loads of laundry. And I managed to sell my empty TV stand. I also pulled a few things out of the spare bedroom for the living room. The cat tree is finally in use again by the cats (much to their excitement) and I pulled out my rocking chair. This opened up a bit more space in the over crowded second bedroom and allowed me to be able to open the closets in there.

I applied for a government job on Friday, and discovered that I needed a copy of the transcripts and spend most of Friday running around trying to get a fax of the transcript sent in, but no such luck apparently transcripts aren’t fax by any school which kinda sucks because the transcript had to be faxed in for the application and they wouldn’t except a mailed copy. The announcement closes today so I’m hoping an unofficial copy of the transcript will be ok and I can fax the official transcript when it arrives later this week.

One of my former co-works is looking for a mattress and box spring set, and I’m thinking of selling mine and just sleeping on the futon sofa. I had been planning on getting rid of the mattress anyway when I move (be in overseas or when my lease is up). I have until the end of the month to make the decisions. I’d like to get some more cleaning/decluttering done before I make that final decision.

The Power of Postive Thinking

So I was feeling a little down for myself with this whole "woe is me, I might not have a job at the end of the month" blues I can't kick and I was reminded of the power of positive thinking last week. I'm a complete believer in the power of positive thinking, but I had subcomed to the negative impact the human species tends to have on thinking. Positive thinking is not an easy task when I'm freaking out (however big or small) about how I'm going to manage until my next paycheck, then realize that I may be a month out before I have any cash on hand for staples like groceries (granted my pantry isn't barren yet). So commence positive thinking. Here on in it's not if I have a new job or when I have a new job, it's my new job.

One of the things that really help propel me with my positive thinking is working with my less is more mantra. Apparently the universe was trying to give me a sign as one the blogs I read regularly had a link to the following article at Mindful Mama. Ok, before you go "but you don't have kids Hope!" just click the link.


Did ya?


Sometimes I need a little reminder that less is more, especially when I'm feeling the financial crunch like so many other Americans.

First step in getting me out of my funk is re-instituting the script on my iMac that forces it to shut down at a certain time. Why you may ask. Because if I'm sleeping I can't be freaking out and it will give my body the much needed rest to try and heal from it's everyday abuses or this nagging sinus infection that three weeks on.

Next step reduce. I'll be going back to the kitchen and see where I can reduce in there as I can't seem to get my sink empty for trying these days. Then it's on to complete the declutter of the living room. Then off to the spare bedroom, which wasn't looking too shabby the last time I dared to look when I opened the door. Then it's off to the bathroom which is looking better, but there is always room for improvement. And finally back to by bedroom and closet.

Third step, make sure I'm not cooped up in the apartment when I'm not freezing my buns off at work. I'm actually doing pretty good at this one, I just got to balance running like a mad woman during the week and refusing to leave my bedroom on the weekends.

100 Hits!

I hit 100 yesterday on my counter!

In other news, I'm exhausted and dead tired from a roller coaster week. Thank goodness it was a short week and I had given myself an extra-long long weekend. The sinus infection is still raging war giving me a lovely sinus headache.

However, I am doing my best to keep my spirits up, and was kindly reminded last night at my women's circle to keep thinking in the positive. Set my intention that the job is mine and let the universe catch up to that kind of thinking.

So far I feel I'm doing good on my September challenges 10 days in. The AC at the apartment has not been touched since August 30th, and I haven't died from heat exhaustion yet, but that's probably because it seems the heat has finally given way to the beginnings of autumn (at least this week anyway). Lamps are now officially the only items continuously plugged in that are not on surge protectors, but do happen to be in the plugs connected to the light switches; everything else is unplugged until needed. I've also got a few things listed on Craig's List to help declutter the apartment, but after the initial posting buzz I haven't find a buyer (that actually shows up). I'll give them a couple more days before I give way to Freecycle. My goal for this weekend is to finally finish clearing off the desk in the living room. It's no where near as bad as it was originally, but it's still not cleared off so it can be sold. I did fantastic my first week doing the Five Tibetan Rites, but my long weekend saw me skip a few days and getting back in the habit felt a little off kilter. But I persisted and increase my reps and feeling good about my body moving.

My War on Junk Mail is still going strong, I'm taking one day a week to contact all the junk mail perpetrators. It's still a few weeks before my mailbox will see the benefits but it feels good to be contacting various offenders and telling them to cut it out.

It's Official...

I gave away the last of my "hair appliances". My flat iron was picked up last night by a grateful Freecycler. Giving away my hair dryer was no sweat, I don't think I'd used it in the last six months, but my beloved flat iron was a totally different story.

I've been growing my hair out, well, for forever. But I had the nasty habit of cutting it on a whim to try and even out the layers that hairdressers these days just can't seem to stay way from. But despite the bad, uneven layers I decided to cut bangs back in April to give me something else to obsess over while I gave my hair a real chance to grow. But since I hadn't had bangs since I can't remember, I didn't know what to do to make them submit to my will so I turned to my trusty flat iron. It worked to some degree.

About a two months ago I gave up using any products in my hair, partly because they always seemed to gunk up my hair but mostly because I've just become too lazy in the mornings. Last month I unplugged the flat iron for good and just hoped my bangs would behave. A month on and they have, so I listed my flat iron on Freecycle and it was claimed within 20 minutes.

In the vain of my less is more mantra I've paired down my entire beauty routine to the following:

• Baking Soda (BS) wash
• Vinegar and rosemary rinse
• face wash (if I remember) (soon to be honey)
• LUSH tea tree face spritz for toner (again if I remember)
• whatever LUSH soap happens to be in the shower
• brush my teeth
• honey and sugar scrub (if I want to treat myself)
• lavender water hair and body mist (if I remember)
• lavender deodorant

As far as makeup goes, I'm lucky if I get chapstick most days and when I get "glamed up" that usually just means eyeshadow and lipgloss.

Working on that Decluttering Thing...

Alright, so you already know I’m a hoarder, but I also come from a family of hoarders. It’s positively in my genes. It’s not just my parents, but my entire family: my grandparents on both sides, my sister, my brother, my aunts and uncles, great aunts and uncles, cousins…you get the picture. For someone wanting to improve their life and the environment I’ve been dealt one heck of a hand: I come from a family where they literally place their value on the amount of “stuff” they have. It’s like the stuff they have makes them who they are.

So this past weekend I had one of my nephews, Fatty, and had to drive down to my parents to pick him up after work due to various events that occurred. As I had a “cleaning fit” earlier in the week I asked my sister if she would like my behind the toilet shelving unit thingie that I had finally managed to completely clean off, and brought it down to my parents to get it out of the middle of my bedroom floor and for them to take to her when their Explorer gets out of the shop. The first words out of my mother’s mouth when she see’s this is “Don’t you need that?” My response was I cleaned it off and found stuff on there that I wasn’t using so I gave it away, repurposed it, or chucked it in some other way. The look on her face was priceless, pure horror.

Taking it one step further and revealed I was trying to declutter and learn to live by a “less is more” type of motto. My dad, being dad, simply goes “It’s not in your genes, it will never happen.” My mom on the other hand, I think her head started to spin at this point, sputters out “But that’s your stuff you can’t get rid of your stuff.” I didn’t argue back, instead I inwardly gloated for causing such a ruckus.

Growing up in Florida our house was twice the size (if not more) than the house that we moved into when we moved to Virginia in ’98. But we kept the same amount of junk (crap?) that we had in Florida. My room in Florida was huge! Instead of downsizing our oversized furniture, my mother insisted on cramming it all into (what seemed like) these tiny Virginia rooms. For many years, I thought that Virginia homes were so small and that I wanted to go back to the large stately home I grew up in. In my high school days I was definitely a snob (at least inwardly) about it. Yes part of it is my childhood perception, and the houses/rooms aren’t nearly as big as I remember them. On my last visit “back home” in July ’07 I drove past my old house and it did look smaller, but all the rooms in my grandma and Aunt’s houses still looked huge compared to the Virginia rooms.

It took me until within the last year to really realized that living with more crap than you need is no way to live, and only in the last three-four months have I really gotten brave (emotionally sound) enough to really push back on these concepts that have been forced on me my whole life and say “Hey there’s something wrong with what we’re doing.”

So the moral of my long winded story (if you're still reading) is that I’m gonna keep pushing forward on my “less is more” attempt at life (and watch my mother’s head spin in the process), and maybe just maybe one day soon I’ll be able to actually live in a smaller space and not feel like I’ve got crap overflowing from every possible crevice. I’m definitely motivated by the knowledge that overseas I’ll most likely have to share a room in a trailer. I’m definitely evaluating what stuff I use, what stuff has good memories/emotions connected with it that I want to keep (like Buddy’s—my dad’s aunt who raised him—table and box), and what stuff will be useful to have when I return from overseas (like basic kitchenware—and I mean basic: 1 bowl, 1 plate, 3 cups/mugs, etc.). Hey, at least I’m managing to still downsize. That’s the point right?

Pictures of progress

As promised I have some progress pictures of my decluttering efforts of my desk. First up is what the desk looked like about halfway through the first day of cleaning. Sorry it's a bit fuzzy, my only camera is on my iPhone and I'm a bit shaky too.







Next up is the progress of a hard days work. Still not where i want it, but a heck of a lot better if I do say so myself. And Mr. Bubbles agrees since he doesn't have to lay on top of all the junk that used to be there.







I have since continued to work on the desk and have managed to completely clean off the hutch, go through all the draws and only keep what is necessary, and even got my laptop set up on the desk. But sadly I don't have any pictures at this time. So, instead I will leave you with an introduction to the cats:Starting at the top: Ms. Juliet in all her black hotness, moving on to Mr. Bubbles who you meet earlier, and finally Mr. Oscar the grumpy old man who's been with me for over three years. All three are shelter rescues, with Oscar being the oldest and Bubbles and Juliet are about the same age, though I acquired them from two different shelters about six months apart.

Confesions of a Hoarder

Some may be wondering why I'm so hellbent on my adventure overseas. First and foremost, this is a once in a lifetime learning opportunity: the opportunity to work in network management and not be hindered by compartmentalizing and the opportunity for me to learn and grow.

And not just grow my technical skills. The truth of the matter is I'm a hoarder. I like stuff in my possession, and most of the time it is stuff that I don't need, use, like too terribly much, or have trouble letting go of. Now while I'm getting better at letting go of things, the only real way I'm gonna learn the lesson I need is to be somewhere where I just don't have anywhere to put it or somewhere where I have to literally haul it around with me.

And placing it all in storage is not the answer. I did that when I moved back in with my parents for a year and a half and it was a mess. When I finally moved into my apartment last year I rediscovered stuff I didn't even realize I had, and a good 50% of that was stuff that I don't need.

In trying to train myself that "less is more" I'm working on decluttering my apartment and making many many drop offs at Goodwill and the Salvation Army. I reclaimed my kitchen counter space by selling my small kitchen appliances that I don't use enough to warrant keeping on eBay; like my poor crock pot in which everything I have ever attempted to make in it has failed miserably. I parted with everything but my electric kettle, mini food processor (which I could probably get away without), and my hand mixer.

I cleaned out my fridge and found food that was over a year past it's expiration date and eventually found all the shelves. I also went through all my sewing/crafting boxes/bags/stashes and managed to pair that down to just two small boxes with fabric and patterns and a bag of yarn. The knitting needles are still hanging out in the closet (that way the circular needs don't get tangled or kinked).

I eventual need to get around to my filing, which has overrun from one box into the draws of the tv stand. I'm pretty sure that at least 90% of my "to be filed" can go to the recycling center after it's been through the shredder. But that's still a little to intimidating for me, so I'm off to clean my desk in my bedroom this weekend (I have three desk: 1 that is my main computing station, 1 that's in my bedroom that was my computing station in my first two apartments, and 1 that's the sewing station). If it's not completely clean/decluttered by the end of the weekend, than hopefully I will have made a big dent in the clutter.