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“From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!”
― Dr. Seuss, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Missing Summer

“In summer, the song sings itself.”  William Carlos Williams

The Weather is nice today. But I miss Summer.

The Etsy Plunge

I did It I got an Etsy shop. Come visit me there.

www.etsy.com/shop/redneckliber

What I have been Creating

Yarn and Fabric and Soap Oh my!!!

Leg Warmers for Under my boots. I think it looks so great so I made some.

My latest Soap creations.

The top one is Spearmint Orange it smells so nice. It helps to get you started in the morning. It is refreshing and through out the day I will go in and smell it to give me a quick boost.

The bottom one is Tea Tree Peppermint Bastille. I learned a new soaping term. Bastille means Mostly Extra Virgin Olive Oil but not all. that one is 70% Olive Oil and 30% Coconut Oil so it lathers.  I made it for sensitive Acne prone skin (like me)

I also made a nice lotion called Breathe Easy but no pictures just yet. I works like Vick Vapo rub but without the yucky petrol chemicals.

So much fun.

Changes, Chances and Challenges

I have not posted for a while now and for that I do apologize. Flylady has gone out the window. I know, I really do try. I do however have a few really good habits from the experience and I may do it again some day. I make sure all dishes are clean before bed, I get my clothes out the night before for the next day and I am decluttering slowly but surely. But on my own time and in my own way.

We got through Christmas. and it was a really nice peaceful Christmas.

I stopped drinking diet pepsi (again) But I do think I have got it this time. I don’t think I will go back. I feel so so SO good. I feel great, my anxiety is all but gone. I have it still but only in certain situations instead of ALL the time, and I am sleeping so well. I am actually scared to try it again. But I have gained 7 pounds. In the cravings I graze, hence the extra 7 pounds, but my main focus is to get over the addiction then to focus on the weight. One step at a time.

I turned 34 and it was a bit of a shock but I got over it quickly. I like who I am right now, I haven’t been able to say that too many times in my life. I like what I am creating. I am being an individual maybe a bit late but I like who it is turning into.

I also am taking a chance with Etsy. I started my own Etsy shop to sell my soaps, potions, and lotions. It was a stretch for me as it was like saying, “I think I am worth something” Which is hard for me to do. But do it I did.

So that’s my life in a nutshell at the moment.

Thanks for reading.

Fain, Fault lines, and Fairness

So I need to confess. I have not been doing flylady quite as religiously as I had hoped. Things were going well I was getting dressed, I was being on time for appointments, hot spots were being put out!

But then it happened. I went out. I got home late and didn’t get my clothes out for the next day, then I slept in.  I woke up late and had to rush, no swiping the bathroom, no emptying the dishwasher, no load of laundry done. It felt as if the day was shot and therefore the rest of the week up in smoke.

So it seems to be a perilous line this being organized. One that takes great balance and some skill.

I do have quite an uphill battle, one yes that I agreed to live and still agree to live. I do have 6 kids, 12 and under, I do homeschool them, we have one income. These are my self chosen campaigns. In which I need to realize they are messy, they don’t clean up after themselves, and dang it all homeschooling is messy, especially if you have a great learning day.

But there are things I can do to help, there are strategies I can employ to assist. I just need to do them. I am quite honestly my biggest obstacle.

I can walk out the door.

I have been cleaning my front entrance. It is still far from perfect but amazingly I can walk out the door. I took 3 bags of garbage out, two bags of clothes, and a box of “stuff” to give away. So I feel lighter already. It makes me happy when I get home from something and I don’t have to step over 8-10 things before I reach the end of the front entrance, AND I am not embarrassed when someone comes to the door unexpectedly.

Tomorrow I will take a picture of my control journal that I started, and the ones by girls have started.

The Power of 15 Minutes

Well I have been dressing to my shoes and shining my sink. I have even involved my kids in the sink shining and some of them love it and some of them roll their eyes at me. But whatever.

Today I started the 15 minute declutter. I set the timer and away I went. The only problem was I kept going after the timer went off.

I am going to say this is OK because, it is the getting started that is hard, and when we give ourselves permission to stop after 15 minutes it is easier to get started. I did not go for perfection. I only decluttered in the front entrance for 45 minutes. But I got rid of 2 garbage bags of garbage and a box full of donation stuff. So all in all it was a good day.

There were also bags of clothes dear friends have dropped off in that hall way so I finally went through it and got some cute stuff and got rid of the rest. Can I count bags of other people? If so I got rid of 3 big bags of clothes as well.

But that 15 minutes idea is powerful. Flylady says you can do anything for 15 minutes and she is right. I can do 15 minutes, and I did 15 minutes 3 times over today. I did make myself stop and I didn’t obsess over it. Which I think is part of my problem. I often think, if it can’t be perfect I am not even going to try, but today I did something!

You can get A LOT done in 15 minutes.

I often would put off a  job because I thought it would take forever. I would think to myself, “I don’t want to do that it will take ALL DAY!” whiny voice included, but now I am trying to say to myself “15 minutes but that’s it man!”

The power is in the 15 minutes!

My year of living Flylday Update

So it is going well so far. I have been waking up and getting dressed to the shoes. I had been keeping my sink shiny until last night. I went out and had a girls night with some awesome friends. We laughed, we giggled, we solved the worlds problems, then I came home.

Apparently the idea of the shiny sink has not caught on with everyone else in the house, or the idea of non sticky counter tops and food being placed in the refrigerator.

So today I face my first realistic obstacle in the house cleaning dilemma, and that is called family. Usually I would give up and “say screw it I can’t beat them all”, “this is pointless” or “why even bother? I am outnumbered 7 – 1″.

So instead of living in a horrifically disorganized house or never leaving again, I need to come up with a plan. I can NOT go back, I have committed myself and it will happen!!

My plan consists of including them in the process. I know it sounds extremely simple and obvious but, we must remember, I am an organized person in training. I plan to print out all the baby steps for us all and making control journals for each of the kids as the steps come along. Teach them as I teach myself. A very simple yet complex thing to do.

Now the question I ask myself is……Is it wrong to make one for Hubby as well?

And How are You?

I have sat down to write a few times today but have been side tracked each time.

First it was “Ow THAT HURT….WAAAA!!!……MUUUUM!!!”

Or “I had it first” “No I had it first” “Give it back” “I HAD IT FIRST!” “NO YOU DIDN’T”………”MUUUUM!!!!”

Or one of my personal favourites:

Lots of kids giggling, laughing, running.

thud thud thud…..CRASH

Then total and complete dead silence.

I will admit I pause at the silence to see if someone will scream.