Random Thoughts

May was a busy month and it appears that will be stretching into June.  The blog has been feeling deserted.  Whenever I come to post, I have so many things swimming around in my head that I want to post about that I can't seem to get anything down.  So in an effort to clear my head, today I bring you Random Thoughts, Volume 1 (I'm sure there will be more since I am often a random person).

*Joplin, MO has been on my mind a lot in the past ten days.  It feels near to me as we are about a 45 minute drive from Missouri.  Granted it would probably take us 5 hours to get to Joplin.  Regardless, it still feels like something like that could happen here.  Thankfully, I am able to do something.  Another mom in our small town is from Joplin and her family is still there (all are fine).  She and several other community members (many of us part of a mom's group) have organized a drive for supplies.  We will be packing up a semi Sunday through Wednesday of next week and shipping supplies to Joplin.  We have concentrated on toiletries, cleaning supplies, and survival supplies and hope that we make a difference in the lives of families down there.

*My cousin went into premature labor on Sunday and it looked really bad for awhile for both mom and baby.  Thankfully, things turned around in 24 hours and the baby was born safely, about 6 weeks early.  Both mom and baby are doing well.  In fact, he is doing so well that the doctors took him off oxygen yesterday.

*My sister is having a garage sale this Saturday.  This is a great excuse for me to de-clutter and get rid of some stuff.  I have done some de-cluttering, but I just hate it.  I need to do more.  Who needs two dozen shirts?  I mean, my boys would have to dirty several shirts a day and I'd have to be more than a week behind in laundry to really wear that many clothes.  Both of those instances have occurred, but not simultaneously.  Right now the boys are tackling their toys.  Hopefully we can get rid of some stuff so that there is less to take care of.  None of it is coming home.  I will drop whatever is left off at the thrift store on the way home.

*Cub scouts are also having a day at Adventureland this Saturday.  We're excited about that.  I haven't decided if I will be brave enough to don a swimsuit.  Normally I do there, but since there will be so many people I know there I haven't decided yet.  It's supposed to be warm, but the rain chances keep creeping up.  Maybe the chance of rain will keep some of the crowd away.

*I've gotten myself re-involved in two local groups this week.  Clarke County Moms is a group of moms that come together for playdates and to build supports for each other and other moms.  We did some of their activities last summer, but things got too busy for me with some college classes I was taking and then with work and I haven't been to any of their activities for some time.  I took all three boys to the park and picnic day yesterday and we are planning to attend more in the coming weeks.  Also I have been a member of Fiction Addiction (a book club) since its development this winter, but have never actually attended a meeting due to work conflicts.  I like to say I play along at home, as I read the books, but miss out on the discussion.  I went to the meeting last night even though I hadn't read the book (The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb).  I had fun and am excited to attend in July.  Our book for July is Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin.  I'm a few chapters in and will actually be able to discuss this book.  Woo hoo!

*I cleaned my van out this morning.  I threw away a garbage bag full of junk.  It's embarrassing to have trash fall out of the van when we get out, but for now we are trash free.  It really needs a good vacuuming, maybe I'll get that done tomorrow.

*We've started our Summer Bucket List and I'll blog about that in a separate post.  I'm trying to decided if I will blog a certain day of the week about this or just randomly.  It will probably be random, because that's just how we roll.

*It's past time for me to make lunch, so I guess I'd better get to it.  The boys have managed to empty out their toys into a carpet of stuff in both rooms so I might just have to play the mean mom and just start shoving it into garage sale boxes...  <sigh>

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

Spring is on its way! Come March I always abolish all traces of winter from my preschool classroom. I love winter, but by this time of year I am so sick of it! Spring will be here in the next couple of weeks (even though it will be another month before it will feel like spring), so it is time to start thinking about spring cleaning!  


So anyone who knows me, or has been to my house or my classroom knows that I tend to accumulate clutter. And I also tend to need to have all my stuff out where I can see it. Why? I don't know, maybe because I am becoming a bit forgetful and I can't find it when it is put away. Maybe because I am a spur-of-the-moment kinda gal and I need to have my stuff at my fingertips. Maybe because some of my stuff just doesn't really have a place. But it all boils down to... I have too much stuff.


I come from a long line of clutter collectors. My dad, a farmer, saves and collects random pieces of treasure. We cleaned out an out building (it was once a detached garage, but that was before I was born) a couple of years ago and he finally had to leave because he could not part with the stuff that we were tossing. His mother was one of those depression-era collectors of treasures. Her persona had developed during the depression and when she moved into senior housing and we had to pare down her possessions we found a whole cabinet of cool whip containers and the like. She had a gigantic chest freezer and there were cherries from 1972. My mom's mom has every greeting card she has ever received tucked away somewhere. (Mom I know you are reading this, don't freak out--I don't have that many followers and no one will look at us any differently.) And I married a guy whose bedroom when I met him had a path through the clutter from the door to his bed to his closet. His cousin and brother cleaned his room for him and he complained that they threw away bits of speaker wire and, "You never know when you will need just a little bit of speaker wire."


I am in a profession where we tend to accumulate things in the hope to use them someday. That is not a bad thing, but I really need to figure out a system so that I can keep things without the risk of losing the treasures in the closetful of stuff.


So after that meandering train of thought... I found a blog that will help me to focus this month to make some changes. (I also love FlyLady and I may have a post up my sleeve about her someday when I am back on the FlyLady wagon.)

Clean Mama is holding a 'clean sweep' during the month of March, complete with low-key weekly suggestions to help to deep clean and declutter. Love the low key suggestions, because I have learned from FlyLady that I need to take baby steps to be successful.  

I am a bit late to the party so I am pushing her first week's challenge back a couple of days to this weekend. (Luckily I have already got a bit of a start on this, because I've got a lot to do.) This week we are decluttering our clothing. I will keep slogging through all the clothes in this house and separate it out into four categories:

keep and put away in dressers or closets

pack away into totes Colby's clothes that he's outgrown that are good enough for Brody to wear in a couple of years

give away Brody's decent clothes to Drayson and any other clothes to the thrift store

and throw away those items that need to go.

I'm also supposed to start a cleaning routine. Hmmm that will certainly have to be a baby step since there is a lot that needs to be done, but I know I will get sidetracked if I try to do too much.

Who wants to join me? I know I have others that read here that have mentioned the need for this. (ahem, there's two of you specifically, but I don't want to call you out) I'm challenging you to join me and we'll blog about it a bit to support each other.