What to do?

What To Do?

Last Year's Polar Bear Plunge

Ahh the new year is upon us. Resolution smezolution. I am back in the gym, simply because I have more time. I do not smoke so I can't try to quit that, and the Country of New Zealand would close down if I gave up drinking my favorite Sauvignon Blanc. I hope January is kind to us and moves along swiftly without snowfall on the weekends. If I could possibly request the weather pattern to line up on Sunday night at 8:00 and wrap up by Monday morning at say 10:00 am that would be great.

So how are we going to top 30 days of gratitude and 25 random acts of kindness? How about a month long food drive to fill our town's foodbank with non perishables? Well that is what I had planned, but those plans got shelved for this month. It will have to wait for 28 days in February. Instead I am undertaking 31 days of cleaning and organization in an effort to be a better home maker and underappreciated mother. But hit those Can Can sales and drop in next month.

 January makes me restless with all the extra free time. Which part of my house is going to be ruthlessly demolished and transformed in my crazy winter quest to feed the brain beast? If anyone else is afflicted with this seasonal affliction might I suggest organization as medication. Pick a drawer, any drawer or a closet near you. Bring a very large trash can and begin. If it has been in your closet over a year and you have not worn it, out it goes. Chances are you are not going to be wearing it this year either. By the time you lose the weight to fit back in clothes you are saving , they will be out of season or off the runways, so let it go. And if you do succeed at losing the weight, you know you are going to reward yourself with a shopping spree of new garments, so donate it. If you come across something that has sentimental power like say a wedding dress, pack it away and store it somewhere else. And if you come across a wedding dress and you have tossed the marriage, then donate that too and hit one of the million dating sites advertising this month. Online dating and diet advertisements are taking over. Good news is that those will thin out like the January crowds at the gym.

 I have the hardest time with the kid's closets. I am unwilling to toss out toys in the event they become collector's items in the distant future. Will they really appreciate everything we went through to complete that book of Pokemon cards? Do you know how hard it was for Santa to get his hands on that Charizard card? I also have a blanket chest full of all the cute favorite outfits that I could not part with because I had this great idea to give them to the corresponding child when they decided to have their own kids just for a laugh. I don't think they will find it quite as amusing.

Let the games begin

The New Reveal coming next month

 Well, there it is, my solution to restlessness for the end of January. The cold weather we are experiencing just dumped that messy project in my lap. The arctic blast cleverly disguised as global warming that was whistling under the front door and up the staircase right into my bedroom has finally declared war. Not to mention it was just steps away from the thermostat that was refusing to budge past 64 this week no matter how much wood and pellets we burned.. The problem with this easy  square of renovation is that our house is old, and a simple renovation project in an old house almost always leads to a bigger monstrosity. Remember that movie Money Pit with Tom Hanks and Shelly Long? I would love to get my hands on the hack shoemaker who had the brilliant idea to pour 2 inches of asphalt material and top it with 3 inches of concrete cement with grouted tile on top. A contracter sundae of bad ideas heaped on top of each other leading to a sore back just trying to remove the layers.It took four of us in that little 5x5 space to scrape,hammer, hack and remove in 5 Gallon buckets all the debris. They call it a mud job. I call it a different kind of job.

So a new year brings a fresh start and a brighter future. You can decide every day what the outcome will be.In the news this week a woman I admire said she chooses LOVE in the face of an unthinkable turn of events. I take her challenge and vow to make that choice whenever I am faced with difficult scenarios and circumstances I want so desperately to change. The beauty is, that like those little sprouts I have all that it takes to power through. The ability was planted in me long ago. I simply need to tap into that energy and refuse to settle. It has been said that it takes six weeks to make or break a habit.  Six weeks is truly a short period of time in a long lifeline. The reality is that life is short and the days are ticking away, so we need to live our bliss and love ourselves. Come on people get out of your comfort zone and get it done this year. Do it with LOVE, own it,and make it happen.


 Do not let the sun set on your dreams.

Bee El