Mess, stress and less... words in any order if you will.

I hate mess and anything that resembles mess, unless it is mine, and well, that is, a different story altogether.

It doesn't matter how often I ruthlessly clean out cupboards and kids bedrooms more mess or crap (insert your own preferance here) reappears.  Where the darn heck did all this stuff (or crap) come from?

Specifically I am referring to our latest clothing dryer piece of exercise equipment. Which, by the way, is not crap, but did result in a serious re-shuffle of the house.  The first question by those who have visited our house is 'umm... where did it fit?' Let's just say the couch has now split in two and our dining room is now a lounge room with a kitchen table.  The remainder of the couch is in the lounge room which is now the games/sporting equipment/gym space.  Confused?  Me too.  When did the necessity for all kinds of exercise equipment overtake the need for a lounge room?  No couch potatoes here... no space for that! 

But, I digress.

The re-shuffle invovled space clearing, which involved throwing things out, which involved storing things in one spot until it is chucked or sold.  Which involves a clutter of messes (that's the collective noun I'm using) which equals stress every time I look at these growing piles of where-the-heck-did-that-come-from? mess.

*sigh* this also seems to give free licence to the rest of the family to create more clutter of messes of their own not-to-throw stuff. 

Does anyone else live in a growing / breeding /reappering pile of stuff?

Do you throw, threaten, keep calm or get stressed?

I never wanted to be an events orgaiser

It's 'Sunday morning serenity time' and while I should be greeting the morning with a walk in the park I'm finding the quiet of the study, the house and the neighbours too tempting.  I'm staying put until the children of the house let me know of their presence through TVs being turned on and the despised question of, 'What are we doing today?'  

I always feel like an events organiser on weekends.  Constantly having to devise a detailed and itemised plan of entertaining things to do for the 10 year old critical eye to pass over as she ruthlessly eliminates items off the list.  This is the beauty and the beast of having not only a Gemini child but one who was also born with a bottomless pit of energy.  I often wonder if it was 'Red Bull' through the IV drip during labour instead of pain killers.  The beauty of having an extroverted, eccentric and curious child means that 'quiet, inside play' is a rare treat for the rest of us.  

We constantly try to teach Miss Gemini about the importance of being able to 'amuse' yourself and enjoying your own company while being grateful for the outings and social occasions that occur with others.  She even wrote a list once, a double-sided page to be exact, of 'things to do to amuse myself'.  It was painstakingly developed with input from the family. Not much more came from the list other than the time it took to construct. 

Today's itinerary includes:
1. Bacon and eggs for breakfast
2. Take Joshua to football
3. Drop Tony off to 'A day on the green'
4. Go back and watch Joshua play football (Miss Gemini hates going to football and it usually involves a bribe)
5. Come home and decide what to do for the afternoon (this usually consists of a board game, play in the park or a visit to Mum and Dad's, although yesterday Miss Gemini mentioned she'd like to sew some dresses for her dolls)
6. Cook dinner
7. Watch TV
8. Get Tony from 'A day on the green'
9. Home, shower, bed

Don't fear, as mundane as this list may look it will be edited more than once to keep the troops happy.

But in the mean time - a cup of tea as the warm morning Autumn sun comes through the study doors will stay on my own list of things to do today.

Simply happy.



from Rhonna Farrer's creative mind.

 I never was good at balancing.  Walking those narrow lines between compliance and pushing the boundaries.  It takes too much will power and patience to be compliant all the time, to accept things as they are not as they could be all while pushing the boundaries.  This, at times, can get you into trouble and be frustrating for those around you. 

I'd like to be able to not work where the limitations of compliance extend as far as following the road rules and pushing the boundaries means I can get messy and play with paint all day.

For sometime I have felt 'displaced' with where I am currently sitting, always feeling a little transient.  It's a conflicting feeling.  It reminds me that being accepting in the one job can lead to mundaneness and negativity.  Transiency (is that even a word?) on one hand keeps you interested in seeking out happiness and possibilities, but when it is not tempered by rationalisation it can lead to aggravation, impatience and confusion.  This is where the pendulum of life is currently swinging.  If I'm to change jobs...again... does that mean I am hard to please and too fussy or does it mean that I am constantly seeking other opportunities once again balancing self-doubt and possibility?

The lesson these past six months has been about perception and simplicity.  I thought that taking a 9-5 job would be simple.  How hard can it be?  You get up, get dressed, take the kids to school, go to work, complete jobs set for you and then repeat in reverse.  That's about as simple as it can get.  What this doesn't take into account is that simplicity is not black and white (I thought it was), no, simplicity has many shades of grey.  Simplicity, is what we perceive it to be.  When the kids are getting along and the house is tidy - that makes living 'simple'.  When you know what you are doing in a job and getting enjoyment - that's simple.  Does this mean that what we perceive to be simple is directly connected to happiness? I''m thinking so. That's my conclusion anyway. 

Happiness is at the core of all that we do, are and can be.  It doesn't matter how complicated or busy your life is.  If you are happy, then life is simple, and happiness my friends, requires no balancing skills at all, it just is a way of being.

PL 2011 - Be gone with you!

After spending last night hastily trying to finish PL 2011 I became aware that this supposedly precious memory keeper had turned into a school assignment. One that I was trying to hastily finish for the next day. The Journalling was bland and scarce and ephemera was 'shoved' in wherever it would fit. My project life had become nothing more than an 'olden-day' photo album...sigh :(

Then I became disappointed; this is not what this project is suppose to be about - record keeping because you have to. Each year I say I'm not doing PL again, but there is something about those perfectly cut cards that I just can't resist. Darn my stationery addiction!

With the December pile of goodies sitting ready to be completed today, I'm trying to be less concerned with getting PL 2012 started. But, January is nearly over and I haven't even begun. The OCD is kicking in... This would be a good place to insert my 2012 phrase, 'let go'!

Where does time go? Or are we so busy with life that recording it becomes secondary? Should I really be worried, or should I worry more if I was up to date and my PL looked perfect? Would this be a reflection that I'm documenting more and living less?