New Year's Resolutions (32)

As I (literally) enter a new year of life...

1. Act the way I want to feel.
2. A place for everything and everything in its place.
3. Ask questions.
4. Be beautiful.
5. Be prepared.
6. Breathe.
7. Celebrate. Plan celebrations.
8. Consistency.
9. Cut portion sizes, cut junk. Eat real, eat enough.
10. Do it now. Do the next thing. Do something.
11. Everything in moderation.
12. Finish.
13. Good enough is good enough. Done is better than perfect.
14. Go to bed. Get up. Make it.
15. Learn and grow.
16. Let it go.
17. Look after me.
18. Make plans.
19. Move. Move more. Move faster. Keep dancing.
20. Plan to be efficient.
21. Pray as an unceasing ACT of JOY and planning.
22. Put God first.
23. Regard others as better than myself.
24. Read everyday for body, mind and soul (educate myself, challenge myself, learn of God).
25. Share.
26. Sing, listen to music, play and worship.
27. Speak clearly, kindly, politely and quietly.
28. Stay in touch.
29. Stop being so afraid of failure. Stop being afraid.
30. Stop obsessing, stop obsessing, stop obsessing.
31. Unplug and stay connected. Be present.
32. Write lists, while standing... and go.

Project Barn - Day Three-ish

"Project Barn" was abandoned with my big sis' arrival from Oz but in getting back to the grind my aim is that today and only one more will see me finished up with the must-be-done elements of the challenge.

Hubby and my Dad moved the (hastily emptied) craft cupboard from our house into the barn and Hubs also gave the desk-base a good clean. I'll be giving it a second going over today before positioning it, as well as figuring out where the trellis "walls" will go and completing a couple of loads of laundry.

Mostly though I'll be shifting boxes from barn to house today (weather permitting) and hopefully I'll have all our "stuff" moved back into the house by the end of the day and all the craft stuff moved out.

I'll need to brush up the floor around my laundry area and then once the craft cupboard/desk combo and trellis are in place I've only to attach the "curtains" to the back of the glass doors and refill the cupboard with my craft supplies.

So comfy clothes on and off I go.

P.S. Did I mention I've already fallen completely behind on my habits - drat - and another leaf is turned over...

Five Favourites - Randomness

Top of my head "Five Favourites:"

1. Remembering my childhood view from atop the "secret garden" wall, looking at the ploughed fields and dreaming...

2. The feel of my baby boy's cute little bum, nestled in my hand as a brand-new person in those first few minutes of life, almost two-and-a-half years ago.

3. Laughing out loud...the first time I watched Dave Gorman's "Googlewhack," a good stand-up comedy routine, listening to my baby's chuckles as his Daddy teases or tickles him, a funny movie like "Accepted" and hearty giggles with my sisters and Mama over afternoon tea at a posh hotel...

4. The gentle breathing of my semi-conscious hubby and babe abed beside me.

5. Insightful articles with interesting perspectives, "a-ha" moments, thought-provoking, questioning views, writers that make you think and authors that make you question the whys and wherefores and positively inform your "practice."

Head over to Hallie @ Moxie Wife for more "Five Favourites."

#41

Birthday Weekend: Sister Edition

Sunday, is my little sister's 30th so celebrations kick off tonight, with a surprise party which I'll be helping to set up, continue on Sunday, with a family dinner, concluding on Monday, with a girls only afternoon tea. The whole thing is made that much more special as my BIL kicked it off on Thursday with an overnight for little sis in a posh city hotel - only not an overnight with him! He arranged with our older sister (who lives in Australia) for her to be here and she and little sis shared a sleepover Thursday night before our Aussie sis surprised the rest of us on Friday.

We had a double celebration since we got to meet our new niece yesterday evening - she's so little and so cute! And James said "pretty" when asked what he thought of her - awww bless. Her big sis is very impressed with her too. She's in an incubator as her breathing and temperature regulation are a bit off but otherwise she and her mama are doing well. Can't wait for my first cuddle!

"Project Barn" continued yesterday though it'll be taking a break whilst we party and then whilst we spend time with Aussie sis before she jets back home next weekend. So thankful I've gotten a good start on it so I can set it to one side guilt-free.

So plans for today, Sunday and Monday are easily written - enjoy the celebrations and tidy as I go. See you on the flip side, or you know Tuesday...

7QT - The Project Barn Edition

1. "Project Barn" is not taking as long as I first feared thought, it seems when you try to keep "everything" in a big storage space instead of: a) binning it; b) recycling it; c) donating it or; d) finding it an appropriate home, it is actually relatively simply to clear most of the "everything" using those four categories. Multiple trips to the grey bin (rubbish), blue bin (recycling) as well as the four boxes ready to load into the car (donations) can attest to the former statement. The piles gathered in my had-just-been-cleared-dining-room demonstrate that the finding-appropriate-homes category is by far the most difficult!

2. Many of the items in the dining room are frames and artworks, yes MORE frames and artwork! Bless my husband, I think he visibly paled when he saw the new piles of pictures to replace last week's piles of pictures that we had JUST finished hanging. A couple of treasures unearthed include a brass rubbing of Madonna and child (that I did age nine and won a prize for), which fitted perfectly in an old (if sightly battered) A3 frame and has found an albeit temporary home atop our second fridge in 'the barn,' and a late eighteen-eighties (yes 1880s) somewhat damaged A3-sized print that I cut up(!), to fit the bit I liked of it, into a 6x4 inch frame. We still have MANY boxes and books to find homes for but all, except those frames in need of painting, are now in our house and out of 'the barn.'

3. Ripping up empty cardboard boxes is good therapy and clears a lot of floor space.

4. Dust plus dust mask equals a happy and productive mama. Sweeping out a very dusty space without a dust mask and with allergy issues equals a crabby, sniffy, sinus-y, much less productive mama. Just saying!

5. James is going through a bit of a cranky-testing-boundaries-irrational-behaviour period (aren't we all most days), so working on this very physical project has helped me get out a lot of the arrrggghhh. Just a half-hour last night of shifting boxes and tidying up was very therapeutic after about five hours of constant griping. Thank you hubs for allowing me to hand-off dinner time. The grousing included that classic toddler thing of asking for something (his trousers) and then screaming ("no") when given it (them); ah the delights.

6. On the note of tantrums, Mama had a very calm one, yesterday and cancelled plans for free play, at the gymnastics club, this morning. Gymnastics is the epitome of fun to James and our fortnightly outing is cancelled until behaviour improves - harsh but necessary I think. Instead a morning emptying the "top house," to unearth a desk base for my craft cupboard, lies ahead of us as "Project Barn" continues. Once the craft cupboard's in place, my part of the challenge will be (almost) at its end and I might finally have a laundry "room" to call my own.

7. On two completely unrelated notes, Wednesday saw me receive an email that my copy of "Something Other Than God" has a delivery estimate of 12-14th rather than the original 27-29th - yay AND we got a new niece/cousin yesterday, "Zo" is not quite seven pounds of cute and we can't wait to meet her - double yay!

Now jump back to Jen @ Conversion Diary for some more #SOTG news and giggles.

#14

Project Barn: Day Two-ish

Here is yesterday, short and sweet:
Russ began the day with an early morning run when James requested nunkies (a breastfeed) at half past six;
we delivered my BIL's belated birthday gift and a forgotten iPad (my nephews had left in our car - oopsie);
we talked a lot;
had a lovely visit with my Granda;
ate an inside picnic;
James managed a solid hour of napping while we had an impromptu drive through Belfast;
Mummy had a fairly quiet nosey round most of Ikea while Daddy and James enjoyed a dander to nearby Decathlon (and a look at canoes and tents);
we ate meatballs;
shopped (zip-lock-type food bags, MORE FRAMES and trofast toy boxes for the mini nursery makeover - i.e. the removal of the old school cabinet and all my craft supplies and stationary etc.);
drove home;
enjoyed a pleasant chat with my folks before putting the boy to bed;
surprisingly did not collapse into two puddles on the sofa;
went back to work on "Project Barn;"
wrote this and;
headed to bed.

Today James and I will head to the optician's and keep plugging away at 'the barn,' as we work through the day-to-day laundry, habit-building, food prep and finding homes for all the randomness that has needed to return to our house from the barn clearance.

*Must remember to wear my dust-mask today as my allergies have not appreciated the dust one iota - sniff-sniff*

Visiting Great-Granda

My Russ was a very dedicated grandson and visited his much-cherished grandmother at least weekly, until her passing in late 2009, I'm very grateful for his encouragement to visit my grandfather regularly (and his company on visits). Since James' arrival we've enjoyed seeing the interaction between the two, although it has been against the backdrop of seeing Granda become increasingly frail.

My grandfather was a bachelor of around fifty when he married my Nanny, a widow with four grown children and two grandchildren. Robert had been in the army and by then had been a faithful employee of Royal Mail for many years. He was always Granda to us and took great interest in all the eventually ten grandchildren he acquired through marriage. He now is a very proud great-grandad to (currently) seventeen great-grandkids though I think he prefers photographs to visits at times as he's now quite nervous of sudden movements or excessive noise. I have a fabulous memory of bouncing a twirling stick off the top of Granda's head as a youngster, it must have absolutely hurt like the dickens but I don't ever remember his being cross. Despite having lived through a world war and working to defend King/Queen and country he is a very gentle (if fairly grumpy) old man.

Granda wanted to live out his days in the home he shared with my Nanny (his grief over her loss is still fresh after seventeen years) but as his self-care deteriorated he was left weakened and unfortunately/fortunately he moved into a nursing home shortly before Christmas 2013. He has gradually become brighter and stronger since the transition, which is amazing to see as we did not think he would see last Christmas. The other positive note regarding the move is that he is ever so slightly closer to us, though he is still about an hour away. As James grows ever more lively and with respect to Granda's energy levels our visits must be short and sweet (under an hour at most). With petrol prices being what they are we combine visits to Granda with visits to other family in the area or with shopping trips to the nearby 'outlet' or as with today to Ikea for a couple of items and dinner (very handy as it's along our route home).

Last night we prepared a picnic lunch (with a note of what to take out of the fridge) and laid out clothes. This morning we'll set off just after breakfast (Russ is hoping to fit in an early morning training run), enjoy a talkative and scenic drive with plenty of child friendly songs and then visit with Great-Granda. James will enjoy his mid-morning lunch (ham, multi-seeded bread, cheese, celery, dates and a boiled egg) while we visit and a couple of exploratory walks about the nursing home with Daddy to give Great-Granda breaks from rambunctious (or any naughty) behaviour and also allow time for grandfather-grandaughter bonding. After a quick breastfeed/storytime in the car, we'll drive slowly to Ikea with lullabies (possibly "Chant") to send a certain someone off to the land of nod.

James will only have time for a short nap as we drive, though Russ will remain with him at the car if he stays asleep once we're parked. If the weather's agreeable they might be able to enjoy some Daddy-son bonding time at the outdoor park but otherwise the play stations throughout the store are very entertaining as are all the people to watch (and planes landing/taxiing/taking off next door).

I keep an ongoing Ikea shopping list on my phone as I really love their products and we'll return an extra storage box before working our way through onky the little bits and bobs on the current list (incuding the ubiquitous meatballs). Mid- or post-shop we'll enjoy a meatballs and mash dinner in the restaurant before heading home for jammies, teeth, stories, milkies and bed. Perhaps bed for all three of us as yesterday was exhausting for me and Russ will have begun today with a run and then driven the length and breadth of the country.

I'm really looking forward to this visit as we haven't been down since February! Alas every opportunity to visit has found one or other of us with a cough or cold which you just can't be bringing into a nursing home. Hopefully James' vastly increased vocabulary since then will make up for our absence.

Tomorrow will be day two of "Project Barn" after a trip to the optician's to see about the next size of glasses for James.