Playroom...check

Hello again!  I know this is crazy, two posts in a matter of one week.  You might wonder what has happened to me.  Well apparently I have a lot to say.

Today I conquered the playroom.  I know it is not even September yet and I started "the great cleanout."  One room down, many more to go!

The problem with the playroom is there are so many little pieces and they are all shoved in each little crevasse.  None of the games had all the pieces because they had been spilled out and then placed in whichever basket was closest.

Playroom - BEFORE

So it took all day, but I cleaned out each wicker basket, sorted and organized each little piece of everything that was shoved everywhere.  I also moved the "stove" out as Morgan notified me she was "done with that."  Which is good because little does she know about the large puppet stage (she is getting for her birthday next week...shhhh) that is going where the stove used to sit.

Playroom - AFTER (with area cleared and ready for Morgan's Puppet Stage)

So tomorrow I will have an extra large black garbage back out by my garbage cans, but totally worth it to get the clutter out.  I am slowly piling all the stuff for either the garage sale or donation in the living room (or what I refer to as the unused room).  But I need to get it out by next week as it is Morgan's birthday party, so I am fairly sure most of the items are going to get donated.

But it feels really good to have that room taken care of and finished.  Hopefully the kids will keep it somewhat orderly, but who am I kidding, I will need to keep on top of it.  The next rooms to get tackled are the kids rooms. Ahhhhhhh.

Cheers to one room being "done!"
 

As the School Year Approaches...

September is coming at us full force...next week it is September.  That means school starts and the schedule starts getting real.

It has been a while since I have blogged...really the past two years have been a complete blur.  I WAY over-committed myself with Tommy's school, church and community volunteerism and pretty much could not keep my head above water from September of 2013 to mid-July 2015.  As of mid-July, I have stopped all my leadership roles in volunteering and have decided to focus this school year on our family and on me - what really makes me happy.  For a while there, I was too busy to even think about if I was happy and then I was so over-stressed, I realized I was not happy at all...in fact I was downright miserable.  So now begins the work.

I am going to clean out my house...this is my goal for September.  I am writing it down so I can somewhat be held accountable for this goal (not that I think that people who ready my blog will actually track this), but if I write it down and throw it out there, I will make it happen.  I need to purge the excess in our house and then with the salvageable items either have a huge garage sale or take many trips to Goodwill.  I did already start this process and clean about a 5ft x 5 ft space in our bonus room called my "wrapping paper closet."  This ended up with a large black trash bag filled with garbage and then a stack of stuff that is either garage sale or Goodwill bound. So I have started.

I am also going to try to be a better friend and family member.  I am going to try to schedule coffees and lunches with friends.  I just need to reconnect to people because while I was always really busy over the past two years, I was lonely because I was too busy to stay connected with friends.  I also need to really live in the moment with my family - not be looking at what meeting I need to get to or what project I need to get done.  I need to appreciate being where we are at and savor the times where we are just together...hanging out.

Getting back to working out...for a while my world revolved around getting my workout in.  That has severely dropped off and I am really looking forward to getting that back.  Working out is my stress relief and makes me a very happy person.  But I also know it is going to hurt...I am nowhere near where I was two years ago, which not only makes me sad, but also a bit discouraged.  But I need to get back on that horse and start to ride that road again.

Volunteering in both Tommy and Morgan's classroom is a must-do this school year!  I love being in their elementary school...I never realized how much I like it until I was spending most days there over the past two years.  It is a great place to be and Tommy's (and now Morgan's) school is a really wonderful place.  I love the staff at Charles F. Tigard Elementary School and I love helping in any way that I can.  So I am looking forward to volunteering in both of my kiddo's classrooms this year.

On top of all that, I am going to do a little self-discovery and figure out what I really like to do.  I am thinking about taking guitar lessons (I know crazy talk, but I have always wanted to do it) ...now that the kids are both in school for the whole day, I am excited to explore new things.

So while I might have a severe identity crisis as the reality of both kids being in school full-time sets in, I am also going to celebrate uncertainty in my identity because I feel that in times when I question what my identity is is when I am able to really find out about my true self.  And then hopefully I will be able to figure out what path I would like to take with my life.  I guess I am always thinking about that age old question, "what do I want to be when I grow up?"

Cheers to a new school year, a year of self-discovery and a year of making the most out of each day!