2013! It's here.

It's 12th night tonight [starting from Solstice] and Yule is almost over. The holidays have been wonderful and my month long bout of the flu is wrapping up and I couldn't be more delighted.  I am looking forward to all the joys and gentle lessons of the new year and thanking 2012 for it's many sweetnesses.

I have been an 'anti-clutter' person since April of 2002 but it's a cycle like so much in life. Right now I am in high gear sorting and giving/throwing out stuff. It may have been prompted by holiday shopping or perhaps by incoming presents. I am having a blast and feeling so much lighter.

Related;  I decided to do Project 333 officially for January - March of this year. This has made my closet so wide open and spacious, I sometimes open the door to gaze in it. I am at 27 pieces but I did not count my snow boots or some of my necessary winter weather accessories. I do not have them by choice after all. There may be something in the laundry that I want to add, so we'll see where I end up for this three month period.

I also did not count my jewelry. I cull my accessories often and only have what fits in my hanging organizer but I don't have an interest in limiting myself to 6 pieces for 3 months. Right now it is a joy to decide which piece I want to wear on a given day with a plain top. Although I have had years where I have worn the same stud earrings for months or limited my choice in some other way so that may happen again in the future.

Also this concentrated decluttering is moving many things onto new homes. I may use the spare room as a meditation space this winter. We'll see how it shakes out.

lessons learned

-if you use the small amount of blogging time you have for 2 days on trying to get pictures to post correctly you won't get to posting at all.

-and you won't have pictures up either.

-when your yoga teacher asks 'what shall we work on today?' and you answer 'shoulders', your shoulders are probably going to hurt like the dickens the next day.

-you can always find something to talk about in therapy.

-when mercury is in retrograde you can ask 3 different people the same question and no one will remember the answer you need until after hours of troubleshooting in which you figure it out for yourself, you then mention the answer to them and they will all say 'oh yes I knew that, didn't I tell you?'

-you'll be proud of yourself for going back into files 4 years old and finding the answer but will also want to strangle the people who could have saved you all that time.

-you will be proud of yourself for not strangling anyone.

-it is not cyber stalking if you are involved in a yarn/knit swap and you are just trying to figure out what your swappee would like.

-if you have 3 or 4 things you would like to knit in the next month or so and you aren't a fast knitter it probably will not happen.

-especially if you have spinning you really need to get done during the same time.

-sending anonymous questions through elfster is entertaining, reaching outside your comfort zone to make something you normally never would must be character building.

-the barber of seville is Rossini not Mozart.

-visiting family is usually not a vacation no matter how fun.

-but a clean house can make life seem more flowing and full of ease.

-it is best to remember to order your sweetie's V day gift before it is too late.

-spending time with oneself is a good priority to have, up there with exercising and getting plenty of sleep.

-harry potter books are great to read aloud but it's a shame there are only seven of them.

-most people at your dinner party are so delighted that someone is cooking for them that they won't be too picky about other stuff.

-lists can make your random blog thoughts easier to get down.

The linings of Pitch Black Clouds

So this economic things bites. There how is that for understatement? Since I am decades away from retirement eligibility I don't even look at my 401K statements anymore. It's the same reason why I don't watch sad, intense movies right now -- I really don't need any downers when I feel like I am finally gaining ground again on a positive attitude.

But the shiny lining for us is that we are getting the house refinanced, which is a great thing all by itself. Even better from my point of view is that it is inspiring us to clean and sort areas of our large house that haven't been done in months. Like my office. ahem.
I should take pictures.
oops, there is a should, now I'll have to think about if I even want to take pictures and all, because the motto for this week is 'down with shoulds!'

Then even more better my wife is throwing stuff away!
[I hope you are not here for good grammar]
I love to declutter and throw stuff away and I may love it even more when she does it. Hard to tell, either way though it is excellent.

Our home is so clean, partly due to the people we hired before the appraisal. But who cares? It's a blast to have everything all clean and fresh all at once. I resisted hiring at first then I remembered what a huge mental lift it gives me and the result is I feel terrific. shallow perhaps, but terrific. Oh well, Flylady would understand.

I hope everyone finds a silver or gold lame or sparkly lavender lining to any dark clouds overhead.