Sunday, April 2, 2017

Life: It Goes On - April 2

Ok, we're not quite to blooming trees yet but it's officially spring so I'm busting out the spring photo. We're certainly getting the spring showers, though. We're well into our second week of grey skies; how do people in the Pacific Northwest survive all of the dreariness?! My kingdom for some sunshine!

On the plus side, I don't so much mind doing 40 Bags in 40 Days in the basement when I'm not missing sunshine by being down there, so there's that, I suppose.

This Week I'm:

Listening To: I'm very much enjoying That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo while I'm driving; Arthur Morey does a bang up job reading it. When I'm home alone, my Spotify playlist is including a lot of Avett Brothers, Sarah Jarosz, Brandi Carlile, and Josh Ritter and when I'm working out I've been listening to the The History Chicks talk about Catherine the Great.




Watching: College basketball (I cannot believe the UConn women lost!), Bill Maher, The Voice, Game of Thrones.

Reading: Well, I am finally reading again, although I haven't had a ton of time to do it lately. I did finish Epic Measures (and reviewed that) and A Gate At The Stairs (review this week). I'm hoping to finally finish Assassination Vacation in the next couple of days so I can add a new book to my nightstand and then its' on to The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova.

Making: It's been a lazy week in the kitchen - baked potatoes, salad, omelets. And we ate out an astonishing, for us, three times, last week. I did whip up a couple of banana breads yesterday.

Planning: On several trips to drop off donations this week - a third trip in five weeks to Goodwill, two to different homeless shelters. I'm serious about getting things out of my house that we're not using when they are things other people could use.

Thinking About: What I've got left to do during 40 Bags in 40 Days. I've got a long way to go in my basement but this time I'm hell bent to get the job finished before I give up on it. I swear, when I'm not actually sorting, purging, and reorganizing, I'm thinking about doing those things. Thus, the lack of reading time.

Enjoying: Wedding planning. As in, we've been sampling food for the reception dinner. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it!

Feeling: Like someone who's trying to reduce the "stuff" in her house probably shouldn't been bringing more books into it, even virtual books so I've been working really hard to keep myself from doing that. Until Thursday when I bought five new books. In my defense, in total they only cost $10 and four of them will never come into the house. Which of the audiobooks would you listen to next if you were me?

Looking forward to: Dinner today with my parents and siblings at my parents. Yep, I get out of cooking again!

Question of the week: How sentimental are you when it comes to holding onto things? My hardest things to sort are the things that were my kids', family photos, and things that came from family.

10 comments:

  1. I've decided books don't count in stuff reduction. I am trying to stick to library books though! I enjoyed Assassination Vacation and saw Sarah Vowell speak a few months ago and she was interesting and incredibly odd which I expected. Good luck with 40 Days! Sounds like you're killing it! I'll cross my fingers that the sun decides to visit you soon!

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    1. Yeah, there is a limit to how many books I'm willing to let go of. I do, every year, go through my books and find a few I'm ready to let go of but I'm good at getting rid of books as I finish them so there are never a lot.

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  2. Your 40 Bags in 40 Days makes me want to purge, purge, purge! And honestly, I am not a sentimental person or a hoarder of any kind! I tend not to keep a lot of things, as I don't consider a lot to be of sentimental value. I tend to keep more clothes than I need though and that is where I desperately need to target my focus. I am hoping that when the kids are on spring break in a few weeks, we can all concentrate on doing some spring cleaning of the purging variety.

    Have a great week and enjoy not cooking tonight!

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    1. I'm finally about through the entire house and wishing I had been much more ruthless. I'm not interested in becoming a minimalist but I really want to reach a point where we are down to having only the things we really use or love. Cleaning would be so much easier!

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  3. Sounds like you've been very busy! I was disappointed to hear about UCONN as well😭 And, we 💕💕watching Bill Mahr- he tells it like it is😬

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    1. Maher certainly leans left but he goes after the liberals as well and I always enjoy the interesting people he has on.

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  4. I hope you get some sunshine soon, Lisa. My father-in-law is a big Richard Russo fan and really enjoyed That Old Cape Magic. I have only read one of his books (which I loved), but it wasn't this one. I do want to read it at some point. I hope you enjoy The Shadow Land. It's one I have my eye on. The reviews I'm reading so far are mixed.

    It sounds like the sorting and giving away stuff is progressing nicely. I go through phases where I am open to giving away as much as possible and then others where I don't want to let anything go. It's always a work in progress.

    I hope you have a great week!

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    1. Perhaps my biggest problem with purging is that we have so many family pieces and I cannot make myself part with any of them, whether or not they are serving a purchase any more or not.

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  5. You know, I could get rid of 40 bags and I'd easily have 40 more to offer up. We really do have too much. I just can't keep the house up anymore. It's got to go. I love letting it go, but my daughter and son are slobs and borderline hoarders.

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    1. I'm really good about getting rid of some things but I'm sentimental about so many things that make it hard for me to get rid of as much as I know I should. The hubby and my daughter will never get rid of anything, although, if H will get rid of things if I go through things with her. The hubby won't even start!

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