My mind has been going in ninety different directions of late. Some goal centered, some one day sort of dreams and some just plain whole new existence sort of thoughts. Not that I have am expressing boredom with my life of late, not at all.
I thought with Kate gone from home, I'd find myself doddling about half bored...Not true! I'm busier than ever and honestly have a hard time, a VERY hard time, determining what I shall do next as opposed to "Oh what shall I do?". This is fun. Do I miss my girl? I miss her, I sure do. I miss all the kids to be honest, as all of them lead full and busy lives of their own, but I've discovered my mother's heart and mind is never turned too far from them.
This winter was very beneficial in many ways, if only to point up the sheer volume of creative expression that was apparently waiting just below the surface for the right time and place to allow it to bloom. So much creative expression that I often forget about writing, which is really where I do want to focus a portion of my time and attention.
And I'm coming into my own once more. One of my goals this year was to be more spontaneous, more adventuresome. I seem to be doing that just fine thank you. Who knew? In fact, I've a field trip planned for the coming week when I shall do one of my mall runs. I'm going to go to the city for this mall run and do nothing but window shop, people watch and jot down notes, take pictures and sketch out creative ideas that occur. I expect my home and person as well as my wardrobe and writing to be inspired still further by this trip. I haven't done this in a couple of years time and it's passed time to do it once more.
Two incidents this past week really pointed up to me how independent I am becoming. I was telling Kate about an idea I'd had to decorate my bedroom. Mind you now this design inspiration is born as much out of financial lack as it is of desire to have new. Kate let it be known that she thoroughly loathed the idea. Later as I was making my bed, I thought with regret of my idea and suddenly it hit me: I was letting an 18 year old girl who'd just strung fairy lights in her house dictate my style? Whoa, back up, let's go back to the design inspiration.
The second thing was a dream of a very dominant person in my life, someone who has had a center amount of control over me for too many years. In the dream I was dismayed to find my home cluttered with things. I saw the person and said, "This is yours, why don't you take home with you?" and each time she would refuse. I finally got fed up and said "I don't want your junk in my life anymore. Take it with you or I'll toss it out!" So I began picking up items and if she refused them, I threw them with all my force onto the ground where they shattered. I woke up chuckling! How powerful I felt, how free. It was most definitely a dream of value to me and has made me very aware that I am no longer the person I once was.
Those thoughts aside here's where my mind's been of late:
Blogging. I'm about to wind up with my second series of the year on PennyAnnPoundwise...No clue where I'm going next. I'd thought to revive one or two features but one of those ideas is just not inspiring me at the moment. Perhaps the series was truly finished the first time through. The other I think is something I really need to do, as much for my own sake as for others and this time I shall try to be far more accurate with it: A Year of Savings.
Why the return interest in that series? Because I need to see if the savings I generate is truly netting us the same as if I worked outside the home... I think it is, but in this day of rising costs and nonexistent raises I need the reminder and I think it would be beneficial to another whole generation of bloggers who are now coming to my audience. I don't know just how I'll approach it this time. I don't want to focus on nothing but A Year of Savings and forgo other posts...lots of thinking to do there.
Stockpiling. I've begun a second pantry where I hope to stock up still further. This while cutting down on my grocery expenses mind you. Well the two do go hand in hand. My desire is to have 6-12 months of non-perishable food items on hand, plus household needs (toiletry, personal care, cleaning, pets). Why? I don't know, it's just something I feel strongly will benefit us over time. Then we'll have stock to rotate when items do go on sale and to carry us whne they are not on sale. It's a sort of bottom line pantry really where I purchase at the lowest possible price.
To Do list. In our home there are myriad little jobs that really need to be done that we have shamefully put off far too long. Like a new pump house roof and repairing the ice maker on my new fridge and refacing our windows and moving some bedding plants that have grown out of bounds. Just little things that are good stewardship overall and not expensive but just complicated and tough enough that we've put them off. We'll either fix them ourselves or hire the jobs out as a bulk repair to bring things up to snuff once more.
There's also yard work that I've been trying to get done for years now. Trouble is I can't do it on my own as it's all proven to be just too much for me alone. Chance truly doesn't have time to help even if he were interested, which he isn't. However, he's given me leave to hire our son to come once a week and do some heavy yardwork tasks as well as permission to spend a very little bit of money on materials (not much by any means but I'll take what I can beg). I think I can make the place look landscaped on a dime anyway, what with good perennials passed along from others, a handful of seeds and a purchased plant or two. The bulk of my money spent will go into mulch, bordering material and labor.
Retreat. The nature of my husband's job is such that it is truly necessary that he get away. His boss knows this and insists that he takes time off next month. I've been very careful this year to set aside a bit of money whenever we had extra and have now paid all but $23 for the first retreat we'll go on this year. It's all planned and I'm excited about it. I think he is, too. I plan a second such retreat later in the year and will be starting that fund as soon as I've got the last of bit of this first trip socked away.
Adventure. There's a possibility that I'll be going out to California late this year when my son and his wife have their baby. I told Chance it will be an adventure but I don't consider it vacation and he needn't either. There'll be a two year old and possibly twins to keep me occupied as well as a post surgery mama, two dogs, a house to clean and mouths to feed. Definitely not a vacation! I'm not counting chickens yet, though. I know too well that many things can change plans set that far in advance but I am mentally preparing myself for the challenge should it prove do-able.
Finances. I shouldn't have postponed this but I did: figuring our budget for the second quarter of this year. I'm glad I did on the one hand (who knew gas prices were going to rocket?) and sorry on the other (there's a hard road ahead if things go as they say and I wish I were better prepared). The bottom line is this: to do all I hope to do this year, and just plain live, will take some fancy financial footwork. I refuse to give up eating (one scenario) having grown rather fond of meals at regular times, but know that the grocery budget is always the number one place to start trimming if you really want to balance a budget. For the first time in years I can say honestly that I'm not just sure how I shall manage if things go along as they claim they will but I'm determined to do it all the same. Things have been heaps worse and we stayed afloat and will now as well. In the meantime, I'm renewing my acquaintance with all things FRUGAL and Thrifty.
Home Interior. Clutter...It seemed cozy all winter long mind you, but now it seems cluttered and so I shall be toning down colors, removing knickknacks, unfeathering my nest so to speak and at the same time striving for a cool, calm, personal space. Thankfully I have some materials on hand for slipcovers, can easily acquire more as it's inexpensive as well and for the most part the look depends not upon purchases but cleaning and clearing and putting away for now, then bringing back just a few pieces here and there. More labor than money required.
In other areas all that is needed is a bit of paint, a pair of twin sheets in white (for window covering) and a potted plant or two.
So those are the paths my thoughts have taken of late, a sort of loose set of goals meant to be accomplished over the next few months time.
