Rites of Spring

When I said that I had cleared out the refrigerator the other day, that was true, but it wasn't the whole story.  I had removed containers of chutney, miso, kimchee, and lots of good smelly stuff that I was slowly dumping into the compost I was collecting.  I got pretty much all of it into the bin today.  The words "vomit sundae" came to mind as I was piling it into the compost-collecting bowl.  I inadvertently discovered how to make friends with the neighbor's chickens in the process.  They seemed very interested in the fact that I was holding a shiny metal bowl when I was on the patio, and they all hopped through the gap in the fence to investigate.  Instant feathered friends!  Their owner saw us, and I got a free tour of their coop/pen and four fresh eggs, all different colors! 

I got up a bit late today, because I couldn't fall asleep last night.  I managed to get a lot done in spite of that.  I went with a friend to Far West Fibers to do some intense recycling.  Sadly, they are not accepting rigid plastics right now, only the bags/film and bottles with necks.

I plan to clean out my car as soon as the weather is better, along with the planter that is right next to my front door.  It's filled with weeds and the plants that should be there are way overgrown.  It's time to also clean up the flower pots with the geraniums!  I'm looking forward to getting more plants this spring and having a garden again.

I've kept up with staying off the daytime TV but I think tonight is the first night I'll be going to bed at a reasonable time.  I just get so busy with little things close to midnight and I just want to keep going.  Not tonight, I'm just too tired.

Tuesday Wooze Day

I took an unexpectedly long nap today and woke up just in time to receive some guests at 7pm.  I actually hate napping during the day, it seems like a waste of time.

I've been waking up regularly but having a hard time getting out of bed.  My comforter is like drugs.  So is the mattress.  If I ever needed a new mattress I would go to Sears and buy exactly the same one I have now.  It is perfect.  I compare everyplace I sleep when I'm traveling to the one at home.  Those memory foam mattresses are overrated.  They make me feel like my soul is being slurped out of whatever side I'm lying on.

I've also been successfully avoiding TV during the day.  While I can't exactly correlate a higher level of productivity to that yet I think my head is a bit clearer.  I listen to books on CD while I'm doing things around the house.

I haven't really made anything this week, unless you count the scrapbook I've been updating with new clippings.  I just used up my last glue stick.  Also I made mini packs of these beautiful vintage French postcards that I'm going to tie with ribbons and sell somehow.  They're all engravings of European nobility from the early 19th century back to the Medieval times.

Easter Adjustments

These past couple of weeks have been full of huge ups and downs.  On the good side, I experienced some of the happiest days I've had in a few months.  The day after Easter was particularly nice, as I wrapped up my tax documents, and recovered enough from a cold to jump in my car and see my family for a day and a night. 

 With the rainy weather happening I've been working on catching up on some things I had been putting off for a while.  I cleaned out the fridge today.  Now it looks really bare!

I've been thinking more about how I can use this blog to help me achieve some more goals, and I thought of a few:

1. Get up earlier, at a more consistent time every day
2. Stop watching TV/DVDs during the day
3. Make something every day

They're not very lofty ambitions but they've been on my mind for a while.  I'm applying the same strategy with these as I have with the basement, and I'm going to try to change for a week.  I'll blog every couple of days and let everyone know how it's going, starting today.

 As for my original project, the basement, it's not too bad but I haven't done anything new.  I have to accept that a basement really is mainly a storage area for houses, and that it doesn't have to be perfect.  The upstairs office has become the new sorting project.  

It was written in the stars...

Look what I tore out of a free weekly paper I found in Cottage Grove, Oregon a few weeks ago!  It was just a little while after I'd begun this blog, and I was on my way down south to visit my family.  It's the "Free Will Astrology" horoscope for my sign, Taurus, from that week (the last week of September, if I'm correct):

You'll have to click on it to really read it.  It was extra encouraging to see that Rob Brezsny has picked up on my cosmic cleaning rays and reflected their positive energy back in my direction.

For years now I've been aware that my energy really picks up in the late afternoon, around 4pm, and can keep up until around midnight.  I got on a real roll yesterday with the sorting I was doing, and I couldn't make myself stop until about 1am!  I came to the conclusion last week that I have to start making myself get up earlier in the morning though.  I set an alarm for 11:30 at night to go off to signal that I should start getting ready for bed.  My goal is to get up about an hour earlier in the mornings.

I have some friends picking up a few pieces of furniture tomorrow that I don't use.  And I'm getting closer and closer to getting the books catalogued and ready to be picked up by the college!

I'm going to go downstairs after this and do a little more work on the basement.  I'll get a few more pictures online tomorrow for the big update!

As if to underscore my alignment with fate, I glanced at Facebook where someone had shared a link to this Pinterest board belonging to a Liesl Kirschman Artherton.  Lots of cleaning tips right here!