Saturday, April 30, 2011

Me Time - April 2011

Looking back at April and it hardly seems worth posting as I really don't feel like I had very much Me Time at all

This is mainly due to my beloved children... and their erratic sleep patterns. I'm losing precious quiet time in the evenings (and therefore time in which I can settle into a good tv show etc) because if my cherubs go to bed too early, they wake abominally early (and hence wake me abominally early!) so we are trialing a later bedtime and for the most part it helps them sleep until almost 7am. Ideally I think its time to eradicate the daytime nap (or at the very least shortening it) for my 2 year old but that's been tricky and she almost always ends up falling asleep. I will persist and hopefully regain my time / sanity.

But here's what I did get up to...

I FINALLY finished The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest and it was worth wading through all the back story. I did get the impression that there may have been more in the series or at least there was potential for the characters to turn up in other books had Stieg Larsson not passed away. What a loss to the reading world :(

Our wedding anniversary falls in this month and we decided to take ourselves out for the day. We enjoyed a Dim Sum lunch, something I've never had before.... it was nice to be able to try all sorts of different things however some of the dishes were not as hot as they should have been (or would have been nicer if they'd been hotter by the time they reached us in the far, far corner of the restaurant) and the service was not that great (though I was not surprised by this), also if we did Dim Sum again it would be with a bigger group (more variety = more fun).

Then we went to see the AC/DC exhibition at the WA Museum, it was good to find out more about the band's history (not being a huge fan, I know very little) and great to see whole families visiting together (parents who were obvious fans wanting to share it with their kids) but I felt it was lacking... it comprised mainly of photos and video footage, billboards and album covers. There was a case with 3 of Angus' costumes, another with Bon Scott's leather jacket and another with a guitar (can't remember whose) and that's what I had been expecting more of and was disappointed to find so little.
BUT... what was really cool was the collection of handwritten letters and cards from Bon Scott to family and friends. They were very entertaining to read :)

I did reward myself with another magical massage too... I am determined to save my pennies and have them as often as I can. I come out feeling so good.

I hesitate to combine my decluttering ventures with my Me Time but I have found that I am gaining a very real sense of satisfaction and peace with the space we've recently created in our home. Without the background "noise" of the clutter, it hasn't been anywhere near as stressful and I'm not finding myself gazing around (some) the rooms making a mental list of all I have to do instead if chilling. It's incentive enough to continue but I wouldn't go so far as to say it has been fun.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

so a lot has happened..

and for the better

I am much happier... we are much happier and this makes everything easier, 'nuff said :)

did I mention I went interstate last month?

it inspired me in some ways in so far as decluttering goes... my mum (no actually... my parents) are hoarders. they wouldn't quite make it onto the tv show "hoarders" but they're close. I used to tidy when I came to visit, for my own comfort and I think it kind of became expected of me... then I had kids and I stopped. I was far to busy chasing them about to worry (though I would tidy away stuff to make their place a bit more toddler friendly)

this time my visit was for my mum's birthday party... that meant lots of visitors coming to their home and I just couldn't have them walk into the sh!tfight that greeted me when I first arrived. So I rallied mum and we tidied away (out of sight, out of mind unfortunately) stuff in the main living areas so it wasn't too embarrassing.

Still their place could do with a massive declutter and I've threatened more than once that I'll come over one day and toss all their crap out. I don't think that will be any time soon ;)

Anyway I came home full of beans wanting to sort out my own (much smaller mess)... then with the great unhappy white elephant that was sitting around at home things got waylaid. I fell in a heap, exhausted from the trip (notice I say trip and not holiday) but having to press on at home all the while feeling quite numb and empty.

A few things got done (minor tidies and chuck outs) but there was much wallowing as well.

Now things are better and with that comes new enthusiasm!

We've taken the Easter break and given our dining room / study a real make over. Our problem has ever been that we have tried to keep our big furniture in a small space. We have always reasoned that it was because we have a lot of stuff but I suspect part of it is that many pieces of furniture were our first... we paid a lot for them and had grown attached. Also (and this is why my parents don't throw stuff out) I have been brought up to not be wasteful.

But in reality I have been wasting space (ping... light bulb moment!)

So, with the in-laws planning a garage sale in the near future (saving us the hassle), we have launched on one mother of a clean out.

The huge dining room table, large bookcase, corner computer desk and filing cabinet are out. Replaced by a long pc desk (accommodating both our pc's... his and hers LOL, whereas his was on the dining room table and we never got to actually eat off of it!) and a small square dining table which pulls out to seat 6 as the need arises... which isn't often. Oh and we've brought back inside a smaller book case.

I have cleared out our filing cabinet, most of it's contents will be shredded and archived what we need to keep and we now can fit all that we had in a 4 draw and a 2 draw cabinet into the 2 draw. Seriously we had held onto paperwork for way too long.

I am sorting through my books and purging anything I know I will never read again. And it's much easier than I thought... the safety net of my Kindle has kept me from being too soft in my stay or go choices. I do not have all my books on Kindle as well but it is nice to know that if I desperately want to read something again it's easy enough to get a hold of it.

Our space feels good now, it's not quite how we want it... I think some pieces could do with a lick of paint to make it prettier and bring it all together but there is definitely a sense of having more space and that does wonders for the morale around here.

To be continued...

Monday, April 11, 2011

truthfully I do not know if things are any better than when I posted this

I am trying...

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Me Time - March 2011

Films

Dinner for Schmucks - funnier than I expected. Loved the play dead theory

Burlesque - I didn't have high hopes for this film so I wasn't overly disappointed by the terrible acting and cheesy storyline. It was the costumes and make up that drew me to the film and really did it for me

Reading

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest by Steig Larsson  - I get that everything that characters are doing, the background stories etc all have a point but I find myself floundering in the mass of information. I am halfway through and truthfully I am looking forward to finishing this book... to reach what I assume (and hope) will be an amazing ending and to move onto something a little lighter


On other fronts, I used a birthday massage voucher this month. I have found the most amazing remedial massage therapist close to home who manages to work miracles for me. I was feeling a cold coming on and went to her on a day where I ached all over. I had debated with myself whether it was a good idea to go when feeling so shite but I was determined to have some relaxation, cold or not. I don't really understand how she does it (she's right into the spiritual side of things which I don't really get but I am trying) but I walked out with loads of energy, my cold and associated aches gone!

Oh and I travelled to visit my parents with my little ones... I wouldn't for a second call that "me" time. It was a change of scenery and an opportunity to catch up with rellies. One indulgence that I insist upon when I go though is to stock up on Haighs chocolates. They are quite simply to die for in my book :)