Happy 2012 to ya!

Hey hos! Happy New Year!

What up with you?

Me? I'm getting shit D-O-N-E.

It's been a pretty productive season following Hallowe'en. Here's my quick wrap up of the Fall of 2011:

• I cleaned up Hallowe'en, which took for-fucking-ever (about a week). It was a big Hallowe'en.
• I severely f'ed up my foot, which I am working on fixing.  Did you know they have little tiny blood pressure cuffs for your toes? They are so cute!!! Next time I'll take photos.
• Hired someone to replace me and am training him, slowly, but surely.
• I started my new job which is going very well. I am enjoying the anticipation of really getting the program off the ground.
• A very quiet Thanksgiving with the in-laws
• Lots and lots of crocheting for holiday gifts
• And the last three weeks have been a slew of parties for Hanukkah, Christmas, my 41st birthday and the New Year

Whew! In all of that, I have been getting a ton accomplished. The crocheting, yes, but also quite a lot of cleaning out of excess stuff.

Sometimes I feel like I don't get as much accomplished as I could because I have more than I need. For example: I have supplies for crafts from now until the next millennium. While I like having these supplies, sometimes they distract me from the things I really want to be doing. It's almost paralyzing to have so many choices! So, to focus a bit, I am slowly giving away or selling the things that seem excessive. I can still have 10 pairs of scissors if I really need them, because I use them all, but perhaps, since I've never done anything with the needlefelting kit, I could lose that. And the drop spindle. And the Big Ass Book of Crafts (which is super cute, but I've never used anything in it!).

So I've been getting rid of about 10 things a day for the last week. It's been pretty restorative. Whether it's a magazine, a marble or something much larger, it seems not only manageable but it also doesn't seem forced. If I only get to 8 in one day, that's fine. Perhaps I'll get 12 the next day.

Why am I getting rid of all of this stuff? What does simplifying do for me?
I feel freer the less stuff I have. It's true. I used to take these vacations in the Grand Canyon and I would rent a cabin that had a bed, a desk, two chairs and two lamps.  I always left my 4 days there feeling like I could live like that forever.  Of course, that's a little extreme, but if I romanticize living simply, there's obviously something to that.

Also, it gets me to a place where I am more focused on my current love, which is the little Bluestocking Farm. This has been a super cold start to winter (except this week which has been over 80 degrees F EVERY DAY!). The cold bit a bunch of my herbs, especially my chives which had previously been doing pretty well. So now I'm planning the spring garden, which will be here and ready for planting before I know it.

Anyone know of a good Southern California spring planting guide? I'd like to get this year right!

The simplificationing continues...

Inspired by my last post, I went on the hunt for more stuff to get rid of. Primarily, this is:

• stuff that I thought I could use but ended up not using, 
• stuff I was given that I never needed, 
• stuff I used but didn't need anymore and 
• stuff I haven't used in a while and probably won't anytime soon.

Included in this stuff is:

• Ten tons (or so) of my grandparents, aunts and other distant relatives silverplate which I understand is worth nothing and I'm afraid that if I take it to a pawn shop they'll laugh at me. What do I do with silverplate?  Anyone?
• An entire set of Sango Sheffield china and champagne glasses and wine glasses that my grandparents got for their 50th anniversary which was sometime in the very, very early 80's
• About 10 cookbooks that I thought I'd use but ended up not using or used to use but don't anymore
• Some hat blocks that I haven't used and likely won't
• Craft supplies, including yarn, that despite my best intentions, have not been knitted into actual items of use

I'd actually like to get rid of more. Here's the problem.  I actually use a lot of my stuff!  I'd love to clean out more of my kitchen but I actually use all of the baking pans and platters and bowls because I entertain fairly frequently.

Everything worth anything is going up on ebay this week.  Other than the silverplate. Can anyone help me with this one????

The simple life

Every so often, I get a bug.  I don't know where exactly it comes from or where it goes, but a couple of times a year, I purge my stuff like I was moving to a monastery. Or a nunnery. Or whatever the equivalent might be for a Jew. Which there isn't, but that's not really the point.  The point is, I got on a kick last night.

When I started, I was just kind of wondering what riches I had in my Hallowe'en drawer.

In my craft room/office, I have a Hallowe'en drawer. It is not like the Garage of Dread. The Garage of Dread is filled to the rafters with tombstones and coffins and body parts and rotten fencing. The Hallowe'en drawer is just a little drawer full of stamps and carving tools and stickers and other small items. So I went looking for treasure.

After I took down the Hallowe'en drawer, I took down the ribbon drawer.  Then the paper drawer and the sewing supplies drawer. Eventually, the entire Wall of Craft came into the living room and onto the floor. It needed to be organized. Cleansed.  I guess they still wouldn't let me take my Wall of Craft to the nunnery...stupid nunneries, but it is organized.

I wound up with a bag of craft supplies that is going directly to the Downtown Women's Shelter.

Last week I cleansed my bookshelves. Here's what I realized. 

1. There are always going to be more books.
2. I do not have room for the books I already own, much less the books I want to own.
3. I need to get rid of books.

The Burbank Public Library was the beneficiary of my need for purification.

I love simplicity. I also love my things. I love my Cupcake Couriers and my collection of hats. I liked owning the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Lysistrata and the entire oeuvre of Edith Wharton, but I was willing to part with them knowing that I can get them on Kindle for free. I like having a Be-Dazzler, but to be honest, I really don't use it and can't imagine the next time I will...goodbye Be-Dazzler. It was fun while it lasted.

Perhaps this weekend I will end up organizing the Garage of Dread. Those rotting fence posts aren't smelling any better and besides, I need some space for my worms.