Audit time….
Hello Housekeepers, won’t you join me in auditing your life today so that we can all get a grip on where we are at and of course where we are heading? As always please feel free to steal the graphic and do a life audit of your own…
Today I am…
Sick. With a kind of general, head to toe malaise of the sort that has the doctor informing me that I look terrible and have clearly not been looking after myself. He even mentioned the dreaded peri-menopause word and I sat on my hands and resisted temptation to smack him about the chops.
Wearing pyjamas with a furry teddy on the front. The very sort I swore I would never buy, but found myself at the counter purchasing in a fury of PMT inspired need to be a child again. Oh yes, I am all about my hormones don’t you know? Eating toast with jam, with my feet under the dog for warming purposes. Terribly glamorous because despite the bad pyjamas I am sporting a “bouncy blow-dry” after friends and family intervened in the hair stakes and informed me it was probably time I went in for a more sophisticated do. I remain then, a contradiction in terms.
Reading…
A bloggers copy of the very latest Hamish Macbeth and whispering the story to my Mum after I switch the lights out because she so adored M.C. Beaton books and I hate it that she is missing out. (Actually I hate her being dead altogether). Also reading Finding Yourself In the Kitchen because it is a delicious mixture of food and zen) and The Morning Blueprint because I am continuing to finetune my Miracle Morning routine and this is helping that process (and it was free with my Kindle Unlimited subscription!)…
Eating…
A lot of fish. Because a fishmonger all the way from Grimsby came knocking on my door and persuaded me to order enough fish to last a month, and a few days later it arrived deliciously packaged in ice. So now the freezer is full of haddock and prawns and I am turning into a mermaid. Also pesto, which I am dolloping in to jacket potatoes, and tangerines until they come out of my ears. Or maybe they are clementines? Or satsumas? I’m not sure, and I’m convinced no-one else knows either. Ooh and magnesium supplements again because they really do take the edge off twitchy sleep.
Planning…
Christmas in my Dad’s house. As he won’t actually be there, I am planning on moving me and mine over there, Christmas tree et all, on the day before Christmas Eve and staying there until New Years Eve, so that we will have a little bit more space and my own little house will stay tidy for any viewers who take it in to their head to come see the house during Christmas week. For houses do tend to get hilariously untidy at Christmas don’t they? Then the boys can take over the conservatory with their games consoles and selection boxes and Ste and I can enjoy a cosy week snuggled up watching festive films and drinking Baileys on ice. Somebody remind me to tell Santa where we are though won’t you?
Dreaming of…
Becoming more accomplished in 2016 by committing to learning more. Taking courses and reading books that challenge me to expand my very limited skill set. Creating an at-home
Coveting…
A
Wishing…
The world felt safer. That Finn didn’t lie awake at night worrying about Syria. And floods. And men with knives in tube stations. And that I could give him more educated assurances that he is quite safe and truly believe it myself.
Also wishing I could find a
Working On…
My tree pose. Because I have convinced myself that life will be a more rewarding affair if only I could stand on one leg. The Housekeeper’s
Celebrating…
Surviving grief. Having hair I can both swing about and run my fingers through. Finley developing commitment to his schoolwork and an understanding of the need to strive.
Grateful For…
Cinnamon season. I am sprinkling it on everything (french toast, coffee, ice-cream, apple slices and waffles).
And finally tomorrow I will be…
Buying Ste some socks, because he is crazy cross that I keep borrowing his scrumptiously thick ones to wear under my floral wellies.
On my to-do list this month?
* Buying a box in which to keep all my lovely essential oils in a manner I can actually see them.
* Making this heavenly pie again.
* My annual Christmas cinema date with my bestest friend Kath.
* A 2016 life/business planning day with Ste. Loved the idea of a relationship annual general walk in this article by Libby Purves.
* A charity shop visit with Finley to donate all the toys he has now outgrown.
* Cooking Christmas dinner for the two boys before Christmas day as they won’t be together on the actual day.
Happy December Housekeepers!
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The Autumn House
Today I am in the midst of PMS as well and wishing the word peri-menopause would enter my world soon as I’m so very tired of the whole monthly drama. I have not been sick but my husband was last week. I’d really like to take a few sick days and just spend in my pajamas all day but alas, I had better save them in case I do actually become truly ill and not able to work.
I’m reading about essential oils as I just purchased and received my Young Living kit last week. I’ve been interested in oils for awhile but just never bothered to learn or take the time to study and invest. Now is the time. I’m also reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read them many, many times as a child and recently found free e-books so I snatched them all up and decided to read the series again.
I seem to be eating a lot of oatmeal these days. Perfect for cold mornings. And I can’t get enough decaf coffee with hazelnut creamer. Since switching to decaf earlier this year I seem to want coffee all of the time now.
Planning for a cruise in January and very excited to get away and sail to paradise with my sweet.
Dreaming of having a brain that doesn’t make excuses. LOL Just kidding (kind of). I’m dreaming of simple – my focus/goal for 2016 is to simplify – every aspect of life but especially our home. Possessions, procedures and plans.
Coveting a passion to pursue. I seem to have gotten stuck in a passionless rut lately and can’t seem to find what I absolutely must do with my life. I’m bored and not altogether happy at work but have no idea even what else I’d do. So I’m looking for some side hobby/interest but the problem is there are so many!
Wishing it was easier to part with things that are now clutter.
Working on the essential oils stuff, decluttering our home (feeling like I’ve taken 1 step forward and 2 steps back with that one), and learning what simple looks like for me.
Celebrating that this year has been one that has used hard times to make me more solid and that I’m okayer than I thought I would ever be.
Grateful for new seasons, 2nd chances, good teacher, patient friends and a loving God.
Tomorrow I will be doing pretty much the same thing I’m doing today. I have a Christmas party open house invite through work but sitting at home in my pajamas after work sounds much more appealing. I’ve yet to decide.
On my to-do list for this month – purchase a few small gifts for my girls (yikes!), start making a packing list, get a file system started!
Today I feel directionless and unmotivated, despite a long list of things to do. I have a bit of a cold, which may be why I am so tired and down. I’m sweltering and have the air conditioning on, because despite the fact that it’s December 8th, it was over 80 degrees F, sunny, and humid where I live.
Reading A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara, which I don’t love so far. This confuses me, since all my friends have been raving about it. I need to start our book group book, The Madonnas of Leningrad, since our next meeting is a week from today.
Eating frosted sugar cookies, cheddar cheese, and honeycrisp apples. Drinking egg nog cut with raw milk.
Planning our 10-day trip to New York for Christmas. Which means buying new winter gear for all the kids, since they’ve outgrown their winter things from three years ago and haven’t needed them here. Also planning to see old friends and have a book design meeting with my editor.
Also planning for the 10-day workshop I’ll be doing at Vermont College as part of the Master’s degree in Fine Arts that I’m starting. I really need to get organized!
Dreaming of keeping a lovely house, taking good care of my darling family, and writing wonderful things in 2016–all without feeling tired, frazzled, or deprived.
Coveting more sleep. Always.
Wishing for peace–real peace–and love and tolerance. Wishing all of us, including myself, weren’t so quick to annoyance and anger.
Working on slowly decluttering and brocantifying my house. Working on revising the ending of this book I just turned in. Working on new habits and leaving old lazy ways behind.
Celebrating the scrumptious skirts I just bought at DarnGoodYarn.com. They’re made of recycled saris; they’re quite inexpensive; they’re reversible; and they’re simply the prettiest things I’ve owned in a good long time. I feel like a floaty, swirly princess in them! I highly recommend them.
Grateful for my wonderful husband and our comfortable life. Grateful for my six great kids, and grateful that #2, who lives in France, is safe. Grateful for this time of year, for all my Christmas carol CDs, for the camellias blooming and the oranges and lemons ripening in my yard. Grateful for my sweet doggy and how much comfort she brings me.
Tomorrow I’ll be writing, cleaning, maybe fitting in a pedicure?, and watching my girls’ water polo games.
On my to-do list this month: take care of Christmas packages for my mother, grandmother, and our foster daughter. Packing. Leaving the house wonderfully clean and aromatic for our dog/housesitter. Making cookies for early delivery to the neighbors.
Thanks, Alison! Somehow, after writing all that out, I feel cheerier and more motivated! xoxoxox
For me the audit is short, but extensive. It really comes down to 2 things. Getting our new house finished in time before Christmas and moving in before New Year’s. It doesn’t look like that will happen mainly because I am also very pregnant. I am due New Year’s day with baby 6 and I am praying that I am late. I, alas, am pretty much couch bound and letting go alot of expectations of being in before this little one is born.
I can say that I am eternally grateful to my husband and other kids! They have picked up the slack and have taken care of everything! I am also grateful to all the workers at my new house who are pushing to have everything done. These men have gone above and beyond regular work hours to get me in as soon as possible! God has blessed our socks off! Awsome family, dream house, and a new baby! Come on 2016!!!!!
I am with you on being ready to finish out 2015 and not have another year like this one. I devoutly hope 2016 is better–for you and me both!
If yours are clementines from Spain I confess myself a bit jealous. They used to bring them in here around Christmas time, but they’ve been replaced with “Halos” and “Cuties” which are labeled clementines but are in fact just California tangerines and they don’t taste nearly as good (they’re kind of bland and watery by comparison) and now there is nary a Spanish clementine to be found.
I never make pesto because I’ve really no idea what to do with it, but putting it on potatoes sounds intriguing!