Stuff

Thank you all for the positive vibes and tips on digging out of what could be a depression.  I'm having a hard time deciding if I'm on the cusp of an actual depression or if it's more of an anxiety issue that I'm feeling.  Either way, I have not taken any meds as of yet.  I've been practicing my deep, calm breathing and trying to focus on one thing at a time.  

That is all easier said than done with all that I have going on around here.  Still dealing with the bathroom project (ALMOST done!). And now I'm participating in another tag sale which is being held by a local mother's club. I've put off tagging everything until the last minute because I really didn't want to see all the clutter from the tag sale on top of all the miscellaneous tools and such that are still laying around from the bathroom.

This is what is greeting me when walking into my kitchen from the garage

Reminds me, I have to go drop that birthday present off

 Two giant piles of kid's clothes covering the ottoman and floor of the living room

what you can't really see is the trash bags of stuff that needs to be sorted and put in the attic

Pile of toys that still need to be sorted and tagged. 

That Jake (pirate) stuff angers me.  My little guy INSISTED that Santa and everyone get him that stuff for Christmas last year - he played with it ONCE! 

Lesson learned. 

There is another one just like it on the other side of this giant chair in the living room

Needless to say, I have a lot of work to do.  I worked on this project for the greater part of yesterday. Today's goal is to get through all the buckets in the photo from the kitchen.  What does that entail? Well, most of those totes are filled with clothes. I need to go through them making sure there aren't any rips or stains, then I need to run them through the wash. After all that is done I'll sort them by size, enter them into the online system, print, tag and put everything on hangers.  It sounds like a lot (and it is) but I have a system.  The longest part is having to wash it all.  Good thing I have a large washer!  So, if you need me, I will be buried under some crazy pile of kid's clothes.  

I'd like to note that I have this amount of clothes because I saved them from my first son to be used for my second. Well, they are opposite seasons so my little guy didn't get much use out of the elder's stuff. I was hanging on to all their clothes thinking I may have a third child and if it was a boy, clothes would be covered.  Now I realize that it's just crazy to have all this stuff hanging out in the attic.  IF (big IF at my age) I have another baby, I will shop at thrift shops for his/her clothes. 

As if all this isn't enough to do, I'm also taking on another giant project; my son's fourth grade memory book.   I've been volunteered to put the memory book together and get it off to the printer in the spring.  It's going to be a lot of work, but I think it's also going to be a fun project.  There are a number of parents (including myself) who are "photographers" for events throughout the year.  Last week I went in and took photos of one event that the classes were doing.  All the photos will then be put into a shared space where I will weed through them to find the "best ones" and start putting together a page for the memory book.  I'll then meet up with the team to see what everyone likes/doesn't like and make changes from there.    It's a bit of a learning curve for me but I'm really looking forward to it. 

The final thing to tell you is that I made it back into the gym!  Today was my first day back with my trainer.  I'll just be going in on Monday (that will probably change) and Friday each week.  I'm hurting a bit right now but I feel really good. I missed my workouts, I missed feeling strong. 

With all this going on, I am feeling a little better about things.  Thanks again for all your well wishes! I really appreciate it!