Ahhh...breathing is nice

The past couple of days have brought a new perspective to my life: SLOW DOWN. That took shape in some small things like getting up before 5AM to get to the gym before work yesterday.  I was tired, I left late, but I got there and I burned 150 cals, walked/ran 1.4 miles on the treadmill in 20 minutes, and worked my arms on two machines.  Once I showered and left the parking lot, I was fully awake and ready to start my day.  I didn't have to rush out the door to get to work, skipping deodorant (whoops!) or breakfast.  I have also stopped trying to run to my van at 4:00 every day.  It's a two to three minute walk from my desk and I decided to not try to cut that short.  So I walked the long way the last two days and I seem to still get home right around the same time.

The other thing that is helping me breathe is that right now, the house is fairly organized! It may seem backwards to most people, but dirt doesn't bother me nearly as much as clutter and chaos.  I feel like I'm locked in a closet with no hope of escaping.  My brain tingles and I want to beat my chest and tear my clothes (okay, maybe that's a bit extreme).  But this week, we haven't been rushing around after work every day and Hubs has put a lot of effort in, too! Benji said it best: "You organized and daddy cleaned" - that is the perfect way for our household to run.  I'm great at rearranging, purging, and using buckets or baskets.  But Hubs is great at the scrubbing, wiping, and deep cleaning.  That is the part I D-R-E-A-D! We make a great team now that we're on the same page.  This whole 'living simple' thing is really gaining momentum and will only be a success if we continue down this road together.

Last night once the kids were in bed, I decided I wanted to make a plastic bag holder out of some fabric I bought probably 13 years ago when I reupholstered a chair in my room at my mom's house.  I pulled out the sewing machine (I've never used one) and spent two hours trying to figure that out, failing, giving up, then deciding to crochet the plastic bag holder instead.  The only reason I was able to sit down and work on this without becoming overwhelmed is all the cleaning work that Hubs has done in the house the past couple days.  Remember the part about the tingling brain?  I also turn into a Hulk-like form and storm around the house declaring the 'ridiculosity' of this situation.  And he knows that.  Man, I love that guy.  So, I spent about an hour on the crocheting and got about 12-15 rows done. No, I don't count when I crochet. Yes, I realize it is a problem.  A problem that showed up after about 10 rows when I realized that I had been decreasing a row for the last 6 somehow.  I hill-billyed my way through it and am still deciding whether to keep it this way or just unravel back to the point where the problem started.  Regression is not ideal but producing a better product is worth the extra work usually.  I'll post pics of it tonight...and of the org. I did earlier this week :)