Rough Round of Sorting

I went through the tubs today. I didn't purge much out of them, but things got resorted and resituated. It's possible that may happen again before this is all over. I'm not sure.

What I am sure of is that this part was really hard. Sitting in the chair was painful and the whole process was taxing and rough. I panicked a couple of times because I couldn't reach things and I was basically stuck in place. With my roommate's help, I finally finished, but it was  A LOT.

This week I need to get the floor cleaned. After that, I need to get my pillow situation handled. A lot of them are really old and rather dysfunctional at this point. Anything that isn't working needs to be removed. There is no point in me keeping things that just cause annoyance.

Once the pillows are handled, I will be ready for the new bed. Realistically, I could possibly have a new bed before March. Given that this prospect seemed a little hopeless when I started, it's neat to be this close.

The Chair Issue

Today I finally got all of the clothing and dresser stuff situated. Everything has a place. I know where all of it is. All of it is folded. Nothing is bunched up in drawers that won't open. I am very happy about this.

Well, but also my chair broke. The task chair I've been using for about the last seven or eight years popped a wheel off. The chair was pretty inexpensive when we bought it, so the fact that it's lasted this long is kind of amazing.

Still, the fact that it broke put a damper on my day of Dresser Victory. Oh well, I accomplished a task and I'm happy. Maybe not as happy as I would have been, but still happy.

Keys

When I first heard about Marie Kondo, it was all second-hand information from people who were pretty resistant to what she was doing. In fact, the main thing most people talked about was how she wanted you to get rid of all your books (this is in no way true) and how she was very exacting and strict. She was presented as some kind of Tiger Mom of tidying. Once I watched the show, I realized how far from the truth this was.

Marie Kondo, at least as she is presented on the show, is a deeply spiritual sweetheart goofball with a delightful sense of humor and a beautiful way of looking at the world. I don't completely hold with all of her beliefs, but I see the validity in them. I certainly wish I had been raised to view my home/things as organic and spiritual aspects of my life that I should strive to live in harmony with. I love her idea of not 'doing chores' but of keeping a house tidy because it is the best way to find happiness.

And, okay, DO I believe that a tidy house is a key element to happiness? Right now, I'm not sure. A great deal of my being wants to scream "NO THAT DOES NOT MATTER" because that part of me is still in a mental war with my grandmother. I mean, honestly, a tidy house was not my grandmother's key to happiness. She saw cleaning as a burden and a path to martyrdom.

But the other part of me kind of wants to note that I do like the way things look when the room isn't messy. I do enjoy folding my clothes. I do find that I am delighted when I can actually get one of my giant tent-like pieces of clothing to really fold in a perfect way. So maybe, if I keep this up, tidying can become a key to happiness for me.

In either case, I certainly will be even more hesitant than usual when it comes to people's opinions about what women are doing.

Careless Memory

I've been on a nostalgia kick lately. I've been listening to music I've not messed with since I was in my early teens and reading stuff on LiveJournal.

I seriously miss LiveJournal. I know I've said that before. I'm almost to the point of opening an account there because most of my favorite authors still use it. It's also a good place to find a lot of fanfic that hasn't been moved to one of the archived fanfic sites.

Anyway, I think it's important to do this. I've been deep in the SAD lately and I need to do whatever I can to keep my mind calm and focused, especially as I have goals and tasks right now.

Plus, sometimes it's just a lot of fun to revisit the things that make you happy.

Rainy Yick

I've been designing a lot of stuff in my head, none of which has yet to be translated into reality. We'll see if maybe I can get some of that accomplished this week. It would certainly be nice.

It's raining today and could be snowing before Friday. Look, just as long as I can get my trash to the curb without slipping, I'm happy. Just let me accomplish my goals, mkay?

I ate a lot of veggies today. My friend had a tray of them that she keeps replenishing when it gets low. The raw broc, cauliflower, and peppers were really good.

I'm hurting pretty badly tonight and my mind is very unfocused. Earlier today I was on the verge of a panic attack, but I think that was just the SAD. Hopefully. At least the cat is keeping my warm and comforted now.

Hot Monday

I slept in this morning, which is annoying because I was having a stress dream. By the time I was up, we had to leave for shopping. I didn't take my pain meds and suffered for it later in the day.

Aside from one task, I didn't accomplish much today. The pain was a lot and it was almost 80. In the summer that would be a luxury, but in the middle of winter it's an uncomfortable shock to the system.

I think I'll just pet the cat and read until bedtime.

A Weekend of Highs and Lows

After not doing much on Friday, I made up for it on Saturday. I finished off the last storage box of my winter clothes, did a macro-sorting on all of the yarn (meaning, I know where it all is, all of it is contained, and basically that's about it), and folded some laundry.

IN FACT, when I saw my basket of laundry, instead of feeling overwhelmed and annoyed, I felt an itch in my fingers to make it all folded and even. This is a good start. If only the folded clothes looked as good in reality as they do in my mind. I mean, they will (hopefully) with practice, but now they just look, well.....okay, listen, at least I folded them.

Anyway, despite doing all of that, I still had kind of a down night on Saturday. I was sore, for one thing, and kind of sniffly after all the yarn-touching. I felt like I wasn't making progress. I felt like I was just shifting junk from one container to the next.

Then I realized no matter what, I'm still doing a purge on my room and on some other things and it's STILL getting better. My room feels much nicer and even though this will take a long while and things are still rather filthy, at least it's better than it was a month ago. Progress, even the slowest of progress, is happening.

In my head, I know how I want my room to eventually look.

Wood tones: Dark
Surfaces of furniture: Dark to black, copper overlays, distressed.
Metal: Copper, antiqued
Colors: the tones of old paper, a lighter and then deeper green, burgundy.
Color for Contrast: Muted blues.

I think I can do this. Actually, I think I can do this without even spending much money if I just accept I have to do it slowly and with my own stuff. I may have to barter for a couple of things.

Anyway, clearly, I'm in a better mood. The weekend ended on a high.