Playing catch up.

Well, I've been remiss in my posting duties. It's been almost a month since I last checked in here. However, that month has been one of trials, challenges and, finally, a shift in wind current, so I hope I will be forgiven. Shortly after I wrote my last post, I became ill ... and remained so, more or less, for about three weeks. On the recommendation of a knowledgeable friend I began to take adaptagens to try to boost my adrenals, and things started getting better. My theory is that going through everything I own with the intention of letting go of as much as possible, I have been simultaneously doing two things: 1. I've been experiencing a number of old emotions surrounding old memories, and trying to distill them to their essence and release the excess; and 2. I've been getting overwhelmed by both these old emotional jaunts down memory lane and the very large size of my To Do List, and, therefore, have been reverting to all my old bad habits without even being half aware of them.

So, with the desire of really getting into the meat of this upheaving experience, and with the hopes of getting myself as healthy as I can before my "move", I am making some changes.

I'm beginning with diet. I am shifting my eating habits toward more fruits and vegetables, and to a predominantly raw diet. (Thank goodness Spring is on its way, or I'd likely never be able to do this.) I am supplementing with probiotics, evening primrose oil, B vitamins, and adrenal adaptagens. I am taking bentonite clay every morning. I am slowly cutting dairy out my diet. I will use coconut milk, rice milk and nut milks instead of animal milk. The only dairy product I plan to keep in my diet is yogurt - and it'll be goat's milk yogurt as often as I can afford it. I am also working on cutting all refined sugars from my diet. (This will be tricky, but I'm determined to do it.) And, of course, I'm trying to maintain a proper daily water intake. I've cut out coffee and am cutting out other caffeine, too. I'm feeling really good about these new choices.

The next step will be fitness. I am in the process of planning a general fitness plan for myself. It will include hiking, bicycling, walking, yoga, pilates, swimming (when it gets warmer), and hopefully a few other adventurous activities if I can figure out how and where to do them. (I'm hoping to try some climbing, especially.) Any ideas of interesting fitness activities I might try around Durham would be more than welcomed.

I've been making some decent headway with selling some of my larger pieces of furniture. So far, I've sold a swivel chair, dining table + 4 chairs, and china hutch. I thought I had a taker for my bed, but it fell through. I went ahead and dismantled it anyway, though, for the space. I've got possible buyers for another large shelf cabinet, and side table. As these items go, I'll have room to bring some of the larger items from the garage to clean up and post online. Now that I've taken the bed apart, I've got room to start bringing things down from the attic. That means that the next several weeks will involve organizing all that stuff into piles: sell online; sell at yard sale; donate; give as gifts; consign. Good times. I am really NOT looking forward to this process, but I am looking forward to the feeling I'll have when it's all done, so that's my motivation.

My family and I went to the Raleigh RV show this weekend. It was great. Though there weren't many models available that even remotely resembled what I'm looking for - there were only a small handful of Class C rigs there at all - it was good to walk through several different layouts and see different features and options already installed. And, thankfully, it confirmed my conviction that an older model will be a better match for my tastes and needs. So, I'm also planning to start adding some trips to dealerships soon to start seeing some of these older models in person and getting an idea of how to actually shop for one before I really need to do so.

Well, that's my catch up post, I guess. Hope you enjoyed it. I'll try to write more often now that I'm feeling better again. Ciao!

Weekly Roundup

Well, this week has been an interesting one. I've been having a lot of inspiration about projects I want to complete at the house, and have been trying to get them all organized so that I might actually be able to get them done at some point. The big catch is that I am suddenly facing a pretty sizable decrease in income. So, on top of all the project planning, I'm also having to ramp up my creativity on how I might find less expensive ways to do the things I've planned and everyday ways to save money during the course of my mundane activities. I'm forcing myself to look at this new predicament as an adventure in creativity and thrift rather than a roadblock.
So, before all of this had taken effect, I had managed to purchase some fabric for window treatments and a new duvet cover for my bed. I also got a down blanket to fill the duvet cover. I got a new trash can - finally - since I'd been using an old galvanized outdoor can that took up way too much space and, thus, looked a little dumpy. (Pun intended.)
I've been having trouble finding fabrics for my bedroom that really make me happy. I've made several purchases of fabric that I thought might work, but then ended up schlepping them back to the store when they just didn't work like I wanted them to in the space. I'm still waiting to find the right fabric, but my fabric shop choices are limited around here. I've checked online, but still haven't managed to find anything that really compares to what I'm envisioning in my head. I'm envisioning a sort of 1970's-esque palm beach fabric with pinks, reds and oranges on a white background ... sort of reminiscent of a Diane von Furstenberg dress. If anyone has any suggestions on where to look for a fabric like this, please do share! Maybe later - once I've gotten all my project ideas organized and written down - I'll post my plans on here. I'll also post some photos of the finished windows in a day or two. Until then ... happy experiementing!

Household Overhaul

Well, this has certainly been a productive weekend, despite early signs of floundering and laziness. I'm not sure what came over me, but Saturday evening I received a sudden surge of motivation and inspiration which prompted me to immediately start overhauling my entire house. It began with finally making the curtains for the living room. (I've had the fabric since before Xmas, and kept procrastinating making them.) Once they were hung it became apparent that I would have to rearrange the living room furniture. As I was rearranging the furniture, I began to feverishly reevaluate half of the stuff I own. That lead to a maddening round of purging items I no longer use or need and reorganizing the items I'm keeping. The 'game' continued ceaselessly today, and will have to be picked up tomorrow since I just didn't have time to finish it all today. It feels so good to be lightening up like this. And with every task I complete, I am made aware of twelve more that need doing. It's like a wonderful roller coaster. I feel like I'm freeing my self and my space to make room for new items and experiences ... ones that will be more appropriate to my current tastes and needs. It's so amazing to me how much I'm willing to release now, when I just went through this purging and reorganizing routine only a few short months ago. I thought I had let go of so much then - and, truthfully, I had - but now I'm ready to let go of even more.

Has anyone else ever had the sense that the external environment is a direct reflection of the inner environment? I've known this for ages, but it never ceases to amaze me. Anytime my house is a chaotic mess, it seems my life is a chaotic mess, as well. When I purge and clean my home, it seems to open my mind to a greater sense of clarity and purpose and resolve. When I de-clutter my house, I de-clutter my mind. It's such a simple form of magick, really, but is so powerful. I highly recommend you try it, too. And, if you feel the inkling, please leave some feedback on your own discoveries through the process ...