balance

Balance is what I need to find.
Balance...

Finding my center, surrounded by my children, husband, scrapbooking, the pets (when oh when did I become the owner of so many stinkin PETS??), the house, church, friendships, errands, working out, and other things pulling me in every direction.

I think that might have been my problem the past few months. Rather than finding a good balance in my life, I have been constantly on the edge of the next thing to do or see or be... I climb and I climb and I climb and I jump to the next ledge. I haven't stopped. I haven't turned around. I haven't stopped to BREATHE DEEP.

Skipping meals is not the answer... having a balance in what I do is. My house will slowly have the "bad stuff" eliminated from it. I have replenished the healthy stuff that I let fall by the wayside due to lack of time and energy. Stuff like carrots for snacking, cheese & crackers, yogurts, and whole foods. It requires more time and dedication on my part. The stuff has a shorter shelf life. I have to make an effort to be sure it gets eaten or it will go to waste. But I know it is the right thing to do. I am also going to institute a salad night once a week. I have done salad nights before, but never on a regular basis. I need to make Thursdays salad days. (I know, I know, Liane, Thursday is already Commando Day. But that's how I will remember salad days too... it's the whole "natural" thing...)

I am also reorganizing my scrap room into a much more efficient space, and although it's pretty much a disaster-in-progress, I see the end, and the end will be good. LESS CLUTTER. More space for me to create. A dedicated space for my commissioned projects and freelance work. A place for magazines. It is actually quite lovely in my mind right now... :)

I am returning to the ways of Fly Lady as well. I did sooo well when I was FLYer. My house felt more like a home and I could maintain it better. And I felt healthier too. I never really stopped FLYing, but aside from the shiny sink everything started to go by the wayside of "I just don't have the time right now." How lame is that? Why don't I have the freaking 30 seconds it takes to make my bed in the morning? And I love Kelly's missions and dedicated Zone work. Even if that was the only 15 minutes I spent on my home a day, I felt productive, happy, and proud.

As part of my whole BALANCE thing, I have decided to be sure I do something fun that my KIDS want to do each day. Today we went to the Pumpkin Patch at the Gilcrease Orchard and picked TONS of little and big pumpkins... at least 12... and even after getting a pint of fresh pressed apple cider it still cost less than $8 total. Gotta love it. And I was reminded of all the other excellent, fresh fruits and veggies for the picking there. I think we will go back on Monday and get our week's worth of green foods, especially since it will be like a whole $5 for a basketful.

Since I vowed no more skipping meals ... off to make lunch.