Thursday, June 21, 2012

Whatever your hand finds to do...

"And I won't be ashamed,
Of the things we once made,
And I won't be coming back
'Round here no more."

Hi blog world! Let me tell you, it has been a busy few weeks!!!

I have (mostly) made a full recovery from the plague.
In the war on clutter: I got rid of possessions that I love. Previously I was getting rid of things I don't love or don't use. This is the harder, but more rewarding step. I love purging so much, that I purged my hair! It's so short I can't even put it in a ponytail!
But, I'm going to put the great purge on hold. I'm going to a) focus on finalizing plans for Africa [prayers please!] and b) taking a mental break. I want to resolve unanswered Africa questions. I want to watch the movies that I have decided are keepers - to determine that they actually are keepers. I want to read books. I want to run on the trail. I want to be a vegetable.

My typical days include going to work, going home and getting on the internet, going to bed and doing it again the next day. I love the internet, but sometimes a girl just needs a break. Yesterday was such a day. It was a very crazy, stressful day at work. I indulged in some convenience food. I took care of sorting some boxes and cleaning up in general. I put away a lot of laundry. I put away my other linens. And if it wasn't something that needed to be dealt with asap, I put it in my closet and closed the door. I'm serious about this purging break. Even if it's a short week or two, I am committed. I think it will help the 'use it or lose it' argument. ie: I have puzzles, but I've never put them together. And other nonsensical things I'm holding onto for no real reason. But the immediate focus will hopefully be Christian living. And I mean actually living, not just talking about what I'd like to do. In theory, even forcing myself to rewatch the Bachelorette episodes so far, and finally giving you my feelings, as promised!

If you read my last entry, you know I'm mourning the loss of my childhood. Two weeks later, I can say that it actually feels kind of awesome. 95% of the things I get rid of I don't miss at all. In fact it made me feel so awesome, I encouraged my boyfriend to do the same. Initially, this didn't go so well. I became that girlfriend; the one who wants to hijack her boyfriends life. In all honesty, I'd just prefer that his stuff didn't hijack his life. Insert boyfriend's friend and you have bad news. Why people insist on holding onto stuff that they will realistically never use, I have no idea. Needless to say, I avoided the friend for a few days, kept my opinions to myself and my boyfriend has since gotten rid of 57 VHS tapes... that's all she wrote! Thankfully my brother is a young man after my own heart! Sunday he asked me to help him, and our youngest brother, clean out their room. True, this was mostly because he is totally ready to get rid of everything and my youngest brother is just not motivated to do so. So while he did have selfish motivation, it was productive. We got rid of a ton of clothes. I was actually driving around with a huge box of their clothes in my car. I was initially planning on taking it to Goodwill. Instead, I ran into my friend Rudy who spearheads a huge bash for local underprivileged children every year. I wanted to talk to him because I have some supplies I finally cleaned out of my desk. The advertised list is kindof minimal, but after talking to Rudy I realized I could donate a lot more to these kids - including my brothers clothes! They advertised the donation of children's clothes: since my brothers are 16 and 18 I don't really consider them 'children', but Rudy reminded me of the obesity problem we have. So now I know where their clothes will be going!

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." -Ecclesiastes 9:10[NIV]

Time to go continue being productive!

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