Ru ~ dig deeper

I love it. There’s a legend about Siwash Rock – I’m particularly fond of it as Markus and I had our very first kiss there many years ago, when we were teenagers. He gave me a laminart of a Roy Vickers painting of it a while back, and your picture made me smile.

I hope you’re enjoying your trip, it’s nice to see the city through other eyes! Cheers. 11 months ago

Hitting the reset button and starting another week.

Both Isak and I are trying to crack down on important work today – him at school and me with the current project I have due tomorrow. It’s fresh and bright and dry out (if not resplendent with sunshine yet), and there are lots of new things to dip in to.

I received my BookCrossing labels over the weekend, and they really look lovely – wonderfully clear for their small size, and it was nice to see Paulie’s face in a happy moment on them. I hope to register my first book today, just to go through the process.

We had a busy weekend and got lots done – we managed to get BIG piles of stuff out the door, which feels great, and visited with several branches of our family and friends. We had outside time, down time, fun time, and hit a street festival and new playground yesterday.

And here is Monday. Time to strap on the wings and flee the branch.

• Eat well, drink plenty of water, and take vitamins/supplements √
• Exercise/movement for 1 hour minimum: walk, yoga, Wii fit+ √
• Basic house maintenance: dishes, garbage, recycling, compost √
• Flylady Mission of the Day: Bathroom (declutter tub/counter) & 27 fling √
• Laundry: wash, sort, put away √
• Reading & homework with Isak √
• Family game / adventure √
• Me time: bath, bubbles, book
• Downtime w/M √

• Continue April happiness entries √

• Implement new schoolwork plan √
• New memoir: aim for half √
• BookCrossing: Register and label first book √ Done! Journaled too.
• DVR watch & delete: 1 hour √
• Post weekend clean up √
• Transfer new photos √
• Start a new book
• Outside time √
• Good school day = Wii time (join!) √
• Mad Men finale w/M. √11 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{April 26}

• Warm rain before the umbrella-folding sun broke through.

• Listening to Patti Smith and drinking spicy tea with honey.

• Making an insanely huge bowl of maple ham potato salad topped with grape tomatoes for the school dinner. Our first, and it was delicious – there was hardly any left at the end of the night.

• The scrumptious array of foods to sample at the Multicultural Dinner (and the velvet-and-brocade dressed kids that entertained us with their Irish dancing). We were stuffed with the whole world!

• Walking home together under clouds with pinkened underbellies, descending sun blindingly golden on distant windows, dark birds peppering the sky.

• Cracking the spine on a new book after a long day. 11 months ago

6 years after putting this on my list, this is finally done!

The 2-3 deep box was so big and so full by the time we put it in the car that I couldn’t lift it at all. We gave them to a friend without cable who will in turn give them to other people in her building or donate them the platelet donation clinic when she’s done.

There are some left here (on what we have dubbed “death row”), but ones we either can’t replace or will watch and then pass on, and the majority of the VHS hoard is now gone.

Hurray for completing thick-with-dust goals! 11 months ago

It’s been a year+ since I’ve made an entry for this goal, but I’ve been busy, busy, busy with it, especially lately, and definitely today.

In the pursuit of stuff purging, my BookCrossing goal is well underway, with boxes to be processed and hopefully labels in my hands today. All kinds of letting go involved there.

For an even dustier goal, getting rid of VHS tapes, which I seem to touch base on every other year, we have a giant (huge!) box packed, ready, and off to a friend tomorrow, plans in place. We have set up a small “death row” of tapes we intend to watch once and get rid of. I’m SO looking forward to checking that one off – it’s been on the list here since 2006.

There have been great steps forward in the nightmare storage room/garage lately: unneeded dishes, old camping gear from decades past (like my parent’/s old portable stove), ugly stand up lamps, dvds & software, unloved presents, a fountain in a box, doubled-up games, and a HUGE box of shoes, boots and coats just filled the car to the brim and are being donated as I type this (because there was no more room in the car for me!).

Big progress. I see space opening up. It feels fantastic and spurs me on to keep pushing forward. This is a core goal we’re both extra committed to pursuing this summer.

Gumption ho! Just Let it go! 11 months ago

Top 10 Things To Do This Weekend

• Bookcrossing: pick up new labels, continue sorting
• Prep two filters for disposal/recycling
• Visit parents/paint birdhouses
• Go to Italian Day on the Drive
• Work on new memoir project
• Continue decluttering garage
• Drop off VHS tapes (J. wants)
• Drop off big donation box
• Outside adventure
• Library11 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{April 25}

• Morning yoga and ginger tea.

• Two lovely rainwalks under a big white sky.

• Good family medical news – meds working almost immediately.

• Isak drawing a family portrait for Iris’ photo book.

• A very special present for a very special person is on the horizon. They should squeal with Happy. I’m shocked by the generosity involved.

• M. taking the kids out when I felt overwhelmed and needed some silent space. 11 months ago

Today is Sports Day at the school, which already devoured half the day. Things started out nicely enough, but the sky fell in hard and everyone got completely drenched – the watery coffee became even more watery and hundreds of damp and muddy kids were running amok – at least most of them were laughing. We’re still drying out, but the sun is shining robustly now – maybe it will linger for the weekend? Hope floats on many puddles.

I need to touch base with both the school and my work about a few things, but I can send letters/e-mail. There’s a non pressing file to work on, books to sort, and a weekend list to start pondering. I’ve had trouble getting online again (hence not being able to post this in the morning), hopefully that won’t continue to be a problem for much longer.

Huzzah for Friday! You’re here in the nick of time.

• Eat well, drink plenty of water, and take vitamins/supplements √
• Exercise/movement for 1 hour minimum: walk, yoga, Wii fit+ √
• Basic house maintenance: dishes, garbage, recycling, compost √
• Flylady Mission of the Day: Kitchen floor √
• Laundry: wash, sort, put away √
• Reading & homework with Isak √
• Family game / adventure √
• Me time: bath, bubbles, book
• Downtime w/M √

• Continue April happiness entries √

• Sports Day: Team Red! (pack accordingly) √
• Transfer new photos, delete √
• Write teacher re. schoolwork √
• Write work re. turnaround time √ All good!
• Start new memoir project √
• BookCrossing: keep sorting books √
• Outside time (if the storm has passed) √
• Good school day = Wii time (join!) √
• DVR watch & delete: 1 hour √
• Vacuum √
• Hair pampering
• Solidify weekend plans √
• Movie & popcorn with M. √ Diving Bell and the Butterfly11 months ago

Something happened the other day that snatched my breath.

I’ve been going through boxes and boxes of Paul’s books for this, and every now and then I come across something I’d like to hang on to, to read before letting it go, and put it to the side. The Tin Drum by Günter Grass was one of these, and after I’d sorted another box, I picked it up and flipped it open to visualize a good spot for the BookCrossing label. There I found Paul’s familiar handwriting all down the first page.

Thinking it was a pre-gift dedication and hoping I knew the person so I could pass the book on to them, I read on to find the following:

“Hello to whomever found this book!

This is a quick note to let you know that I’ve registered this book at bookcrossing.com, a fantastical site that will allow me and you to follow the path of this book as we either pass it on to another person or leave it behind to be mysteriously found.

If you read this, or you’ve just found it and want to pass it on to someone else, please take the time to go to www.bookcrossing.com/061-180623 and enter a brief journal note on the book or the finding of it.

Hey – when you’re done with it, leave it on a bus or a bench or give it to a friend to enjoy – share the words!

Best,
T.Paul”

He had known all about BookCrossing. He thought it was wonderful, had an account there and had registered this very book with the site 10 years ago, meaning to leave it on a bus. I typed in the BCID and found the account, his bio, books he’d released, someone had even found and posted about one he’d left at a pub we used to go to – to talk and write and have pints. It’s funny he never told me about it, but he always had so much going on.

I’m still pretty stunned. I can’t begin to describe how this makes me feel, but I wanted to try – it’s as though he sent me a letter saying I’m doing exactly the right thing here. It sent a whole lot of residual grief packing and opened a very bright window. 11 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{April 23}

• The first sidewalk side cherry trees starting to blossom.

• Voicing my support of the c.a.r.e. program with parents that were decidedly less comfortable with the idea and a teacher that is behind it.

• Rocket pops!

• Crisp vanilla bedsheets.

• A great sleep for everyone, then slow sun salutations upon waking.

• Very big mochas and fresh butter tarts.

• Isak’s turtle amongst the flowers.

• Sandwich thievin’ babies (splendid turkey avocado, who could blame her.) 11 months ago

Hard, cold rain and full lunged wind today – really, it feels like September, I found myself pulling my sleeves over my hands. Squealing garbage trucks are slogging their way through the alleys like ancient beasts and I was grateful for another parent offering to toss Iris and I and a wet stroller in the back of her SUV for a ride back home.

Home to hot coffee and breakfast – something I should try to make time for before I leave, but today was extra rushed. Unfortunately it looks like Sports Day will be cancelled tomorrow – too bad the weather has been so rotten this spring, unbelievable that it’s two weeks until summer.

I got a new pertussis vaccine yesterday (surprise!) and I’m a bit sore, but not too bad, Iris is holding up after her four needles, but I think we’ll have a bit of an easy day today – work on some less strenuous things at home. Looking forward to the weekend!

• Eat well, drink plenty of water, and take vitamins/supplements √
• Exercise/movement for 1 hour minimum: walk, yoga, Wii fit+ √
• Basic house maintenance: dishes, garbage, recycling, compost √
• Flylady Mission of the Day: Kitchen counters √
• Laundry: wash, sort, put away √
• Reading & homework with Isak √
• Family game / adventure √
• Me time: bath, bubbles, book
• Downtime w/M √

• Continue April happiness entries √

• Yellow Day (find shirt) √
• Download/start new memoir project √
• DVR watch & delete: 1 hour √
• BookCrossing: Photo/type up page, keep sorting books √
• Touch base with E., S., and P. √ And A., V., and S2.
• Freeze banana bread √
• Photo for school project: Printed. Required? √
• Good school day = Wii time (join!) √
• Make new schoolwork plan if above = X √ OK day, but still a new plan
• Movie & popcorn with M. √ Banana split ice cream bars and Deerhunter11 months ago

Today is busy with doctor stuff – I’m getting my girly bits looked after (the usual, plus I’m part of a long term focal study hoping to find a better screening process for cervical cancer) and Iris is getting poked with her annual shots. Good times!

Isak is getting picked up from school by a mommy friend with lots of nice kids, so he should have fun – though we need to get back on track with school again, yesterday wasn’t a good one as far as work went. I think 6 is a tricky age to be.

I was going to have a visit with my parents today, but my brother threw his back out and my sister in law broke her toe, so Mom’s heading over there to help out with their kids while Dad comes by to help juggle Iris during our appointments. I cast speedy healing wishes in their direction.

Today I get my BookCrossing labels too, so that’s another step forward.

• Eat well, drink plenty of water, and take vitamins/supplements √
• Exercise/movement for 1 hour minimum: walk, yoga, Wii fit+ √
• Basic house maintenance: dishes, garbage, recycling, compost √
• Flylady Mission of the Day: Clean the fridge - Started…
• Laundry: wash, sort, put away √
• Reading & homework with Isak √
• Family game / adventure √
• Me time: bath, bubbles, book
• Downtime w/M √

• Continue April happiness entries

• Green Day (find shirt) √
• Pack snacks, game & contact info for pick-up √
• Whirlwind clean-up √
• Clean dishrack (ew) √
• Doctor’s appointment 1: Pelvic, pap, cc focal study etc. √
• Doctor’s appointment 2: Check-up and immunizations for Iris √
• BookCrossing: Get labels - In the mail?
• Transfer new photos √
• Back up files to end of May √
• Photo for school project √
• Check in with work (take on a new project?) √
• Good school day = Wii time (join!) X
• Have an easy evening √11 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{April 22}

• Unexpected Sunday Sun.

• Earth Day – we cleaned up trash at some of our favorite spots.

• Wandering by water (bright kayaks going by), hiking in the woods, building forts, crossing bridges, throwing sticks for an excited black lab, counting jerseys on strangers, finding a hidden playground, appreciating nature.

• We all got ferociously hungry and stopped at a friendly corner store for treats: old fashioned gummy candy, licorice, and a peanut butter O’Henry.

• Great memories and great sleeps. 11 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{April 21}

• Grayer than expected, but brightened by new flowers.

• A great time at the pool, library, and playground.

• A chalk hopscotch that went on and on and on…

• Giving in to lethargy.

• Cotton candy lolly-pops. 11 months ago

I’m in a decent mood despite more cold, gray, wet weather; feeling dewy rather than drenched. There are lovely purple and yellow Irises blooming in an alley near here, so I’ve been taking a longer route home to walk past them. I like that someone planted them there, in a less than obvious spot.

Main focus today is to start prepping some books for BookCrossing, I get the labels tomorrow – I’ll have 70 (20 more than I was expecting). I also need to plan for my doctor’s appointment tomorrow and do a bit of catching up.

• Eat well, drink plenty of water, and take vitamins/supplements √
• Exercise/movement for 1 hour minimum: walk, yoga, Wii fit+ √
• Basic house maintenance: dishes, garbage, recycling, compost √
• Flylady Mission of the Day: Wipe kitchen cabinet doors √
• Laundry: wash, sort, put away √
• Reading & homework with Isak √
• Family game / adventure
• Me time: bath, bubbles, book √
• Downtime w/M √

• Continue April happiness entries √

• Blue day (find shirt) √
• Arrange school pick-up for tomorrow √
• Clean floors (sweep, swiff, vacuum) √
• 15 minutes sorting clothes √
• 15 minutes sorting in garage √
• BookCrossing: keep sorting box to register/release √ And found something amazing.
• DVR watch & delete: 1 hour √
• Good school day = Wii time (join!) X
• Photo for school project Wednesday
• Prep for double doctors appointment tomorrow √11 months ago

You caught me. That was from the day Richard Branson paid me back that favor he owed me and we hit the moon for the afternoon. Nice view. :D 11 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{April 20}

• An upturned mood from the get-go.

• Sunshine splaying diamond sparks across lush grass and fiery tulips.

• The fantastic hip-hop dance show at the school – the kids have all been practicing so hard and were incredible, especially Isak (I’m biased, but there were little girls screaming too!). At the end the teachers surprised everyone by coming out in hoodies and doing a number too. (As a bonus, I won’t need to hear party rock anthem 24/7 anymore.) So much cooler than the school square dancing we did when I was a kid. 11 months ago

Really really hard, ark-pondering rain. 11 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{April 17}

• Early morning sun salutations and silence.

• An anxiety dissolving tax assistance call.

• Slaughterhouse 5 and popcorn.

• Another tooth out, and the tooth fairy came, despite being so tired she nearly fell asleep in her pearly castle.
  
  
  

^{April 18}

• Another early morning after a wonderful perfume dream.

• Being protected from crazy hard rain by a sturdy green and silver umbrella. It eventually turned to hail which flew into my mouth, but I got home relatively dry.

• Hearing from a very old friend on FB.

• Kicking back for the game (we won!) and a cold one.
  
  
  

^{April 19}

• Morning yoga and cold ginger tea.

• Baby presents in the mail! She loved the paper even more than the rosy dress.

• Buying a new photo card (for me) and 2 pairs of jeans (for Isak).

• M. cooked a delicious spicy, healthy dinner while I lounged in a pink bath spiked with a rose scented bomb. Heaven. 11 months ago

I’m filling up my caffeine tank for a busy Monday. We had a busy, busy weekend and the house is definitely in need of some TLC. June Bootcamp has started, and I’m definitely down with this month’s “catch up / forge ahead” theme, so that’s focally reflected, and I should be heading into the depths of storage today.

I don’t know if there’s a new project for work heading my way, but I anticipate one soon. M. and I are following a mini series and part 2 is tonight, so that’ll be a nice way to unwind after a long day. Tally-ho!

• Eat well, drink plenty of water, and take vitamins/supplements √
• Exercise/movement for 1 hour minimum: walk, yoga, Wii fit+ √
• Basic house maintenance: dishes, garbage, recycling, compost √
• Flylady Mission of the Day: Kitchen (upper: dust/webs) √
• Laundry: wash, sort, put away √
• Reading & homework with Isak √
• Family game / adventure √
• Me time: bath, bubbles, book √
• Downtime w/M √

• Continue April happiness entries √
• Sort papery nightmare √

• Find the dratted umbrellas! √
• Sign/return report card √
• Post weekend clean-up √
• Cup practice with Iris √
• Touch base with 3 friends √
• 15 minutes sorting clothes √
• 15 minutes sorting in garage √
• DVR watch & delete: 1 hour √ The Killing
• Check/download any new work √
• Good school day = Wii time (join!) √
• BookCrossing: Start sorting box to register/release √ 2 boxes
• Transfer new photos, recharge battery √
• Take a long, long bubble bath √
• Mini series & popcorn w/M. √11 months ago

Oh yes… this suits me perfectly right now, so for June I’ll have one boot pointed forward and one boot pointed back.

I already have a catch up goal, with the remaining focus being getting my happiness entries up to date. As for forging ahead, I want to work on decluttering (especially the garage) and the memorial project. Gleaning glorious gumption. 11 months ago

Top 10 Things To Do This Weekend

• Consolidate cash for secondary savings account
• Work on BookCrossing project
• Keep decluttering garage
• Dinner/overnight
• Cancel cel phone
• Donate cat stuff
• Birthday party
• Hats Off Day X Raining, then ended at 3:00
• Library
• Banking11 months ago

When Paul (my best friend of many years) died in 2007, I was left dealing with not only the issues and grief surrounding his death itself, but also with clearing out his place and trying to find proper homes for his possessions.

The remaining things that were not given away to certain friends or donated to various suitable places have been sitting in our storage room for the past 5 years, taking up considerable space both physically and emotionally. I need to let them the majority of them go.

One of the things taking up the most space are books – he loved his books, and he loved sharing his books, so for a long time I’ve wanted to BookCross them with a memorial label attached, it’s just been a painful thing to get rolling.

I love the idea of having them travel around to different random people, especially if the people who pick them up find out a bit about him and log in to leave feedback about where the books are or what they think – these books will go on to have adventures of their own. This will also allow me to let go of some of the ones I still want to read, as I can log in, see what I’ve released, and hit the library if need be.

I finally started the label on the 5th anniversary of his death, and am determined to free the majority of them before another anniversary rolls around.

^{BookCrossing (also BC, BCing or BXing) is defined as “the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.” The term is derived from bookcrossing.com, a free online book club which was founded to encourage the practice, aiming to “make the whole world a library.”}11 months ago

I first mentioned wanting to do this project back in early 2008, but it was a hard thing to get started with. I’m finally moving forward one step at a time.

I now have 50 copies of the above label printed and will have them in my hands later this week.

• Reconnect with BookCrossing website, find membership info, log in √
• Gather required info, post intro and questions to forum √
• Design labels √
• Print labels √
• Sort books, separate ones to release - Started…
• Register books, get BCID numbers
• Fill out labels, add to books
• Add business cards (his) as bookmark, additional markers (spine?)
• Write memorial info to cut/paste
• Plan drop off (write café, re-check zones)
• Make journal/release notes
• Set them free!

^Exhaling.

^{(EDIT: Additional explanation here)}11 months ago

June. How is it possible? June is currently shining from rainfall reflections, but hopefully the sun will put in an appearance sometime this weekend. Friday. The start of a weekend is an excellent way to start off a new month.

I feel as though the tectonic plates beneath my life are shifting a bit, but in a good way.

• Eat well, drink plenty of water, and take vitamins/supplements √
• Exercise/movement for 1 hour minimum: walk, yoga, Wii fit+ √
• Basic house maintenance: dishes, garbage, recycling, compost
• Flylady Mission of the Day: Bust hot spots
• Laundry: wash, sort, put away √
• Reading & homework with Isak √
• Family game / adventure √
• Me time: bath, bubbles, book √
• Downtime w/M √

• Continue April happiness entries
• Sort papery nightmare
• Bookcrossing project: complete/send memorial label design √

• Joynotes √
• Ponder new goals √
• Check/post in project forum √
• Good school day = Wii time (join!) √
• Transfer new photos, recharge battery √
• Baths for all! Squeaky hair and trimmed claws! √
• Pick up present, food, go to birthday party √11 months ago

My mantra for May was to just…

Let it go.

Whether it’s a mental mothball or dusty possessions. Less is more. It sounds easier in theory than practice, but I’ve made a lot of progress and it’s getting easier. 11 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{April 16}

• Rain, charcoal smudged skies, and unpopped buds giving way to jeweled droplets and a rich blue backdrop for pale pink explosions.

• Dissolving sadness in outside hours.

• Getting into one of the last spots for what sounds like an exciting summer science experiment class.

• Good talks.

• Consciously unwinding, like feeding kite string to the sky. 11 months ago