It's only March and so far I have already learned or been reminded of many life lessons.

1. There is actually no end point when trying to de-clutter.  A busy home re-clutters itself faster than you can de-clutter it. 

2. While shopping at Home Goods to re-clutter your house and your inner voice says “I don’t think this will work, but I’ll just take it home and see”, listen to the first part: don’t take it home and see.  Chances are it’s not going to work.  But if you don’t listen to yourself, and take it home -don’t lose the receipt!

3. There are no perfect candle holders to be found at Pottery Barn or Pier 1. There are only a 100 good enough choices and one just needs to make a decision before the entire store knows who you are and says “oh, you’re back again?”

4. There is a reason that candles are cheap at Home Goods.

5. Hosting a famous house guest is a great motivator to de-clutter, clean, organize and finally get some of those projects done on the to-do list, but still, there is no end point.  I did get two light fixtures ordered.  It only took four years and one hour. Husband made my fabric covered bulletin boards.  That took four years and half a day.  Unfortunately, I never got around to buying tacks, so nothing is on them yet. Very tacky!   I cleaned out under all my sinks, but never got around to vacuuming the wicker ceiling fans. We got seat cushions made for our patio furniture, but they were made wrong, so famous author had to sit on my old ones anyway.  I worked days on end feng shui-ing everywhere, but there is still so much left to do.  CDs that need organizing (can we please get rid of Raffi and N’Sync?), unread books that need to be let go,  so many things need to be framed.  I did get our Olympic pins from Nagano, Sydney, Salt Lake City and Athens into frames.  That only took six years and an hour.  I still need to order Senior Son’s senior portrait taken in August, and put College Daughter’s senior picture in a frame.  (More on this next blog)   Need a new motivation to get stuff done – and not the Home Tour!

6. Keep a box of Kleenex near by while watching the Olympics.  Is there any other event that offers up life lessons like the Olympics?  Dedication, hard work, and perseverance can reap huge rewards.  Sometimes, you can be the best at something and crappy things still happen. Tiny mistakes can have big consequences, the weather changes when it’s your turn, sometimes it’s just not your day, and you can only have so much control.  Sometimes you can have the rug pulled out from under you and you can still persevere.  When you win, you can accept it with humility.  And if you lose and don’t get what you have worked for your whole life, it is possible to accept defeat with grace and gratitude for what was gained. 

7. Most importantly, we get our greatest joy in life when we give.  Organizing the Katrina event was such a rewarding experience for me.  Of course I wanted her to sell a lot of books, but the greater goal was to give the community the opportunity to meet her and be touched by her thoughtful reflections on the joys and challenges of motherhood.  As mothers we all aspire to be the best parent we can be and it is rarely an easy journey.  We make mistakes; we try to be patient and wise when we are tested; sometimes we fail; we hurt when our kids hurt; we share in their joys and their disappointments.  As they get older, the disappointments can be much bigger than those in the younger years. Harder to soothe with a hug.   Katrina’s book gives a voice to all the feelings we have as moms, especially for those of us in the process of letting go.  Katrina’s talk and her book make it just a little bit easier to be a mom.  It helps us to love our kids just a little bit more.  We’ve all been inspired to cherish our family time with more joy and to notice the richness of our ordinary days.   Katrina’s visit enriched my life and all those who heard her speak and had the chance to meet her.  She gave us a wonderful gift and I was honored to help make it happen.

8. And one last lesson…it never hurts to ask.  For Katrina, I imagine she would say... “It might not hurt to say yes when asked.”  Who would have known a letter of gratitude would grow into a friendship and enrich a community of mothers?     Last year, when my mother-in-law mentioned she wrote to Shirley Jones asking her to come and see her grandson play Harold Hill in The Music Man, I thought she was nuts.  But Shirley Jones and her husband, Marty Ingles, who is nuts, came and met the cast, took pictures and introduced the show. It was quite a thrill for everyone present.  The Internet has made the world a very small place.  You never know what connection you might make when you reach out to someone.  I hope everyone is inspired to give it a try. 

January is one of my favorite months.  I love the start of a new year - setting goals and striving to reach them.   The wisdom of age and experience affords me the knowledge that I will be successful with some and others will go back on my list year after year.  I’m okay with that. I don’t beat myself up any more about what doesn’t get accomplished at the end of the year. I just try to focus on what I did accomplish.  This year I’m trying to drink more green tea and it better really be good for you, because I don’t like it all.  Take my vitamins (that lasted a week, but I’m not giving up).  Not waste food (accomplishing by not buying much).  Get those family videos on DVD if it kills me.  Meet Julie Andrews, get on Ellen and see Rascal Flats in concert.  Doable.  My goal of making a significant contribution to the improvement of humanity may need to wait a couple more years.  But am starting to wonder if I get credit for that goal if I'm the mother of someone who makes a significant contribution?

I also love January because I challenge myself not spend money on anything I don’t need (failed yesterday at Target, but did pretty good at Costco), eat all the food from my freezer (having mild success, but restocking at an equal pace), declutter, organize and nitty gritty clean every room in the house (extra movitavation provided by visit from famous author).  In my book club, we say “it’s time to Feng Shui" instead of "declutter." We like to use it as a verb meaning “clear your mind and soul and get rid of it!”. It’s much more fun to say “Feng Shui” when I query family members on the eternal question - keep or toss?  (Recommend Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston). 

The Feng Shui-ing, or Feng Scha-wing as they would say in Wayne’s World, is coming along nicely.  Last week I Feng Shui-ed out all the never used silver serving pieces that were wedding gifts.  As I was polishing a silver bread basket woven together with tiny strands of silver I had the revelation that silver was meant for royalty with a staff for polishing. I’m fine with the peasant wicker basket.  And I’m never going to use the silver piece that shapes butter, and then keeps it ice cold.  Who would invent that?  Why have I kept it so long?  Would love to Feng Shui twice used wedding china, but obligation will probably require me to drag it around to every house I own until I die.  I did opt to keep bean pot we got for our wedding.  You just never know when you are going to need a bean pot.

Feng Shui-ed many never opened cookbooks, including all those plastic spiral bound cookbook fundraisers.  Although, still having trouble parting with collection of recipes torn from magazines over the past 25 years.  I’ve probably made one a year, but remain hopeful that I will get to them someday.  I know I need a Feng Shui intervention here.

The toughest to Feng Shui was my box of fabrics.  It was full of remnants from Halloween costumes and clothes I had made the kids when they were little.  Every piece had a memory attached to it.  My kids were so proud to wear anything I made them.  I suppose they still are.  Luxurious homemade Snuggies were a big hit this year. (Ask me details if you want to attempt one)  The best Feng Shui was my pantry and kitchen.  I find myself staring at it with awe, wishing there was some way to make it last.  I was not happy to notice a crooked tea box today.  And it wasn't me!   Yesterday, I Feng Shui-ed all the old VCR tapes. Maybe I will replace with a DVD if I can find them for $5 at Target (after January, of course). While in that cupboard, I cleaned and organized all the games. Happy it has actually been rediscovered by the Teens. There was very little agreement, however, on what to Feng Shui, so had to keep most.  It would not bother me to never play Monopoly again.

Yes, my project list is long, but the reward great.  It just takes one cupboard, one closet, one drawer a day.  Once you see how liberating it is to get rid of all the unnecessary stuff and organize what’s left, you’ll find it hard to stop.   Feng Shui along with me and feel the lightness of your being.  Feel free to share your successes on my blog.  Let’s get organized together. 

Hi Friends

Here is my new blog space set up by supportive husband:

It is just temporary until I get some cool design.  And I’m sure it will need to be purple.  Speaking of purple, I must confess, I am seriously addicted.  Should I say it:  I am Tracy and I am Purple Addict.  I went to Nordstrom’s on Friday to get some make up.  Just make up, I’m telling my self.  I am walking through the Point of View section to get to the escalator when I hear these purple jeans calling to me “Tracy, come try me on, there Not My Daughter’s Jean, I will fit you perfectly”.  I also see this lovely purple sweater.  There are many other colors, including a red one that says, “Try me on, I will be good for Christmas, I will last more than one season.  Okay, I will try both of you on.  Sorry, no can do red.  I have to have the purple.  I get the purple jeans, and the purple sweater, and a couple pairs on non-purple pants and head to the make up counter.  Buy my make-up, throwing in some purple eye shadow.  Has anyone ever seen me in eye shadow?  You will now.  I tell my self, get out of here, but I just can’t do it.  I am drawn to the shoe department.  My biggest weakness, no matter what the color.  There sits the perfect pair of purple Uggs, a dark purple that will go with everything AND a purple pair of suede Geox.  Both purples you can actually walk in.  I am practically salivating.   Give me a gold star because I was able to pull myself out of there without even trying them on.  Unfortunately as I went back up stairs to retrieve my bag from the sales girl, I saw another purple top and bought it without even trying it on. 

My week was a roller coaster of emotions.  Maybe every week is like this, but you just don’t pay attention to it unless you are blogging.  It was one of frustration (“I’m just trying to help you achieve your goals, making you study for the SAT is not a punishment”) (“Why are you up at 1:00am when you are sick and have to sing the National Anthem at the Special Olympics tomorrow?”), pride (watching sick son sing aforementioned song), anxiety and fear (“YOU WENT HIKING BY YOURSELF IN SPAIN? ARE YOU NUTS’), gratitude (“Thank God you are “home” “safe” in Egypt now, just don’t get killed in a car accident.”), excitement (became friends with an author I admire) and pure joy (will elaborate below).

I felt absolute pure joy down to my core this weekend. For my friends in So Cal, I’m sure you felt it too.  There is nothing better than finally having a day that feels like fall.  I was on a natural high walking my dog this afternoon with a blue sky, cool air, a slight breeze, and families putting up Halloween decorations.  Fall is my favorite season and I felt it today.  I’m sure we are in for another heat wave, but I opened all my windows and let that wonderful fall air fill the house today.

My second moment, or should I say entire evening of joy was at the Loggins and Messina concert.  I was in the 2^nd row!!!  I could almost see without my glasses, I didn’t need any ear plugs because the sound was perfect and no one was smoking pot around me.  It was a fantastic night.  Happiness was coming out my pores.  There is just something special about those songs and bands from our early years when we first discovered the magic of music.

Here's to finding your JOY this week!