So it's weird.. I have a lot of "anniversaries" in the last quarter of the year.
last week we celebrated (using that term VERY loosely) our 1 year anniversary of leaving Madison and moving to CT.
This week we celebrate (again loose use of the word) our FIVE year anniversary of leaving Seattle.
Our wedding anniversary - 7 years - is at the end of this month.... (I don't have any wedding photos on my computer.... 7 years is a long time in the world of technology.)
AND I was just cleaning out some things (more on that later) and came across some old paperwork. There are a lot of new people here and I'm quite sure you haven't gone back to read my OLD OLD blog posts, but we did IVF to get pregnant (and if you care to know WHY) and I just dug up our paperwork ... Oct 18th I went into the hospital to have two tiny embryos place inside me! On Oct 28th (FIVE years ago) I found out I was pregnant! WOW! Looking over the paperwork with the words Blastocyst and embryos written all over them I feel a strange disconnection from it. When we decided to do IVF I always wondered if we would tell any resulting children how they were brought into this world. That question is still unanswered, but I rarely think about it. Now that I'm on 'the other side' I don't even feel like we went through all of that.. and believe me WE DID! It was a long hard road to get where we are, but it's like it was all erased from my memory when Jason and Lily joined our family. If you know anyone going through this infertility business. Give them a big hug, an ear and a shoulder. That's really all the need. Well, not all, but you get it.
I am working on simplifying some things.. all things.. in preparation for a big training year. Part of that is cleaning things out and letting go of the 'unnecessary' things (which lead me to purge the aforementioned paperwork) and streamlining our finances (aka squeezing out any extra cash I can to support my crazy triathlon habit). I can't remember where I found it, but I stumbled upon Zen Habits. I am really loving this site. It's got all kinds of info about creating your 'zen'.. from ridding yourself of extra stuff (aka baggage) to simplifying your finances. I'm just gobbling up this site (and a lot of time.. not so zen or simplified, but we'll get there).
Are you in need of some simplifying and cleaning out of things? What do you do to keep it simple stupid? I'm excited to get rid of the unnecessary stuff to allow more room for the good stuff, brain space for more creativity and less of that bogged down feeling from all the 'stuff' I've got to manage.
PS. Hot tip from a friend of mine. If you donate stuff to Goodwill they have a brochure that helps you give value to the things you donate. This brochure gives way more value to things than I had given in the past. If you itemize on your taxes this is very cool. You have to list every item, but it might be worth the extra work.
I can't believe it's been 5 years since we left Seattle - we just had ours in September. A lot has happened since then! I am always looking for ways to simplify - I really want to have a garage sale where I just open my garage and let people make an offer!!! I feel like I just want it all gone. The "stuff" is weighing me down!
ReplyDeletehmmm..maybe I will list some stuff on craigslist right now...thanks for the motivation! oh and I will definitely check out the zen habits site.
Isn't it interesting how a single piece of paperwork can bring back a whole flood of emotions?? That happened to me about a month ago when I was going through some old paperwork and found the old medical records from when my youngest was in the hospital. It brought back some pretty strong emotions.
ReplyDeleteI think it's important to go through stuff on a regular basis and purge what you no longer need. Not only to have more physical space, but mental space too. I'll be checking out that Zen Habits site too! :)
Quite a lot of anniversaries, that's fun.
ReplyDeleteOH man... you made me cry. I'd not read the babe's birth story. And now I am gonna have to go read all the way backwards... so much for doing anything else this afternoon. :)
ReplyDelete:) It was a long journey for sure. Obviously I would do it all over again. Only thing I would change is the 2 years of my life I feel like I lost bc I was such a depressed mess over the whole thing!!! Thanks!!! :)
ReplyDeleteCall me incredibly selfish but I am glad you made it out to Bethel:) Don't know what I'd do without you.
ReplyDeleteAND I think I deserve a vote if you ever decide that you want to leave;)
:) There are plenty of reasons why I am glad we made this move too!!! Meeting you is definitely one of those things! :) Thanks for the warm fuzzy! :) See you in the a.m. :D
ReplyDeleteQuite the anniversary month, but celebrate all the milestones. It's your life and you've lived it so throw a party (even if in your own head) for doing things others don't....like leaving Seattle or leaving Madison, but also celebrate showing up in CT or showing up in Seattle.
ReplyDeleteLifes events and we need to celebrate them.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARIES!!!!
Wow, that is a whole lot of life in just seven years!
ReplyDeleteGood to celebrate the anniversaries of such things.
It's a good way to take stock and count blessings. :)
I love zen habits too. I have this philosophy called "clean, store, maintain". Everything that comes into the house I have to have a plan to clean, store and maintain it. Everything that I get out of the house no longer needs to be cleaned, stored or maintained. It stops me from buying things and helps me purge when I need to!
ReplyDeleteGuess what, we've been reading each others blogs for 1 year!!! AND 2011 is going to be the year we meet, I know it!!
Sonja.. wow a year. Craziness! I've designated 2011 the year of awesomeness so it HAS to be the year I meet you... one way or another. I'm sure I'll get the chance at Quassy.. if nothing else.
ReplyDeletePurging has been quite cathartic. Even got Tom on board today!!! I totally agree w/ you.. the less I have to maintain the more time I can spend on SBR!!! :) Or at least the less stressful the SBR goings on are!
Thanks for sharing! I have been purging like crazy in the off season. It feels good.
ReplyDelete