In a little better mood today. We have been invited to a gathering tonight from 7:30 – 9:00. Not sure if I can people yet or not. I don’t want to spread this bad mood to others. Besides, little things are really bothering me today and I don’t want to snap at someone over something stupid.
My baby brother came out and picked up his new year’s cookies along with some left over fudge and pepper nuts. He even took my left over peanut butter balls. I threw away the stuff in two other containers. All that is left now are some Rollo pretzel bites and I can’t make myself throw them away yet. Maybe tomorrow….
I kept the chickens in their coop today. I just went down and filled their water container. They aren’t very happy with me making them stay inside today. It is 12 degrees out and the wind is blowing so betting the wind chill is below zero. They can go out tomorrow if it is a bit warmer.
It is so nice to be able to open the chicken coop door easily. Man! Why didn’t I have someone fix it a long time ago. Funny how I can put up with a minor nuisance and not investigate it more. It is the little things in life sometimes that can make the biggest difference.
Looking at an almost empty calendar so far for January. That both delights and terrifies me. The old habit of you have to be busy to be worth while starts running in my head when I have that much free time. Maybe this will be the year I can break free of that old, useless tape in my head. The last few months when I thought I was going to have lots of empty space stuff has come up and eaten away my empty space. Trusting this time will truly stay empty for me. I am way overdue for lots of empty space.
I got my tax organizer from my accountant yesterday so it must be time to start pulling numbers together for him. I got started on them in October so it won’t take me long to finish up. Waiting for tax forms from banks and others holds me up the most. Always feels good to get that job finished up. I will start cleaning out files and pulling 2016 records to put in storage. When it gets warmer I will go down to the barn and pull one more year of records to take to the dump. Only two more years of records after I pull the 2011 ones and those will be gone. I will have lots of empty storage racks when that happens.
A project I like to do every January is clean out all my cabinets and closets and see how much stuff I can get rid of. I use most of my dishes during the holidays so if I didn’t use them this year they go out. I noticed this morning my closet is feeling crowded so I need to get it cleared out. I love finding stuff I can get rid of. I boxed up a box of books to return to the library so they can resale them at the spring book sale. Maybe I can find a box or two to drop off at a Goodwill and make a “done with it” trip to town. I already cleaned out my pantry but what I found in it was stuff to throw away not give away. I really can’t stand clutter any more and anything I don’t use needs to go out of the house. I don’t keep just in case stuff anymore.
I was downstairs in my storage room and noticed I need to get down there and go through my totes one more time. Every time I do I find more stuff to get rid of. I put some extra furniture in there and that room is very crowded now. Anyone interested in two matching twin beds complete with mattress and box springs? They are in like new condition. I got Kathy a full-sized bed for her room and don’t need the twin beds anymore. $150 each or both for $200.
My money challenge starts tomorrow. Guess if I want to buy anything new I better get it ordered today! Good news is I can’t think of anything I want or need! Most of my spending continues to be impulse buying which is why a money challenge is helpful for me. Shopping from a list only really helps me be more aware of how I spend my money. I’m always surprised at how much I don’t spend when I use a list.
I don’t make New Year’s resolutions as I celebrate Solstice and equinox and that feels more relevant to me. I did see a meme on Facebook that I could call my 2018 resolution. It said: My goals this year? Eat chocolate, be real, go on adventures, hang out with weird people, create epic shit, and be magical & sassy as fuck. Same as every other year.
It is a bitterly cold, sunny day on the prairie. All is well!