Simply Thankful Week 3

Happy Thanksgiving! It’s the holiday when we remember to be thankful for our families, our homes, our health, and the simple things that we can easily take for granted. These are my simple things for this week…

First snow blanketing the trees
Friends who become family
More uncluttered spaces
One-on-one time with my kids
Heated car seats
Birthday cake with the birthday girl

When we have to do without the simple, everyday things is when we realize how much we depend on them. I drove our extra car (aka the teen’s car) to work this week. It doesn’t have some of the things my car has that I take for granted, like the back-up camera and remote start.

It’s also easy to take our loved ones for granted, too. Sometimes they live far away and we just don’t get to see them as much as we’d like. When we do get to see them, we should make the most of that time. Sometimes we don’t get a second chance to tell the people that we love how much they mean to us. Give an extra hug and say an extra “I love you”. Today is a gift, enjoy it.

November Project Update

My November project to sort out the Christmas decorations isn’t going as well as I had hoped it would. I didn’t start as early as I should have. I finally got started on the project…well, uhm, yesterday. At least I didn’t wait until the very last minute.

I started with 8 gray/beige storage bins and some extras that didn’t fit in the bins. After sorting, purging, and repacking, I was able to get the things that came out of the boxes back into 5 not fully packed bins. I was also able to get some of the items that had accumulated on top of the stack into boxes. Three empty boxes, fewer things piled on top (a few things are too big to fit in the bins) and I made $20.00 listing some things for sale on the local buy, sell, trade site.

The next phase of the project is to sort the ornaments. That will have to wait until after Thanksgiving when we put them on the tree. Gift boxes and wrapping paper are the last part of the project. I’m not buying any paper until I’ve used what I have. There are so many cute papers and bows though *sigh*!! It will be hard not to buy anything but I’m not buying any paper or bows. I’ll have to be patient, get my shopping done, and then get more supplies if I need them.

As a bonus while we were pulling out the Christmas boxes, we sorted and organized some of the other things that we had ~~dumped~~ placed in the storage room to put away later. The 3-drawer cart that was emptied during my October decluttering project was put to use to organize some other supplies that had just been stacked up in the family room and we can now store all of them in the storage room. It feels good to have empty containers, a donate pile that keeps growing, and after a trip to shred papers we’ll be able to walk through the family room.

I’m not planning a December decluttering project. In January I plan to finish the storage room. What organizing or simplifying projects are you planning?

Simply Thankful Week 2

This is week two of being simply thankful. This week has been very busy. It has been hard to slow down and notice things to be thankful for. Here are days 8 through 14…

Seeing deer on the way to work
Coffee with a friend
House full of laughing teens
Our Veterans and the freedoms they secure for all of us
Curling up with a blanket and a good book
Pink striped sunset
Flickering fire light on a cold snowy night

I need to remember to slow down this week and enjoy the moment. What are you thankful for this week? Let me know in the comments.

For “Special”

Recently I was sorting my Fiestaware ~~obsession~~ collection and my husband asked why we didn’t use them. We have Corelle dishes for everyday use. The Fiestaware is “for special” occassions. I have enough place settings to have a sit down dinner for more people than I know in real life, so it was a valid question. My answer was “because these are for special.” We all have those “for special” items, maybe it’s dishes, wine glasses, grandma’s necklace or the embroidered towels no one is actually allowed to use.

When is “For a Special Occasion” Day? I checked my calendar, I can find Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Sweetest Day but no “Special Occasion” Day. So I asked Google. On the National Days: The Ultimate List website, I found National Candy Day, National Vanilla Cupcake Day, and Squirrel Appreciation Day but still no “Special Occasion” Day.

So when is it? It never seems to be today. It wasn’t yesterday. What day is special enough to use the good plates? What guest are special enough for the good towels? My Grandma had two smoked gray wine glasses. As a kid I loved those glasses, I think they came from boxes of laundry soap flakes, but I loved them. Grandma didn’t make me wait for special to use them. Any day I asked was special enough to have my favorite mixed drink (Hawaiian Punch and 7-Up on ice) in them. Just being together was special enough. Grandma is no longer with us but those memories are, and the glasses live with me now.

Grandma had the answer, “Special Occasion” Day is today and hopefully tomorrow and the day after that. Tomorrow isn’t promised but we have today with the people we love most. Go ahead, bring out the china and the good towels because everyday is a special occasion.

Simply Thankful Week 1

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of November is pumpkin pie with whipped cream! The second is thankfulness (that should probably be first but really like pumpkin pie). Practicing gratitude is something I need to work on. It’s easy for me to remember to be thankful for my family, home and health but there are also many small everyday reasons to be thankful. Some days it may be harder to find reasons to be grateful for but I keep looking and I find them!

affection appreciation decoration design — Photo by Carl Attard on Pexels.com

The simple things I’m grateful for this week are…

Unlimited calling/data plans
Coffee
Gathering with friends
Not setting the alarm
Homemade soup on a rainy night
Pumpkin spice coffee creamer
Puppy snuggles

What are you thankful for this week? Let me know in the comments.