I'm Ready To Fill In My Blank Page-Are You?

Welcome to 2015! 

What I love about New Year's is that a whole year is stretched ahead of me,just like a blank sheet of paper. There is something about blank pages I have always loved-when I would get notebooks for school,I couldn't wait to start writing in them. Now I am anxious to write on 2015.

I gave up New Year resolutions a few years ago,because I never followed through on them,so what was the point? I decided to take one day at a time. With Rick's PTSD and TBI,all we can do is take one day at a time. Since he began his intensive cognitive therapy for his PTSD,he has had to deal with "pseudo seizures". When he goes through one,it takes a day or two for him to regroup because drains him mentally.  Basically,the emotion and memory areas of the brain overload and shuts down.Thankfully he has not had one for a few weeks.Admittedly,this past year has not been good for me,either. My motivation has not been up there. I admit it. I have felt like a slug.

However,things have been better and I am ready to go at it---one day at time.

This time of year is perfect for organizing and decluttering the house,as well as putting the finishing touches on things left unfinished. Now,that is not saying that all will get done,because I know it won't. However, what does get done will be an accomplishment,and that will make me happy.

My first step will be to go from room to room and look.It's easy to gloss over things when you see them every day,because,well,you really don't see them anymore. So I am really going to look. What do I need? Why do I have what I have? Does it enhance my life? Does it serve a purpose? How can I make an area function better? Is this looking nice,and if not,what do I want to do make it better?  What needs fixing or replacing?

That is my first step.

What are you writing on your blank page? How do you organize or declutter?

Home Organization Binders

I had a home organizer binder for a few years now. It was a 3" binder,that was getting so very full that I had no room to put any more pages in it. It was also quite heavy. I had not only household organizing in it,but gardening and chicken info too. Well, now that we are expanding,I had to separate the home from the farm. My old binder was very boring. I perused various websites and found some nice ideas at http://strangersandpilgrimsonearth.blogspot.com/2013/03/keepers-at-home-home-management-binder.html. I liked the idea of photos and quotes,so I scoured the internet and made some pages of my own,thanks to her ideas. A great website for information pages ishttp://blog.worldlabel.com/2012/organizing-planner-the-harmonized-house-project.html. It has some info pages that you can download and just type the information right onto the pages! 

My home binder:

Here is an example of the beginning of the section for contact information:

In the home binder, I have the following sections:

-Contacts and Reference Information
 *Emergency Numbers
 *Family and Friends Contact Info
 *School Info
 *Medical Information
 *Website passwords
 *Utility,Insurance Info

-Homemaking Info
 * Daily,Weekly,Monthly and Seasonal To do lists
 * Homemade Cleaning Recipes 
 * Laundry Soap records ( how much I spend and how often I make it to see how much     money I save)
 *Essential Oil Information

-Blogging 
 *Ideas
 *Stats

I save ideas from magazines and incorporate them into the binder as well.



Farm information:

-Gardening

 *What is planted and dates

 *Square foot garden maps

 *Weights of harvests

 * What I sell and how much is earned ( New for this year!)

-Chickens

 *Number of chickens 

 *Egg records-gathered,sold,and how much earned

 * Feed records 

-Sheep

 *Health records,when it's time to trim hooves,etc

 * Record of feed hay and bedding hay,when bought and how much spent

 * Shearing Records-when sheared,how much collected

 * Yarn Records-weight and number of skeins spun, plants used for coloring,color records ( New for this year!)

-Goats ( new in Spring!)

 * Health records

 * Feed records

 *Birth records (2015)

 * Milk weight (2015)

 * Products produced ( milk,cheese,soap.etc) how much made,sold,and earned (2015)

Each binder is different for each person. What you want to keep track of depends on you! You will need:

-2" or 3" binders

-plastic paper protectors

-tabbed dividers ( if you wish to break down the main subjects more)

-stick on file tabs

To decided what subjects I wished to put in the organizers,I wrote everything I wanted to include  on a piece of paper. I chose the main topics,and then decided what information that I wanted to include in each one.

I have also made a binder for all the instruction booklets,warranties,and manuals for things  around the house,such as the computer,TVs,DVD player,fridge,oven,etc. I got tired of them slipping and sliding in the file cabinet. Now everything is in a page protector and is not going anywhere. I also made a binder for my knitting and crocheting patterns,and am working on one ( or more) for my family tree information. Right now I have several notebooks and folders that are jammed into the bottom drawer of the file cabinet,and I really need to free up the space.

A quick thank you to everyone who responded to my last post. You have no idea how comforting it is to read such wonderful,heartfelt support!

Catching... (pant)....My (pant).....Breath (pant)

Yes, I am still here,and hanging my head in shame because it's been so long since I posted last. Everything decided to happened at once these past few weeks.

Shall I enlighten you?

Oh,good,I knew you'd be dying to know!


First,some great news! Rick was accepted into the NEADS ( National Education for Assistance Dog Services) Canines For Combat Vets program. It took a long time,but he was put in,and he had to go down to Princeton MA to their training facility for two weeks. He was able to come on on the weekend in between,which was nice. It's a 2 hr and 15 minute drive one way,so on the days I had to pick him up,it meant a 5 hour drive for me. When I got home,I was wiped out,so that day was toast. When I had to bring him back,I was lucky that they allowed me to spend the night so I could at least break the driving up. 

He is now done training with his dog,Richie,and he and Richie are home.He's a lovely,gorgeous dog,and helps with Rick's anxiety a great deal. He's all business when he's in his vest,but when it's off,he's just like any other dog. We do have to bear in mind that he is working dog and not a family pet,so Rick has to be the one to feed him,work on commands with him,exercise him,etc. We can pet him and love him,but we need to remember he is there for Rick.

My schedule the last two weeks has gone like this:

Bring Rick to MA,come home Monday,troop meeting that night, grocery shopping Tuedsay,PLC meeting on Wednesday,Scout Roundtable on Thursday night,pick up Rick and Richie Friday (round trip),Sat 9-1 work the Fair parking cars for a Troop fundraiser,Sunday park cars 9-1,drive Rick and Richie back down to MA,come back Monday,work at the Fair Monday night,bring Zach to the dentist on Tues,Weds night park cars,Thursday a whole day off (!),yesterday pick up Rick and Richie (round trip).Of course, the daily things fit in there somewhere. Did I mention that we found kittens and the Mumma took off,so we are bottle feeding five kittens every few hours? Or that we are  in the end throes building new mini deck off the mud room? Or that we have to plan and build a barn by the end of Fall because we are getting sheep? Or that we had to get the brakes on the truck fixed by yesterday because the Troop is helping run Webelos Fall Overnight this weekend and our truck is the only one big enough to tow the Troop trailer? Thankfully,our Scoutmaster took Rick's truck and the trailer up and I just had to bring Rick and Richie up this AM to the camping site. Rick's brain was too pooped to come home and rush and pack and drive up there with Zach and Richie.

Deep sigh........

While many folks are used to running around on a daily basis, and think that I am a pathetic weenie, let me say that their life and mine are different. Being this busy is very rare for us. In fact,3 or 4 days can go by without me leaving-I work around the house and yard and have my own schedule to keep. I felt like a mad woman wanting to pull the hair out of my head,and kept telling myself to just keep my mind focused on what was going on in the moment.I felt very overwhelmed. Thursday I had nowhere to go,which was great,because I was able to play catch up with the house work before Rick and Richie came home.

Today I am going to plod along outside,clean out the garden beds that need it,and make some laundry soap.

Enjoy your day! I may take a nap later..LOL!

Plan Of Attack

Sometimes there is so much going on in my head-between Scouting activities,Rick's up coming VA appointments,his PTSD service dog appts,gardening,canning,making soap,planning/building our enclosed mud room,barn,and working on making labels for the products I wish to sell-that I feel like I am in a complete tizzy.It also shows in my home-I have piles of unorganized paperwork,and I can't find what I need when I need it.There is so much to do,and it seems like so little time to do it. I know,however,that things will get done,and in time. It is just too much to contemplate in one sitting,if you know what I mean. 

I do have moment when I can slow down,such as my twice a week yoga classes,but these clear minded times are fleeting. My thoughts jump from one thing to the other,and I can't seem to find a moment to rest my poor brain. This leads to stress and anxiety. I bring it on myself,of course. All I have to do is have a plan of attack:

-What are the priorities? What can wait? Out of the main priorities,what needs to be done first?

-Break projects up into small bits,so it doesn't seem so very overwhelming. It's amazing what can be done a few minutes a day.

-Don't put off tomorrow what you can do today!

-Have a few quiet moments for myself each day to just sit and be.

We do have a vacation planned at near the end of August. We are going up to Pittsburg NH,the very last town before Canada. It's always a good place to restore oneself and clear out the cobwebs and stress.

When you find your brain on overload,as well as your calendar,what is your plan of attack?