Making Things Better #5

 

I always need to be productive.  Even now I still have that driving need to be doing something.  Anything that makes me feel useful.  I am not one that can just sit and do nothing.  I've never been any good at that.  And while the bulk of the projects we had planned for 2021 have been put on hold I still feel the need to do something.  I still have that drive to do things that make our lives better.

 

Cleaning and reorganizing cupboards & drawers

Lately I've been doing what I call "butt projects".  Any task I can complete while sitting on my butt or can do with frequent rest breaks.  It make take me a whole lot longer to get stuff done, but at least I am doing something.  And that in and of itself makes me very happy.

 

I am easily staying on top of the chore list

So far I've managed to do quite a bit that is making our life around her much, much better.  Maintaining our home on a daily basis by continuing with my 15 minute cleaning routine has been an absolute godsend and my quarterly housekeeping checklist too.  Those small increments of time allow me to keep up on my chores and cleaning routines without the risk that  might overdo it.  Plus I don't have the anxiety that comes along with a messy house and things growing out of control.  That would pretty much do me in.

 

A neat, tidy and functional garage space

I've been able to continue purging and reorganizing the spaces in my home.  It took me about three weeks to do the garage, which normally I would've gone out and done it in a few hours, but not this time.  I went out each day and did a small section for a brief amount of time and slowly made my way through it all until I was able to fill my car trunk with donations, our recycle bin with cardboard and even a few items that ended up in the trash.

 

Some trash and yard debris

I weeded our front parking area.  It took me almost two weeks, but I got it done.  I just sat on my rear and worked from one end to the other.  I could've had my daughter do it, but I really enjoyed sitting in the sunshine and breathing in the fresh air.  I wanted to do it myself.  It looks really nice out there all raked up and tidy.  Now I just have to maintain it and I do by pulling any weed I see popping up whenever I come home from work, the grocery store or a doctor appointment.

 

A very full recycle bin

Along with the garage I've decluttered and purged the guest room/craft room.  I've gone through everything in that room and filled up a bag with donations, a grocery bag with trash and another grocery bag with shredded paper.  I've gone through all of our paperwork in the entire house and shredded so much that I filled up two kitchen sized trash bags with shredding.  I've gone through our kitchen again, our hall closet under the stairs again.  I've gone through everything under our kitchen and bathroom sinks and drawers too making them all clean, neat and organized.

 

I am adding to my empty bin collection

I'm working on Christmas.  I've updated our Christmas budget and my gift list in order to do a very low spend holiday this year.  I have plenty of sewing, needle work and craft supplies to pretty much make all of the gifts I plan to give this year.  I've been making quite a few gifts simply by finishing up some unfinished projects as well as using items I already have on hand to create new ones.  Lately I've been making a gob of granny squares to use up all of the odd balls and skeins of yarn I have leftover from old projects as well as the skeins I've collected from thrift stores over the past couple of years.  There will be some afghans made this year so lots of warm blankets to snuggle up with next winter.  Lots of useful gifting this year.

 

Unfinished projects in need of completion

While I am not the whirlwind of activity I am used to being right now I am still doing things around our home to make things better.  I appreciate that the systems I've put in place still work well for us.  Not just if you are strapped for time, but also if you have health issues or are recovering from an illness or injury.  Knowing that makes things better too.