Category Archives: plans

March 13, 2012 · 3:26 PM

Worms, field trips, and some plans for the future

Yesterday morning, the kids and I went on a field trip that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since.  It was actually only the first stop in one of those crazybusyexhaustingbutfun kind of days –  the kind that had us leaving the house at 9:00 AM and not returning until 6:30 PM – but it’s the stop that won’t leave my mind.

We toured a city home whose owners had transformed it into a sustainable, completely eco-friendly living space.   And it was awesome.  I will always hold out hope that we’ll have a nice piece of land again someday (sometimes it still befuddles me that a country girl like me wound up in a city the size of Phoenix, of all places) but yesterday’s tour reminded me that I don’t have to have a big chunk of land in order to make some huge – and hugely impactful – changes to the way we live.

On this less than 8,000 square foot plot, this family utilized:

They also had chickens; an outdoor shower; many edible, multi-functional and indigenous plants;  bee blocks;  a small greenhouse; rebar shade structures… and much more that I’m forgetting.  The entire space was careful and deliberately designed, and nothing – not so much as a drop of rainwater – was wasted.

All right there on this little plot, in a regular old neighborhood, right in the middle of a city.

Inspiring.

I came home filled with ideas, and looking at our current housing situation with new perspective.   Lately we’ve been talking about the possibility of moving again (locally) and have been sifting through our options.  Unfortunately, because like so many millions of other Americans right now we are woefully underwater on our house, our options are few.   We’re starting at the only place we can start, by culling our clutter, organizing our finances, and getting the house ready for someone who will really love it.  When we do move (and I say “when” instead of “if” because I believe it will happen) if we can recreate even half of what this beautiful family has designed, I will be happy.

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Filed under eco, field trips, inspirational, life, passions, pets, plans

February 28, 2012 · 8:39 AM

One thing at a time

I’m a slow learner.

For the past year (at least) a big running theme on my blog has been the art of not sweating the small stuff.  Living in the moment.  Appreciating the calm amidst the chaos.  Letting go.

And I get it, and I understand it, and I feel it…. but I still find myself having to re-learn it.  Over and over and over again.

I have spent most of February MAJORLY sweating the small stuff (and the big stuff and everything in between)  I have been overwhelmed and stressed out and so, SO tired.  I was coming off one of the worst and longest stretches of insomnia I’d ever had – one that started well before the new year – and that coupled with the sudden onslaught of doctor appointments, Cub Scout activities, basketball, gymnastics, church events, writing projects, park days and birthdays and parties and… and and and…. it was all sending me over the edge.  I was unraveling.  It got to where I felt like I couldn’t do anything, so immobilized I was even at the idea of choosing a place to start.   Every time I heard that little “dink dink dink” on my phone, telling me I had another email, I cried winced.  Another place to be.  Another thing to attend to.  Another commitment to put on the calendar.

I was burnt out.  The house was out of control, I couldn’t seem to meet all four kids’ needs at the same time, and my own personal pursuits had become a thing of the distant past.  Leaving the house didn’t help, because I was so exhausted that I couldn’t enjoy it; and staying home didn’t help either, because at home I was buried under the weight of the 7425 things that needed my attention, not to the mention the growing inadequacy I was feeling as a mother (let alone as a wife.  As stressed I was, and as hectic as we were, we were lucky if we said hello when we passed each other as we ran one of the kids to their next engagement.  I think I still know what he looks like.)

I few days ago, I posted on Facebook about my feelings of overwhelm.  One wise friend told me:

“One thing at a time, finish it, move to the next.”

And it irritated the ^$@^%* out of me.  Well, I know that already.  You think I don’t know that?  It’s not that easy.  How do you do one thing at a time when you have a million things that need to be finished RIGHT NOW?  How do you do one thing at a time when you have so many things to do that there’s no single place to start?

I grumped at the mere suggestion for a good part of the morning.  “One thing at a time”… pffffft.

Then you know what I did?

I did one thing.  I finished it.  I took a big gasping gulp of air breath.  I moved on to the next.  By the time I got to the fourth or fifth thing on the list, I was breathing for real.  I wasn’t so overwhelmed.  I wasn’t so stressed about what remained undone, instead focusing on the productivity and the reality and the beauty of the moment.  I realized – AGAIN – that it really is about baby steps.   Not sweating the small stuff.  Living in the moment.  Having faith.  Trusting.  Breathing.

I was able to enjoy a fun go-cart riding birthday party for Spencer, and just a few days later threw a lovely little party for Tegan as well.  We watched Everett score in his last basketball game of the season, and accept his trophy in the awards ceremony.  We went to church yesterday, and we shopped for the supplies to make up the care packages we’ve been wanting to put in our cars for the homeless.   I got 99% of March on the calendar, and I breathed a sigh of relief that the bulk of February’s craziness was complete.

Now we’re about to head into another month, and another season, that is so far scheduled to be even busier than February.  And I’m realizing something else… also not for the first time:

I can’t do it all.   I especially can’t do it all at the same time.

Right now, I have to focus on my kids first.  They suffer when I’m stressed/not sleeping/burnt out, and that’s not fair to them.  So my first order of business is more pancake breakfasts.  More bubble blowing.  More chalk murals on the driveway.  More reading.  More singing.  More talking about Minecraft and legoes and Wonder Pets.

On a more personal note, I have a few different writing projects I’m working on for the month of March… all of which I’ll be sure to share if and when they come to fruition.

In April, I begin the marathon of yoga training that will only conclude with the 180 hours (crammed into two weeks!)  of studio time in July.

In keeping with my new adage of “one thing at a time”, I’m not sure what’s coming after that.  There’s the personal trainer exam I’ve been wanting to prepare for for the past year.  The herbalist portion of the Holistic Health degree I started when I completed the Nutrition certification program.  All the big ideas I had for my blog.  I don’t know.

I’m giving myself permission not to stress out about it, and not to feel like I have to do everything right now.   Which means that for the moment, blogging is going to be taking a backseat and squarely landing on my “when I have time” list…. along with jewelry making, practicing the piano, henna tattooes, and finally putting my vacation pictures (from last July) into an album.

I’m not going anywhere.  I’ll still be around.  It’s just that I’ve had to make the decision – one I feel good about – that this isn’t the time for devoting tons of hours to blogging.  Someday it will be, but not right now.

Right now I need to do one thing at a time.

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Filed under about me, breathing, learning, life, not sweating the small stuff, plans, simplifying

January 1, 2012 · 9:47 AM

New Year, new plans

I say these words every year – every year – but, I love New Years.  I do.  And it’s silly really, because it’s a day like any other day.  ANY day is a good day to make a change.  ANY day is a good day to try something new.  ANY day is a good day for a fresh start.  I know that, and I practice that.   But there’s still just something about that 1/1 on the calendar… that promise of newness and hope and possibility… that makes my heart flutter.

I haven’t done resolutions for a while now, but I do do (heh, I said do-do) goals.  And for the past three years, I’ve made a virtual dream board.  I save it, print it out, and it then looks back at me from my bulletin board all year long.

Because life is circular, not linear, and because a lot of pursuits don’t start or end with the new year,  my boards tend to look very similar year after year.   In fact, this year I just changed a couple of things.

It all starts with faith and family, so that will always remain front and center.

I don’t ever want to stop traveling, exploring, and enjoying the outdoors, so that’s there too.  Last year was a nearly month-long cross-country road trip.  There won’t be such a trip this year, but we are planning a ten-day vacation in San Diego this fall, as well as many local excursions to the beautiful desert and mountains.

In the upper left-hand corner is my consummate reminder to continue focusing on paying off our debt.  It’s not sexy, but for better or worse it plays a rather pivotal role in how we live our lives, so there it is.  This year, my hope is to not only reach our number goal by the end of the year, but to surpass it.  I want to contribute to the cause myself this year, by bringing in some money of my own for the first time in a long while.

My favorite part of the board this time – and the part I’ll be focusing a lot of energy on – is the entire right-hand side:  The playing, the creating, the inspiring, the JOY.  The girl is about to be four years old, and when all the boys were four I also had a brand-new baby.  This time there will be no more babies.  While I’m at peace with it, and am very much enjoying this stage of all the kids’ lives, there’s a part of me that is profoundly sad to know that that chapter in my life is over.   I don’t want to focus on the sad.  I want to focus on the joy… both the joy I find in the kids, and the joy I find in my own creative pursuits… those things I willingly set aside when they were babies.   I can’t wait to devote some time to creating again.  Creating music, art, words, jewelry.  I am re-learning how to play the piano.  I just started playing with chain maille.  I have some specific ideas for my blog, and for the e-books I keep threatening promising to finish.  AND, God-willing, this spring I will enroll in the yoga teacher training program I have been eyeing for the past three years, and have my RYT by the end of July.   If for whatever reason it doesn’t happen this year, as long as I’m still working towards it – as long as I’m still learning and trying and creating and practicing and yoga-ing – I’ll be happy.

Happy 2012.  May it be full of new and exciting and beautiful things.

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Filed under about me, Law of Attraction, New Years, passions, plans

March 21, 2011 · 3:30 PM

Goals, Plans, and Heavy Equipment

Spencer is fourteen at the time of this writing.

I love having a teenager. What’s that you say? What about the sullen, rebellious, eye-rolling teenagers that sitcoms would have you believe are the norm? Not in this house. I like my teen, and find I’m enjoying being around him more than ever. I’ve so far enjoyed all of my kids’ ages, but there’s just something really cool about someone who still plays with legos, but can laugh at and appreciate a sophisticated joke that goes over his younger siblings’ heads. Or a person who can equally enjoy both Tom and Jerry with his three year old sister, and Law and Order: SVU with his parents.

As he’s gotten older, he’s naturally started thinking and talking more about the future, and about what he sees himself doing as an adult. For the past few years, (and really, longer than that, since his fascination with construction vehicles began as a toddler) he’s been interested in going into the field of construction, and learning to operate heavy machinery. Yesterday, we spent a long time looking online at different schools, training programs, and apprenticeships. We talked about all his different options, and what he needs to do to get there. He is so excited.

One of the questions I get a lot about unschooling is, “How will they get into college?” Now, I can personally think of about 7,492 better ways to spend the tens of thousands of dollars that college costs (especially when you don’t want to go into a field that legally requires a certain degree), but that aside, an unschooler gets into college just like anyone else… they find out what’s required for their school/s of choice, and they do it! It’s no more simple nor complicated than that.

In Spencer’s case, he has no interest (or need) for traditional college, but will have to go through a rigorous, and largely on-the-job, training and testing program in order to learn what he needs to know, get certified, and be able to work on his own. First he’ll need a driver’s license, and a high school diploma or GED. We’ve been researching that too, and there are more and more high schools that grant diplomas to homeschoolers for life experiences and/or after taking a test.

Most of the programs he’s looking at also have an age requirement of 18, which means that he has four years (at a minimum… no one is telling him he can’t decide to do it when he’s 20. Or 34.) Four years to live, learn, think, plan, and do what he needs to do in order to earn his diploma and meet his own goals. Considering that a motivated and eager person can learn everything that is taught between K through 12 in a matter of months, I’d say he’s in darn good shape.

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Filed under plans, school, Spencer, unschooling