Friday.
Edition 24.
Hey, ya’ll! It’s Friday! I hope you’ve had an amazing week so far.
This has been my last semi-mellow week before gearing back up for the return to school of my teenagers. The next three weeks will slowly become filled with dental cleanings, orthodontist trips, doctor check-ups, sports physicals, haircuts, clothes shopping, business days at the school, and whatever else needs to be crammed into that space. Plus, Miss Sunshine starts back to soccer practice and Big Mr. has Senior year portraits.
So on to some of my faves for the week!
Entry Deck.
I mentioned that the deck was in worse repair than we had originally anticipated. The original build had attached it to the house without flashing so the siding was becoming rotted and the support beams also had rotted. We decided to follow the same pattern of the prior entry with each level running the boards in the opposite direction. I liked the feeling of movement that it creates. I’ve finally picked the style of railing that I want and am pretty sure what color I want….stay tuned.
You can see that it’s been rainy! As much as I’m not a fan of soggy days, we’ve really needed it. What little grass I have was beginning to turn brown.
Combination Lock.
A combination lock?! Yep!
The lock represents a growth outside of my comfort zone. I’ve been wanting to go into the steam room at my gym… forever. I’ve been wanting to see if I feel any of the detoxification benefits that I read about. However, I’m not comfortable trying new things alone. So time passed…a lot of time. And then, it’s was like “well I need to lock up my bag and keys” and more time passed. Finally, I decided that my desire to try out the steam room outweighed my fear of going it alone. So I bought a lock and Wednesday after my Pilates class, I went into that dang steam room.
Mission accomplished.
And even though it seems kind of silly, it’s just a steam room, to me it represented more than that. It was me realizing that if I want to do something then I should just figure out a way to do it. Alone or not. And that to me was a giant victory.
Movies and Shows.
So this is what I plan to watch soon. Beauty and the Beast. Have you seen it? I’ve heard wonderful things about it and am finally getting around to watching it.
Speaking of watching things…anyone else a Game of Thrones fan? No spoilers here, but the hubby and I love this show.
Plants.
So “black thumb” Amy is ready for another attempt at plant growing.
I’ve also scoured out one spot that I think may get enough sun to attempt some herbs or easy veggies. I’m planning to try to grow them in pots before I commit to turning the space into raised beds.
I also want to add some flowers to the entry and would like to add some more indoor plants. Indoors I prefer plants that do double duty…looking lovely and cleaning the air.
Do you have any favorite indoor plants?
Speaking of clearing the air…
Smudging.
I’ve been on a major decluttering spree this week.
One of those decluttered spaces is this small angled room upstairs that I plan to turn into my office. We took out the bed and nightstand that we had in there and the additional things that Miss Sunshine decided to store in there.
My desk has been in there since we moved in 3 1/2 years ago and yet I’ve never embraced the space. I usually take over one end of the dining room table.
In my vision for a minimalistic home, I see a clean dining room table. And so, I am attempting to embrace the office.
One of the ways I plan to do that is by smudging the room.
Hence the sage bundle.
Decluttering.
I have a few other things that I want for the space to complete it and am not sure if I will smudge it before or after that.
I plan to continue decluttering and keep moving toward simplicity in the coming weeks. I’m hoping to complete the removal of the unwanted prior to my birthday in September.
I’d like to end my 30’s refreshed and ready for whatever may come my way.
Music.
The song I chose this week, I found over the weekend in the “suggested for you” section of my YouTube. And then I heard it a few days ago on the TV while Miss Sunshine was watching So You Think You Can Dance. Have you ever watched that show? It’s my favorite summertime show.
I love to dance…even though I have no rhythm.
According to the artist’s comment, the video represents the harm we do. We harm ourselves when we harm others. It also reflects the re-birth of a forgiven conscience.
I hope you go into and through the weekend with kind words upon your lips and landing sweetly in your ears.
Let your light shine!
Amy
Mmm, sage.
The deck/steps — gorgeous! Love that!
I am a clean dining table person. I’m kinda anal about it, and my family hates me for it. As do some guests. I don’t care. I got hooks to hang jackets and bags on, don’t use my table or my chairs! I got folders and a bulletin board for paper, don’t lay it down there! Rawr!
Good luck with the gardening 🙂
I’ve got the teeth, hair, supplies, schedules, lockers, done. All that’s left is the sport physicals. 😀 I am ahead of myself this year and SO PLEASED!
I’m so happy that the deck is finally coming together. So much good feng shui to my front door. 🙂
I’m getting better about the dining table. It wasn’t a problem until I started blogging, but I want to shift out of it because I have a eat-in dining area that you can see when you walk in the house.
I hope the gardening turns out better than any other plant trial I’ve run!
You are doing good to have all that done! We just started on clothes. Almost everything else is scheduled!
My dining table is also visible from the front door.
My kids go back on Thursday, so early!
That is so early!
It is. I am NOT a fan.
As I’m reading this, I looked around at my cluttered dining room table which doubles as my office. Sigh.
I don’t have a space in this small house to be my office EXCEPT the dining room table. Embrace your new office – smudge-and-love 🙂
My dining room table being cluttered might not bother me as much if you didn’t see it from the front door. And if I didn’t have an alcove as an option then it would remain my office. I’m planning to create lots of good vibes in the space! 🙂
Unfortunately, my “office” can be seen from the front door too. I keep telling myself it is simply visual proof that I’m a ‘busy’ person 😉
The new entry decking looks wonderful! I like it au natural but am looking forward to seeing what color you choose to paint it.
Decluttering- I attacked the boxes in the garage again yesterday hitting two trunk along the way. Sadly only two of the boxes and one of the trunks was my stuff. All the rest I opened hoping to purge were my children’s stuff. They really need to sort through it and purge so I can purge!
One of the boxes I opened had some old German Bone China that I picked up along my journey of china collecting. Now what? Donate or try to sell? I agonize over this dilemma a lot.
I wish I knew someone that loved pink flower and shabby chic. This would be perfect for that person. 🙂
I am so grateful that #1 Grandson has what the school system calls a late birthday and won’t go to official school for another year. Now-a-days I guess it’s not so unusual to be nearly 6 in Kindergarten like it was in my day.
Thank you Deborah. I do like the au natural as well, but the portion of the entry under cover we did not replace, so some color will have to placed upon it. We’ve not been a fan of the prior color, that my husband calls “battleship gray”, for many years. I’m looking forward to something a little lighter. 🙂
I can’t imagine when it comes to the decluttering process of all the things the children leave. I’m trying to teach them to become minimalists now so I’ll have less to deal with later!
Deciding what to do with nice things that I no longer love is one of those places that I get stuck as well. Most books on minimalism advocate just donating so that the freedom comes sooner, but I think some things are too valuable not to make an attempt to sell. On most items we’ve decided to donate as neither of us have the time to deal with the selling process.
I was the baby of my class, graduating at 16. Mr D has a summer birthday and I know most people chose to hold back a year and let them start at 6. We did not do that and I see it the advantages of both sides. Miss Sunshine is one of the oldest in her class with an October birthday. I do miss the days when our traveling schedule wasn’t based on the school calendar and we could just take the kids and go. 🙂