Churning, Lusting, Heaving and Tackling

So what is CHURNING?

Churning: the term for the act of moving one item to another without discarding any item.

Apparently that's what I do!

Who knew!

I picked up this book while waiting to check out at the library.

 

What a relief, I am NOT a hoarder.

But I'm a collector with hoarding tendencies.

Or that's what the book says.

I could see that.

Since my spare bedroom and basement is full of Stuff.

and then I've been LUSTING.....

Yep, I have House Lust.

I'm obsessed with looking at real estate listings of houses out of my price range.

Now I don't look at REALLY expensive homes,

Nope. just the ones that almost seem possible but are not.

 

and WHY do I do that?

I think I have it figured out.

Because I'm tired of Churning and never getting anything accomplished.

Oh sure, I do a painting here and there.

A load of metal to the junk yard.

I wonder if I had one of those houses, would I fill that up too?

I know several people who can't even parked their cars in their garage because it's full of stuff.

Back to the book.

The great thing about the book is that it is NOT just about organizing.

It's about the WHY?

Why do I drag home Stuff and

Why can't I get rid of Stuff.

There are many different types of people with different levels.
The worst of "hoarding" down to lesser "collecting" problems.

All with different reasons.

After a lot of self examination, I think I know what started the problem originally for me and why,
but I won't bore you with the details.

and I'm pretty sure why I collect this stuff NOW.

For ME, it's money. or lack of.

So if it's free, I gotta have it, right?

and if it's a bargain, I need to get it. To save money.

Example: I have bought several gallons at different times of mis-tinted paint for $5.00 each.

What a bargain!

Not really. Not when none are really quite the color that I want.

Yep, Penny Wise and Pound Foolish,

and I'm left with several gallons of paint.

Anyway....the Good News?

This book clicked something in my brain.

Not only has it helped my to figure out the WHY,
it's helped me figure out HOW to let go.
I've gone through all my clothes and bagged up things like crazy.

I'm HEAVING chairs and lamps and things out into the van and I'm dropping the whole shebang off at the back door of Goodwill and not going around and into the Front Door.
That's one of the secrets.
Not to just clear the Stuff out, but also not to drag more Stuff home again.

I've made another pile of metal and taking it this week down to the Recycling Center.

Suddenly my house seems bigger!
Maybe I don't NEED a new home!
?

So, if you have a problem with too much Stuff, I recommend this book.

Maybe it will help you too.

I'm excited and I feel like I can breathe.

Yep, I'm getting rid of stuff!

and then I'm TACKLING the TO-Do list of fixing up my house.

 

SCREENSAVERS and RERUNS

This post might run a little long but it might be a while until I post again, so here we go.

First. What's on your screensaver?

For the longest time I had an illustration of an old black scrawny mean black cat.

Go figure.

Then the other day, somehow I accidentally replaced it with a different photo.

I assume it happened when I was "saving" a photo.

While I liked the photo, I didn't want it for a screensaver.

So I sat for a while and thought about it.

I put up a background photo of a wide open plain with a horse running across it.

It wasn't right. I wanted something inspirational, something to motivate me every time I sat down to the computer.

I finally found the perfect photo. It motivates me and it makes me feel good.

I actually stop for a moment each time and just stare at it.

Beatrice Wood.

What could be better for me?

A beautiful artist that enjoyed life and created Art.

She didn't worry that she was too old. She never worried about retirement.

She just kept going, well past 100.

Here's more about Beatrice.

So, What's on YOUR screensaver and Why?

OK, the second thing.

I got an email for a Call for Entry. I'm not even sure how they have my name and email but....

I would have less than 2 weeks to have something ready to submit to them and I don't want to slap something together.

But that's always my story, never ready for when opportunity knocks.

And if I enter something, I want to be happy and proud of it, not just lukewarm.

I need to have Art ready and I don't.

I have so much on my plate right now and I guess that I always do but my Art always gets shoved to the back-burner.

Spring of course has added to my MUST-DO List.

So something has to give and I guess for a while it's the blog.

I'm not going to disappear completely, (sometimes I truly think my blogger friends are the only people keeping me sane but...)

I just don't have enough time for it all.

I will continue to read all my favorite blogs,

I plan on doing that on my coffee/non-cigarette breaks at work,

but it's hard for me to "comment" while at work.

WordPress loads slowly for me and Word Verification on Blogger stalls me and I can be in the middle of a comment and get called away or get caught when SOMEONE comes walking through my area.

So, yeah. I'll be lurking but not always sending out my thoughts.

Just so that you know, I'm still here, silently reading.

Same thing with Posting. I have a few posts that I've been working on, things I wanted to share but never finished, that might get published at some point but other than that, I will be missing in action.

I DO want to try to post my current Artwork but even that will be short and sweet.

I also check Facebook in the mornings before I leave for work, so you can always send me a message or whatever HERE.

I have to check in daily with Facebook just to share Cat photos and Inspirational or Sassy quotes and stay in touch with local people who don't have time to actually TALK to me.

and so...

This where RERUNS come into play.

I don't know about you but sometimes in the summer I watch the reruns of shows that I don't watch during the regular TV season and I find that I was indeed missing something.

On some blogs, including my own, there are links to past posts to read...kinda like "reruns".

There are many blogs that I Follow and I will happen to read a post that was written before I discovered them and then I'm so glad that I did.

So I will do RERUNS of some of my old posts.

Not actual new posts but a link to a past one that I liked writing or that was, for some ODD reason, popular.

Some people never watch reruns so I get it if this isn't something you will want to bother with.

But I thought it could be a way for me not to be completely forgotten.

So what will I be doing when I not glued to my laptop any more?

Well - Finish the remodeling I'm doing

on my bathroom

and my bedroom

and the spare bedroom

and the kitchen

and the laundry room

and the stairs

and the living room

 

and landscaping the yard

digging up flowers, moving flowers, putting down grass seed.

putting up more fencing.

terracing the back yard

and painting...

the address sign I'm making for my house

and the front steps

and the shutters I got from ReStore

and the picnic table and

oh, my ART

to sell at the Farmers Market.

and in case someone else sends me a Call for Entry.

and to finish my illustrations of my book about Kanga

so that I can start the one about Blue.

and of course....working at my day (and sometimes weekend) job.

Oh, I need to fit in walking too, with my dogs.

so......

When I finally CATCH UP...

I'll be back in full force. Posting and commenting.

it shouldn't take me too long, right?