It’s been a struggle keeping up with work, and keeping up my mood when I don’t eat well and don’t stay active and when I let myself wallow in grief and concern for Ursula, always wondering how many more days we have left with our sweet 16 girl. It becomes a vicious circle.
Starting yesterday I’m making a conscious effort to take better care of myself, to avoid excess sugar and processed foods, alcohol, meat and dairy. Getting enough fruits and vegetables, reading every day for enjoyment, mindfulness sessions on the Fitbit, movement every hour, and getting back to purging my six little things every day.
Today is April 27th and I’m over a month behind.. I’ve found 30 things to purge so far today (5 days work of my six little things) but I’m going to keep at it after this post.
We are supposed to be camping with friends this weekend at Hestival in Hotchkiss, but my husband broke a couple ribs skiing last weekend while we were staying in Breckenridge for a few days. So we canceled the trip and now we don’t have anything to do this weekend but let me get things done around the house while he rests.
Days 102 & 103: Lip gloss and liner to give to my nieces when we’re in Wisconsin later this summer, hair clip and combs, and my favorite hand lotion that world market stopped making but I haven’t been able to bring myself to toss the pretty floral tube. I think I squeezed the last goodness out of it just before I took the photo.. I can still smell the scent lingering as I write this.
Day 100 was March 18th.. it’s Tax Day today so yeah.. I’m a little behind. I’ll try to get caught up by summer ☀️
A nice gift box with Christmas paper, I’ll probably set aside to give to perfect sister Amy since she’s got the large family and could use more of this.
A couple magazines, and a glasses case I found this morning under the washer/dryer while searching for AWOL socks..
And a book cover which reminds me of the day I picked up this book.. or at least the place where I picked it up. It reminds me of both my parents for different reasons.
It reminds me of my dad for obvious reasons…
It reminds me of my mom because she used to always sing daddy‘s little girl to us when we were little, and because I turned my mom (and my sister Jenny) onto Mary Higgins Clark books back in the late 90s after returning from Paris.
I had been on a solo trip to Europe in March 1998.. Rome to Florence to Venice to Paris. While in Paris on my last day, I stopped at Shakespeare & Company to pick up a book to read on the plane.. and also to have a book from the shop is a souvenir… this iconic Paris shop along the Seine will stamp the inside of your book with their shop stamp, if you ask.
Growing up, my sister Jenny and I had always liked and collected Agatha Christie books so I decided I would try to find one of my favorite Agatha Christie books in the shop. I had no luck finding Agatha, but instead found a book by Mary Higgins Clark, who I’d never heard of before but the cover and name of the book caught my attention.
I stayed up until 3 AM knowing I had an early flight because I could not put that book down. I finished it on the plane and then passed it onto my mom and my sister who continued to read the author for years after. I eventually got sick of the way the author seemingly always portrayed her leading ladies as these perfect creatures who everyone adored.. and stopped reading her book.
I found this book at the free library in Eagle, Wisconsin, where my parents lived last 20(ish) years before they passed. After my last conversation with my mom on her deathbed, I walked out of the house with tears streaming down my face, and without telling anyone where I was going, walked the few blocks to downtown Eagle to the gazebo with the free library box. I found a couple books that day and this might’ve been one of them…
Less than two years later when my dad died on Father’s Day weekend, I also walked down to the gazebo and I think that is actually when I found this book.
So the obnoxiously tacky cover of this book makes me think of both of my parents, but I can’t stand looking at it on my coffee table while I’m trying to finish the book. So the cover goes, the book stays… and the story remains here in my blog.
And if you think a book cover shouldn’t count as one of my six little things, you’re wrong. Why? Because it’s my blog, it’s my “six little things” challenge, and I get to make the rules. ha.
Also, I wanted to keep the cover for the memory but had to tell myself to get rid of it, get rid of the clutter and only revisit the memory if I go back to this blog and re-read my entries someday.
More likely I’ll finish the book then reunite the cover with the book and give it to my sister this summer.
Or if she’s not interested, I’ll just return it back to the free library in the Eagle gazebo when we are there for my parents gravesite memorial and urn burial on what would have been their 61st anniversary in August.
Ok, so that was a lot of time spent to only get caught up one day.. back to finishing up those taxes now 🤦🏼♀️
Went to storage to drop some things off and decided it was time to get rid of the extra hamper with lamps inside.. one of which may not be working anymore.
When my son graduates college, if he needs a lamp, I have others to spare… and he already has a hamper, so nobody will ever need this.