I'm feeling pretty good about the things that I have done during my long break from work. My 16 year old daughter (the last one left at home) has been visiting dad and step-mom, so I've had lots of Me Time.
There have been a lot of things I've been thinking of doing around here, but I've been waiting until I had enough time, money, etc. After the last couple of weeks, I realized that there is a good feeling about making do, not spending money to solve a simple problem around the house, and just generally making things work.
One thing is a small desk in my bedroom. I used to write regularly, but being a mom and teacher and just living has conspired to make me feel like I have no time or place. I am convinced that if I just had a small place of my own with my pens and notebooks, I would take a few minutes each day and write something. My sister has a small desk (exactly the distressed white country look that would be perfect) that she is going to give me, but she needs to get a replacement first, and that will be in a couple of months. So I've spent the last couple of months longing for that desk, daydreaming about the day I have a space to write, and even visiting the desk at my sister's house. Yesterday, while doing laundry, I noticed some plywood that is in the laundry room that I've been saving for something, exactly the size of a small desk. My wheels started turning, and now I have a makeshift small desk in the corner of my room, made from that plywood laid across two small side tables from around the house. It's not going to win any beauty contests, but it is not ugly by any means, and will do the job nicely until my sister's desk comes to my house to live. And---BONUS--I've even done some writing.
Time and time again, I've found that anything I really need in life shows up, maybe not in the way I envision, but in a way that works, sometimes better than how I envisioned.
Another thing I've been coveting is a pretty ceramic kitchen compost container to keep my kitchen scraps in until I dump them into the almost-existent compost pile out back. I've done lots of research and looked at them everywhere, but it seems kind of ridiculous to spend a lot of money on something that will live under the sink and essentially hold trash. Today, while cleaning out the refrigerator, I pulled out a nearly-empty plastic ice cream container, the kind with a handle (thanks, Kaleigh!). As I was cleaning it out, I was contemplating what to do with it as it seems like a waste to throw it out, and POW!!! Kitchen composter!! FREE!!! Again, not beautiful, but it will get the job done. I spent the afternoon giggling at my ugly little composter.
I recently read somewhere that as much as 40% of a household's electric bill is from drying clothes. I'm not sure that can be true in Florida, where we use the air conditioner 10 months out of the year, but I've officially started my month-long experiment on the subject. For the next month (starting with the load of laundry I did today), I will not dry any of it, I have gotten two wooden clothes racks and they are set up in my spare bedroom and can be moved to my tiny back porch as necessary. I will see how this impacts my electric bill (and lifestyle), and may invest in an umbrella-type clothes line for my side yard if the results indicate that it's worth it. I will let you know how that is going. It will be interesting to see how Kaleigh deals with this mandate.
During my time off, I've spent my time however I wanted to, eating when I'm hungry, sleeping when I'm tired, watching the occasional movie, puttering around my house, doing whatever needs to be done, and I've really enjoyed it. It's almost over, as I have to go back to work on Tuesday, but it's been nice, and it will be nice to get back to my regular routine, and see my preschoolers again. I've missed them for sure.
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