Stream of Consciousness Sunday - The Volunteer Society

Every time I get through an exceptionally stressful week, it feels like there should be a break where I don't have a ton on my plate, but that never happens. Being a parent presents you with so many additional responsibilities...those things that no one tells you when you are discussing starting a family. 

It's been both good & bad that we have only been blessed with one child. Given that between work, church & personal agendas there are an amazing number of opportunities available to give of your time for charities of your choice. But when kids are in the mix, you come to realize that things seem to have changed significantly since we were school-aged.

So here's my 5 minute brain dump...

They start you out easy with kid sports. It all seems so low key - relatively inexpensive and manageable. You fill their preschool days with as many activities as you can, wanting them to try everything & figure out what they really enjoy. There's swimming lessons, t-ball, soccer, gymnastics, tumbling, skating lessons and here in Minnesota, there is hockey. The list goes on & on.

From the first open house for elementary school you figure out that not a lot happens in the schools unless parents are available to give of their time & talents. The long table of sign-up sheets was so intimidating. Looking at the names of the events, you have no clue what any of it is, or what you are getting into if you volunteer. 

The easiest route to take is to volunteer in your kid's room - that you can handle, knowing that you'll have to bite the bullet & find at least a couple more things you can take time off to help with in the course of the year.

You feel guilty after the first year of school when you figure out that the majority of the go-to volunteers are the stay-at-home moms - and that doesn't work for you - a working mom.

Then comes the sports leagues, where they have you write the checks up front - one for the fundraiser & the other for volunteer hours.  There is a minimum & your motivation for getting all your volunteer hours in is the threat of that enormous check getting cashed. You are after all a parent living in a volunteer society and they have you at hello.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Link your new posts to All Things Fadra (feel free to use her SOC Sunday graphic).

Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Late to the Party

It's Sunday evening & I'm not the least bit stressed for a change because it's a holiday weekend & I know I get to spend tomorrow at home with my family. I have some work to do from home, but knowing I don't have to rush my child out of bed, off to school, then race through rush hour traffic to get to the office is a rare treat. So here we go.

5 minutes seems like an eternity & a heartbeat - all at the same time. Finding 5 free minutes to write shouldn't be difficult, right, but it is. My 2 boys, the big and the little are both fast asleep napping, so continuing making dinner can wait. 

I admit it, Fadra, I miss the writing prompts. So many things racing through my head as I sit inside the warm house, thankful this Minnesota winter has been crazy easy so far. A shortage of snow & bitterly cold days makes me appreciate why we love to live here & not the East Coast given the hell Boston has been delivered in the past several weeks.

I worry about the fact that we can see the grass in our yard & the days it warms up I'm afraid the tulips that I planted in the backyard might get a bit confused & start to bloom way too soon. Spring planting is not that far away.  

Last year I started with quite a few plants from seed, but I was a bit late to the party & could have started that process much earlier.  Excited to get planting in only a few short weeks this year, I have a wonderful collection of "Grow Journey" seeds from South Carolina's Tyrant Farms.  Google them if you're curious. I'll be blogging quite a bit about my gardening adventures in the months to come.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Link your new posts to All Things Fadra (feel free to use her SOC Sunday graphic).

Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Letting Go

So, technically it's not Sunday yet here in the Central Time Zone, however I'm pushing hard to get back into the habit of blogging at least once (or twice) a week. It's been an eternity since I was in a writing groove, but I'm determined to let the words flow once again. There's no better way than this to oil the gears, so here it goes.

The office. 

It's always been my downfall, my Achilles heel, my torture chamber of disorganization. It's the dumping ground for mail, catalogs, magazines, crafting supplies, wrapping supplies, scrapbooking supplies, mountains of books, gifts, Munchkin school papers, etc. I could go on for hours. It's the one place I toss things in to be dealt with another time, were I shut the door & say "don't go in there." 

There is sentiment, worry, doubt, fears, fabulous memories & not so fabulous ones. Old photo albums, old cards - all those things which I am afraid to let go of. But it's time... beyond time for a cleanse, a massive purge, a new start.

Before I can change my mind, before I have time to question if I'll need it someday.

Three bags of shredding & garbage taken out in the past couple of days. It's a small start to letting go.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Link your new posts to All Things Fadra (feel free to use her SOC Sunday graphic).

Almost Spring Cleaning

It's been months since my last post - June of last year - gasp... it's true. This blog has been on ice - literally, stone cold as I am super busy with the normality of daily life. Work continues to be a constant challenge. Downtime is non-existent in the world of overlapping campaigns.

So while everyone else was busy making New Year's resolutions, I was trying to hold my head above the water - meeting deadline after deadline. In what little "downtime" I can squeeze out, my goal for 2015 is to dig out of my world at home. Reminders are everywhere about purging. There are how-to books, professional organizers, blog hops, magazine articles, infographics - so many ideas.

I started with a few trips to sell both Munchkin clothes & then my old Maternity clothing. A Goodwill run followed with old clothes, kid underwear & white socks & old tennis shoes - things I did not want to end up in a landfill. I have another trip to PRISM planned with a ton more maternity clothes that are in great condition, but were not new enough to sell as well as excess toys that I decided not to give Munchkin for one reason or another. I went through old cosmetics & purged things I've held on to since we moved into this house & tossed a ton. I went through our pantry to remove expired items and cleaned the shelves on the door of the refrigerator. I've rounded up all the vases from around the house & organized them all into a single location.

In the office a frequent tossing of catalogs is due for attention as well as the mountains of mail that needs to be sorted into toss & shred piles. The mountains of papers & receipts are so overwhelming at times, but I'm determined to tackle a little at a time until everything is manageable ongoing.

The needs are endless and this Full-Time working mom is determined that 2015 will be the year I finally conquer the clutter.  What are you doing to make strides to purge & keep your home organized?

Need some tips to get you started? Try this Pin from Better Homes & Gardens Magazine: " Expert Advice to Tame Clutter": https://www.pinterest.com/pin/34762228350008561/