Decluttering

A couple of days ago I finished a book called Not for Packrats Only by Don Aslett. It's about how we accumulate clutter, what it does to us, and how to get rid of it and stay rid of it forever. This book is hilarious. I think almost everyone can relate to some of the types of clutter he talks about. He gives all sorts of funny examples and stories, and there are also great illustrations/comics that are hilarious and really get his point across. We're not too bad about clutter, but I still got a lot out of this book and have done several things to get rid of things that are junk or that aren't useful for us--and I'm still going! It's been fun and liberating.

I went through my box of memory things--cards, programs, my first scripture case, pictures/photos, etc. I decided I'm not going to keep every program from every fireside or concert, every brochure or map that we get when we go to a museum or state park, and every birthday card that just has Aunt Helga's signature (I do appreciate getting birthday cards, but it's the thoughtfulness and my relationship with the loved one, not the card, that is important to me) . Some of these do have some significance, and I am going to organize the things that I kept into a binder with sheet protectors, and with these I'm also going to include some thoughts and memories to explain why they are important. (And no, I didn't throw away my first scripture case, even though it is incredibly frayed and I don't use it anymore--because it was a baptism gift from my Grammy and for that reason I still love it.)

I went through a couple of boxes of wedding gifts that we have never used. I decided to take out the vegetable steamer and start using it. If I don't like it or feel like it's undeservingly using up valuable space in my kitchen, I'll get rid of it. I took a knife out of its package and brought it to the kitchen--and I have used it every day since then. It's an awesome knife. I got out some extra measuring spoons and have loved it because I never have to deal with the specific spoon that I want being dirty when I need it. I took out the nice, unused hot pads and some more dishtowels. I found a zillion pillowcases that I'd forgotten about and we put a couple of them on our pillows. I also finally printed some of our wedding photos to put in the empty frames that I've wanted to put up ever since we moved here, and they look great on the top of a couple of our bookshelves--and they're on display, not in a hideous pile, which makes me happy. It's nice to actually be using all the nice things that were just sitting in boxes in K's bedroom before.

One thing I was reminded of was that you have to be careful about saving things for something special or some undefined time in the future. When we got married, at first I thought I would just save our pretty glasses for "sometime"--I'm not sure what I was waiting for. But then I realized that if I kept thinking that way we would never use them and the perfect time for them would never come, so I put them in the cupboard and we use them. If they break (and one already has), it's no big deal because we have another similar set, and I'd rather have that happen than have them sitting in a closet while we keep using the plastic ones forever and ever (because I think they'll probably get lost before they break).

One thing that came up again and again is that clutter is one of the main things that makes your house messy and difficult to clean. It's so annoying and time-consuming to have to move all that clutter around so that you can dust or vacuum or find something you need or get a little cooking space. If you have less stuff, there's lots of open space and you aren't tripping over everything, so your house will be inherently cleaner. You can also use the space that you do have more effectively and fill it with stuff that you want and use. That's something I've been thinking about a lot lately because I've been trying to find space for food storage.

Don devotes an entire chapter to dealing with kids' clutter. There were a lot of things I want to keep in mind, like making sure there are places for all of their things to be put away, giving them toys that encourage creativity and have lots of different uses, not letting them watch lots of TV (where they see commercials for all the "amazing" toys that they then turn and beg you to give them), and asking them to help you if dejunking becomes necessary. One thing I will have to think about is all the artwork they give you--I wouldn't want my kids to think I don't value their creations, but I also would prefer not to have piles and boxes of every single craft they have ever done.

One thing that Don talks about that I've also been thinking about lately is that things aren't the only type of clutter. Our lives can also be cluttered by people (who are negative or who take you away from things or people that should be more important), the internet, pointless conversation, complaining, guilt, jealousy, and the list goes on. I've been putting some thought into how I spend my time and where my energy goes and I'm working on making some changes. I think decluttering will give more meaning to my life and enable me to accomplish more of the things I really want to get done. It will also enable me to show my family by my example what is truly important to me.

In other news . . .

We finished our classes for the semester. I think RT might have a little more grading to do, but we're done with all of our exams and such. I am so relieved to be finished for the semester. It's been good to take a class, and I'm so glad I did it, but I was very ready to be done. The exam for my class was in essay form, and I was really struggling to have things to say for the last few questions. We were supposed to talk about the themes that were demonstrated by certain terms or quotes from the books and poems, and I just didn't think there were any themes, or even anything especially interesting, related to the last few questions that I answered, so I wrote a bunch of stuff, and don't ask me what it was. What else could I do? I'll probably get away with it too--that's the nature of literature classes, I've found. I was the last person to finish the test (that's how it always is), and as I gave my test to the teacher, he thanked me for taking his class and told me he had enjoyed having me in the class. I could tell he meant it, and that made me feel good. It really was a good class--but I'm definitely going to keep majoring in a science field.

RT's department had a Christmas party, and K and I went too. All the people RT knows were excited to meet K. One of the department secretaries introduced K to a ten-month old girl holding a piece of equipment called a banana plug--you have to start them early so that they'll get on the right path, you know. And yes, K was very interested in playing with it. They gave us tickets for a drawing as we came in. The drawing started while I was somewhere changing K's diaper, and as I came back in I heard them repeating the same number because they couldn't find the person with that ticket. I checked my ticket and realized it was my number! So we came home with a nice poinsettia, which looks very pretty on our table when it is cleared off. It was fun to meet the people RT works with, and we also got some nice food.

We also had a ward trip to the cannery, which I arranged because I am on the Emergency Preparedness Committee. We had a great time. It was interesting to be part of the process of canning the food--fill up the cans, pat them to let the air out so the contents will settle ( often making room for another cup or so of food!), add an oxygen absorber, put on the lid, use the canning machine (which I got to try--it's pretty cool), and put on a label. We are so blessed to have these canneries as a resource, because they have some great long-term food storage for a very low price, and a great way to make the food last. I came home with three bags of wheat, two bags of beans, and a can of potato flakes (which I hear are good in bread). The entire time we were working, one of the people who works there (it is a mission call) was telling us all sorts of things about what we need to store and how we can store it. Just before we left, he told us he had a Christmas present for us, and we followed him out to his suburban, which had the two back seats taken out to make room for a bunch of used five-gallon water jugs (the blue ones that you see in dentist offices and such) that he had gotten for free from the Dollar Store. We each came home with one--wasn't that a thoughtful thing to do? I'm also excited to have learned about a way to get water storage containers.

On Sunday we had our ward Christmas program (we have it very early because half of our ward leaves once finals are over). A friend and I played the piano, just like we did last year. I felt the spirit so strongly at times, especially when the entire congregation sang together. I thought about how exciting it must have been for those who had been waiting for Christ to know that He was finally here to fulfill His mission on the earth. I felt grateful for our Savior's great love for us and for all He was so willing to do to bring about our salvation and exaltation. I remember tears came to my eyes as we sang "Gloria" from Angels We Have Heard on High. It was a reminder to me of the glory of Christ and also the glory that can be ours through Him.

It has suddenly gotten a lot colder. Winter is coming.

thinking about Christmas

I don't feel at all prepared for Christmas. I haven't chosen any presents for people, we haven't even thought about a tree, and I haven't bought any of the traditional food. I will do it--maybe it's just that I've been so busy with school and other things that I haven't been able to think about it. It's also harder because we're a young family and K isn't old enough to care about Christmas yet. As I've gotten older, one of my favorite parts of Christmas has become seeing the small children open presents. It's so fun to see them get excited about every single one and hear them say, "Just what I always wanted!" I guess it won't be too long before I'll get to see those reactions from my own kids. I think it will be a pretty simple Christmas this year because I'm just not in the mood for too much festivity. In many ways I would like to keep it that way over the years and make it more centered on Christ and spending time together as a family. I'm going to come up with a few things we can do in the next couple of weeks to get to know our Savior better.

However it goes, I am so so so excited about the food. I love the cherry cheesecake, the cheese balls, the chocolate, and the big boxes of oranges. (I think you can get away with eating a lot more junk food when you're 21--although I already drive RT crazy with my constant complaints of "But that's not good for you!" and "I ate too much garbage today.")

Can anyone recommend some good, cheap blocks or plastic rings?

Poem review: Ulysses

Today I had my final exam for my English Literature class, and since I hadn't had as much time as I expected this week to study, I was doing some last-minute browsing of some of the things we read in the second half of the class. One of the things I reread was a poem by Tennyson called Ulysses, and it had some things in it that gave me a lot to think about. (Here is a link to a web page that has it, if you're interested in reading it.) I actually kind of enjoyed the poem, but at the same time it made me really mad at Odysseus (who is sometimes called Ulysses, like in this poem).

The context of the poem is that Ulysses has been back in Ithaca for a while and things have settled down--he is reunited with his wife and son and has brought peace to the land again. He is quite a bit older, and he decides that he's going to leave with his old buddies from the Trojan war to seek new adventures. (I think before I continue I should probably admit that I haven't actually read the Odyssey or the Iliad, despite living for a year with a classicist before RT and I got married. I have some idea of the story line, but I'm for sure missing a lot of things.)

The thing that made me really mad was that Ulysses thinks it's okay to just abandon all his responsibilities so he can appease his desire for adventure. I'm especially annoyed that he's just leaving behind his "aged wife," (l. 3) as he puts it, and his son, "mine own Telemachus." (l. 33) Penelope waited for him to return home for years and had to deal with a lot of harassment by men who wanted her to remarry. I just don't think it's right to leave your family like that just so you can go have some excitement. I kept thinking about the Proclamation to the World where it says, "Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children." If I were Penelope, I wouldn't put up with it.

He's also abandoning his responsibilities to govern his kingdom--it's not honorable enough for him. I guess his idea of honorable involves swords and battles with mythical creatures. The way he puts it is, "Some work of noble note, may yet be done, / Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods." (ll. 52-53) In other words, "I've fought with the Gods; I'm too amazing to spend the rest of my life ruling 'a savage race' (l. 4) and a 'rugged people' (l. 37)." He leaves this to Telemachus, who is "centered in the sphere of common duties." (ll. 39-40, emphasis added) It kind of seemed to me like Ulysses is looking for something to be heroic about, but nobody needs that kind of hero anymore. He tells us that Telemachus is going to be the one to tame and teach the people of Ithaca, "subdue them to the useful and the good." (l. 38) There's honor in teaching people to be good too, but Ulysses doesn't realize that. It sort of makes me see him as someone who does heroic stuff so that he'll be seen as a hero, not because it's the right thing to do or because he's accomplishing something good. (No surprise there, I guess, considering why the Trojan war was fought in the first place.)

So those are my rantings about Ulysses. He's not as cool as Wishbone made him seem.

sharing some cuteness

K was being really cute this morning. The cutest part was that he then took a nap without protesting! I love it when that happens.

He loves his burp cloths:


This video is incredibly long. If you get bored, don't feel obligated to watch it all. Skip through or whatever. I mainly intended it for the benefit of my parents who haven't seen K yet (less than a month until we get to come visit!!!!). It's a good taste of a lot of the things K is doing right now. If you get this by email, you will have to go to my actual blog to watch it (click here).

Aren't you jealous? This is what I get to see every day.

As you can see, I have not begun baby proofing.

It is a glorious day.

Why? Because today I was able to wear my favorite black skirt for the first time since I was four months pregnant. And I wasn't sucking in, either.