Busy Sunday (181.4)

Weight is up today because yesterday was a high-carb day.  We spent all day at home (no church), and I baked in the morning--homemade scones and cookies.  I know, not great for the diet.  It was a cold, dreary day, and it was a pleasant way to spend the morning.  Sophie had asked if we could make cookies, so we made them together, which was a lot of fun.  I didn't eat a lot of food, but I ate enough carby stuff that I could feel the bloat this morning.

The rest of the day I spent doing laundry and cleaning out Sophie's closet and my closet.  I moved her summer clothes in, and the winter clothes out (and it's 50 degrees today, which is nuts).  I also cleaned off her dresser, which I'd promised her months ago I would do for her. It was piled with random stuff that just collects there when it has nowhere else to go.

I cleaned out 2 1/2 garbage bags full of clothes from my closet.  I had already taken out the size 8s, last year.  Yesterday, I took out the size 10s.  I left most of the summer size 12s (which I had to buy last summer), because I plan to be wearing 12s before the summer is over. I'm wearing size 14s right now.

It is embarrassing how many clothes I have.  I could seriously put our kids through college with the amount of money I've spent on clothes that I can't wear any more.  But my closet can BREATHE now.  I can easily see all the clothes I CAN wear.  The floor and two shelves still need to be purged of excess shoes and handbags, but that is for another day.

I gave away the things I know I'll never wear again (that was the half bag).  The other two bags I put in the garage, along with a third full bag that I'd cleaned out months ago that contained size Mediums from my dresser drawers. 

That third bag has been sitting in my front room, which has been a mess since Christmas.  I also cleaned it yesterday.  Our house was built in the '80s--you know, the floor plan with the formal dining room and formal living room that rarely get used.  Our living room has a piano, a tall chifferobe (the 3rd piece from Sophie's Art Deco bedroom suite that I bought from my best friend when she moved--it's almost 100 years old, is gorgeous, and looks nice in the front room), a love seat, two rocking chairs, another chair, two end tables, two desks, and a small folding table with a chair.

Scrapbooking supplies and pictures cover the desks and the folding table and a good part of the floor under and near them.  One of the desks is all Sophie's scrapbooks and pictures. 

The loveseat was covered in pictures and other scrapbook stuff, so you couldn't even sit in there.  For months, I have been piling stuff that needs to go to Goodwill or recycling into that room.  It looked awful, and it nagged on me every day.  I cleaned out the junk, moved the folding table against the picture window, out of the middle of the room, rearranged the chairs, and cleaned off the loveseat.

When Luke saw the room was clean, he went in and stretched out on the loveseat and said "wow, Mommy, this works now!"  He is so cute.

Last night after the kids were in bed, I read a book in the front room.  It has peaceful spring-green walls, and the bay window looks out on our landscaping (there are no curtains or blinds, to our neighbors chagrin, I'm sure). The energy in that room is so different from the family room/kitchen area. 

I sat on the love seat, which was our first purchase as a married couple (we gave away the matching couch years ago), and I didn't obsess about the scrapbook stuff.  Instead I felt like I could start working on it soon, because I was getting the "real" work done, like cleaning out closets and getting ALL the kids' laundry done.  Their hampers are rarely empty, but they are this morning--after five loads of laundry.

Getting the clutter and the clothes situation MOVING is a big deal.  And all part of the Healthier Me, Happier Me process.