Moving Out

Well, my used-to-be-the-school-room is in such a mess that I've decided the only way I can "see" how to tackle it is to move out of it. I am boxing up what is on every shelf in there (three walls worth) and everything that is on any surface in there. Then will come everything that is in a plastic filing apparatus--lots of school papers there. Then I will deal with the neatly packed boxes one at a time. Of course it goes without saying that I will do quite a bit of tossing and giving away in the course of packing.

The room is so frustrating that I find myself quite hard-hearted when it comes to what I will allow to stay. I hope I can maintain the frame of mind long enough to finish. I have to.

I have hoarded all the school work/etc. in order to be able to show proof that the kids are learning, but now that DS#1 is in college, all that I feel the need to hang onto is his high school portfolio. DS#2 is now working on a computer school program that documents and tracks what he does while he does it. Keeping a good backup record of what he's doing now should suffice to show what he's been doing currently and that adequate instruction has come before so that he is capable of doing work at his grade level. The rest of the stuff is being shredded. Here in Oklahoma currently all we have to do is provide proof of "equivalent education" and attendance, and that only if someone asks about it. Once DS#2 hits high school, then I will probably start printing out work that is representative of what his is doing each year and keep it in a binder as I've done for his brother. At any rate, I am tossing stuff I never could before and my plan is to continue to shred and toss at least three trash-cans full a day until there are enough papers that I can store them correctly.

Paper has been my nemesis for some time now. When I was young, I wanted to keep everything "neat" I ever read. My closet probably had more stacks of papers in it than clothes. When I got my first job, filing was something that just ate my lunch. If I had to decide where to put it...talk about procrastination. I learned to delegate that to student help FAST. Then came our business--well, that is self-explanatory. Home schooling, taxes, on and on and on it goes. And the papers stack and stack.

Books come right behind the paper. I love books. Parting with books is difficult. Especially expensive textbooks. I am going to try selling some of those on E-Bay one more time I think here at the close of this school year when everyone starts thinking about next year. But if it doesn't go about 95% better than the last attempt, that will be the end. I'll give them away. I just want everything I'm not using GONE.

My dh will be so happy when this project is complete.

Oh, and I'm starting a serious health-improvement segment of my life. As a 20th wedding anniversary present, DH has made plans for us to CRUISE! I have wanted to go on a cruise most of my life. I love the water, I love the sun, and my sister has nothing but wonderful things to say about the ones she's been on--two or three now, can't remember. R has always said I could take someone with me, that he had no desire to go. Well, turns out a friend of ours is going in December--a friend that R & I are both very close to--and he talked my dh into the idea. My toes curl when I think about it. Then I think a little more--about me in a bathing suit--and I shudder.

I've been trying to pay more attention to eating habits anyway and I know I need to add more activity to my daily routine. Now I have all the more incentive to find the time and the discipline to stick to a better way of life. When I think of all the benefits that come with a healthier mindset, I know it's important for more than just a cruise but to enjoy my life fully. Let's face it. In a few years the kids will be out of the house and I will have time to enjoy with dh and I don't want to be wheezing and panting with each step I take, if I can take a step.

So that's where I am on this last Monday in March of 2005. The only thing still pressing is that Absolute Write Idol entry.