Peace

That was my "secret code word" for the holidays. I just wanted peace.

And you know what? I've got it.

It's all due to taking Aby Garvey's "Organize Your Holiday's" course at Simplify 101. I heartily recommend it. And now that I have the "peaceful, easy feeling," I don't want to lose it!

I live in fear of losing it, because I had it all together once before. I followed Flylady for a few months one year--I had everything so well "together" it all fell apart from boredom.

I was bored because I was afraid to take on any new (and interesting) projects not only because it would mess up the house, but with my compulsive tendencies, I tend to get so wrapped up, so involved and distracted, that all my new found organization and so on just flies out the window.

And then the adrenaline comes rushing back as we frantically search for something we need or I make dinner amongst the piles. I believe I 'm addicted to the adrenaline rush. And then it just takes so much mental energy to put things to rights again....

It's like the weather. The storms and then the calm. Storms, calm. Over and over and over again.

This has been a most productive fall. I was worried about taking on the Cure because I didn't want to disrupt our homeschooling schedule. I can't remember if that was because we'd hit our groove or because we were struggling. But, it worked out, more or less. We managed to stay on track --except for our history and science courses-- but our "core"--Writing, Math and Latin just kept chugging along. Some days were better than others, but we still moved forward.

I needed the Cure to help me get back in touch with the house and our place in it. It turned out to be exactly what I needed to do to put my head back in the game. It gave me a concentrated focus for my energy. And it was the right place to focus that energy. It let me take care of things around here and the chaos was always the productive kind.

(Remember this? Wjen I took this I was in the midst of decluttering and cleaning the Expedit.)

The same can be said for the organizing course. It too was the right focus at exactly the right time. It is unbelievable how nice it is to have 90% of everything done. The kids and I made Chocolate Crinkle cookies before breakfast, today!

However, I am a bit worried. I'm taking two courses this coming year: both start on December 31st. The first, from Simplify 101 is about developing my dreams and creating goals
The second, by scrap book guru Cathy Zielske will teach me all about scrapbook page design.

Both courses last until March.

gulp.

I do hope I haven't taken on too much.
We'll just have to see.