June 23/06

Hmmmm...I was just thinking that it has been a while since I updated this blog and boy, was I right! So much has happened since the last entry that it is hard to know where to begin.

Most recently, I spent 2.5 weeks in Scandinavia. Spending time with my longtime penpals was awesome as was the stopover in Gothenburg and Frederikshavn. Alot of thinking and navel gazing was done during that trip and now, I am feeling good about some changes that I need ot make in my life. Having a cancer scare a few weeks before that trip also brought my life into focus for me. It sucks that it takes something like that to realize what is important and what is useless jetsam that is bogging me down! One result of the navel-gazing that I can share publicly is the de-cluttering of my house. I had kind of started getting rid of stuff a few months ago when the floors were being re-done, but now I am being ruthless. If an item is not extremely valuable or absolutely necessary to my existence, then I add it to the yardsale pile. That pile contains stuffed toys with the sales tags still attached, a gift set from the Body Shop given to me by someone I am not keen on, a wooden dishdrying rack, and little bits and bobs of craft projects I have made over the years. The difference this de-cluttering has made both in my mind and in my house has been huge! The stuff and the maintenance of the stuff was weighing on me. Divesting myself of useless items is freeing me on so many levels. I am able to see much more clearly these days.