Here we go again!

Let's see, is this my third or fourth attempt at blogging? I've lost count. I start a blog, post about 10 times, decide I hate my writing and give up for six months. This time I've set a goal for myself. I want to blog three times a week for one year. I always set to be an every day blogger and then get disgusted with myself because I can't meet that goal. I'm also giving myself permission to just blog whatever I'm thinking and I won't get upset with myself for not being witty and funny like so many of the blogs I read. So, if you want to tune in three times a week for mediocre writing, this is the place!

The purpose of this blog is to record our lives as we move from this crazy, cluttered life to one that is more peaceful and simple. It's going to take a lot of work, I know that, but I believe that it will be well worth it. Who knows, maybe someone else will be encouraged along the way.

I have just finished reading Living Simply by Joanne Heim a/k/a The Simple Wife. This was exactly the book that I'd been searching for. So many books on living a simple life involved growing my own vegetables, throwing away the television and only shopping at Goodwill. I don't want to become a vegetarian or live on a commune. I want to live in my little house with my family. I want to watch some television and buy pretty new clothes for summer. I want to eat steak for Pete's sakes!

I spent several days this past week in a computer class learning to use report writing software. One thing that the instructor said stuck in my head as something I wanted to do with this blog. I know, I was supposed to be concentrating on balance sheets and profit and loss statements and not blogging but sometimes my mind just works that way. He told us that when we are designing a new report, we should picture the end result first so we know where we want to end up. That's what I want to do here. I want to establish what I want my home life to look like so I know where I am headed.

The House
I start with the house because my surroundings seem to be causing me the most stress at the moment. It's a small house, only about 750 sq ft, with a full basement. Half of the basement is finished and should be a family room. However, it is filled with boxes and stacks of stuff and is currently uninhabitable by humans. The rest of the house isn't horrible, but every nook and cranny is filled with something. The house also needs some updating with paint, carpet, furniture.

I want this house to be clutter free and well organized. The storage area in the basement will be clean and organized with boxes and containers labeled. The laundry room will be clean and there will be system in place for sorting the dirty laundry in bins and clean laundry will not be allowed to pile up. The family room will be clean and free of boxes. Half of the room will be the music area with drums, guitars and keyboard. The other half will be a sitting area with comfy chairs and plenty of books. The rest of the house will be clean and clutter free. Closets will be orgaized and all of the things we don't use or like will be donated or tossed. The redecorating with paint, carpet and furniture will have to wait until funds allow.

Home Life
I truly am longing for more quality time with my family. We tend to all go our separate ways too often. Kevin will be buried in a book while I am watching television and Dylan is on the computer. We don't talk or interact and this just isn't acceptable. I know that we can't have a 'set' schedule with Kevin working retail, so we will need to be flexible. I will have to have a new schedule each week rather than being able to have a consistent routine. I want to sit down each week with our calendar and Kevin's schedule and plan out at least 3 family dinners and one night in which there will be no television or computer. I want it to be a night when we talk, play games, take a walk or ride bikes. This involves me learning to cook better than I do now and pulling together some menus that I can easily prepare. I would really like to set aside a day each month to prepare a few meals that can be frozen so that they are ready to go when we are in a hurry. I also want to do better with our morning routine. We need to sit down to a quiet breakfast together as often as possible and have our things ready from the night before so that we aren't running out the door at the last minute trailing stuff behind us.

Okay, so those are the basics of my picture. This is what I think a simple life should look like. A clean organized home and a family that spends time together. Can we get there? I think we can. It's going to require perseverance and the ability to say no to outside forces that would try to infringe on our family time, but I think I've got just enough fight left in me to do the job.