Road Trip Check-in
Mercy! This has been a busy week. I finally have a moment to catch my breath and update y’all on my journey. My clutter clearing project was a huge success. I worked my butt off this week, and my hard work was rewarded. A week ago, every flat surface (including my bed) was covered with piles of stuff. When I returned home tonight, I did a double take and wondered if I was in the right place! I worked on this project all last weekend as well as every morning and every evening this week. I was overwhelmed Wednesday night, but I prayed and persevered. I am so glad! I went to the office Thursday morning for a few hours, returned home, and cleaned without ceasing from noon until well after midnight! I cleaned, scrubbed, moved furniture and piles, dusted and vacuumed every inch of this place, sorted, filed, and organized. In addition to the mountain of clutter Rebecca and I removed from my home Sunday morning, I hauled out 8 boxes and 3 large trash bags of stuff to throw away, give away, or consign. I am blown away by how much stuff I removed from this place in one week. I still have a lot of work to do, but I am fired up now and inspired to finish the job. Everything is organized. I know exactly what is in here and where it is. The remaining clutter is contained to 8 boxes stored in a nook between the dining room and kitchen. My closets are in order. My fitness closet looks amazing. I reduced my fitness shoe collection to a respectable dozen, and all my workout shoes fit in a hanging shoe organizer. No more shoe clutter on my living room floor! I have an entire closet in my living room devoted to fitness and travel. The top shelf houses my suitcases, a fan, and an umbrella. My workout clothes are all on hangers in that closet. A blue crate on the floor of the closet is the new home for weights that are not used on a regular basis, and my weighted balls and home step are stored neatly in that closet as well. My tubing and bands are on a hanger. My rebounder, club step, high step with risers, barbell, and weights are stored neatly on the right side of my workout area below my windows. The barbell and weights actually fit under the club step platform. The risers live under my high step topper. My workout area looks really nice, and I am excited about not needing to move anything before I get started every morning! All my workout DVDs are stored neatly on the top shelf of a bookcase next to my TV and DVD player. My books and Bible study materials are stored on the middle shelf and the bottom shelf of the bookcase. I put my magazines and catalogs in a basket next to the bookcase. There is a lamp on top of the bookcase and a wooden rocking chair next to it. My favorite teddy bears (that make my heart smile) have a home on top of the bookcase. I have a lovely place for prayer, pondering, Bible study, and reading! I cleared out a bunch of old magazines and catalogs. I reduced my collection of Collage Video catalogs to the few with pictures of Ya Yas. I could not believe how many years of those things I found.
I had several distractions Thursday that threatened to derail me. I finished a project at work for a client just in time to leave at noon. My vacuum cleaner started spitting out dust. A CD got stuck in my computer while I was backing up my computer. I called Best Buy, and the guy promised to fix it for free, but I did not have time to drive across town. I prayed over it and restarted my computer. Thankfully, I was able to set it free!
I am so pleased with my progress. For the first time in my life, I believe with all my heart that I can and will conquer clutter for good. My home is neat and clean, and 80 percent of the clutter has been removed from here. I still need to shred boxes of old bank statements and bills and reduce my collection of CDs and videos. I still have filing to do, and I want to organize pictures and put them in albums or scrapbooks. All my CDs are in their respective cases for a change, and they are stored in one dresser drawer. All my pictures are in a storage box, and all the albums are stored with them. There are no dirty dishes in my sink. There are no piles of laundry in my basket. I am amazed! I need to keep pressing on until it is accomplished because I do not want to have boxes in my dining room forever, but anything is better than tripping over piles of stuff! Cleaning will be faster and simpler now that I do not need to move piles first!
The bad news is that I lost some ground on the fitness front. I was wiped out after cleaning until midnight every night. I did not exercise at all this week. I am having Cathe withdrawals!
My eating has not been good either. I jumped off the clean eating boat yesterday and dove into a lake of sensual indulgence. I am having a delightful visit with my mother and her husband, but I have been doing way too much celebration eating. It started Friday morning with a trip to my favorite cafe for homemade blueberry pancakes with butter and maple syrup. These are buttermilk pancakes with fresh blueberries added to the mix. Yummy! We drove to Fredericksburg and enjoyed a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. The deli did not have sweet tea, so I indulged in a Dr. Pepper. After 130 days of plant-based eating, I ate my first meat of the year Friday night. We went to Cotton Patch, and I had a grilled chicken sandwich on a whole wheat roll with honey mustard and fries washed down by sweet tea. This morning was a cinnamon roll with Dr. Pepper for breakfast. We went to my favorite tea and coffee shop for lunch, and I enjoyed a grilled cheese sandwich with 3 cheeses on 7-grain bread, salt and vinegar chips, and frozen lemonade. Dinner tonight was a petite Dallas filet from Texas Roadhouse, a baked potato with butter and sour cream and cheese, a yeast roll, house salad with honey mustard dressing, and more sweet tea. Did I mention the chocolate and the cheesecake? Yes, I am planning to face the music tomorrow morning and step on the scale. I feel like I have gained 10 pounds! I have a food hangover tonight. I am hoping to get back on track with clean eating tomorrow. I need to start my 12-week Cathe rotation too if I can move!
Now that I have confessed all my food sins, I am going to rest and relax. Have a blessed Sunday!
Blessings,
Heather B.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1 NIV).
