Tomorrow wraps up the second month of the new year. For being a short month, my family and I packed it with plenty of experiences. While the month was eventful, and we had many memorable moments (Fleetwood Mac, KISS, Mrs. Carol & Mr. Mike’s Wedding, BETA State, Literary Rally, BUNCO), I am ready for a break. And, that break begins this Friday. Yee-haw!
My number one goal during the break is to declutter one room in my house. This room is located at the front of my house and was once used for exercise but now looks like a storage unit. It is a combination of everyone’s stuff. I plan to take everything out of the room and its closet. I want to clean the room, paint it, and finally add crown moulding. Afterwards, I want to use this room for scrapbooking. I acknowledge that this project will take a few weeks to accomplish, but if I can clear everything out of the room this next week, it will be a terrific start.
Of course, I will not spend the entire week decluttering. I am attending a Voice-Over Workshop on Saturday. My friend Kathryn and I plan to record ourselves singing “Edelweiss” together. I have an appointment to see my accountant to get my taxes filed. And, later in the week, we plan to celebrate my hubby’s upcoming birthday.
In Other News:
Tomorrow evening, Andrew and I will attend SLU’s Scholars Showcase. He was invited because he was awarded a Priority Scholarship from Southeastern. Earlier in the month, I was supposed to attend a Housing Event, but it was cancelled because so many students in the area were either at BETA State or at a soccer tournament. Unfortunately, it was not rescheduled. We will be applying for housing during next week’s break.
As for my 19 for 2019 list, I completed:
#2 Get eyebrows waxed. I’m having a new headshot taken soon, so my eyebrows needed a bit of tidying.
#8 Read one book a month for self-improvement. For February, I chose the life-changing magic of tidying up: the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing by Marie Kondō. I enjoyed it and gained a few helpful tips; however, I do not see myself following the KonMari Method. And, I guarantee the guys in my house will not follow it. The premise is to declutter your home by categories starting with clothing. You hold each item that you own and ask yourself if it sparks joy. If it does, the item stays. If it does not, it goes, either in the trash or to a donation center of your choice. I am open to trying to tidy by category after I declutter my future scrapbooking room. I also want to try her folding technique for clothing stored in dresser drawers. In addition to her book, Marie Kondō has a television show on Netflix where she helps people declutter their homes using the KonMari Method. I find her fascinating, so I watched the first episode and plan on watching the rest of the series in the near future. Finally, I listened to the podcast episode (06/07/17: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up) of By the Book where Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer spent two weeks implementing the KonMari Method. It was interesting and pretty funny to hear their experiences of decluttering using Kondō’s method.
I’ll keep you posted on my decluttering project, dear reader. I have committed this year to getting my house in order, and my hope is it will carry over into other areas of my life that need attention. Happiness!
“The best way to find out what we really need is to get rid of what we don’t.” ~ Marie Kondō
Since my last post, I have officially turned 50 years of age. My fantastic friends at school started my birthday celebration off with balloons, flowers, lunch, cards, and sweet treats. The next day was the shindig with family and friends from near and far. Son #1’s talented friend Tyler made delicious homemade pizzas for everyone in attendance. My BFF Shelly baked an amazingly scrumptious cake with a bra on top of it. And, my gifted cookie maker friend Darleen made incredibly yummy cookies for me to hand out to my guests. What a delight to celebrate ME surrounded by some of the most awesome people in the world! Although my birthday month will soon be over, my year of 50 has just begun.
Yesterday morning, I set up a Google Photo account (#3 on my 18 for 2018 list) to help me win the constant battle I have with my iPhone over storage. Setting the account up was effortless. What I find praiseworthy about opening this account is I can access my photos on my computer which will make ordering photos for my scrapbooking projects super easy. I still need to explore all of the features this account has to offer. One ability I hope I have is uploading photos directly from my account to my blog or to social media. I’ll have to play with it. I’m not tech savvy, so figuring this out on my own is kind of exciting.
I finally did it! I tried a voice (singing) lesson last Monday afternoon and had a blast. Now, Laura is officially my voice teacher. Since I can match pitch and can actually carry a tune, I have decided to take regular lessons. This basically entails going to a lesson once per week and practicing the other days of the week. Interestingly, Laura says I’m an alto. This seems to mean that I can hit some high notes, as well as some low notes; however, not too high and not too low. I like the label, so I’m going to keep it.
Even though I love music and love to sing, I never took any real time to seriously learn to play a musical instrument or to sing. My grandmother tried teaching me to play the violin when I was younger, but stubbornly I preferred going outside to play instead of practicing. Regretfully, I abandoned the violin in 3rd grade after struggling with “The Star-Spangled Banner” and never looked back. Thankfully, I still have the little violin that my grandmother bought me so many years ago. It is one of my treasured possessions. As for my singing career as a youngster, I was in choir for a year in grammar school. I remember performing at the annual school nativity program at Christmas. I really enjoyed it, and I’m not quite sure why I did not continue singing in choir. It probably had something to do with going outside to play instead of practicing.
When I had to renew my driver’s license last year, I noticed that my original birth certificate had faded significantly. I was concerned that I would not be able to renew my license. Thankfully, it was legible enough, and my new license was issued. At that moment, I realized that if I ever applied for a passport, I would need a new birth certificate. I feared that my birth certificate would not be admissible.
This past weekend was super busy, but eventful. I attended a two-day ADR/Looping Workshop in New Orleans (details forthcoming) which was the same weekend as STA’s Homecoming Dance. Andrew attended the dance with Jazzmin, a friend from swim. Along with Andrew’s best friend Fresh and his date Chloe (also Andrew’s good friend), they drove to the Parish Hall at Holy Ghost for pictures and dinner before heading to the dance at STA. They all seemed to have a terrific time, and they looked fantastic all dressed up for the occasion. I cannot wait to see their official dance pictures.
Today marks the end of the third quarter of 2018. We have completed three fourths of the year. The new year is just around the corner. Today is also the 8th anniversary of Comet, otherwise known as Tooty, becoming a member of the Loyacano family. Eight years ago today, Andrew and I rescued Comet as he was dodging traffic on Happywoods Road. We were on our way to school. Personally, I was not planning on keeping him. However, my hubby and Andrew had other ideas. No chip, no collar, no owner to be found. Needless to say, we kept him, and I am happy we made that decision. He brings us so much joy.
Tomorrow begins a new month. I have 12 items to complete on my 18 for 2018 list. I am confident that I will be successful in the remaining last three months of the year. I hope, dear reader, that you are succeeding with whatever goals you have set for this year. Enjoy the remnants of your weekend. Happiness!
The Kat Files 