bits

It's been more than a week and I'm still getting a littler further each day with the house cleaning... organizing et al.  I had read an article that said a disorganized or messy environment raises a level of stress hormone in your body even when you don't 'feel' particularly stressed.  Cleaning up will reduce that level and seeing the progress you have made can also be a mood elevator.  Sounds a bit 'out there' and domestic but I thought it was a good energy sink for this stress about school.. and the exercise can't hurt, either.

I have to admit I have been feeling more like I can 'kick a** and take names' the more I get done.. and it is starting to overflow to getting things done at work, too.  I'm working on some useful little habits for maintenance, as well - sweeping the floor a bit in the morning and at night, washing down the countertops, generally keeping a three level 'list of what's next' in my head so I can complete the closest one to me the next time the idea hits...

We rearranged all the computer stuff upstairs to make the desk cleaner and give Esme and I more space between our computers.  That looks much better -and she wasn't using that desk in her room anymore - so that gives her more space in her room, too.   My new ring came in the mail yesterday and it fits nicely and is quite pretty.  It is a silver Celtic braid design, noticeably heavier and harder to get off of my finger than the thin gold band I had worn off and on for the past nine years..  I cleaned up the counterspace below some, but we use all of these things almost every day so there aren't many more things I can put away.  It does look neater than it did.

I'm into the third book of the Outlander series.  There is cornbread and poached pears (with honey, brown sugar and butter) in the oven (shown above) for dinner.  Esme said it was 'kind of good' and she did eat it over time.