tell me quick before I faint....

Note: I wrote this post last night, but wasn't able to finish editing it before the hubby called me away to bed. So hence the past tense.

Tell me quick before I faint, pitch them now or keep them quaint?? The issue at hand is several issues actually. Think plural in its greatest sense. Beautiful, treasured issues of Southern Living that I have hoarded ever since I began getting my own copies. Last week as I was decluttering in Zone 4 {master bedroom} I felt compelling to follow FlyLady's advice and simply purge them. When do I ever look at them?! Have I even sneaked a tiny peak at any of them in the last past year? No..... So! With great resolve I hauled them out from under the bed and put them bravely beside the recycling bin. And....for some reason....there they stayed....I guess I wasn't as ready to part with them as I thought I was. But now today, before my resolve completely dribbled away, I grabbed the basket and resolutely headed for the curb to pitch them as tomorrow the big green go-green truck is scheduled to grab them. I slowly started to dump, and then stopped as a few lovely, glossy issues fell in with a plop. It felt like I was throwing away my friends!! Standing out by the road like a ninny, I started to page through each issue for closure, tearing out ideas/pictures that nabbed my attention. A recipe for sweet potato pie with marshmallow meringue that I had baked and loved, {even a few tell-tale splatters on the page} was added to the memento pile. But the fading light of the summer night along with the whining and feasting of the mosquitoes zapped me back to reality. I could do this! I would be strong, and would fight my hoarding gene instead of letting it take a'holt of me! With a small sigh, the rest of the pile slid silently into the great netherlands of the recycling world. Who knows? Maybe, instead of living the stagnant lives of their boring hoarded existence under my bed, those old issues will someday be in my hands again as the pages of a haute new copy of Southern Living! Wait! Speaking of "new" copies, I haven't even absorbed my last two issues properly! So I shall sit and bask in the glow of my latest decluttering accomplishment whilst I lose myself in the South with my current friends instead of hanging on to those from the past.

P.S. I really think this new plan of tossing the old issue as soon as the new one arrives, will help me to heartily enjoy the issue at hand as in cooking the recipes that strike me and cutting out ideas {or finding them online and pinning them} straight away!

for such a time as this...

Live long, Queen Esther! She has been reigning in my thoughts tonight; her courage and determination to stand bravely during an extremely stressful time in her life makes me feel so weak-hearted. Today was a grey day....I won't go into the reasons as to why. It would only sound like the whiny martyred attitude that I was suffering from before God gave me the inspiration that this was a chance to live like Queen Esther! I could choose to face my situation with my "mental" tiara firmly in place, a beautiful attitude in my heart, and courage in my step because like was asked of Esther, "Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" This valley can be my chance to shine! To trust, to have faith that everything WILL be OK! We all have these chances, these times that seem like the worst thing in the world is happening to us! And life just isn't fair! And others don't have to suffer like we do! But if we can only remember to get out our tiara, dress in our finest attitude, and proceed with royal courage, we can be brave and queenly "in such a time as this" because we can handle anything with God.

We Have a Winner!!!

Congratulations, Anne!! Last night I meticulously wrote the name of each individual who had entered this birthday giveaway on a piece of paper, cut them into little strips {the names, not the people}, folded them in half {again, the papers not the people!}, plunked them in a cupcake liner {it just seemed fitting!} and had Daniel pluck one out! And he proclaimed, "Annie!" My scrawl was too scrawlish I guess because it really said, "Anne with an E."  Funny, because before I officiated the drawing I had had the fleeting thought that maybe Anne will win this! If you are even entertaining any doubts of foul play, ask Daniel and he will tell you that everything was fair and square and extremely above board! Hopefully the cupcake batter dispenser will speed through the mail, as I hadn't ordered it beforehand in case someone that lives far rather than near should be the happy winner, in which case I would just ship it straight to them. As it is, it will come to my house first so I can bedazzle it with wrappings and trappings! Please don't be sad, all of you who didn't win....another giveaway is a'brewin' up in my brain! :)

a midsummer night's dream....came true!

This evening as I was sitting upon my porch bench reflecting, I thought how drastically different this night was from one month ago June 12. That evening I was just saturated with sadness, overwhelmed with work that needed doing, and completely lost as to where in the world I should start. I wanted to escape it all, go to sleep, and wake up to a new life! This evening, I felt so peaceful as I enjoyed some time outside watching the sunset and reading while eating watermelon, my timer at my side. Supper was over, {chicken had been out and thawed in the sink}, everything was orderly, the dishwasher was empty, a load of laundry had been done, the bed was made, our bathroom had been swished and swiped, I hadn't had to do ANY major cleaning because I had done a One Hour Home Blessing earlier in the week! The difference has been an answer to my desperate prayers in the form of FLYLADY! I know, I know, the post before my last one totally mocked her, but this month has proven to me that her system was built for distracted, unorganized, late people like ME! And it works! I haven't arrived, and sometimes still do more puttering than fluttering, but I feel so differently about my life in general! This will be all for now....I'm sure you will hear more and will get tired of my ravings about how FLYing works! Happy One Month Anniversary to me of being a FlyBaby! Never thought I would be happy to be called a FlyBaby, but I AM!

{P.S. Don't forget to sign up for the cupcake batter dispenser giveaway on my last post! It ends July 18!}