Some Things Added

I've just added a couple things to the "Things Holding My Attention" list --

[1] Being Green, Frugal, Clean & Healthy
[2] Link to Natural Clean House
[3] Link to Flylady (Fly = Finally Loving Yourself; help for those living in CHAOS = Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)

Being Green is usually cheaper -- using vinegar, lemon, baking soda etc... rather than the chemicals... easier on old pipes, safer to use in general, and did I mention way cheaper? I struggle with recycling because I don't always move the item to be put in the recycling bin off the counter/surface right away, so it ends up being clutter -- then it has been there so long that I don't see it... and well -- you see the downward spiral of adding to my clutter disease.

So -- I'm not going to obsess about recycling or the green thing, it is mostly related to being frugal.

Being Frugal -- himself and I went to a financial planner a year ago last May -- and we have yet to really put it in place. Lefty (isn't that a great name for a financial planner?) gave us some great tools -- and now that we're kind of settled and making our new house a home, we need to get on the stick (or is that phrase get off the stick?) and start making some progress.

My first goal is to get my student loans paid off. No self-judgement, no beating myself up, just stand up and admit that I have not been the most responsible loan payee (cough cough sputter).
They're over $30,000.00. Yikes. Ouch. Now out there in cyber space for everyone to see. Accountability. Follow-through. Responsible. All those grown-up words. blech.

I like to spend, himself likes to save.
We'll have 3 "save to spend" accounts and himself will be in charge of the "save for the sake of saving" account.
We thought three things:
Travel (home to Scotland)
House (big items)
Hobbies (Sweet Adeline travel & events, woodworking tools, craft events/weekends, tools & supplies)

There is also the Car Account -- when my car is paid off, I'll still put that amount of car payment into an account, and while we may not be able to buy a car with cash on the next vehicle, we should be able to on the vehicle after that.

At least, that is what I think we decided -- it was over a year ago we had that conversation.

Key to the process [For ME!] is reminding ourselves what the goal is -- Lefty recommends that before going to sleep at night, we stand in a hug with each other, read over our lists of "wants"(the things we're saving for) -- to remind ourselves of the reasons we're not buying the iced coffee from McDonald's or the fun bags o' crap from Big Lots.

I'm the one that needs the reminder - the visualization of what it will be like when: -- I have no more payments to student loans; when we have a beautiful garden & Arizona Room, when I have an organized craft/music studio, when himself can build furniture for us...

Being Clean
Flylady. (she's now a link in the same area)

How it works for me:
[1] I can do anything for 15 minutes. Even if I don't want to do it, I will set the timer (!) and for 15 minutes I will clean up my sink/kitchen area. If it doesn't take 15 minutes I can quit, or, depending on my mood, I can extend my zone. I use this for everything I don't "feel" like doing -- which is a lot, I'm afraid.

[2] Soap is soap - swish & wipe the bathroom.
I've acquired probably 25 washcloths because the one I'm done using gets a squirt of generic cleaner and I wipe down the toilet & sink. The shower got sprayed before I got out. (with vinegar! -- a natural disinfectant!!)

[3] I don't have to move furniture to clean, and using a feather duster is okay.

[4] You can't organize Clutter.

There are other excellent tools she helps develop habits with... but those are the ones I try to remember all the time.

Being Healthy
I'm working out -- and now I'm feeling better and it is getting easier, so I'm more likely to keep at it -- AND I have a couple buddies who meet me there.

I'm seriously considering going to a plant-based diet. I need a plan, and my first goal is to do it for 40 days. I'll need to have my list of snack foods, and it will take making my lunch and taking it with me, and again -- having a PLAN. When I start I'll keep ya posted.

That would be huge (because plant-based means vegan, and I'm doing it for health. There are other benefits to the planet blah blah blah - yada yada yada... but I don't want to end up with a medicine cabinet full of medications in the next 10 years).

The China Study is a book that (supposedly) explains how a no-animal-protein lifestyle can reverse some serious diseases (heart, diabetes, cancer). I'm still reading -- and I may change my mind...

but let me say that 20 years ago I really really considered going veggie -- lacto-ovo. I like beef, I like chicken... but I love pasta, cheese (!), eggs (!), rice, beans & almost all vegetables (except for weird lettuci [lettuces?], sprouts (grass), tomatoes & mushrooms) -- I'm open to I think everything else!

ETA: I think Dr. Andrew Weil, author of "Eating Well for Optimum Health" is probably the most balanced viewpoint I've come across so far... and the more I research Vegan/Vegetarianism I appreciate that.