This is my personal update on my schedule at the half way point of the fall semester. I have decided to cut back some extra spending I caught myself doing because I started studying at Starbuck’s. Who knew how quick those coffee tabs could rise?

So if I sat down to analyze why I was doing this? I don’t love caffeine or corporate coffee shops with terrible music in the background. But I do like air conditioning on hot days. Even more, I love studying in an environment free of clutter. If I stay home to study that means I need to clean.

My typical routine now includes doing a quick tidy up as I try to manage a relatively small space (grateful for) with a family that likes to read, draw, and lay around. When the space is clean I feel relieved, content, focused, and generally better.

Take for example the living room this morning. I need the couch and table to be more zen like, but this is what my eyes saw:

After a few trips to the trash,  putting items where they belong, and a quick vacuum. It looked like this:

And in case you are wondering, No- I didn’t put everything behind me, out of the frame.

My other MUST CLEAN space is the kitchen. In case I get hungry or feel like my brain is a little cluttered, this actually helps me relax. If I can just make this one small sink open. Ahhhh!

I won’t lie: a little girl singing under her breath helps motivate me.

Joe and I keep one side of the sink dirty and the other side clean, so it’s also helpful to tell my brain…move everything to the left side. I put it away later once it air dries.

As for studying, I am squeezing it in and managing it so far. Do I love this life? Yes Noel (my friend who is still working at a school and called me this week) but I know it may not last. I won’t be content with this, especially as Olivine gets more excited about school. The part where if I think how fleeting this moment and life is, helps keep me grounded. This can’t last. But I can enjoy it in the moment.

We are clearing out my storage unit this weekend. So if you need teaching supplies, I may be your girl. Paying a hundred dollars a month just doesn’t make sense to me. I also have no idea what I will do with all that stuff. I can’t hoard it. I may never go back to teaching second grade (gulp) but if it is sitting in my living room I will be forced to deal with it. Right?

Today I am working hard to clean up around here because we are off to a pumpkin patch with Grammy. Tomorrow it is Halloween party, pumpkin carving, and Henry’s soccer game (I don’t have class). Then Sunday…pass out rest for the Sabbath.