Connor- 11 Months

Hoarding vs. Purging

So this month is going to be painfully low on posts simply because most of my time lately has been spent preparing to move, moving, and re-organizing those things we moved. And if you move a lot then you realize it's not so fun to actually move. Live in a different state... amazing! Actually deal with moving all of your stuff to that new location... definitely not amazing.

While we've gotten most of the big stuff out. We are still getting all the little things out of the house. It's the little stuff that just kills you. You realize just how many trinkets, signs, decorations, children's artwork and McDonald toys that you have in the house. And you think... WHY? Why did we keep this? Why do we need this?

In previous years and moves, Brian was always the hoarder and I was the purger. So when we were moving, Brian wanted to keep everything. Because well... you might need it again. Or well it can be useful if we want it to be useful. Or we won't ever have to buy another one if we keep this one. Or that's memorabilia from high school. Or my homework from college.

Me I would happily get rid of things that weren't 1) commonly used or needed, 2) weren't used at least once a year depending on what it was, 3) easily replaceable, 4) no longer fit and unlikely to wear again in the near future (2-3 years) and 5) we no longer have the space to store everything we own. So when Brian was gone to work or school and I was left in charge of packing... I was more liberal with what was discarded than he was. And because we had so much stuff... he never really noticed anything that went to Goodwill or the dump.

Time Magazine (7/19/2012) had an artical called American Hoarders: Typical American Home is Cluttered with Possessions - and Stressing us Out, stated that children received roughly 70 new toys a year. So if that is true by the end of this year, if we had kept every toy our 2 children (then ages 5 and 1) have recieved since their birth, they would own 420 toys. And the article goes on to say that UCLA researchers found the more stuff a person owns the more unhappy and more stressful they are. Go figure... they are probably tripping all over thousands of toys laying all over the floor and finding toilets clogged with polly pockets (hasn't happened to us yet but I'm waiting for it).
This time Brian has been helping much more with this particular move. And I was actually shocked to see that he had put somethings in the Goodwill pile... of his! And he even put some things in the trash! I mean sure it wasn't as much as I would have done (and have been doing while there), but still it's a definite improvement. I think he's starting to understand some about how much work it takes to move things from one place to another to another to another that we don't exactly use.

We still don't exactly have all the specific space for the things we currently own. But Brian has mentioned he plans to scan somethings to decrease the amount of paperwork filling up countless boxes, sort through books he plans to sell, and go through things more once we get everything out of the house. My HERO! So I'm happy that my husband is slowly moving towards a more light lifestyle regarding possessions.

Where is Oscar?

Do you see him?

Do you see him now?

Now?

The couch has become his favorite spot. He doesn't even sleep in bed with us anymore. Why should he... when he can have the whole couch to himself?

And Another Move

You know I like living in different places, but I really hate moving. Mostly the packing, the unpacking, and all the work leading up to it. In 5 years we've lived in 3 states and in (now) 4 houses. I think that qualifies us as semi-experienced movers.

This move was a little different because 1) we moved ourselves  and 2 children and 2) we stayed in the same state and same city. Another difference, for some odd reason we had a little role reversal going. Brian is usually the planner in the relationship. Spreadsheets and lists abound as well as timelines. And yet, this time I was the one who got the head start on looking/researching for places to live. I made the spreadsheet breaking down properties by price, features, square feet, and price per square foot.

I also coordinated things with the property managers, home viewing, acquiring a refrigerator, and getting the best deal for a rental truck.

And you'd think that would be enough.... nope... we are still packing, unpacking, and cleaning.

My boss informed me that anything that takes longer than 2 days to pack or unpack, deserves to be burned. After 4 days of packing, unpacking, and cleaning, I'm at that point that just throwing everything in a pile in the backyard with a lit match sounds like an inspiring idea. It's amazing the amount of stuff a person acquires (that they do not use with even an annual regularity).

Burn baby burn.

Ok... so I haven't burned anything yet. But we still have plenty of stuff at the house and plenty of time.

Another little highlight regarding this move... I got the opportunity or perhaps the mistaken obligation of driving the 16' moving truck with hydraulic lift out of Dallas, to pick up the fridge, and then return it to load up our stuff. It was definitely an interesting adventure.

Upon returning and once it was loaded up, Brian realized it probably wasn't the best idea to have me driving. Not sure why... but needless to say... he took over the reigns. I was ok with that. :)

The kids were whiny and fussy, but they did help a bit. Even Oscar.

Since the kids have been able to escape moving duties/chores, they seem to adjusted well to life in the new house.

Playing at the Park

TX Rangers vs. Boston Red Sox- May 2013

 So it's starting to become a thing for Suzi and I to go to a Ranger game once a year. It's definately a perk living in a large city let alone a metroplex.

During the off-season Suzi traded her fan allegiance from the Rangers to the Red Sox when Mike Napoli was traded. So this year was a little different with me in Ranger wear and Suzi wearing her Boston Red Soxs red.

Also because this was a big game or marquee game as they call it, my seating options were limited. And as a result we were in the nosebleed section. We were in the very back, very top, last seats, touch the ceiling and sides nosebleed section.

And it was cold! Scratch that... with our altitude and the wind coming through the screen we were easily colder than everyone else.

But it was a good game. Well I guess it depends on if you ask a Ranger or a Sox fan as to whether or not was a good game. Rangers won 5-1.

But we enjoyed ourselves. And we are already thinking in advance of the next time we do this. Hopefully I can convince more of my female siblings to join us in attending a game some weekend. But one thing I will definitely do is make sure we aren't stuck in the nosebleed section again.

Next time, we'll be closer to the field. And the players. And their nice tight pants. Mmmmmm. See.... baseball games are fun, ladies.

Spring Picnic

So it's May. And it's finally starting to feel like spring in Texas. It's been feeling like a Kansas spring since February or March. But a warm Texas spring has taken it's time coming this year. I think every state in the continental U.S. has had the problem of a late spring considering all the states that got snow the first week of May.

So since we were having such nice weather and my skin was missing the sun, we had a picnic.

Ok, so an unconvential picnic which was catered by McDonalds, but hey... I'm a busy mom.

And it was nice to spend time with my children. 

*Side Note- the quilt we used was one that was sewn by my maternal grandmother.*