Tag Archives: home

A change is as good as a rest

12 Sunday Feb 2023

Posted by in Art, Health, philosophy, therapy, Warm fuzzy

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I no longer have a corner office.

Card table home office desk with office chair and houseplants in the background

I have the guidance of a local Feng Shui consultant to thank for this. In addition to rearranging furniture to face this year’s auspicious directions, this exercise provided me with the opportunity to apply project management skills, and creative patience with space management in our humble home. Since completing a college program in December, I can reclaim some space and rest my overworked brain.

I also got in some major dusting, sweeping and archeological retrieval of cat toys. Although it is the Chinese Year of the Rabbit, it’s always the Year of the Cat around here.

The home office desk layout now faces a large window which provides natural lighting for video conference calls and training sessions on the days I can work from home. We can soon put away the DayLight Lamp that provides light therapy and motivation now that brighter mornings help us emerge from the darkness.

Christmas Cactus house plants on kitchen counter

One can hope that the recommended location for the Christmas Cactus plants will give them the opportunity to bloom now that they are not spending half the day in glaring sunlight in which the others thrive.

Some of us need to stay out of the bright lights and noise while quietly performing our work. We can thrive with weekly check-ins and words of encouragement.

I love our rental home that supports the need for shelter, comfort and creativity. I have a home. That is one of the things to be thankful for as we suffer the news about people worldwide being displaced by territorial, political conflict and natural disasters. Some world events break my heart and trust in mankind.

Thanks for dropping by. Take care of yourself and each other.

T

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Putting your house in order

24 Monday May 2021

Posted by in Health, philosophy, reading

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Thank goodness for extra long weekends. Since I don’t have a cottage to travel to during a pandemic, I invested my time continuing to organize our new home.

  • Yesterday I unpacked three suitcases from the move; two contained the remainder of my seasonal wardrobe. It feels like I am clothes shopping in my closet after cycling through four basic outfits for the past month. Bonus!
  • I spent the sticky, humid half of the long weekend sorting through boxes of books, finding appropriate spots for them in the limited supply of bookcases. You can read about it in this blog post written by the Tabby Cat.
  • The excess boxes with questionable historical value have been tucked away for later inventory. They may have to come with me during the next move to an even smaller rental. Either that or my adult children will have to deal with them after I die.

This may sound morbid but I think it’s important for adults to consider the eventuality of one’s death and make preparations to alleviate the burden on others.

It becomes more of a consideration during a pandemic.

Thanks for dropping by. Stay safe. Be kind.

T

Winter nesting during the pandemic

28 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by in Health, philosophy, reading, therapy, Warm fuzzy, writing

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I am a homebody and an especially unadventurous one during this pandemic.

With winter here and the holidays almost done, I would hibernate between January 2nd and March 20th if I could.

How about you?

I love my humble home aka le petit apartment. I don’t love having to share a communal laundry room that is constantly unkempt and vandalized by n’er-do-wells. I have written another firm email to our landlord contacts about this months-long frustration.

I am drafting my 2021 goals and updating my five year plan. One item that is becoming more of a priority is to move to a cleaner, secure rental. Ten years since the last move, I will once again use a methodical project management approach. I don’t know how possible travel will be in the next couple of years so I think we can afford the move.

Finding an affordable, secure rental is nearly impossible these days. You’re looking at nearly $2,000 per month for a decent place to accommodate two or three people AND include laundry facilities en suite. I do not want to purchase a condo or house because they come with responsibilities, maintenance and added expenses.

During the extended holiday weekend, I sifted through a few shelves, boxes and file folders in my bedroom. It was a tedious, dusty task done in a relaxed manner, with me retaining the items that held some importance, then shredding, recycling or tossing those that did not.

In the New Year, I will take down the wee Christmas tree, lights and decorations, to place them into their tidy storage bins.

But what about those Christmas cards? Do you keep them for years and years? I will likely bundle them with their envelopes and label with “Christmas 2020” then stuff them into a shoe box with others. Part of me seems to think they will have archival significance in 50 years. I will likely acquiesce to let go of them during the final sweep before the big move.

Just a couple of the bookcases stuffed with books and other things

Enjoy this essay and audio clip from CBC radio’s Tapestry : How we’ve nested in our homes through the pandemic — and why it might be good for us

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/making-your-home-and-the-holidays-special-in-a-pandemic-1.5842263/how-we-ve-nested-in-our-homes-through-the-pandemic-and-why-it-might-be-good-for-us-1.5842274

I don’t have a label maker but I make use of old sticky labels and colourful postits to identify contents of boxes 🙂 I refuse to buy more shelving units to hold excess belongings. According to one of the experts, I should do something about those topless baskets 😀

Thanks for dropping by. What are you up to during the holidays while preparing for a hopeful, healthy 2021?

T