Archive of ‘Ultimate Blog Challenge’ category

Fall Frenzy

Today would have been the perfect day for raking leaves, pumpkin picking, or taking a drive to see the leaves on the trees turning different colors. The weather forecast was calling for a high in the mid-60s today with a nice breeze and blue skies. Any outdoor seasonal activity would have sufficed.

But, I didn’t do any of that. Instead, the cooler weather inspired me to purge my kitchen pantry and clean out my bedroom closet. Sure, a walk in the park enjoying the beautiful weather would have been lovely, but my day took a different turn.

I didn’t wake up in an organizing mood, but I was motivated after grabbing a box of cereal and started unloading everything off the shelves. Once the pantry was completely empty, I wiped down the crumbs, threw away the stray almonds and chocolate chips, and replaced all the shelf liners. I had already come this far so before I put everything back, I put the food into categories. I counted out 5 different types of peanut butter, 7 boxes of pasta, and a plethora of marinades. I found empty bins in another cabinet that I repurposed to keep everything contained. The only thing that was missing was a label maker. But still, the end result was worthwhile.

I tackled my bedroom closet next. My original plan was to put the laundry away and replace shorts with sweaters. But then I discovered a bunch of sandals and flip flops on the floor and decided to dive in. I went into my daughter’s closet to find some kind of basket to throw all of the shoes in and realized she had so much room in there for my dressier clothes. I quickly dug up a bin for the shoes and returned to her closet with all of my dresses. I’m certainly not going anywhere fancy anytime soon.  This left me plenty of room to hang up my wrap-around sweaters that are just impossible to fold neatly. I made a small donation pile of clothes and shoes I haven’t worn in over a year. After a clean sweep of the dust bunnies on my floor, my closet was finished.

I wish I took before and after pictures but that never occurs to me until I’m right in the middle of an organization project. So here are the after shots. Not bad, huh?

My pretty pantry.

clothes

Sweater heaven!

clothes

I wonder how this will look a month from now. 😉

What organization projects are you working on? Please share and include before and after shots!

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll buy a pumpkin and go apple picking.

Hello!

Hello. My name is Elisa. It has been 46 days since my last blog post.

Every time I do the Ultimate Blog Challenge, it is my hope that I will establish a daily writing habit that I follow religiously. Sometimes, I’m successful. Other times, not so much. Lately, I’ve been crazy busy which has gotten in the way of blogging. But the important thing is that I’m back.

So, what’s new with me? I’m glad you asked! I’ve been looking for a job for over a year now. I took a completely different approach to this adventure. It is truly a full-time job to look for a new opportunity – at least that is how I treat it. The biggest shift in my approach was not looking at the job boards and applying all day long. After I got over the fear of missing out (FOMO), I was much happier with this method. I hate being at the mercy of the applicant tracking systems that search for keywords instead of getting to know the applicants as people. Instead, I networked my ass off.  And boy did I learn a lot along the way. Was I successful? Stay tuned.

One thing job hunting brings about is a lot of soul-searching to rediscover who you are and what you want to be when you grow up. I’m quickly approaching the half-century mark and still trying to figure out the answer to this. I am, of course, the quintessential liberal arts student. But, I know this – writing is a constant in my life. Whether I am journaling, blogging, writing copy, or posting something on clever on Facebook, writing is central to my answer to the age-old question – who am I? I am a writer.

If you are new to my blog, welcome! If you are a frequent reader, thanks for sticking with me on this journey. To my fellow bloggers in this challenge, I can’t wait to see what you come up with this month. 31 days seems overwhelming at first, but it’s all good. Let’s do this!

 

 

 

 

Friday Thoughts

I had big plans for this month. Working from home gives me so much more flexibility that I could easily squeeze in the time for a blog post every day. Right?

Apparently not. Last week, I was furloughed from my job with the hope of them bringing me back in January of next year. It has taken me a little while to get used to this new reality. From filing for unemployment to coming up with a new daily routine, it is all a bit of a shock to my system. All last week, I went to bed wondering what I did that day. Did I accomplish anything? And old habits are hard to break. I still wake up at the same time and automatically pick up my phone to check my email–only to remember that I am locked out of my accounts, and I have no meetings today.

But, I am thinking positive. I know I’m going to land on my feet and be fine. I have a large network to tap into and people have been generous, kind and willing to help. Right now, I’m technically still employed and my benefits are intact. But, I’ve never been in this situation before. It is bizarre, and naively, I didn’t think it would happen to me.

Happier News

Today is Chloe’s “gotcha” day. We adopted our poodle four years ago, and I can honestly say she has made our family complete. During quarantine, she has been by our side, putting smiles on our faces and up for some short-term snuggling when we are feeling down. I’m so happy we have her in our lives. Happy “Gotcha” Day, Chloe!

Back to School

Our daughter heads back to college in two weeks which leaves me with mixed feelings. I love having her around the house. It’s like she never left. If this was her freshman year, I’d encourage her to go to our local community college to take her gen eds. But, she has had her taste of sweet freedom and there is no putting that genie back in the bottle. To be honest, I’m betting on her being back upstairs in her room taking classes by October. I can’t see how this on-campus life is going to work, but I’m willing to give it a try.

Meanwhile, our son, Andrew, will be a junior in high school. This is a big year for him, and I want him to have the best set up to succeed. For me, that would have meant in-classroom learning. He is much better in that environment than reading off a computer screen. But, the school board recently decided to go all virtual for the first marking period. No fall sports which is a shame, but at least, we are not on complete lockdown. He can see his girlfriend and core group of friends at a social distance, of course. People are upset with this decision. Mostly because we all thought we had options between sending them back in person and online learning, but the school board decided for us and in a way that gave none of us a voice in the process. While that is frustrating, frankly I’m relieved not to have to make this decision myself.

For the record, there is no right answer when it comes to sending our kids back to school. Whatever decision you are making for your kids – keeping them home, sending them back, doing a hybrid – it’s the right decision. You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone. This is hard, and I support you.

Blog Update

Our fearless leader of the Ultimate Blog Challenge recently asked what our plans are for our blogs in the future. My plan is simple – to keep writing. I didn’t get in all 31 blog posts like I wanted to do. Oh well, shit happens And it really hit the fan here this month.

I will keep writing. I hope you keep reading.

Stay healthy and safe everyone. Wear a mask. XO

 

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