minimizing monday

If I were packing up to move to Rennes tomorrow (which I am not), what would I ship across the ocean? What would I be willing to pay to keep in storage?

This is my inspiration for my current round of home decluttering. It's the Act As If phenomenon.
I wrote about that concept last year--I was inspired by something another mom said to me, when she declared that rather than give into fears, she had decided to act as if the world she lived in was the world she would want to live in. In other words, she had decided to create her world as she wished it to be. To dream and think and act it into being.

Although I really would love to move to Rennes, I don't think I really want to move there tomorrow (though if I could just transport back to that cozy little creperie Le Sarrasin for weekly Friday evening buckwheat crepes and cider, I would be pretty content...). My boys are happy at their schools and with friends, Minou's business is picking up and taking off, and I have an exciting professional opportunity starting soon (more on that later). However, I want to be ready to move to Rennes in case the opportunity unexpectedly presented itself. I would want it not to be an enormous headache to prepare myself for a transition. Like the inspiring Minimalist Mom, who had already completed extensive decluttering when her husband had a work opportunity overseas... and she was able to move her family with fairly minimal preparation.

So I am still following the slow gradual approach (it works best for me for almost everything, I do believe). Also, I am leading by example. I can not declutter anything that is not mine. I like to think that I have made vast strides...but then I realize that actually, I have more clothes and shoes than any other family member (and this is after making vast strides!)

So here's to go...

Clothing (mine AND p'tit minou 2's rejects)

Bag (from a conference I attended--we have plenty already)

LP records (we have no way to copy these now)

and the hardest of all, books

...the books are either works that I verified the library had, or that my honest answer to the questions "will I read this again?" or "will I read this?" was No.

sorting shoes

How does one minimalist-leaning woman manage to amass so many pairs of shoes?
And how many is too many?
Here's what I have currently. When I put them all together, it was more than I expected.

I think it's too many. But I do wear almost all of them often. The ones I don't wear as often are the fancier sandals that would cost a lot to replace for the few occasions I would want them.

Brown Keen boots-fall/winter/spring
Black Dansko clogs-daily work (beloved by nurses and teachers everywhere, so comfortable)
Brown Keens-summer sandals and walking shoes
Brown Italian leather sandals-had for 18 years! Rarely wear, but still nice.
Black flat sandals-black summer shoes
Slippers-home, cold tile floors in the winter
Blue plastic clogs-gardening and chicken tending
Nike running shoes-handmedown from P'tit Minou 1, worn out
Trail running shoes-see above

Yikes! One place I think I could trim down is by sticking to either brown or black and not having two sets of colors. I actually tried this--choosing black because it seemed the more basic--but truth be told, I missed brown (I had hung onto the shoes to see how it went). I'm an earth-tone kind of gal. I also have two nice brown skirts that were given to me that I'm reluctant to part with, so I figured I will hold on to them until...?

So how can I trim? This is too much shoe volume in a small home. Also, I preach minimalism at home, but I have more pairs of shoes than anyone else in my household. Ahem. Though my feet have stopped growing, unlike some!

Here are P'tit Minou Deux's pairs:

 He loves the black leather ones (which are falling apart). Summer sandal season will soon be over.
The two pairs of running shoes above were inherited from P'tit Minou 1 (who was the other runner in the family until being sidelined by a knee injury--don't let your early teens run half-marathons, even if they want to!). P'tit Minou 2 is not a fan of running shoes and never wants to wear those.

So I think that I will get rid of my two worn-through pairs of running shoes (after today's long run: 10 miles!) and instead adopt G2's darker pair. Which leaves each of us with one less pair of shoes. His leather ones will need to be replaced soon, but we will throw away the older one.

As I write all this I can't help thinking about what a first-world problem I am having. My friend S., when leaving her Peace Corps stint in Guatemala, collected money from friends at home because she wanted to leave each woman and child she had worked with on a garden project with at least one pair of shoes. One.

This is my life now. Aiming to simplify and finding it a struggle, while others in the world struggle to meet basic needs.
It's not right or fair.

I still have more shoes than anyone else in the family, though. Ideas? I want to trim down!

TGFT

When I was a child, one of my mom's favorite expressions was "TGIF"--Thank God It's Friday.
She was a teacher.
She worked full-time, was a single parent, did continuing education to be a better teacher and for individual growth, and corrected papers after she made dinner and washed the dishes (I know, I should have helped).

Today, after attending two open house parent nights last week, I want to say TGFT--Thank God For Teachers!

I don't know what the public education system is like in your neck of the woods, but I was truly shocked by what I learned there. First, some background. My boys attend what are widely considered the best middle and high school in our school district. The younger one is in a French immersion program and the older in a French Immersion International Baccalaureate program. How wonderful is that?!

It's very wonderful. And so are their dedicated and committed teachers, who arrive at 7:30 a.m. and don't get home until dinnertime. To correct papaers and plan lessons later, I am sure.

But listen to this. There are thirty-five student (!!) between the ages of 11 and 13 in my son's middle-school algebra class. High school biology can no longer do labs with the entire class (there are 42 in there), so they must alternate days, with half the class working independently in the hall during lab days. Middle school full-time teachers have 8 class sections of 25-35 students. And here is the real shocker--the brand-new to the district, not full-time, middle-school band and orchestra teacher has SEVENTY-TWO STUDENTS in her 6th grade band class. Now there is a truly scary thought. Seventy-two 11 year olds new to their band instruments, all at the same time.

Also, the custodians no longer have time to sweep the classrooms, we were informed.

How long is that wonderful new young band teacher going to stay fresh and committed? This is crazy!

Due to class overcrowding, scheduling snafus are infinately harder to fix. My younger son, who has played the violin since the age of 7, was mistakenly placed in 8th grade Band (with kids who have played their instruments for at least 2 years) instead of 8th grade Orchestra. If he switches back to orchestra, he will be giving up his science class--for the year. Also, there are no available electives for him to take during the band slot--so he could be a "teacher's assistant" during that period. That's it. He was also mistakenly placed in a French cooking class that he has already taken.

I just don't understand. Public education is an investment in youth, in our community, in our society. How can things get to this point? And why would anyone choose to become a teacher, with the ever-increasing class sizes, budget cuts, and stresses?

Thank God For Teachers!!

ch-ch-ch-changes

Change is hard. I'm really not sure how to write about this now, so I will just say that I have a big change coming up, and very mixed feelings. However, when a decision is made for the right reason, it helps with the uncertainty.

house hunger

Every so often I am seized by an irrational desire to move (or move house as the British say).
When it strikes, I often can't resist looking at real estate websites for my city.

I love our little house, the garden, the light and trees around, the proximity to my mom (next door), good friends (scattered all around), and the feeling of being in a community. It is a really good situation in so many ways. I am fortunate.

But but but...more space, and somehow the promise of something different, a new way of seeing and experiencing the world that comes with being in different surroundings, are so appealing. It takes us off of the auto-pilot of routines, opening our perceptions and senses, just like travel.

I also would like (if we could, which we can't, now) to invest in property and rent out homes. So sometimes I justify my desire to look at real estate that way. Just in case there are any super bargains in super neighborhoods, you know.

Anyway, yesterday I was seized by one of those moments. I have to learn to resist--it's like window shopping. I read somewhere that we take ownership of something when we try it on, making it harder to resist the purchase. Therefore, when sticking to a budget, find other forms of entertainment besides windowshopping! It makes sense...and the same is true for the house photos. I start imagining us living in them. More space! An office for Minou! A third bedroom! And then, when I come back down to earth and realize the financial and practical infeasibility, I feel extremely grumpy for a while. Well.

Minou kindly pointed out to me the immese stress and amount of work moving actually entails--as evidenced by our good friends who recently went through the process and are still working on both houses, new and old. Which led me to my new resolve. I'm going to organize our home as if we were moving. Putting like things together, grouping and culling and cleaning. It will make it a much more comfortable place to live, now, and for the future...who knows?

less & more

I want less of:

• clothing
• jewelry
• stuff on the floor
• pens & pencils
• coats, shoes & bags
• books
• magazines
• paper piles
• time spent cleaning and picking up

I want more of:

• laughter
• evening walks
• learning new skills
• naps
• glasses of wine with friends
• reading books
• hugs
• family bike rides

dear departing daughters

Two friends of mine, amazing women, mothers, and nurses both, just said goodbye to their only daughters this week. The late-teen daughters set off around the globe on adventures in two countries, one in Asia and one in Europe. One daughter will be gone for one year and one for four years, both to study.

Both my friends are so excited for their daughters, proud, worked to make this happen. It's a testament to their parenting that their daughters have become the smart, confident, capable and inquisitive young women that they are, heading off to explore the larger world and realize their dreams. But it's hard. The daughters are dearly missed.

Now, I don't happen to have any daughters, myself. But I am a daughter, and I remember setting off on my own study abroad adventure many years ago. I remember the dismay in my mom's face as she said "China? Are you sure?...Will I ever see you again?"

But she let me go in the end, with encouragement, love, air mail envelopes (no internet then) and long underwear. Thankfully, my friends and their daughter now have Skype and email, as well as long underwear. And always, love and encouragement.