Now that it is December, how are you feeling? Have you suddenly become overcome with panic like I did earlier on this week? I literally had trouble breathing for a day or so when I realised it was only a little more than three weeks until Christmas day. It felt like a tightness in my chest that made it difficult for me to take deep breaths.
Thankfully I feel much better now and am almost breathing normally again (I can be so dramatic at times). On Tuesday I had a day at home so I started by listing out everything I wanted to do up until the weekend. I thought I�d take things week by week.
We have an early Christmas dinner at our place this Saturday night, so there was the house to clean and make look nice, a Christmas tree to decorate and grocery shopping to plan. I also had to pick up my Aunty from the airport and her flight was delayed (which I found out about when I arrived at the airport). Since it was at least half an hour until it even landed let alone get everyone through customs, I had the bright idea of doing my grocery shopping at the supermarket right near the airport rather than the one nearer to our house. I was very proud of my canny time management!
Throughout that day and this week as I got my breathing back to normal, I reminded myself that �there is no hurry� (thank you
Tonya Leigh) and that my mindset preceded my experience, so I could choose to be calm and not let my mind spin off into �I�ve got so much to do and I don�t even know where to start�.
The rest of this week I�ve done more things on my list and I think pretty much sorted my Christmas gift purchasing. It helps that I have simplified this list quite a bit with family members that agree not to exchange gifts.
I�ve re-read my
simple Christmas post from last December and I am pleased to say I am doing all the things I suggested.
And I feel tranquil and serene!
Listing everything and then going through the items one by one is the way to go.
And taking deep, soothing breaths.
100 Things
Following on from last week�s 100 Things tally, I have been decluttering my wardrobe. I find it much easier to let clothing go if it doesn�t leave the house immediately sometimes. Some things are straight to the donation box, but others I find it less painful to move them to a different wardrobe for a while before they move on. The items I have removed from my wardrobe to their halfway house this week are:
47. and 48. Two pairs of Diesel jeans that are now too big for me (it�s a combination of them stretching and me getting smaller).
49. A light blue leather jacket I bought in Italy in 2001, blazer style that I don�t wear anymore. My husband says I should keep it; I�m on the fence.
50. � 56. Seven shirts that I am bored with. They are my slight older ones and some feel too masculine. I have other nicer, new ones so why not wear those all the time instead of wearing the older ones.
57. A pair of black cotton Country Road jean-pants that aren�t a great cut for me. Even when slimmer they cut me in half and I end up with a stomach ache. No-one should get a stomach ache from their clothing.
58. and 59. Two magazines
60. A mattress protector that is surplus to my needs. I love using these - they are quilted and have elastic on the corners. They add extra loft to your bed between your mattress and bottom sheet, and the thing I love most about them is that you can put them through the wash regularly. I had one too many and they are puffy to store so I donated my least favourite (one on and one off are all I need, and one more for the guest bed).