"So, how are you doing?"

Well, everyone has been so concerned about me!...I have really appreciated hearing from so many friends and family. Some of my friends...I don't even know how they found my blog!! Ha! The world is such a small place on the internet I guess. Thankyou thankyou thankyou sooooo much for commenting on the PPD post, it has been so helpful and has boosted my spirits. The following is from an email I wrote to my family that I figured I should post in case others wanted to see what has transpired since I last wrote.....

After writing the blog about PPD, I have felt a lot better. There must be some thereaputic quality to writing...to getting things off the brain so that you don't stew about them over and over, day in and day out. After writing things down I have felt much better.

Also, Tirsa has been sleeping better and getting into a better routine...thus I have been sleeping better, getting into a routine, and feeling like my brain is not totally mush! And, I have let go of the Nursing ritual....I have been pumping instead and giving formula. There's actually a huge release I have felt from switching to the bottle! Don't get me wrong, I love Nursing and all the benefits that go with it (cost being my number 1), and oddly I have felt an extreme amount of guilt in giving it up, but as I give the bottle more and more I feel quite liberated. It probably sounds strange to those of you who have not gone through the Nursing thing....it's like doing something you love so much that you get sick of it! Well, I'm done with it in one sense anyway.

Other things that have been helping me....de-junking! I'm having so much fun with www.freecylce.org and the Lupus Foundation pickup www.lfa.org service. It really is giving me a sense of accomplishment and order. I've also been doing a lot of housework in the process, not that my house is spotlessly clean because of it, but it's better.

I've told some of you about my $12 hair cut!!! :) I just up and went to the salon and said, "chop my hair!" I was so sick of it sticking to my neck, so it is cut in a "short back, long front" somewhat 1920s bob hairdo....kind of flapper style! It's refreshing, new, and easy! I've gotten lots of compliments on it and that has boosted my esteem. I also splurged on some Mineral Makeup (BareMinerals/BareEscentuals) that I have been eyeing for a few years now. It's a combination of mineral powders that you brush on your face very lightly....it's very natural and has a very youthful effect......also another thing that has boosted my esteem!!! :) I know these are just temporary "fixes" but I'll take that for now.

I'm trying to get back into the swing of the most important things....prayers and scripture reading. For some reason after I gave birth I had no feeling, no Spirit. It has been very odd....I feel like I've forgotten everything I knew, learned, and taught in seminary...everything was just gone. I'm slowly getting back to it.....that reminds me...you have all been asking me about Seminary!....... :)

Less is More

Well, it is late, but I've just got to write about the de-junking and simplifying I've been doing lately.

Since my mom was here, who I might add is the master at de-cluttering and organizing, I have caught the "get my house in order" bug! I have been going through every room, closet and drawer in the house...slowly but surely.

So far I have gotten rid of 15 bags of clothes shoes, a bed, and other miscellaneous junk. And, it is so liberating, exhillerating!...heck I even get excited when the kitchen trash is full and I can take it out to the garbage can!!! :)

LESS IS DEFINITELY MORE!!! There's more room in my house and garage, there's more time to do things other than laudry, more satisfaction in knowing I can actually keep my house somewhat clean because I'm not tripping over as much crap!

So, where have I taken all this excess stuff??? Well, I donated the 15 bags of clothes to the Lupus Foundation. They will come right to your door and take it for you...this is great considering the price of gas these days...I don't want to have to drive my junk somewhere to dump, and I don't have the time. You can go online and schedule a day for them to come to your house...it's so easy! Once they picked up the bags, I went online to schedule another pickup...they are coming again next week!...and I've had another 5 or so bags lined up downstairs...yay!

Also, I have had great fun with a Yahoo group called Freecycle. Many of you know that in East people just leave their un-wanted stuff on the side of the road and someone is bound to pick it up...if not the garbage companies will take it and everyone's happy. Well, that was okay when I lived in a more urban/populous area of NJ....here out in the country I live at the end of a culdesac which just doesn't see the amount of traffic as my old street did. Enter Freecycle.org...you can go to this site and join your local community, post things online that you want to get rid of and people will email you back saying they want it! This is all for free...no money is allowed to be exchanged for goods.

So, I have Freecylced a daybed/trundle, my cello(cheapo broken down never used it), a bag of old jeans, old window boxes, random carryon luggage bags, old motor oil, a stroller, and an old chandelier! I just put it on my doorstep or on the curb, tell the person who wants it my address, and they come and get it!...I don't even have to be around or even talk to them!! It is the best thing ever...I look around everyday now for stuff to post on this website.

I do still have some in my Ebay closet that I want to sell, but that takes so much effort. I have told the kids that they can go through this closet and pick out things they want to sell on ebay. Then, if it sells, I'll give them the money! Maybe I can teach them a little about money and marketing and business...at least the little I know about it all! :)

In all, I'm trying to SIMPLIFY my life, starting with my physical surroundings. Then hopefully other things will follow....like how to simplify my thoughts and actions....and writing! ha! Less is definitely MORE!!