Sparking Joy

I am writing this post from 32,000 feet over Nebraska, availing myself of Southwest Airlines wifi. 

I gladly paid the $8.00 connection fee for use on the 4 hour flight from L.A. to Baltimore as I had forgotten to bring ANY reading material on board!!!!! OMG!! I had already read the airline mag on the way out to California and I was starting to panic. Glass of Chardonnay in one hand and my iPhone in the other, it seemed like the perfect time to catch up with a little writing. Lest you think I am a sophisticated traveler, let me correct that notion right now! First I struggled with the new Southwest  LAX  stand where you  print your own boarding pass AND print and attach your baggage tags  AND send your suitcases down the ramp. With two bags to check and two carry on pieces, I couldn't make my way to the ramp without going back for each piece. The couple behind me came to my aid. While I was grateful for the help, I wondered if they saw me like someone's grandmother that needed some extra help ( in case you think I am overreacting, on my flight out,  the  man seated next to me shouted to a companion several rows ahead, "I'm in the seat next to the old lady!"  I actually swatted him and said," Hey!  Watch it!! That hurts!!!"  Such is life of travel for a 61 year old I guess,  and it was kind of a reality check. 

 Now, where was I....oh yes, as I headed into the security area , I  unfastened the wrong end of my Trollbeads bracelet and sent 17 beads bouncing like marbles all over the floor. 

 Several kind souls helped me gather them up and off I headed to my gate. My boarding number was B21 because I forgot to check in yesterday. I was still surprised to find my favorite seat was taken by the time I headed down the aisle: the last seat in the last row by the window. My selection is based on  my own personal theory  that one is less likely to catch someone's cold when there is no one behind you sneezing. I knew this wasn't going to work this time anyway when I overheard one of my seat mates asked if his Sudafed had kicked in yet. SIGH.

This is what it looked like as I left Ohio 10 days ago. Snow, cold, and major de-icing before take off. My mom had called the previous afternoon and asked me to come out for a few days while she recovered from some sort of stomach distress. When I got there she was improving, but as my friend Judy wisely said, "sometimes a mother just needs her daughter".

So, since she was feeling pretty perky I asked Mom if I could use her for my test case for the books I was reading, Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo and her followup book: Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up. While I had owned the first book for more than a year, and read it twice, I had not as yet put any of the advice into practice. 

The author presents a new angle on decluttering. Instead of deciding what to get rid of, you decide what to keep, that is, you decide what brings you joy. Further, you thank the items for their service to you as you send the discarded items on their way.

 I suggested we try out the method, step by step, following the instructions to the letter.

1.Clothing

2. Books

3. Papers

4. Komono(miscellaneous)

5. Sentimental items

My mom was game and we started on a three day intensive journey of finding joy!

According to the author, you must first gather up EVERY piece of clothing you own and put it in a pile on the floor.

Once you are sure you haven't left anything in some other location, and, starting with all of the shirts first, you hold each article and ask  if it sparks joy in your heart when you see and touch it. Really. Now, I know this sounds crazy but if you haven't tried this, just read on. Mom got in the spirit of it immediately and could with lightening speed tell me if the piece sparked joy. If not the article was placed aside and thanked for its previous joy and on we went through all of the jackets, sweaters, pants, shoes, socks until there wasn't a stitch of clothing we hadn't held. Ten large bags were set aside for donations and we began the specific folding process. Sort of like sushi, items were rolled and placed in drawers.

  There wasn't much was left to hang in the closet. 

My brother got into the mix and added some shelves that I asked him to build.

Then a curious thing happened- he went home and started on his closet!!! Kelsey (his daughter and my favorite niece) saw him carrying out bag after bag and asked him what he was doing. "Sparking joy, he replied!!!"

The next day we tackled books. It was fascinating to me to observe my mom making firm decisions on which books met the joy criteria. A college textbook from 1947 of my dad's-Yes!! A favorite novel of his- No!! an art book of French Impressionism-Yes!! A book on travel on the Rhine-No!!  As I watched what sparked joy for her I learned things about my mom that surprised me and I learned about the books in her collection and what the connection was as to why they were there in the first place, why they got to stay, and why some could go. 

After a break at the Wilson Creek Winery with my sister-in-law, Karrie, (who, by the way, was thrilled about the joy factor going on in the closet she shared with my brother) we were ready to take on stage 3: Papers. 

Mom and I share the dilemma of not being able to part with very many papers. Newspaper clippings, brochures, recipe cards, manuals, invoices, statements, old report cards, and lots and lots of photos. 
The photos consisted of tin types of relatives that mixed in with my dad's flight crew photos from WII, that were mixed in with photos from my youth, and photos of grandchildren mixed in with recent bills and greeting cards and....   well, you get the idea! According to author Marie Kondo, the goal is to end up with no papers!! Actually,  you do get to keep one magazine file box called Pending Papers (items that need immediate attention only) She also recommends purchasing a 3 ring binder with clear plastic sleeves to hold  a few papers that are not pending, but, are to be kept close at hand,  such as a print out for a new diet or a list of favorite restaurants. Greeting cards are not to be kept unless they spark sentimental joy. Our family has kept greeting cards from relatives from the early 1900's to recent Valentine's Day cards and it seemed unlikely that many of these would be discarded.

This reminds me of the first card birthday card I gave to Ron. We had meet a few weeks prior to his 40th birthday and I handed him a card that I had carefully selected for him. He opened the card, read it, thanked me, and immediately tossed it in the kitchen wastepaper basket! I almost fainted in shock and seriously wondered what on earth was wrong with him!

Mom and I actually completed step 3 and pitched 5 huge garbage bags of papers. However, in the process, we filled one huge plastic tub with the photos and some greeting cards and letters-to be reviewed in the final step, Tidying up Sentimental Items. It was time for a break and time for me to hit the road.  But first, time to give  Carlson family pups, Lily and Jasper,  a few biscuits!

Mom and I also had some time to attend the monthly book discussion club meeting of her Garden Club. It was so fun to hear each member give a brief sales pitch of favorite recent reads and then  members borrowed whichever books appealed to them. I presented a brief pitch for the Kondo books, but didn't give them up-since Mom's efforts went so well, I'm heading home to start step one with BFF, Paulette, and, then on to my own tidying up efforts. In our cases, I don't think three days will begin to cover the territory, as we are both incorrigible collectors of many, many, many things. I promise to give you an edited update in some future post. Plane is about to land now and the wifi will be turned off shortly. My thumbs are tired of texting this post and I'm eager to head home to Ron and the pet family!

P.S. As it is now the night of the Academy Awards, I think it is only fitting that I end this post, taking a minute to accept the Award for Best Blogpost of February 2016.  First, I would like to thank my mother, for not only giving me birth, but allowing me to use her as a test case for my decluttering project. Of course, I'd like to thank my brother, David, for taking such good care of Mom when she was ill, and for calling me to come to California whenever he needs help. I'd like to thank my niece, Kelsey, for showing me that the future is bright and that playing two basket ball games back to back followed by a softball game can be done. I'd like to thank my sister in law, Karrie, for generously lending her husband and daughter to all causes for my Mom. Praise goes to my BFF, Paulie, an excellent partner in crime, and to my husband, Ron, for always making me laugh. Last, but not least, I'd like to thank my loyal readers, who say nice things about my blog, even if they are just being polite. I love you all. Wait.....I have more people to thank, but the music is now Blaring me off the stage!!!!

Happy Home

This makes great blogpost title, and it is also the title of a decorating book byCharoltte Hedman Gueniau, founder of RICE, a homewares company in Denmark. Every  photo is brimming with color pillows and artifacts within all white rooms.  My BFF, Paulette, once told me that she owned a Happy Rug. What a treasure, indeed! The colors of her oriental rug are brighter than most of  this style and I think it is pretty special to own a rug that makes you feel happy.

I'm finally "leaning into" retirement, sage advice given to me from Vince, during my final dinner with the Board a year ago. My gym routine has added needed structure to my week for a start. And, there have been some arts and crafts projects on the back burner that I am enjoyng.

When niece, Kelsey (age 14) came to visit for a week earlier this month, she and I tried our hands at candle making - a popular craft in the early '70s...... We had the bright idea of using some canning jars that I never used (my aborted attempt to make grape jam from the Concord grapevine in our yard). As you can see below, something untoward happened after the candle cooled. It cannot burn properly, sort of the fundamental use of a candle. With $100 invested in supplies, and one ruined double boiler, it is a pretty expensive candle!

After that experiment, we joined a watercolor class in progress at the local metro parks. Our assignment was to copy a photo of a winter forest scene. I didn't like the middle part of my painting, so I cut it out.

Then, I decided I didn't like some other sections, so, I cut those out as well. This helped average out the cost of the workshop as now I had two painting instead of one!

We even did a bit of cooking, making a Thanksgiving dinner menu with Ron as head chef!

You know how you can always learn some new things from a teenager? Well, I didn't know that records, oh, em, VINYL is popular again. At $30 a piece, I am looking at my vintage collection in a whole new light.

Kelsey and Paulette shared new aps on their iPhones while waiting for me at the Mall one afternoon. This was the same day we hung out at Starbucks for awhile. I didn't realize I dropped my billfold under a chair until a very kind gentleman rang our doorbell that evening-billfold in hand! Wow. Thanks, Glenn. Now we are Facebook friends with several friends in common. Small world!  

Meanwhile, instead of knitting a pair of socks, I made a "sockhead" hat. (see photo above)  Since I currently own enough yarn to make 62 pairs of socks, this was an good move. Perhaps I could make 31 hats with 31 pairs of matching socks! Place your orders now. Just call 999-000-9999 before midnight. 

On a roll, Paulette suggested that we try a new craft each week. This week we are going to sew pillowcases for use in Valentine decor.  Details next month. Did I forget to mention ongoing decorating projects? I was asked to advise on paint, furniture, and layout for David and Karrie's home in Temecula, Ca. The photo below is the "before" picture.

The "after" photo features a fresh coat of Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter on the walls with a few new pieces of furniture, too. This was really fun to do via  FaceTime with them. Actually, we did the entire house, not just this room. 

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed interior design. For awhile, I tried a double major at Kent (English and Interior Design) but couldn't manage the dichotomy and distance between classes. Paulie lets me decorate her home for each holiday, so I get a temporary fix every season.

Of course, I've not neglected my love of reading. Above are some of the books that are currently on  my nightstand table.  Most are from the Huron Public Library-an absolute gem packed with interesting new books, and a few are from the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library that Paulie and I visited a few weeks ago. I am especially enjoying the Ross essays from her years at the New Yorker. I can't read the Bogle book at night because it keeps me wide awake-really. I've become a Boglehead and I have placed holds on his newest books. He is now 86 and I watched a recent interview of him predicting the next 10 years to have an  3% increases in an average portfolio. Oh oh. 

 This is Emma's first winter in a warm house. When she isn't sleeping curled up on the couch, she spends her time looking out of the window and I hope she isn't regretting the change in her environment. Several times a day she allows me to scratch her head and ears, but, I've not yet been able to pick her up. Ten months seems like enough time to get used to us, but, that's how it goes sometimes with cats,  I guess.

Emma's daughter, Lucy, has made herself right at home, as you can see from the photo below! Those are the Jolly Wee Elves that I knitted. They look a bit more wizened than the pattern, alas, but Lucy looks fine!

Lest you think Kate, namesake of this blog, is a reformed puppy, think again! Now at age 5, she still rules the roost and does as she pleases.

I tucked Kate into the bathroom while the Sears Repair guy was here to fix our dryer. It just seemed easier than trying to keep her from barking nonstop. On the other hand, I had a bit of cleanup to do later!

I was sorely tempted to head to D.C. for the big snow storm a few days ago. In Sandusky, the sun is shining and the grass is still green and these are not good things for January, in my opinion.  I'm making the best of it and heading out for a brisk walk with Jack-my new best buddy since Marilyn passed away. Actually, he has always been number one and graciously made way for Louie and then Marilyn Monroe. At age 9, we still have lots of walks ahead of us! From the happy home, jb.

Do your calves get along?

This was what I heard my personal trainer, Barb, ask me a few days ago while I struggled with the TRX set.  Well, actually, both calves were burning, so, I answered, "I'm not sure. Yes, I think so."
Turns out she was asking me if my CATS get along (the earlier conversation we had as I was gasping for breath during a one minute plank exercise). After a good laugh, she was undeterred from introducing me to Jacob's Ladder.

"Don't look so scared!" she exclaimed as she hooked a tether around my waist. This particuar machine just works as slowly as you climb, one rung at a time, forever, or, in my case, 4 minutes.  It also burned 125 calories in the 4 minutes that I lasted on the machine.  You can keep track of the rungs climbed and get a free t-shirt when you reach steps equal to Mt. Everest. Yeah, right, like I need a t-shirt that badly.

On to the recumbent bikes for 20 minutes of "cardio" as Barb calls this ride to nowhere. I haven't figured out how to use the headphone jack, but, I have learned how to read the close captions on the tv or better yet, I ignore the captions and try to guess what the tv newscasters are actually saying.

This little ride is followed by climbing up and down a flight of stairs, 6 times, carrying 10 pound weights in each hand. I clump up the stairs pretty quickly, but, remembering my broken ankle when I missed two steps in my basement stairs in 1999, I SLOWLY decend, staring intently at my feet as they land on each tread. This, of course, is also a pretty good tactic for stalling before Barb assigns me "our" next set of something or other. She also suggests I notice what the extra 20 pounds feels like.......ahem.

Since October, I've lost 2.5 inches from my waist and hips, which at least allows me to breathe easier in a pair of jeans. I actually look forward to my twice weekly sessions with Barb. I have yet to get myself to the gym three other days of the week, however.  In an effort to look for motivation, I signed up for a Metabolic Rate Analysis System test. As the brochure states, .....There is one basic truth to weight loss: you need to burn more than you eat. Your test results show you precisely how many calories your body actually burns and calculates how many calories you should eat to lose weight.

 So, here's what you do: breathe into a tube that goes into the computer for 15 minutes. It measures and then averages your oxygen and co2 levels, compares them to the same in the room, and, voila! You learn, among other things,  if your metabolism is slow, normal, or fast. First, you input your weight, height, and age, goal weight, BMI, and gender.  My rate was dead on normal, so that excuse went right out the window, or rather, down the tube.

Taking into account my "resting energy expenditure" of calories, according to the test, my "life style and activity" calories, and my exercise calories/typical session, I need to dump at least 300 calories/day  from what I am currently eating.  I am sure my "glass" of white wine would qualify for about 150 of those calories, and maybe the nut mix that goes with them. Guess I'll give that a go, so to speak, first. I put the Fitbit back on, too. The one with the lime green band.

I got my first Sneakers award, announced to me on my smartphone, by walking more than 10,000 steps today. Some of that was achieved by walking to the bay and back

and then a rousing round of shopping from one end of Crocker Park to the other. This last, however, was concluded by a nice dinner at Brio, of course with a glass of Cab. Sigh. Today is a new start. We're heading back to our alma mater, Kent State, to hike the campus and see the new buildings and the  rehab of downtown Kent, and, I have to admit, a stop at Ray's for a glass of beer.

Caution! Christmas Letter from the Brooks Household-Proceed at Your Own Risk!

The image above is of a Christmas Card Holder that Paulette made in needlepoint for me. Isn't it beautiful? Ron and I are looking for actual, not virtual, Christmas cards, to put in it this December, of course, but, here we are, sending a virtual Christmas Card Letter........isn't that just the way it goes!

I'm surprised how many people ask me how I'm  enjoying my first year of retirement.  I truthfully answer that being retired is a challenge for me, but that I'm starting to get the hang of it. Ron, on the other hand, retired six months ago and will tell you that it is the greatest and easiest thing in the world to do. Paulette, also now retired, keeps all of us busy, and Bob, with the most experience, shows us all how to relax.

We adopted two additional cats last February. It was a bitterly cold winter in Sandusky. Lucy, a kitten of about six months, entered our garage and gratefully joined us inside. It took us all month to get AllieCat to calm down and share her surroundings and even longer to have all three dogs accept the newest member of our family. When Lucy discovered that this house was filled with yarn to play with, she was extra glad she picked us for her new home.

It was only a month later that we added Emma, Lucy's mom, to our brood.

Yep, we are now a 3 cat family. Emma, however, isn't too thrilled with the other furry animals and rarely leaves our library-she is truly a Library Cat!

 The additional livestock made camping a bit more challenging and so we stayed closer to home this summer, dropping in feed the cats once a day and then heading back to our seasonal campsite just 20 minutes down the road.

In fact, it wasn't until November that the wheels on Nina turned at all when we ventured across the bridge to East Harbor State Park for a week. Now that Ron and I have agreed that I love to drive the RV and he doesn't like it AT ALL, we might make a westward ho! next summer with me in the driver's seat. Fair warning.

Not to say that we didn't travel in 2015. I headed to Las Vegas to meet up with Amy and Anne, two friends from high school. We had a wonderful time catching up and comparing aging dilemmas just as we had counseled each other with teenage issues so many years before.

In the fall, Ron and I traveled to Columbus, Ohio for the very special wedding of Ivona and Ben Dunnavent. We met Ivona, a Serbian college student,  last summer when she was working at Cedar Point, and falling in love with Ben,  an Ohioan working at the Point. When Ivona left last fall, I didn't know she meant it when she assured us we would see her the following summer. Sigh. Young Love.

The travel bug hit again in the fall. Janet Ford and I took our second annual fly/road trip. This time, we headed to Boston and drove through Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and the southern coast of Maine. 

It was an extra treat for me to gaze at this  beach scene again,  having vacationed at Kennebunkport Beach, Maine for most of my summers growing up.

We stayed at P.E.O. b&b's for the most part -  having the extra bonus of donating our lodging costs to scholarships for women. We drove for 6 days, and never put more than 700 miles on the rental car. I really didn't know how compact New England is.

One of our favorite P.E.O. homes was located on 60 acres near Weston, Vermont, and just down the road from the movie settings of Baby Boom. In fact, when our hostess was lamenting the many apples in her orchard that needed tending, I mentioned that reminded me of the movie, Baby Boom. With that, she abruptly asked me if I had been to Peru. Thinking she was a bit daft in making that transition in conversation, I admitted that, no, I'd never been to Peru?  She offered to take me-yikes. Turns out, Peru, Vermont, is where the movie was shot on location. What a hoot.

As some of you know, both Kate and Marilyn had major illnesses in August. Kate, after having a large kidney stone removed, is doing better than ever. At age 5, she seems to have the energy and joy of a little puppy now. Marilyn, however, at age 14 1/2, just couldn't recover from liver and brain tumors, and we lost her to pneumonia in early November.  

Jack is our oldest (age 10) and has been especially comforting since Marilyn passed away.

My mom, who's birthday is today, December 13, came to visit us in July. We enjoyed shopping in Oberlin, dining at Sunnybrook, hanging out with Paulie, and spending time on both front and back porches.

Speaking of porches, Ron's favorite porch was at the b&b, Welcome Home Inn, a screened in beauty in peaceful surroundings....that didn't require Ron to so much as lift a finger to maintain. Notice that broad retirement smile on his face.

Ron and I wish all of you the very happiest of times in the days ahead and extra wishes for a happy and healthy 2016.