CLEANiNG UP!

"Better keep yourself clean and bright. You are the window through which you must see the world."
-George Bernard Shaw


"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean.  It's perfect when it arrives and puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. "
-John Wayne

Beau and Mariah here on Monday sharing a fun little Bubble bath together!
They were not really dirty or in need of a bath,
but Mariah was cold and wanted to warm up and put on comfy jammies.
Beau loves a bath, too, so didn't want to miss out on the fun! 

The two squeaky CLEAN and COZY kids
in their matching snowman jammies
on the couch with their Poppa. 

One last pic with the Christmas stuff still up.
Brian on his ipad, Beau happy with a balloon, and
Mariah watching her TV shows! 

Later on Beau with LESS is MORE!!!
He gets around much faster in his diaper alone...
 and always into my cupboards, too! 

My brother and husband(The  BRIAN'S!)
With Beau here having a delicious Roast Beef supper
in my dad's honor as we celebrated him Monday.
This was his 12 year anniversary of his passing in 2000.  

Yesterday... the CHRISTMAS DISMOUNT!
Hard to believe all this stuff came off my tree! 

The shelf in the living room with
 CHRISTMAS STUFF...
 

And the shelf with the Christmas
 replaced by year round ornaments!
Once again I am leaving some ANGELS out year round
to represent the SPECIAL ANGELS in my family.

The Christmas cupboard all re filled and
ready to store the treasures until next year again...
It all fits pretty good this year! 

The CLEANED family room with no more tree, etc! 

The fireplace looked so empty after putting all the Christmas stuff away,
so I decided to leave a few little snowmen and
 the BEAU and MARIAH
"Christmas Mice" out for a bit longer!
The facial expressions on my grandkids in the pic on the fireplace
 is kind of how I felt about putting away the Christmas stuff yesterday.


Well... here it is DAY 5 of the new year already...
and I am trying to put my NEW YEAR'S resolutions into action.

This year it is all about words ending in
"IZE or ISE!"
such as...
"MINIMIZE, ORGANIZE,
EXERCISE, DOWNSIZE, REVITALIZE,
REVISE, VISUALIZE"

Basically I think I'm working on
"LESS IS MORE"
in lots of areas of my life... from minimizing and organizing clutter and stuff around here,
to downsizing and exercising my way to a new trimmer energetic me in the end.

I am hoping to get rid of more STUFF I do not need...and maybe replace some of it with STUFF I like better... or with nothing at all.
I have been trying for years now to organize my basement. I sort of know where everything is, but I need to organize it and get rid of things I really do not use and or need and I know I will enjoy the space so much more.

With the little weight gain over Christmas... I am now ready to downsize and pay better attention to the intake and exercise more, for a healthier, lighter and revitalized me!

My plan is to record more things and keep better track of it all to make me more aware, too. Sometimes when it goes into writing, it is easier to visualize and stay on top of all the goals.

Next week is Birthday season here...
and we have MORE of them in this month in our family... so harder to follow through with the
"LESS is MORE"
in celebrations in this month...
But I will just do "LIGHT"
celebrations this year!

I am making some reminders for myself like...
CLEAN feels better than MESSY
LIGHT feels better than HEAVY
ORGANIZATION feels better than CLUTTER
ENERGY feels better than SLUGISHNESS!
KEEPING TRACK makes good sense.
Making good HABITS...
help to make a better me!
LESS is MORE... (in MOST CASES!)

So on those NEW YEAR'S REMINDERS...
Here are my rhyming words of the day!

Clean it up and put it away...
It will come out again some day.
After another year has gone by,
Until next Christmas, I will try...
To keep the look of tidy and clean,
Get to the gym and try hard to get lean.
I'll stick to my plan  of "Less is More"
Organize  like I've not done before.
With living in a less cluttered place,
Will help to give me much more space,
To do the things I love to do,
And much more room to enjoy them, too.
For 2012... I'm cleaning up around here,
For a brighter, lighter, clearer year!


So far I have made baby steps in the right direction. I was to the gym on tuesday and today for classes.... and I have tried not to consume every sweet in sight as I walk by it!

I was to update studio bulletin boards on Tuesday, and spent yesterday doing the
"TREE"-MENDOUS CHRISTMAS
TAKE DOWN!

I am not going to lie, though, I always find it so sad to take down Christmas each year. First of all the process to put it all out in the first place is a huge one... and one filled with joy and fun!
Then when it's time to all come down and go away again... the process is not nearly as rewarding! HOWEVER... that being said, I am happy to report that my stuff all fit into the CHRISTMAS CUPBOARD much easier this year, following the little bit of downsizing I did previous to Christmas this year.