5 Days Simplicity...returning to

If I am up at 3 am you know that life is stressful right now. Of course we are only in the middle of moving across the country to start a business in a town where we know no one. So instead of getting some much needed sleep I am sitting here on the computer (actually in front of it, I would smush it if I sat on it).

Yes there is a lot of unknowns coming up soon so I am trying to focus on the things that I actually know. This means I have spent and inordinate amount of time collecting paint chips anytime I am at or in the neighborhood of a store that sells paint. Even if our landlord doesn't let us paint we will be able to do the fabric wall thing. Either way thinking about colors has been a good stress reliever lately.

This brings me to what I look forward to the most when we move, a return to simplicity. The last few years have been chaotic between Kevin's school and having a baby we haven't had much time or mental space for it. But now that school is over we are going to go back to our old ways. I am so excited.

This world we live in is complicated, there are so many things going on that we can't simplify (have you looked at the news paper lately?). the one thing any person can control is their own life. That is why we chose simplicity. Before you get any pictures of a Japanese inspired home with no furniture and no entertainment let me explain how we do simplicity.

To us it means our Friday night date involves cooking dinner together and dancing in the kitchen to Rosemary Clooney or Sam Bush. It means creating a home where curling up on the couch with a book is the fought after and then pile on location. It means being out on the trail before seven, just because. It means reading out loud to each other in the car. It also means that we are going to get organized.

The organization thing is the tough one for us. We are fairly good at organizing, it's the staying organized that is difficult. We get complacent and things pile up, then the piles become enemies and we fight dealing with them. But we are determined to start fresh begin with new systems for getting things done, keeping things neat, going out less to eat, and most importantly spending more time together. It sounds linear, I know, but there needs to be an underlying structure that allows for the creative, spontaneous, and random to occur.

here are some resources I found on getting organized:
I think this list is about where I am, a beginner.

This site has some good ideas, doesn't seem as Zen as the title though.

I like the 90% rules Emme has here.

This is the website of the New Road Map Foundation, Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez is the book which their ideas are based, it is a good look at how to become financially independent.

And of course there is the book that I found in a used books store seven years ago: The Simple Living Guide by Janet Lours Amazon doesn't have a copy but you can find it at Abebooks used.

The saddest part of looking up all these sites was the amount of sites that were about things you should by to help you organize. I'm not talking bookshelves and file folders but lots of crap.

I suppose I should attempt to get some sleep.