Uphill in the snow...

Yesterday I wasn't feeling very well. Mostly I was just feeling exhausted, run-down, and frazzled. I needed a break. I decided to do something which I hardly ever do-- take part of the day off just to rest. Seriously, this never happens, especially not now that I have a baby. But I thought I'd go home, leave Reed at daycare for a little while, and just rest to fight off a cold that I feel coming on. But after I decided to leave work, and before I got a chance to leave, it began to snow. Snow never really happens in Knoxville. It's pretty rare, and even more rare for it to stick. So I left work around 10am, and it was really coming down! I got close to Reed's daycare and felt very conflicted. Should I go on and pick him up? I decided that since the snow was sticking, I probably ought to. It's a good thing I did, because they ended up announcing that the daycare was going to close early, at 1:00. Charles was on his way home from work, too, but traffic was just crawling and the roads were getting quite bad. I stupidly decided that Reed and I could drive through Chick-fil-A for some food before heading home. Well that probably took 20 minutes. By the time we got to our neighborhood, there were already cars parking at the bottom of the hill in our neighborhood, and a school bus stuck partially up the hill. I spoke with some people that discouraged me from trying to make it up the hill. So I parked along the street with several other people-- maybe 8 or 10 other cars. I sat in the car and ate my Chick-fil-A with the heat on, then bundled up my baby, grabbed my essentials (purse, pumped breastmilk, cell phone), and trekked up the steep hill in the snow with Reed and his heavy-ass carrier in tow. I knew that the carrier was heavy with him in it but I have a whole new appreciation for that now! Nice people offered to help me by offering blankets and asking if he was OK, though no one actually offered to help me carry him. Oh well, I probably would've been too stubborn to let them anyways. Everyone I encountered was very friendly and cheerful, despite the chaotic weather and parking conditions. Someone even said, "This will be a great story for him when he's older! How you carried him home in the snow, uphill!" :)
We made it home safely and I was pleased to see that Reed was having a great time. His little nose was a little red but he was bright eyed and smily. When I got in the house I was glad to find that Charles's Chick-fil-A food was still slightly warm so I put it in the microwave for him. When he got home, he was actually able to get his car up the hill and into the carport, so I decided to go back for my car. The road had improved a bit and I was able to get my car home, and we had a nice day snuggled up inside, watching episodes of Scrubs on Netflix. It was kind of an exciting day, but I was glad things ended well. :)

De-clutter Brag

Well I brought home an armful of stuffed animals from my Dad's house. 5 so far. 2 of which are in such bad shape that I don't feel they can be donated, and 3 of which were not only in OK shape but were nostalgic enough that I think they have a good shot at being 'adopted' once I donate them. Charles and I took photos of them all so I could remember them. Then the 3 that were in decent shape went to the Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries donation center. The other 2 are still sitting at home, waiting to be disposed of. It makes me sad, but I just need to start letting go of things that don't make me feel fantastic. The photos will be enough to remember them by. I really want for my baby Reed to get to have his own toys and special things, and not be bogged down by things that used to belong to me. When I am old or dead I don't want him to have to make the decision to part with my things-- I want to live a life that is clutter free and happy and restful. I want to model good behavior for him. Even though he is currently too young to learn from my de-cluttering behavior, it is good practice for me. So even though the task is not done, I am proud of myself for taking steps in the right direction.

I also disposed of lots of papers from college that I had been hanging onto mostly for a sake of having the 'complete set.' It was kind of like I was thinking it would be cool to have EVERY paper, note, reading, etc from undergrad. Well I let go of that attitude over the long weekend and kept only a few papers from classes that I really enjoyed. I even parted with one of my old Japanese text books, because if the time comes (and I hope it will) that I want to re-learn Japanese, I will probably have better tools at my disposal. And a partially completed workbook that already has some answers filled in is not going to help me learn. So I am proud of myself for taking steps toward my goal. They are baby steps, but by blogging about it and patting myself on the back, I am hoping to reinforce the behavior and make it more likely that I will continue. :)