365 Less Things

Reducing our stuff one day at a time.

Saturday Extra ~ Midway Simplicity

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Mohamed Tohami over at Midway Simplicity has begun another interview project ~The Midway Decluttering Show. His most recent guess was a wonderful lady with a shining personality and very wise on the subject of decluttering. OK you caught me  blowing my own trumpet again. 😉 Here is the link to the interview so you can judge for yourself.

The Lazy Person’s Way To Declutter Your Home

Tohami has also recently released his new book Midway Simplicity ~ Easy solutions to simplify your time, health, things, finances and relationships. This book contains excerpts of all the interviews from the Midway Simplicity Show. Below is the excerpt of the interview he did with yours truly.

Simplify Your Time

“Fill your time with something you enjoy”

I think with time, the key is it has to be filled with something, unlike closets that don’t have to be full all the time. With time, you’ve got to be doing something in that space. It might as well be something you enjoy and something you get satisfaction out of. My journey to de-clutter has freed up a lot of my time to do just that.

I had a dead-end, awful job when I first started de-cluttering. I feel I was able to really give that up because I wasn’t wasting money on things I didn’t need and didn’t particularly want anymore. So I just gave that away and spend my time blogging and helping other people and that’s certainly very satisfying.

Simplify Your Health

“Decrease the things you’re doing wrong”

I think when it comes to health, the easiest way to improve is to give up the things that are just not good for you – smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, overeating and all those things. They’re not hard to give up. Like my approach to de-cluttering, you don’t have to go cold turkey. You can give them up slowly. Just decrease the things you are doing wrong a little at a time. That makes it a little more doable, I think. Giving up over several months has to be better than not giving up at all.

Simplify Your Things

“Make it easy”

I think the easiest thing, the thing that for some reason came to me out of the blue, is don’t make it difficult on yourself. You don’t have to do it in a month. You don’t have to do it in a week. You don’t have to do it in a year. Just do it as you feel comfortable. My plan to begin with was just to make it easy. It wasn’t until I started moving further into reading about minimalism and that sort of thing that I realized I had moved into a whole new area of growth where I let go of more and more things.

I think if you use the slow, simple approach, you’ll learn a lot more from it, and you’ll get a lot more out of it. You won’t just find out you’re back to square one in six month’s time.

There are always things in your house that stand out which you don’t want anymore – things you just haven’t got around to removing. Start on the easy things you can part with, not the sentimental things, not the tasks that do take more time. Start on the easy stuff. Then the further down the track you go, the more ruthless you get, and the more you’re prepared to part with.

Simplify Your Finances

“Only use credit cards in case of emergency”

The simplest thing I think you can do when it comes to finances is not use credit. If you can avoid credit cards especially for things you don’t need, don’t use them. When we were first married, we didn’t have a lot of money. We had a credit card, but we only ever used it in case of emergency – if the car broke down or that sort of thing.

Don’t buying things you don’t need unless you can afford to pay cash for them. Like I said, just save credit cards for emergencies. If you’re paying interest, then you’re using it more than what you should. A credit card, to me, is something that I use so that I can pay bills online or use for emergencies, but not to be used willy-nilly buying a pretty dress and a pair of nice shoes. That’s where the problem starts. Suddenly, you need some cash and you have maxed that credit card, and then you’re paying big interests. The problem just snowballs.

Also, if you can fix things yourself, don’t pay someone to do that for you. Take some classes, even in learning to sew or whatever, so that you can do stuff yourself. The less money you’re throwing away, the more you have to spend on the things you enjoy in the long run.

Simplify Your Relationships

“Avoid people you don’t like”

I must admit I don’t have a lot of problems with relationships. I seem to attract people to me who are good to be around, for some unknown reason. But maybe that’s because I unconsciously keep it simple. If I don’t like people, I just avoid them.

Of course, you cannot avoid everyone in your life, but it doesn’t mean you’ve got to waste your time socializing with them. They are there for a reason; stick to that reason and don’t let anything they say get you down.

The Weekend’s Mini Missions

Saturday – Do a quick declutter of your children’s toys. There are often broken ones, ones they no longer enjoy to play with or ones they have simply grown to old for.

Sunday - Sunday is reserved for contemplating one particular item, of your choice that is proving difficult for you to declutter. Whether that be for sentimental reasons, practical reasons, because the task is laborious or simply unpleasant, or because the items removal requires the cooperation of another person. That last category may mean that the item belongs to someone else who has to give their approval, it could also mean there is a joint decision to be made or it could mean that the task of removing it requires assistance from someone else. There is no need to act on this contemplation immediately, it is more about formulating a plan to act upon or simply making a decision one way or another.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

Comments

  1. Oh Colleen – the interview was fantastic! I cannot believe how many topics you were able to discuss that have been in my head. I am guilty of souvenier shopping when we go on trips and then they just sit. Right before I found your blog, I bought four small bins to put my travel souveniers in, about 10 inches by 12 inches and maybe 3 inches deep. Well, now I have a stack of souveniers that I still never look at. I think it was Peter Walsh on a show once where he was talking to the person about all the bins they had and how the bins were not the answer. Apparently, I need to revisit this issue in my own decluttering process. I learn something here every day.

    We were given a family item from my mother-in-law that I really don’t like and do not have a use for. It sits in a dresser drawer, taking up space, and when I open that drawer, a frown comes across my face. I finally talked with my husband about it and he thinks we need to ask one of his brothers if they would like it. I am hesitant because it would hurt his mother to know that I really don’t want the item. This is a struggle for me.

    My husband says that he doesn’t understand why I am going through this declutter process as we don’t have as much stuff as some other people. He says the same thing when I don’t like our credit card balance – that we don’t have as much debt as some other people. I tell him that I do not care what other people have or do, I only care about us and how we choose to live.

    My favorite room is our living room. There is not a lot of stuff in there. What is in there, I love. Since there isn’t much in there, it takes all of five minutes to clean!

    Now that I have seen your interview, I can keep your voice in my head. You know, Americans are batty for Australian accents and you have a very musical voice, I think. 🙂

    • Hi Michelle, I love that you learn something new here every day. That is music to my ears. As for that thing your mother-in-law gave you ~ I would say “Do as your husband suggests and hand it on to one of his brothers.” It sounds like you like your mother-in-law which means she is a reasonable person. I am sure she would neither want you to hold on to something you don’t want or hold any grudge about you for handing the item on.

      I would also suggest you share your thoughts more often with your husband about why you want to let items go. Be specific with an item here and there. He may soon understand why this means something so much to you and perhaps even come over to your way of thinking. Also explain more clearly about why you aren’t happy with unnecessary debt. That you aren’t it not and explanation, why you are has a deeper meaning.

      And yes I know only too well how much Americans love an Aussie accent. I always felt so special when I lived over there. Every day at work at least one person would tell me how they loved my accent. I remember being out with one of our Aussie friends shopping one day and this women seems to be hovering around us a little and smiling contently. I excused myself at one point because I wanted to get by her to look at something. She said “No need to excuse yourself. I am just happily enjoying your listening to you both talk. I love your accents.” I felt so ordinary when we returned to Australia and I was just one of the crowd again.

      • This is SO great – you’re gonna love it! Tonight I was in the attic, which is finished space and moved a stack of blankets that I keep . . . (here comes the excuse) for moving furniture when we have been here since 2000! I found a perfectly good work coat for hubby whose job is in constuction. We JUST bought him a new coat!! I said, “Look what I found!” and then I explained to him that this is exactly why I am in a decluttering frame of mind. We spent money on something that we already had but had forgotten we had. Wow. This is just incredible. I am loving every single day of this declutter process.

    • Michelle – I think if you explain to your mother in law that you appreciated her thoughtfulness but that particular item seems to connect in your mind with something unhappy, she would more than likely be happy for you to pass it on. It can be quite funny how our brains can see something and then in connect-the-dots fashion lead to something unrelated and from that moment on we form an association between the two.

      I have a post-it note on my computer screen a quote I read here on 365 by someone called William Morris (sorry I don’t know who or what he was) but it is “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”.

      I really love that quote because to me, that sets the criteria for what I keep in my house or what gets brought into the hosue. (Having said all that, my sofa could really do with an upgrade, but until I train my cat not to sharpen his claws on it, my not-so beautiful sofa stays!)

      • Moni, thanks so much for your thoughts. Sofa/Cats: My cat never ever touched the upholstery until we bought a new couch and she went at it like a fiend! I bought that double sided sticky tape and she has now left it alone. Darn cat. I adore her.

        • Michelle – do tell me more about this double sided sticky tape to stop cats scratching, I am very interested. Everyone says to me, why don’t you get a scratching post? Well, why would the cat who thinks he rules the household and we are all his minions, scratch a hunk of wood with a bit of carpet wrapped around it when there is a perfectly good couch? It is beneath His Royal Highness.

          • His Royal Highness – love that! I got it at Petco, if I remember correctly. The strips are about 2 inches wide by 24 inches long, double-sided tape that I just attached to the bottom edge of the couch. Cats don’t like the sticky-ness and no one can really tell that there is tape on it. For our cat we have a sisal (sp?)-wrapped post and two sisal covered pads – and she likes those, but she really is in love with the flat cardboard pads that I get at Walmart. She rips on it, sleeps on it. It’s a good thing. When we start finding little bits of ripped cardboard, it’s time to get her a new one. I think cats are attracted to the scent of cardboard and sisal. Good luck! 🙂

    • To Michelle,
      Thank you for your honesty! (And to Colleen, I love your blog and have had so much inspiration from it. Your interview was fantastic!) Before getting married years ago, I traveled to other countries and just got rid of my mementos – I was constantly storing them in boxes and afraid of breaking them but didn’t even really like them in the first place! So, feeling your pain about the souveneirs, I thought I’d share what my husband and I have done since we were married. We don’t travel much but when we do, we limit the souveneir to a single Christmas ornament. (Sorry for readers that might not observe this holiday.) We choose it together and it is kind of a game for us during our trip to find one that we both like. Often, these are simple keychains from our favorite stop that we convert to an ornament later on. We write the date, place, and occasion on the back. Then, when Christmas comes, we can decorate the tree together with meaningful ornaments that make us smile and remember the good times we’ve had together and with our family. Doing this helps us save money on trips (usually only costs $5 or less) and provides meaningful decorations for the holidays (I grew up in a family that had to have color coordinated ornaments and everything for the tree – it just ended up being boring and a waste of time and space in my opinon). Most of our “keychain ornaments” are pewter with red ribbon to hang so they can look pretty and somewhat coordinated for my own tastes. I know this does add items to the home so I don’t know if Colleen would like this idea. However, we have enough ornaments to cover our tree nicely and we can store all of them in a single shoebox. Plus, we don’t need to worry about glass ball ornaments breaking or buying special packing boxes for them which are popular where I live. We also don’t feel obligated to buy shelves to show off these souveneirs. They are enjoyed for about a month each year and that also makes them a little more special. We look forward to the time when we use these items which is much nicer than the dread I had for my “pre-marriage” souveniers!

  2. I’m seldom watching the video links, as they are time consuming (and I need to listen instead of reading, which seems to be more difficult for me), but I did today, and I have to say, it was time well spent. I enjoyed it very much.
    Well, you know, I’m decluttering just the way you described it, just take a thing here and there and put it in the bin or in the departure point (in my case it’s just a bag). I am sometimes impatient and don’t like that my progress is that slow, so I could very well understand that point raised by Mohamed Tohami about “not seeing any difference” but just as you said, I am making progress and am happy about that.
    It was fun to hear your voice. At first I understood “spice” instead of “space” and I think that’s a connotation that will stick with me, I actually like the thought that space isn’t boring but something “spicey”! Haha. I’m off to add some more spice (space?) to my life! 🙂

    • Sanna you are too funny. However I do understand why you would think I said space. Much of the difference in an Aussie accent revolves arounds our As and Is. Even Moni and I, although would have a similar sort of background twang, would differ in our vowel sounds. He fish and chips would sound like Fush and chups to me. When my brother visits America and orders coffee they sometimes ask for a name for the order. Quite often when his coffee is ready they call out Shine. His name is Shane. My family and his often call him Shine just for a laugh. That being said I loved how the A I played so well in to your final sentence ~ “I’m off to add some more spice (space?) to my life!” That is perfect.

      I am also happy that you are happy to slowly plod along with your decluttering.

      • 🙂 Of course I didn’t mean to offend you. In fact, as I am more used to British pronounciation, it’s easier for me to listen and understand Australian accents than American accents, especially South States ones – which are like a blur to me (although I have to say, Scottish accents aren’t easy either), I remember very well the days when I was in Virginia and often had to stare blankly at supermarket clerks or bar owners. It was like “I know they must speak English, but I can’t make out a word what they’re saying”. That really was a downer as at that time I felt quite confident about my English skills, already having travelled quite some time on my own and not having encountered severe problems in English conversation then (though I’m a chatterbox). Haha, just shows there is no one English.

        • Sanna – if it makes you feel any better there are English accents that I don’t even understand.

        • Sanna, I love what you had to say about American accents. I live here. Have lived here all my life and I have to really work sometimes to understand some southern accents. I can understand my cousin’s husband from Pakistan better than some from the south. I think some have an ear for accents and some don’t. I find though that I begin to talk like those I am around. My mother thinks it’s a hoot.

          • My daughter is a mimic, unintentionally of course. She only has to be around someone who sounds different for a short while and will automatically start sounding like them. She has been like this since she was very young. It was annoying at times because sometimes the most prominent voice was irritating in some way, like when we visited family and she would pick up the babyish way one of her slightly older cousin spoke. This was when we first realised that she did this. It would takes weeks for her to shake it ounce she got home.

          • It only takes me a week or so to lose it but every once in a while I will suddenly say a word or phrase with that accent. It’s weird.

        • Once again I am amused Sanna because I am very familiar with that glazed, staring look when people don’t understand what I am saying. I go that a lot when I lived in Seattle. When I saw it I knew to slow down because knew these people were absolutely confounded as to what I was saying.

          • Oh this thread is funny. I grew up in Idaho and once went out with a group of people from Texas. I completely inadvertently ended up mimicing them. I now say ya’all in general conversation and I am nowhere near a Southerner!!

      • Colleen – of course, to us it sounds like you are saying “feeesh und cheeeps” – yes you’re right the main differences are in our vowels, have had our Australian friends over tonight – their theory is that our vowels follow the Maori pronunciation. Oh, and the other difference is that Australians say “haaach” for H. Ironically we drop the ‘ha’ sound and say ‘aach’

        My half sister is Australian and she lived in England for a while and worked at an Australian themed restaurant, ironically half the staff were New Zealanders as the locals couldn’t tell the difference between the two accents. Of course, we think they sound distinctly different!

        Having said that, I once asked a guy what part of Amercia he came from and he was offended as he was Canadian – ooops!

        I love the story about Shane/Shine, that is just too cute!

        • Moni, the longer I lived in America the more I could hear the similarities in our accents rather than the differences. When I say “our accents” I don’t only mean NZ. I was also asked if I was South African and English. When I encountered people from all three place NZ, SA and England I could then hear those similarities. We all have that same warm background tone to who we speak. I can’t think of a better way to describe it, maybe it just sound warm to mr because it is familiar.

          • Colleen – well, we probably all do come from similar stock. Sort of like when you have a large family with a strong family resemblance but all the children are adamanant that they look nothing alike! We are probably like ‘cousin countries’ if you get what I mean.

            While my sister (she’s Australian) was in Europe she said she was just as happy to hear a Kiwi accent as she was to hear an Aussie accent.

          • I dare say idt is definitely because we come from the same stock Moni. The British settle in all three places and in the case of NZ and Aus it wasn’t all that long ago. I dare say the the natives of each country then have an influence on the sound.

  3. A great video and you covered so much in so little time. It’s always great to hear your voice. I’m just so glad that I found your blog and our wonderful community of people here. thanks for sharing it with us.

  4. Great video, Colleen. I really like the five things you listed on the post today too. Words of wisdom and very inspiring. I too left a job, before starting on this journey, that was draining the life out of me. It was fulfilling but consumed me. About the time I started decluttering, I finished watching the last season of McLeod’s Daughters and I come across this blog, which is also from Australia. Can’t wait to get to see that land one day. Until then, I will continue enriching my life by ridding my life of stuff, but my McLeod’s Daughters DVDs will not be going to the donation center :).

  5. Great interview Colleen! It was fun to “see” you spreading the word about decluttering and I’m sure there will be many more now who will be reading 365 Less Things on a regular basis for their daily dose of wisdom 🙂

  6. Great interview, Colleen! I especially enjoyed the part where he asks about his readers doubt whether her stuff would be “taken care”by its new owner. I thought you were very diplomatic in your answer, saying the person should “divorce” herself of the thing. I would have answered it is just an object, not a living thing. It goes to show how we really are attached to stuff, much more than we should. As for need x want, I have noticed that I have wanted lots and lots of stuff, but now that I access everything that I buy, it seems I am more satisfied with what I have.

  7. Well done on the interview – I thought between his questions and your answers you covered all the major points that you stress here. Anyone who has followed your blog for awhile will recognize these points, but to someone new it’s a good overview that should help them get started. Oh, and I love your accent too, and your warm smile – whenever you smiled, I found myself smiling too! It was contagious 🙂

    • Thank you Jo H. I remember the first time someone told me that they went out of their way to see my smile and I will never forget it. I was about 16 years old and working in a newsagency (shop that sold books, newspapers, stationery, lottery tickets etc). I was standing at the counter serving some folks from out of town and one of them said to me, “Are you always this cheerful?”. Before I had a chance to respond a regular customer piped up from behind them and said ~ “Yes she is. I live at the other end of town and I walk past every other newsagency to get what I want here just because she always gives such happy, friendly service.” I like to think I have never changed and I have had several other relative strangers say to me in similar situations that I should keep on smiling because it made their day. I believe I get this trait from my mum and am truly grateful for it. And thank you for encouraging me to keep it up.

  8. Colleen, I have been reading your blog for over two years but this is first time I have commented. I love your blog! It is one of the few blogs I check out every day. You have been such an inspiration to me.

    I started last blogging to track my journey getting fit and healthy and losing a little weight. This year I extended my year to get lean to stuff. As I work long hours and have a family I found it easier to do your slow and steady declutter, one thing a day. So I started adding the decluttered item to my posts, and included thinking about why I have kept things – some bought and some gifts. Examining my thinking has been helping me disconnect myself from stuff. I have also put myself in a wardrobe diet, aka a no clothes spend year.

    Your post today sums up so succinctly my goals: to simplify my things, my health, my finances and my time. I started out thinking I needed to be more organised but realised I couldn’t do this if my finances were in a mess, I had clothes falling out of my wardrobes, I had more stuff than places to store it and things that I valued were not being kept in a way that showed they were important to me, mixed up with all the clutter or piled up with things higgeledy piggledy.

    • Hi Lucinda, thank you for your kind words and for being a loyal reader for so long now. I believe that examining what you are letting go helps you to not only not make the same sort of mistakes again but also inspires you to find other such items to expel from your life. I had no idea when I started decluttering that I would get so deep and meaningful about it. I am sure I would have stopped after the first 365 things had I approached my mission without thinking so much about what I was doing. Reading other blogs at the beginning certainly was what got me thinking though and I am glad about that.

      I love the idea that you have put a ban on purchasing clothes for a year. Good for you. I took a look at your blog and one thing I very much agreed with was that just because you like an item of clothing doesn’t mean it suits you. I will go one step further on that, ever it an item does suit you doesn’t mean it is still age appropriate. And if one ever want to know whether an item is or not usually your husband isn’t the person to ask. Mine I am sure still thinks I am 25 years old and could dress accordingly. God bless for it but at the same time NO!

      It sounds like you are on the right track to a much more conscious way of consuming, spending and taking care of yourself. I am sure you will be healthier and happier for it. And keep on blogging about it because it keeps you honest with yourself.

      • Colleen and Lucinda – I got ‘fashion policed’ by my teenage daughter in November. Dayna could be described as a stylist on a shoestring, but I’ll also tag on that she’s a minimalist too. Anyway an alarming number of clothes hit the “out” pile, including most of the ones from a store which I would have thought was a sure-thing place to purchase for my demographic. She used part of Tyra Bank’s website for body type styling to re-educate me. However did I manage to dress myself prior? 🙂

        I know what you mean about dressing your age! It is especially important to me as my girls and I often shop at the same shops ie glassons, temt, valley girls. Sometimes I’ll see someone my age or older and they’ve tried on something and come out to show their friends and I have to bite my tongue. We women of maturity don’t have to dress fuddy duddy but the saying about mutton dressed up as lamb was coined for a reason. There are plenty of clothes around and also at reasonable prices, leave the ultra youthful stuff to the girls!

        • I agree Moni, I not more want to dress as an old lady than I do as a lamb and it isn’t all that hard to find something both fetching and appropriate from one age range or the other. Except that sometimes size eight (usually the smallest in mature women’s fashion) is not really a size 8 but a 10 or 12. There are however more than enough alternatives to keep up with the pace at which I wear out and replace clothing so no complaints here.

  9. Colleen – I showed Adrian the clip from Friday’s post on the anthropology study on 21st century families. He was blown away – he wondered if there was a Mt Vesuvius situation and those houses were uncovered 1000 years from now and were presented on a national geographic programme, how exactly they would interpret their findings.

    He was blown away by the fact that 3% of the world’s children own 40% of the toys.

    • Moni, tell Adrian that I have been to many houses that look like those on that video. I’m not trying to stereotype here but I have found that the more money the less clutter except sometimes in children’s rooms. I think that most advertising in America is targeted toward the middle class to try to make them think they have to have all of these things in order to keep look like they have made it. I have a friend who has bought (at garage sales) almost every Barbie figure, building, etc for her 5-yr old granddaughter. Plus she has all sorts of other toys and dolls. They need a room just for all of it.

  11. Hi Colleen and all the 365ers’

    Just loved all the favourites and interviews and clippings and comments and above all I’m loving ‘not having a life’ at the moment. My house is tidy and everything is in it’s place or almost (washing drying on the line) so it is high time I got a life and stopped reading wonderful articles about people who have seen the light (although barely) through their accumalated C#%P, oh I’m sorry am I ranting about being organised enough to step outside and live my life with my family and friends and enjoy the sunshine with a cuppa and a chat!! Pardon me that I have everything done and put away and organised so I can find it when I need it on my sparsely decorated shelves or in a minimally designed drawer tray that allows me to find the bills etc when I need them as opposed to having to step through a nightmare hallway filled with assorted detritus from offending rooms that are splitting at the seams, only to clamber past a bench that has the remains of three days of dishes piled up because the occupants of the house have not been able to tidy around and organise their children to pick up after themselves, because to ignore the kitchen one would have to TRY to walk past the other rooms that are spewing out excess in copious amounts so that the occupiers of this said dwelling are out shopping for more stuff and spending money they don’t have on getting a life that they have just told me I need to get!!! WHAT THE!!!!!! Hahahahahaha 🙂 🙂 🙂

    So as I obviously need to get a life, I’m going to go out even more and have fun etc etc because from getting organised I can. I can open the door and smile and say ‘Come In’ to whoever is on the other side. I can find a way not to judge others because I once was one of those that spent time trying to organise my excess and cleaned around everything and spent hours doing a simple job simply because I had too much!! I never had a grotty house but I was most definitely a shifter and shover, due to having too much in a small space or too much in a large space so I changed! I got my stuff to an amount that I can handle and that my family can live with. I’ve managed to dwindle many areas of our home to a level of comfort where none of us have to climb over or shift about to achieve what we want to achieve. BUT I need to get a life.!!! I am about to print off some bits of all the ‘Favourites’ and the ‘Midway’ bits and bobs and I am going out to get a life starting with my friend who told me I have too much time on my hands because my “House is too organised and Tidy” therefore I do not have a life!!! Apart from daily cleaning of dishes or sweeping the floor or loading the washer or wiping down the bench after meal preparation, I spend 15mins a day keeping strays out of our living space. Everyone in this house has to pick-up, put away, straighten up, make up, change, empty, remove and enjoy this space we call home. For 15mins a day, maintenance tidying, cleaning whatever is required, our home is tidy and tranquil and lived in all at the same time. But !!! I really need to get a life!!

    On Saturday, we all got up, had breakfast, showered and got ready for the day. We all did the tidy about and made beds and picked up whatnots and bits that needed to be tidied. We than headed out to the builders showrooms to pick our new things for our home that is being built. In three hours we had chosen, carpet, tiles, fittings, shutters, paint colours, fixtures, benchtops, doors, windows, cooktop, oven, rangehood, roofing and gutter colors and brick and paver colours etc etc. We stopped to have a light snack and a cuppa in a quaint little coffee shop overlooking the ocean. We wiled away our time chatting and laughing with each other and our son whom we don’t see as much now that looking for work and hanging out more with friends is part of his everyday. We then headed to the beach for a few hours and then decided to have another cuppa stop whilst looking at a comfy day bed furniture store where we all fantasised about lounging around on reading and dreaming. After which we had dinner with friends that we haven’t seen for ages. All the while knowing that when we return home all I have to do is put the kettle on and enjoy because I am returning to a home that helps me “Get A LIFE’!!!!

    After all the things that I have changed I still love dropping in on the 365 site because ‘I have a Life’ thanks to everyone here I have a life that has many more friends in it that I will meet one day whilst I’m out getting a ‘LIFE’. At this moment I am typing whilst my friend is getting a ‘LIFE’, she has read a few things and is now washing the dishes and picking up bits and bobs with her kids, whom I’m sure will be getting a ‘Life’ as time goes on. 🙂 🙂 🙂 Anybody else out there ‘not having a life’ !!!
    Enjoy everything and smile 🙂 🙂 🙂 I LOVE 365 and I LOVE GETTING A LIFE!!!!

    • Dizzy – you HAVE THE LIFE! You worked very hard to get to that point and you deserve the chilled out life you are enjoying at the moment.

    • Wow Dizzy, when you drop by you sure have plenty to say and I am always amused by it.
      I have a life. I spent some of it at the beach today, a little at one of our favourite coffee shops, most of it with my husband, did a little washing and now my daughter is cooking our dinner. Roast chicken for dinner tonight, simple but delicious. Last night, with the money we don’t waste on stuff we don’t need my husband and I went to one of our favourite restaurants to enjoy their degustation menu. Oh my God, talk about taste sensations. That experience was worth every dollar spent and didn’t take up a single square inch of my house. Except maybe one around my middle this morning. 😉 Life is good!

      • Hi Colleen,
        Hahahaha sometimes I get so irritated with daft bats I just have to vent and what better place thaen 365 coz I’m sure everyone has been there at some time!!! So glad you are enjoying your life, aint it grand. How wonderful you have a fab daughter to cook you dinner, what a star Bless her x 🙂 🙂 🙂

    • I love that you have a life now and can enjoy time doing things that really matter, like being with family and friends. The possibilities are endless. I love too that you are inspiring and encouraging your friend to get a life. That is fantastic! Way to go, Dizzy!