Thursday, May 19, 2011

Got Bees?

It has been a VERY busy month!  We have once again put our home up for sale, which means cleaning, de-cluttering, cleaning some more, and then leaving the house whenever someone wants to snoop take a look at it.  It does tend to make life a little more hectic than usual.

In all the chaos, I thought it wise to cancel the honeybees I had on order (placed in December).  It really didn't make sense to acquire bees when I knew the possibility of moving was in our not-so-distant future.  We were sad, but accepted the reality of our circumstances.

We did decide though that we would take a field trip to at least see other people getting their bees.  Wow - what a sight!  Hundreds of thousands of bees, all packaged in neat wooden containers with screened sides. At least 4-6 pallets stacked full of bee boxes.  Escaped bees confused and aimlessly buzzing around, people coming and going, some with pick-up trucks for larger orders, most simply putting the bees in the trunk of their cars, but all of them with a nervous smile plastered on their face.  If only I would have remembered my camera!

We enjoyed meeting beekeepers and connecting with the local beekeeping clubs, seeing the bees, and wishing we would have kept our order in place.  Then the strangest thing happened...  In speaking with the organizer of the entire sales event, knowing that all the bee packages were spoken for, we were offered a package of bees!  In my weakness, I eagerly accepted the treasure box presented to me.  We rushed to the car with the same nervous smile as everyone else, put the buzzing bounty in the trunk and headed home.  About half way home I really began questioning my sanity, but kept going until we stopped in our garage.  We opened the trunk and gazed in amazement.  Now What??? 

To be continued.....

De-cluttering in a BIG way

The past month has been a whirlwind of changes - more like a tornado really.  My de-cluttering efforts have been off and on again, but now have taken on an entirely new direction.

I have once again put my house up for sale.

This means getting it ready for showings.  You know, where people actually come in and snoop around. Gasp!  Thankfully, this time around, it hasn't been as much of a nightmare as last summer (when I also had the house for sale).  The house, and the stuff in it, has become so much easier to deal with.  It is more organized, with all the obvious junk removed, and (most) everything has an actual spot where it lives.  There is more space where before there was none.  We can actually breathe now.  Ahhhh.  :-)

I am actually beginning to enjoy my home more now that it isn't suffocating me.  But yes, I still would like to sell it.

Through this process I have realized something -

De-cluttering isn't only about STUFF

De-cluttering also involves the emotions.  I am discovering that all the stuff keeps me from really communicating with the deepest part of myself.  I have become totally disconnected from my true self because I have been constantly fighting with my outer environment.  My sense of inner peace has been totally squashed without me even realizing it because I was so busy trying to take care of "stuff".

Now, with lots of stuff gone, I am beginning regain my sense of peace, am finding more patience (a little at a time), have found new direction for myself, and am experiencing renewed personal growth.  My kids seem more at ease, are more cooperative, and are taking a larger part in keeping their rooms and things cleaned up.  We have ALL benefited from the de-cluttering efforts.

To go back to my previous post where I said that

Simplifying is not always Simple!

I can now say that the hard work is TOTALLY worth it.  You will gain more than you can imagine.