The Enlargement Principle

Kerry of The Simple Year had an interesting post and mentioned that "We expand to fit the space available to us". She called it THE ENLARGEMENT PRINCIPLE. She then mentions purse type items. huh, I know this to be true only it happened with our homes!

Our first apartment was a one-bedroom, one-bath with no garage. It was located on my parents property so we also had a storage shed (with a lot of wedding gifts in it).

Second home was a three-bedroom, two-bath condo with a carport. And while we also added two children to our home, our stuff expanded to fit our space. Still using that shed at my parents.

Third/current home is a four-bedroom, 2.5 bath single-family house with a two-car garage. We're still using the shed at my parents, stuff has expanded into the garage AND I have a storage unit with books in it. The good news is that I've listed the books at Library Thing so I know what ones I have, the bad news is that I've removed over 2,000 books from the house and . . . You. Can't. Tell. Also, I have to wait for business hours to access them and need to take someone with me (son) to shift boxes around. Here's another scary thought. What am I going to do with 70+ file boxes once the books are back home?

We don't have plans to move. We aren't downsizing our home or moving into a bigger place. It would be nice to have the space now that we thought we had when we moved in.

I'm getting there.

copyright Gina @ Book Dragon's Lair 2014

I'm a FitBit user

Not as good as I use to be but still trying to keep it on. I don't track sleep anymore but I am trying to up my activity. If you'd like to check out my progress, I can be found here.

Don't know what a FitBit is? Check out the store

copyright Gina @ Book Dragon's Lair 2014

First bag ready to go.

Several of the bloggers I follow have mentioned doing the easy stuff first. Kandice writes at The Simple Year and her post The Sock Situation inspired me to look closely at my sock drawer.

This is what it started out as. It does not include the bag of laundry that hasn't been put away.

I have socks I wear to run in that are in a different drawer. I have nylons that I wear with my favorite boots or with dress shoes. They are also in a different drawer. I haven't worn most of these since I stopped volunteering at the elementary school. (I'm not ready to tell you how hold my kids are now) Of course, the bottom half is mostly unmatched socks. The drawer is also missing my panties, they're in the laundry bag.

After going through the drawer and putting away the *cough* two bags *cough* of laundry, I'm left with this. . . .

All my clean panties and the unmatched socks. My running socks are in this drawer now along with a pair of compression sleeves, a headband and two elastic wraps. Oh, and a pair of wool socks for when we visit family. The trip was scheduled for November but they got sick and we didn't go. Keeping the socks because we plan on rescheduling and winter is the best time to visit them.

Result: One drawer cleaned up and one bag ready to donate.

There is still laundry to do so I'm sure I'll find more socks/panties but look . . . there's room! How am I able to donate/toss most of my socks? I live in sandals or go barefoot now that I'm not working.

copyright Gina @ Book Dragon's Lair 2014

Goals

I've read enough to know that the way I've been going at things isn't the best. The most current advice for goal setting I can remember is S.M.A.R.T.

• specific
• measurable
• achievable
• realistic
• time-targeted

I usually have a problem with at least one of these when I'm setting goals and while I know that I'm going to need to break things down at a later date, I'm all for a general improvement wish list right now.


Health: I'm a diabetic that has had blood clots so I've got to lose weight and get more active. I also have back problems, a messed up sleep cycle and am currently working with diminished flexibility in my shoulders. Yeah, I should pull up my big girl panties and get to it but doing so can be painful enough for tears. Also, my glucose numbers are all over so I don't really want to go for a "run around the block" by myself since I don't know if I'll be able to get home.

Ways to measure: The scale is a big one but so is the way my clothes fit. My blood work numbers can reveal the hidden truth. The use of my shoulders again, the hours I'm sleeping and the use of pain pills will also be indicators.

House: Four bedroom house, one child at home. There are two secondary bedrooms, garage, Master bedroom/bath, kitchen. That's enough don't you think? The living areas will be taken care of while the others are worked on.  There is also a room built into the garage area that we call the pantry and stuff under the stairs.

Ways to measure: Pictures and stress levels.  :-D 

There are also online things I'd like to organize, such as ebooks and my blog. My books should fall under "house" but as I've got enough for a small public library they almost need their own mention.

Shelves will be added to the two secondary bedrooms, books will be organized at this time but I'll still need to decide which ones I <i>have</i> to keep on display. There are also shelves downstairs.

copyright Gina @ Book Dragon's Lair 2014