Sprimg Cleaning and Regular Life

Thank heavens for holidays which allow me a chance to get some things done that I can't do in the regular schedule of our lives.  I was able to get my desk cleaned up and reorganized over the long weekend.

Midway through the process....

 The finished product:

This desk area was built by Gary Kerr and sits in somewhat of a closet in our basement game room so I can just close it up when our grandkids or other people are here.  That is a good thing...and a bad thing as I can be a messy desk owner when I am involved in a number of projects.  I love this space so much...and it is nice when it is cleaned and re-organized.  I have found that when I have found a good system for a closet or a room and I maintain a bit of discipline to use that system, things really do stay together better for longer periods of time.  The whole "everything has its place" manta does work.  Perhaps some of the changes I made in my desk will make things easier to keep it together.

 In the process of cleaning out files, I found these calendar pages.  When I was considering whether to apply to graduate school, I printed out the year calendars for 2015, 2016, and 2017 and made notes about events I knew would be happening, potential vacations, reunions, and other events and activities.  I used it to visualize how school would fit in.  You can't tell but I highlighted each Tuesday which I would have classes and when I would have breaks from school.  It was amazing to look back at it and think about how much life was fit into those years on top of graduate school.  The most important ones being the arrival of Scarlett and Niki in the weeks right before school started and then adding Liam, Zander, James, and Cooper before I graduated in August of 2017.  I had forgotten that I also had picked a date for my national clinical exam as I knew that would also involve major prep time.  The day I selected was July 11 which turned out to be just 14 days before I actually took the exam on July 25.  Not bad for planning three years in advance (and then forgetting that I did that!)  Moral of the story:  "Sometimes plans do work out!"  or "Writing down goals helps them happen."

Cleaning desks and files brings back lots of forgotten memories.  I threw away all my notebooks with class notes from school along with lots of other papers from other things.  I got things mostly put back and done, just in time for us to.....
..... head down to drop Jena and friends off at their townhouse and then went to visit Ben and share dinner with him--KFC this time.

It was a busy week with Gary and I having different things every day/night of the week.  Gary went bowling twice, did Scouts, and worked on the Cub Scout's new crossing to use for Cross overs for the Pack.  It is clever and awesome and has been a combined project of Gary and Gary Kerr so you know it will be great....well, Gary had the idea and provides support, but as usual the talented Gary Kerr is doing the woodwork.  I will post pictures when it is done.  He is looking forward to Roots Tech this week.

My evenings were filled with a UDSF meeting, a special movie showing at The Children's Center of "Resilience" which is about childhood trauma, and  grand mothering with Liam and Zander while Jessica and Elessia saw a movie.

Thursday evening, I accidently left my phone at work.  I had a moment of panic to think about not having a phone, but then reminded myself that I had lived without a phone for a long time in my life and could manage it overnight.  About five minutes later, as I was driving to Jessica's. the traffic report on the radio reported a major accident in Ogden Canyon.  Then I became very worried about not having a phone.  Not only was Gary suppose to be traveling down that very canyon around that time, but he was also suppose to be picking up Jena at the train at that very moment.  There I was without a phone and no way to know if Gary was stuck in the canyon,...or in the accident...or able to pick Jena up on time.  Years ago, there was no way to contact people when they were out and about, but now we are used to it and I was again worried.  The other problem with not having a phone was I only know a few people's phone number by heart and there is no operator to look up numbers for people you might need.

Luckily, I was able to get to Jessica's and use her phone to check on Gary and all was well.  He was heading to get Jena to work, right on schedule....well, the train was a bit late, because of the snow storm happening.  Once I heard from Gary, I then just enjoyed not having a phone and played with my grandsons.  I ended up being without a phone for almost 2 days.

Friday morning I did text my kids and dad to tell them that I didn't have a phone from Gary's phone and sent a couple of other people messages from Facebook.  And I have to say, it was very nice to not have a phone.  I know that I really don't have to check my emails, etc. often, but when you don't have it, it doesn't take that time.  I did miss having my camera.

I got my phone back on Saturday morning as one of my co-workers brought it to her home and I picked it up.  I did have several messages to answer and some voicemails to take care of, but the world did not end while I didn't have my phone.

So, in case you were wondering, life does go on with or without a phone, but having one does make some things easier.