Bless the Yes

Before we get to the point of this post, I have to first tell you that I was doing an excellent job in slowing down and enjoying life. That lasted for about 4 weeks and I definitely plan to get back to it as soon as I can.

This isn’t really the point either, but it will only make sense if you know that I’ve got a lot on my plate right now.

• Tear down our house in 2-3 weeks. 
  • Remove curtain rods and ceiling fans and light fixtures and anything else we plan to put in the new house
  • Empty the attic
  • Disconnect electric and gas – work with the City on making that happen before this century ends
  • Remove all mosquito system nozzles and cut the lines
  • Save the alarm system transmitter and sensors.  Cancel account.
  • Sell the a/c units and other appliances
  • Order cover for the pool and install temporary pump
• Pack and move to a rental house – We are excited to move into a bigger space, with a yard and extra rooms. This is happening now instead of March because I thought that having the winter break to unpack and get settled would be good. I forgot we were going to be away some of that time. I didn’t consider when the house was being torn down.  Once I realized all this, we had already signed the lease.
  • Forward mail, change/transfer utilities, arrange for movers
  • Deliver storage unit – We are going to get our things back from storage, which is exciting.
  • Find boxes and get them all up to our 3rd floor
  • Order rugs and some furniture we need to replace. Coordinate delivery.
  • Clean the apartment/maintenance requests
• Finalize contract with the builder and make selections for the new home while processing the paperwork for the construction loan.  This is sort of self-explanatory, but I’m getting confused between planning for the rental house and for our future house.
• Pack for a poorly timed cruise.  We move the day after we get back, so there’s some planning involved. And our house may be torn down while we’re gone.
  • Purchase needed items – for example, somehow we moved to the apartment with only 1 swimsuit for SG. Snacks, etc.
  • All preparatory paperwork/documents/flights
• Regular life
  • SG school tests/special presentation/thank you notes
  • Sold a few art pieces at a gift market
  • Take the Girl Scout cookie manager training
  • Purchase and wrap birthday, Chanukah and teacher gifts
  • Plan a school book fair that happens a few weeks after the holidays/demo/vacation/move

OK on to the point…

Tuesday I had a little encounter with the apartment gate. Let’s just leave it at that.

Later that day, I pulled into the gas station before school pickup and the word of the day on the pump screen was “frenetic.” 

Wednesday, the kitten knocked my iPhone into a sink filled with water.

I am beginning to wonder what the universe is trying to tell me.

I’ve been frazzled trying to do it all. Remember to tell the builder this.  Ask the tax accountant that.  Call the a/c guy.  I have lists of my lists.  I can’t seem to fit everything into my schedule and get it all done.

A friend told me the other day about her theory called “Bless the Yes,” which involves naming your main priorities. Once you identify what those are, it’s easier to say no to everything else.

When I think of “letting go,” first I imagine what its opposite means.  It means getting stuck on an ideal and not being able to get past it, holding on to expectations and “shoulds.”

Productivity: Since I can’t do everything I’d like to, I had to let some things fall off the to-do list.  Selling the house appliances will have to wait. Cleaning the apartment will happen after the move.  Some things will not be as organized as I’d like them to be.

For the book fair, I’ve been able to create all our fliers ahead of time and have asked others to copy them.  I even sent them home with another volunteer, ready for January, so I don’t lose them.  I created the teacher and the volunteer online signups. I’ve also been asking for help where I can. We’ve simplified this as much as we can and that’s really nice.  There is only compiling 29 teacher wish lists by next Thursday, but that’s doable. I will hopefully be able to focus on house things in January and not worry about book fair prep.

Simplicity: There is SO MUCH stuff in our apartment to pack. I don’t like having this many possessions.  We lost so many items because of the storm and we sent much to storage, but there’s still a lot in our apartment.  It makes it feel cramped and makes packing difficult.  I feel weighed down with it all.  So I am literally letting go of all the clothes I don’t ever wear, holiday decorations I don’t use, all these extra cups and glasses. I will do the same with whatever we have in our storage unit.  My goal is to have a place for things and not to keep things we don’t use.  

Being surrounded by boxes and unorganized belongings everywhere makes me feel unsettled.  So today (after I got the side mirror fixed and got a new phone) I put all the empty boxes in one spot and stacked up all the packed ones so they are mostly not intrusive.  Then I put all the little odds and ends that are scattered all over the place in one spot to sort through.  I feel better! I hope to keep this up as we open Chanukah gifts.

The important things:

• Show up when and where I’m supposed to
• Feed family and take care of basic needs
• Pay bills, be responsible, don’t run into any more gates
• Pack slowly and without stress. Put on music.
• Enjoy the process and think of things from a larger perspective

If a bed doesn’t arrive on time or a gift is given late, that’s ok too.  That is not “failure.” To “Bless the Yes,” I’ve got to have faith that meaningful things rarely happen quickly.  I have to trust that what is meant to happen will come to be without me worrying about it.  And it’s all not so important really.  I mean, who am I to fret over such awesome things such as moving to a bigger space and building a new house, let alone going on vacation? Those are the high-level “yeses” and everything else is just detail.