New goal

Our lives are seriously over cluttered these days. In an attempt to simplify, I have a new goal. Every week through the end of the year I want to reduce the clutter by one bag/box/large item and donate to charity or dispose of our excess.
Why do we keep everything? We have boxes and boxes of stuff. Stuff that maybe one day we can use, stuff that meant something at some point in our lives. Is it all necessary to hang on to?
I hope this may be a good lesson for Parker too. Maybe an annual tradition of donating old toys to little boys and girls that are without? Can't hurt right?
Wish me luck in my journey to simplify and hopefully I can stick with this goal!

A little stumble

I was hoping to have a nice relaxing evening today and to have an early dinner again this evening, but my dogs had other plans.
Upon opening the door this evening, I was greeted by quite a sight. My loving pups had managed to destroy 3 bottles of apple juice and 5 new rolls of paper towel.  There was paper and juice everywhere! My first 30 home today was spent sweeping up the debris and mopping up the liquid in my kitchen. What fun!
I am proud of myself though as I was very close to ordering pizza for dinner, but I chose to make a meal instead. Even though I was sweating from the kitchen clean up and in a less than chipper mood, I still cooked a meal for the family and saved $30+. Small victories right?

Fresh start

I think now is a good time for a fresh start on my blog. We are just over 3 months away from Christmas and I have so much I would like to do.
I would really like to try and get my website in order and see if I can sell some things around the holiday season. Most importantly I would like to get our house in order and make the day to day simple so we can enjoy more time together as a family without stress and frustration.
I am trying this week to cook our meals and not rely on take out. Two days in and I am succeeding! Last night I made a delicious chicken breast dinner with cauliflower and a noodle side dish. Tonight was a chicken and stuffing meal in the crock pot. The best part about crock pot meals is that the meal is ready when I get home from work and the dishes were already done by the time we are usually sitting down to eat.
Tonight we even had time to play a game with Parker after dinner which was so nice.
Let's see how long I can keep up trying to find order in our chaos!

Confession - I don't know how to feel right now.

My mom has been dealing with cancer that returned last year after being cancer free for almost 4 years. Initially, she was responding to treatment, but that was relatively short lived. The nodes began to grow again and her treatment shifted. After 30 rounds of radiation, she is regaining movement and strength in her right arm that was immobile for a month or two from the lymph node that put pressure on a nerve bundle under her arm. At the same time, the cancer started shrinking and responding to new medication. This morning my mom was taken by ambulance to the hospital for breathing issues and we are waiting for results of a CT scan to determine if she has pneumonia or a blood clot in her lung.  I am an impatient person and am anxiously awaiting the results to know what happens next. Whatever happens, I just want my mommy to be around for a very long time.
I don't know what I would do without her!