Now that the 12 drummers have drummed this move is hitting overdrive.  One month.  We have one month to download this life and upload a new version in the States.  Hopefully a new and improved version.  That is always the goal.  

There has been a lot of thought put into what that new life should look like.  Every new place, every new experience prompts us to reevaluate.  What in our lives should stay, what should go, what worked, what didn't. Right now we are in that stage of trying on new lives to see what fits.  Still have no clue honestly. We have considered vintage homes in gentrified neighborhoods, small rural spreads, suburbs.  We look, we talk, we think.  

While I am in this introspective place I am reading through Holly Pierlot's Mother's Rule.  I am late to this party for sure but it has been an affirming read.  I love that her life changes happened about when mine began to. (late 30s.  What?  You didn't think Moms were just born organized right? Not I!) I love the whole premise that the outer framework – the home, the routines – are there to support inner order and peace. It is all echoing Becky Higgin's two maxims: Cultivate a good life and The purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship. 

It is more motivating to work towards order when you are clear that the purpose is to provide margin, to create space to think, to enable us to live our vocation with fewer hindrances.  Similar thoughts such as these have been strewn across my path lately.  January is awesome.  A fresh start.  I.am.pumped!

Sculpting a life requires a fair amount of carving away extra rubble. That's where I'm at this month.  Digging away intensely. I have done some little jobs – got a new bag and purged the old one.  Peter Walsh says that women should empty their purses at days end like men empty their pockets.  It works. : ) 

We tackled the tupperware cabinet one morning after it spilled out yet again.  There isn't much left.  I hope to get pyrex on the other end.  Meantime, Mary Kay Clark's advice to use ziplock bags works fine. 

We sorted the games.  Ditched a whole bunch with missing parts and pieces. Kieran was inspired to finish our new puzzle after this. 

We got through my husband's closet.  Mine was done last fall but is getting a second purge.  Many of my clothes came with me from the States…..5 yrs ago.  And many were thrifted then.  I have read through the 40 hanger advice.  Also the guideline to pick up each item you have and ask yourself if you were in the store would you put it in the cart?  If not, let it go.  I think the closet will be pretty sparse when that happens but slowly I am getting grown up clothes.  That you know, fit. 

Next step was the cellar.  It's scary. Literally. Have I shown you this?? This house is over 200 years old.  The cellar is like the set of every horror movie you ever saw and you know the bad stuff always starts down there.  It's a classic single bare bulb swinging from the ceiling kind of gem and it housed a ton of now  slightly damp cardboard boxes from the Germany move where the movers combined Christmas ornaments and baby clothes and kitchen tools.  Some of it just stayed that way amidst all the travel we have done.  The boys and I have spent the last couple days pulling out boxes, purging and neatly boxing and labeling the keepers.  Go us.

This has been an ongoing project since we first packed up the farm 5 yrs ago.  I read this article with interest.  The premise is that we can and should use the guidelines to stage a house for sale to stage lives we want to live in ourselves.  This whole idea has been returning to me since my fascination with home selling shows years ago.  So this is the vision for the coming months.  

There will be many trips to the garbage drop.  I hope it happens sooner vs later.  Honestly the storage boxes suck me in and tear at my heart.  The baby clothes, the letter jacket….. It was sheer determination pushing me through last night and just when I thought I was holding it all together I spotted the diaper pins that fell out of an old box.  Do people even use these now?  I think cloth diapers now come all elasticized. These are dinosaurs, like me.  They drove me to tears.

A lifetime ago and a world so different.  And for the record I do not pretend to be a minimalist.  There are a lot of treasures collected, but the collections are being continually curated. Some things I am not ready to part with. So I am not. Transatlantic moves are not the time to push yourself further than you know you're ready to go.

Anyway, here we go again.  Starting over again.  New place. New Life.  New us.  

In case anyone else gets inspired by organization stories there will probably be updates as we go.  Measuring progress helps.