Catharsis - I haz it!

Late last week I was asked by a work colleague if I had any craft items I didn't want.  Her mum is going to East Timor on Tuesday as a volunteer to help  Kirsty Gusmao with her Aloha Foundation.  I asked what type of craft items and was told that although these women had originally been concentrating on making and selling their traditional crafts, many want to now branch out and learn new skills.

So on Friday morning, I opened 13 sealed boxes (many of which have been sealed through many moves) and I gave away two packing boxes of materials - lots of old braid and ribbons and trimmings, and my entire bead collection from my SCA days, plus a pile of Aida I had lying around, around 100 skeins of Anchor I had won on eBay a while ago, some needles and full set of Cross Stitch Magic and the kits contained within.

Most of the cross stitch stuff was items I don't use (except maybe the Anchor - but I was feeling generous and they can be replaced). However, the big AHA moment for me was the SCA stuff. I'd been lugging it around year after year. I didn't even look in my bead carriers, I just threw them in the boxes without backward glance.  All the braids and trimmings were items I dislike or had bought for projects I had (once upon a time) planned to make for people who are no longer in my life.

I looked through every one of those 13 boxes and found things I didn't know I had, and a heap of things I was happy to move on. Anything I hesitated over I kept and will go through again at a later date. 

I feel so liberated and free from that stuff. I have had an occasional twinge about maybe I should have looked through the bead carriers, but you know - if there were things in there I needed, I would have found them by now, or I can find a replacement.

I felt such joy in sending these items on as:

• I don't need them, I don't want them
• They are going somewhere where they can do some good and be appreciated by the recipients
• In a small way I'm helping others have a better life

And you can't get better than that!

Some days it doesn't pay to bite through the restraints

After a few months of migraine-induced depression and apathy I finally decided recently to get my act together.

• I have created a budget that will see me debt free by end of October 2011.
• I am controlling my eating habits rather than cravings controlling me
• I am actively looking for ways to get fit that wont worsen the migraine
• I've decided to de-clutter physically and electronically
  

Exercise:
Anything that gets the blood pumping makes the migraine explode. For days.  So does any music with a good beat, And sunlight,

I'm walking around the property for 30-40 mins whenever I'm home around dusk on the theory that something is better than nothing. If anyone has other suggestions, please let me know. This inability to do anything physical is frustrating the hell out of me.

De-cluttering:
I work best by setting myself small goals and measuring progress. Setting down a series of steps/milestones and then focusing on achieving them.  I have no idea how to do this over the next 12 months because the de-cluttering is such a massive undertaking,

So decided to start at my desk. A while ago Stephen and I set up Evernote to keep electronic clutter at bay; and turn paper clutter into electronic files. I finally get around to setting up the docking station so very kindly supplied for my new laptop and discover it don't fit :)  My fault for not providing the model number to my kind benefactor (or attempting to use it before now).

Oh well I have found the installation/driver discs for all of my peripherals (printers, scanner, camera etc).  After four and half very frustrating hours, I discover none of them will work with a 64x machine running Windows 7.

After downloading driver updates, viewing microsoft help pages, Canon support pages and various forums I have discovered that although Canon are slowly updating the software for their older machines to run on Windows 7, they are not planning on updating them for use in a 64x machine.

So I have documents waiting to be scanned and photos of my stitching waiting to be downloaded and I have to show for 4.5 hours today is a mounting sense of frustration and a full-blown migraine,

And now its time to get dressed and head to work for the afternoon.

I wanted to send out a happy "progress is being made" post today, and pics of my stitching but instead all I feel is mounting sense of uselessness and frustration at myself.