OUR COMMON HOURS

Kelli Ann Wilson January 8, 2015

simplifying // week one

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to get rid of half of the stuff we own. I wasn’t clear about this in my resolution post, but I don’t intend to just throw away everything I don’t want. My desire is to systematically and thoughtfully try to find homes for things, and if there is no good home only then will the items end up in the wastebasket. To keep myself on track, I’m going to write a weekly post (time permitting) about my journey to simplify. I’m not sure if these posts will interest anyone, but sometimes I have to blog just for myself.

This week I did some cleaning out of my cloffice (my closet office). One of the things I found was a huge stack of photos from my daughter’s preschool, where I also worked. Instead of binning the whole thing, I pulled out the photos of the kids whose parents I’m still in contact with, and sent them off in the mail to them. I felt like that was their proper home. (I also got to send some letters in the process, which is another one of my resolutions for this year — more snail mail!)
I also cleaned out our kitchen “junk drawer” which allowed me to move some of our commonly used tools out of one location (which wasn’t ideal) into the kitchen. In the process I did throw away quite a few odds and ends, but I didn’t feel like they were something that could be re-homed.
Last week I cleaned out the cabinet under the microwave. Holy moly — that thing was a mess! I am pleased with the simplicity I gained just by organizing the space better and relocating some items.
In the week ahead I’d like to concentrate on getting Zane’s closet into a more orderly state. The biggest problems we have in this house (in terms of clutter) are paper and stuffed animals. We have WAY too many stuffed animals.

Kelli Ann Wilson January 3, 2015

L’écureuil

Sometimes the French word is just better. (I can’t pronounce it, but I still like it.) I got a new lens for Christmas — the Nikon 55-200mm VR AF-S f/4-5.6G. This allows me to spy on my favorite animal from inside the house. I will readily admit that I baited these squirrels with bread and apples in an attempt to lure them out into the open (spoiler: it worked). I’m pretty impressed with the quality of these photos since they were taken from the comfort of my kitchen, through two layers of glass and a screen. I’m looking forward to seeing what it can do outside on a warmer day! Brrrrr!

Kelli Ann Wilson January 2, 2015

52 // 52

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Lillia & Zane: Well, sweet kiddos, we made it to the end of our first 52 week portrait project. I say “we” because, although I was the one snapping the photos, there wouldn’t have been a 52 project without you and I really appreciate your cooperation (or at least toleration). Although I feel a great deal of satisfaction for completing my goal, I also feel incredibly sad because the fact is that a whole year of your lives has passed and I know that I cannot get it back. Lillia will never be ten again; Zane will never be two. There is a lot of lip service paid to enjoying your children while you can, and people always seem to say things like “it goes by so fast.” The truth is that it does go by so fast. Even when you take the time to notice and record the small moments that you share with your children, like I do here on my blog, that doesn’t stop the time from passing. Nothing has ever given me more joy than being a mother, and this is true even when I’m grouchy, nagging, irritated, or frustrated! Both of you bring something different, and equally wonderful, to my life. Despite my desire to keep you right where you are, I know that I have to let this year go to make room for the next one. I feel some slight consolation in knowing that the next twelve months together with you will bring me joy, too. And, I do feel some excitement and curiosity to see what the future holds for both of you. Love is not a big enough word to describe how I feel about you, but it will have to suffice.

If you’d like to look back at all 52 weeks, you can read the posts here or look at the whole album here.

Kelli Ann Wilson January 1, 2015

51 // 52

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Lillia: This week it was Christmas! You got a new computer from me and Daddy, but it came with a catch: you had to build it yourself (with Daddy’s help, of course). There were a few speedbumps along the way, but as of the end of the weekend it was up and running! Even though you missed out on the instant gratification of just turning it on and using it Christmas morning, I think you really enjoyed having the opportunity to be involved in the building. And, now you have a much better understanding of how computers work. You are really lucky to have such a great dad, and I hope you enjoy your gift for years to come.

Zane: This week you really enjoyed all of the Christmas hullabaloo. We put “reindeer food” and a carrot out for Santa’s reindeer, and hot chocolate and a candy cane out for Santa. In the morning, you were thrilled to see that some of the carrot had been nibbled. This year you were really excited about opening presents, and you tore into them with typical childhood fervor. It wasn’t until the dust settled that you actually looked at what you got. We bought you a couple of really nice wooden vehicles, including a very big crane that you were really excited about. You probably would have liked anything we got you, since you are such an easy-going guy.

Kelli Ann Wilson January 1, 2015

2015

Another year, another list of resolutions. This year I’m going for one big goal and a few smaller goals.

// Get rid of 50% of my stuff — Yes, I am insane. (And yes, Damian, I know I said 30% earlier in the week, but now I’m going for half! — here are some reasons why.) I don’t know how feasible this is, but I want to do it badly. After 33 years of life, 11 years of motherhood, 4 years of marriage, and 3 years of home-ownership, I’ve accumulated way too much stuff. And, by “my stuff” I really mean “our stuff.” There isn’t a drawer, shelf, or closet in this house that isn’t cram-jammed with things, and when said house is 960 square feet things get pretty claustrophic pretty quickly. How much of it do I actually need? I can’t tell because I don’t even know what it all is! My goal is not only to clear out the excess stuff, but also to document my decluttering journey here on my blog. (If I hold myself publicly accountable, maybe it will actually happen.) My guess is that it will take several sweeps of the whole house before I can whittle it down by half, but I’m up for the challenge!

// Do the 52 Week Portrait Project (Again) — “A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2015.″ I loved doing this project so much last year, and I know that my readers really enjoyed it, too. I’m looking forward to seeing my kiddos and my photography skills grow throughout another year.

// Read all of the books I got for Christmas before next Christmas — I made this my goal in 2013, and it really helped keep me motivated to finish the pile of books on my nightstand. I received an interesting collection this year, which included a lot of non-fiction DNA books (so I can finally understand what my test results mean!), along with a novel, a biography, and a memoir: Ancestral Journeys, by Jean Manco; Trace Your Roots with DNA, by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak and Ann Turner; The Seven Daughters of Eve, by Bryan Sykes; Genetic Genealogy: The Basics and Beyond, by Emily D. Aulicino; Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout; Hetty, by Charles Slack; The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls.

I once read that all mothers should have three books going at once so that they always have something to read, no matter the situation: a “stiff book” (i.e. a challenging one); a moderately easy book (i.e. a biography); and a novel — not “twaddle” — (i.e. Eliot, Dickens, etc). I think that this should apply to all people, not just mothers, and I think my Christmas books fit nicely into those categories and will keep me very busy.

// Write lots of snail mail — This one goes on my list every year because I think it’s important at least to try. My grandmother was the postmaster of North Haverhill, NH for decades (and New Hampshire Postmaster of the Year in 1986, no less!). If nothing else, perhaps a love of all things mail-oriented is in my genes. I’d love to write to you, so please add your address to my postable account (if you haven’t already), and anyone can write to me here any time: Kelli Wilson, PO Box 313, Walpole, NH 03608. If you haven’t heard from me in awhile, you can always bring that to my attention 🙂

Happy New Year, everyone! I’d love to hear your resolutions, so please feel free to leave them in the comments.