The rambling thoughts after a pantry cleanout

The ones that know me best, will know that I am a super anal individual.   The house was almost always neat and tidy, without a feather out of place and  everything in its right spot.  I was on top of it all :)

That was off-course before the kids came abounding.  I had to get used to mountains of laundry, toys in every corner of the house, food crumbs everywhere and the mandatory  sandpits worth of sand that  would seem to find its way into my house. Oh bless their cotton socks. I was still relatively good with my cleaning and my tidying up. I was almost always at peace with the house at the end of each night.

But then Little Red Child struck and that was the end of it all. So as not to incriminate myself,  there are just not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I would like to do. (said with a pained grin on my face)

I have put off things like tidying up the linen closet, putting away the clothes that both the kids and I have outgrown and figuring out what to do with the endless toys the kids don't play with (oh, wait a minute...they do) And did I forget to mention...CLEANING THE PANTRY?

Well, I manged to do that today and here is a snippet of what I found:

15 lots of herbs and spices (some from 2004)  - BIN!!
6 tubs of biscuits of various varieties (mostly opened by he who shall not be mentioned)
6 bottles of vinegar (Why?)
Several bags of icing sugar (5 to my count) all half opened, all now hard as rock
A whole bag of easter chocolates (woops)
All those missing storage containers magically found

(My dream pantry)



Safe to say, my pantry clean out was long overdue and whilst I don't suppose it will stay tidy for very long, it was a rather cathartic experience.  I'm sure the pantry  too groaned a sigh of relief.

And so....my ramblings are over :)
 

Blessed be..

Blessed be the kids for they are the reason you wake up each morning at 6am or some ungodly hour of the morning or several times during the night.  They shower you with their kisses and cuddles and then yell at you to "Gettaouttabed"

Blessed be the kids that love and amuse each other for those are the times you are able to do the housework, the cooking, the laundry, pay the bills, jump on facebook and maybe, fit in  a bit of sewing.


Blessed be the kids whom you love with all your heart, because life is never the same once they enter it. But you would never have it any other way. They are the reason your eyes light up, they are the ones that love you when you are having a bad hair day and they are the ones who will love you no matter how crabby you were the day before, because with each morning, the clock resets and everything starts all over again.

Blessed be...

A journey into a world unknown.

You never really know where your life is going to take you,  if you don't leave yourself open to new opportunities and experiences.

Prior to starting Little Red Child, my life was all about my my family - kids, husband, parents, sister and my work.   The former being my first love and the later, something I took on to help my dad.

An outsider looking in would think that my life was a very good one, and it was.  There was however something missing. I guess you could say a part of me not quite fulfilled.  I tried various therapies...cleaning the house like a manic woman, shopping with the ferocity of a lion and eating, well... to my heart's content.  But on the happiness scale, I guess you could say I was about 50% joyous and adding a kilo to the weight every couple of weeks with the equivalent opposite to my bank balance.

One day, I happened on an idea that I thought I could work on, improve and make my own.  I wasn't out to conquer the world. I just wanted to see if I could do it.  I hoped that the creative gene which was overwhelmingly obvious in my mum, dad and sister was perhaps dormant awaiting for something to inspire it to kick into gear.  With all that in mind, I ventured into what is now my second home...Spotlight and there it began. And one day not a long time ago, I received the validation from my hero ( my mum) that I was "creative after all" and that the creative gene had indeed NOT bypassed me after all. LOL

It will be a year since this whole journey started and whilst there are days where I battle to find the right balance between family, work, chores, kids, friends, etc.  I grow ever more in love with what I do and there lies the secret of being happy.  Doing what you love = the road to happiness.


The bonus to all of this, has been the friends I have made in this once cottage industry of "handmade" (It definitely ain't cottage).  There are women out there I am proud to call my friends who are a force to be reckoned with.  They are all truly inspirational and they are all out there building a future of happiness for themselves. 

Got to love that!!! Now, this is a life fulfilled :)