Spring Break

My kids had Spring Break this week. While lots of our friends were heading out on the road, we decided on having a “staycation” this year. As someone who is a big homebody, I was VERY happy to stay at home for Spring Break. I’m not against taking the kids on a road trip or going somewhere fun during Spring Break, but it just wasn’t in the cards for us this year.

Since we were gonna spend most of our time at home, I decided to take advantage of that opportunity. I was relieved I wouldn’t be spending yet another week of jumping in and out of my car to drive kids back and forth to two different schools, to appointments, run errands, etc., so I pretty much stayed home as much as possible. I also slept in on a few of those days (that was nice!!) and stayed up later than normal. Aside from this, I got some things done around the house. I sorted through dressers/closets and got rid of clothes we don’t wear or that don’t fit anymore. I also organized Jesse’s room and cleaned the garage. Jennifer had been bitten by the “Spring cleaning bug,” too. She rearranged her room and also went through all of her clothes to get rid of the rejects. 

In addition to that, I also took the time to get caught up on things I had going on but hadn’t found the time to finish. I had some items in my “to-do” drawer that had REALLY needed my attention, and I also got caught up on reading.

Another thing I did was finish up some projects I had to sew. I have not done any sewing for a long time because I didn’t like it before. But this time around, oh my gosh, I LOVED it. It was just sooo relaxing. I really enjoyed sewing and plan to do more of it. Jesse also got in on the sewing. For the very first time, he gave sewing a try. He did make one mistake but he did pretty well for the most part. He also got to learn how to be patient when threading a needle.

Here is Jesse sewing for the first time (I am in this picture too):

I also made the kids pancakes for breakfast on a weekday morning. I usually don’t have the time for THAT when we have the school morning rush!

Jesse got to play with his friend a lot this week and Jennifer got to have a sleepover with one of her besties. Jen being a night owl, she also enjoyed not having a bed time!

The kids go back to school next week and I’d say their Spring Break was not so terribly bad. We did get to do some things and that’s good. Now we’re ready to get back on track for a busy school week – and, me, a busy writing week!

Spring cleaning -- both offline and online

It’s not officially Spring just yet, even though we have been having some beautiful and sunny weather here in Eugene, but I’m already starting to do some “Spring cleaning” around the house. Getting rid of things we don’t want/need, minimizing what we have too much of, and just getting things organized.

And I have noticed that as I have been doing this offline, I am starting to do it online, as well. Today, for example, I unfollowed over a hundred people on Twitter. I unfollowed them because I was either no longer interested in them or what they do, or I was not getting followed back. (Shallow, I know, but I don’t care.) With writers, that’s especially true. If I support a writer, I feel that writer should support me in return. Some awesome authors out there are definitely doing just that, and I give mad props to celebrities I’ve followed who follow back and actually communicate. (Communication is one of the key factors I use on whether or not I follow people on social media.) I understand people are busy and can't really keep up with everybody that follows them on Twitter, so it's nice when they do. But I get it that businesses, sports teams and major newspapers, etc., typically don't just follow everyone back. It's the other writers out there and people I KNOW who I would like a follow back from. (Though I am more patient with people I know in real life.) Anyway, I just felt it was time. So I got some of that done today. I’ll be doing the same thing with my Facebook account as well as other Internet sites that I frequent. It's just time to "clean virtual house."

I find it interesting that I am doing this “Spring cleaning” on the Internet. Granted, sometimes I’ll update sites and make pages a little more current, but that’s something I’ll do every once in a while. Or with just a few sites. Right now, though, I’m definitely “cleaning virtual house” with everything I’m involved with online. I just feel better if everything is more current and just the way I would want it to be.

This just may be a new trend for a lot of people, doing the “Spring cleaning” online as well as offline. It only goes to show just how much of our lives are connected to the Internet and how we’d want everything to reflect our lives a little more accurately.