Lesson Learned - Tracking Stuff

Earlier this year, I discussed tracking home improvements.  I am a big fan of tracking all sorts of things.  I have a few spreadsheets with tabs across the bottom. Each tab is something I am tracking. 

For example:

• Vacations we have taken - including years, stops made, people that went with us and various small notes.
• This helps when sorting pictures, speaking to others about travel options for them, and just remembering the good times.
• Jobs I have had - including company and supervisor names, dates, general job duties and other relevant notes.
• Helpful when job hunting or speaking to a headhunter.
  
• Special projects I have completed for work - including dates and any special links or notes to help remind me of the overall scope of the project.
• Very helpful when completing my year end review or just mentoring others with their project work.
• Medications I take or previously took - including dates and side effect notes.
• Helpful when speaking to a new doctor or referring a medication to someone.
• Useful websites - including links, descriptions and notes.
• Helps if I need to pull a copy of my electric bill, remember my login information for posting blogs, or find my mortgage account number.
• Tax documents needed - including what docs I needed for the previous years.
• Very helpful to ensure I send all necessary documentation to my accountant.
• Housesitting duties - including how often they need to be completed and any notes pertaining to the chore.
• Helpful in knowing what to share with a house sitter when we travel.
• Paint colors - including the bar code number, color name and finish, and the room(s) painted in that color.
• Helpful if I need to buy touch-up paint or what to recommend the color to someone.
• Christmas gift tracking - including who received what and where I purchased it.
• Great for ensuring I don't give someone the same gift two years in a row and also very helpful for coming up with ideas for gifts.

It is quick and easy to go into these spreadsheets and update the tabs vs trying to build this information on the fly (usually in a hurry and then mistakes are made and information is missed).  And, I am amazed how often I actually do use the information, especially since it is at my fingertips.

If you liked this blog post, please check out:

Tracking Home Improvement

Capture Information As It Flies By

Enjoying Life

Years ago, a friend of mine sent me a Ted Talk on the Wonder Woman pose. The talk is actually about much more than that, but this is what I call it. The speaker talks about faking it till you make it, having strong body language and empowering ourselves. 

I watch this video every six months or so, to remember to be strong. It helps remind me to go into situations that scare me with confidence and poise. This video gives me determination, courage, energy and spirit in a huge variety of situations.

I have also found a few other things to help me enjoy life more.

• A festive playlist: It is full of loud, crazy and upbeat songs. If I am heading to a dinner, happy hour or party that I am not all that excited about, I throw on this playlist for the drive to the event.  By the time I arrive, I feel enthusiastic and ready to have a wonderful time.
• Positive quotes: I have a collection of quotes that inspire me.  I keep a file of them and refer to them whenever I need a quick boost.  They are a good reminder to be happy, count my blessings, and enjoy life.  
• Cat videos:
• I have a great cat leaping video that makes me laugh each and every time I watch it.  It never gets old.  It just reminds to always be willing to try, even if I don't make it.
• I have another wonderful cat video that I watch whenever I need to be reminded that I should always share joy.  If I appreciate what someone is doing for me, let them know.  Even if I sound a little crazy doing it - the person I am "rewarding" probably enjoys my enthusiasm.

Find whatever brings you joy and make it a permanent part of your life. Make it easily available and repeat it often. No one can ever have too much joy.

If you found delight in this blog, please check out:  

My journey to be “Smiley” again

Keeping Kudos

Keepsakes and Photos Cleaning Project

For the past year, I have been working on a project to clean my keepsake and photo boxes.  I am guessing you all have a box or two like mine ... crammed with photos still in the original Walgreens photo pack, loose papers, and tchotchkes from your childhood or early adulthood.

During Covid, I decided it was time to tackle these boxes. I knew going through everything would be emotional. I knew that it would bring back many great memories and some sad regrets.  I knew it would make me remember things that I had forgotten.  I knew these things would make me smile and sometimes frown.  But, I also knew that every time I saw these boxes on the basement shelf, I felt frustrated with myself that I was avoiding facing my past.  

It was time to tackle this project.

I admit - this project was 20 years past due.  The bottom of the boxes were filled with stuff from my parents house that they returned to me when I moved in with John. I added to these boxes during the first years with John.  Then, the boxes went into hibernation.  We moved to our current house back in 2008 and I just moved the boxes; never opening them before the move and trying to ignore them after the move.  

I decided to undertake this task in small doses.  First, I took the boxes and separated the items into categories: photos, papers, and miscellaneous.  During this time I tossed stuff that was damaged or easily pitched. After all, I no longer needed water damaged yearbooks, love letters from school boyfriends, napkins from my wedding day and origami fortune tellers from grade school.  And, can anyone explain why I still had my egg "child" from high school?

I then put the boxes away for a bit, to mentally recover from this first round.  

Round two: thin out the miscellaneous and paper items. I pitched more stuff and put together a box for charity/garage sale.  Honestly, as I looked at the items again, I realized that if I hadn't wanted or needed to get into these boxes in over 20 years, there really was nothing that I probably needed to keep.  I allowed myself to keep a handful of items that brought me true joy when I saw them.  Some of the items I set on my desk or found a place in the house for them.  Others, I did return to the box to enjoy again in 30 years when I open the box again.  Everything else is gone.  

Again, I gave myself time to recover. Luckily, the recovery was not as hard this time. I was understanding that my past was filled with more joy than sorrow.  I realized that what I experienced in my youth, made me the lady I am today. 

Round three: photos.  First, I separated the pictures into stacks: Christmas and other holidays, vacations and day trips, school friends, job events, pets, house projects, parties, etc.  Then, I worked through each stack. In some cases, I enjoyed the "flashback" and then realized that a friend might enjoy these pictures more and created small stacks to give to friends.  Some were pictures that were enjoyable to see again, but did not need to be kept. Some were damaged and needed to just be pitched.  

After purging photos, I took the photo albums I had and added the pictures into the open pages.  I added labels to the different sections, with my best guess as to the year and event.  For the few stacks that were too large to add to the albums, or had a lot of pictures that seemed redundant (i.e., a decade of Mardi Gras parade pictures do start to look the same), I just kept them in the Walgreens photo pack and made a note on the outside as to what was inside.  

I now have two boxes on the basement shelf.  One holds wedding stuff and pictures.  One holds the other pictures and miscellaneous.  The albums are on a shelf in my office.  Someday I might do a scanning project to save these pictures electronically.

Over the year, I really did have my ups and downs with this project. In the end, I realized how truly blessed I have been. I had good friends and fun boyfriends. I had a very involved family. I traveled to fantastic places and saw amazing sights. I threw and attended fun parties. I have done some great home improvements. The blessings go on and on. I know when I open these boxes again in 30 years, I will thoroughly enjoy the walk down memory lane.  My life really is amazing.

If you enjoyed this blog, please check out:

Keeping Kudos

Decluttering … The project I have learned to love