Random Update

My friend Melissa at A Familiar Path has been posting some weekly recaps on her blog and I think that's a pretty good idea. Now we all know that I'm nothing if not inconsistent, so don't look for this to be a regularly ongoing feature here at Bunny Trails.

So...without further ado, here's some sort of random update. It may go back beyond a week since I've been such a neglectful blogger.

1. Unlike Melissa, I am watching the Olympics. Well, some of it, anyway. I like volleyball, swimming, and gymnastics. Since my niece is quite a skilled volleyball player, I've really gotten into that a lot more. I used to play on a recreational team back before I was married. I always liked volleyball, but never pursued it beyond that. Now I just go to my niece's games, take hundreds of pictures, and yell...er...cheer her team on. Good times.

2. We have been having the hottest summer probably ever in Colorado Springs this year. There are certain places I do not live because they're too hot. I'm very much bothered by the heat deciding to move here to my own city. This is seriously not okay. On a happy note, we're blessed to have central air in our house. That has been the one saving grace of this ridiculously hot summer.

3. Now that it's almost August (WHAT?!?!), I should probably start working on homeschool plans for the upcoming year. The year which will also be known as my last year as a homeschool mom. Hard to believe we're there. We haven't done this since the beginning, but we started when Caleb began 6th grade and then Zach joined us the next year. There were eight years ahead of us if we continued all the way through high school. It used to seem so far off.

4. I had my teeth cleaned last week. I'm such a pansy. Even teeth cleaning is a big deal. There's more that needs to be done, but we won't be talking about that.

5. Recapping things makes me wonder what I've been up to. I know I've been awake this past week, so I must've accomplished something, right? We did celebrate my sister's birthday. And I helped her go buy a new smart phone the next day. No, she didn't get an iPhone, but I love her anyway.

6. John and I have been driving/riding (he drives, I ride) in the Jeep this weekend. It started to rain on us last night, so we zipped into a car wash (nobody washes their car in the rain) and put on the bikini top. It's fun to be in the Jeep again. The back seat is just too small for the boys now that they're so tall, though, so we only take it when there are two or three of us going someplace.

7. I think this next week needs to be one of sorting and purging stuff in the house. It would be nice to have less stuff distracting me before jumping back into school. I also have pictures to edit from a senior shoot which was loads of fun. And volleyball pictures to burn onto DVD.

I hope you all are enjoying your summer and not too freaked out about August showing up so quickly. Tell me how your summer has been. Anything fun or exciting or both?

Speaking of volleyball pictures...

What's Important?

Ten days ago, the Waldo Canyon Fire started here in Colorado. While there were some early evacuations and people who knew they might be evacuated, there was no damage nor loss of life in the first few days. But on Day 4, the weather took a turn that no one saw coming and 65 mph winds sent the flames into the city of Colorado Springs with no notice at all. By the time all was said and done on Tuesday, 32,000 people had been evacuated and 346 homes were burned (although we didn't learn that number for a few more days).

Even though we live about six miles east (as the crow flies - you couldn't drive that short a distance) and it wasn't terribly likely that the fire would make it that far, I also decided I wasn't going to be foolish enough to think that it was totally impossible. I felt that getting a few important things together would probably be a good idea, even though I'd most likely return them all to their regular homes before long. I'd rather be prepared and not need it than the other way around, I decided.

It's interesting when you start considering what would really matter to you if you had to leave your house with no knowledge of whether or not you'd get to return. Most of us have quite a bit of stuff, much of which we really like and want to keep. But when you view your stuff through the eyes of what you would take if you had to leave on a moment's notice, it's amazing how much really doesn't matter that much. One news station here listed it succinctly with 5 Ps:

1. People
2. Pets
3. Prescriptions
4. Papers
5. Pictures

Of course there are memorabilia and heirlooms that some people will take with them. But when I was gathering items together, those five pretty much covered it.

Now, when the somewhat-less-than-immediate danger to us has passed, it makes me stop and really think about all this stuff. I've been in a pretty good de-cluttering mode in recent years, but now it seems that even more of it is not that important. It just takes up space - physical space in our home and mental space as I think about it, organize and store it, maintain it, move it around, and wonder if I should keep it. I think it's time to shift the de-cluttering into high gear. While I don't care to have to start all over, I do think that living lighter is a great idea.