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It is done. The floors are done! It took a long time to come to fruition, but the end result was worth every delay. We chose a wide plank French oak and it is beautiful.
Anyway, I spent the rest of the week bringing order back into our home: unpacking our belongings, puttering around, organizing and decorating. I could feel a physiological calm wash over me as each item went back into its place! I already knew about this at some level, have read the studies about decluttering and order in the home, but now have a personal experience to confirm it. Feeling very inspired to keep our home simple and tidy going forward.
Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!
Five Good Things…
- Forced rest. // We somehow all got sick again! It seems to be a common occurrence everywhere this winter. While I hate coughing and general feeling of yuck, I’m glad it’s not the stomach flu!
- An honest mechanic. // Our frugal fix didn’t work long term, so we had to bring the car to the shop. So thankful for an honest mechanic who does great work at a fair price.
- Paying off another loan. // We used the $3,000 that we saved by removing the old flooring ourselves to pay the loan off in full! Another huge weight off of our backs. One credit card to go and we’re back to being debt-free except for the mortgage. (But that’ll be next!)
- A cross-stitch project for my teenage son. // When your 16-year-old son asks if you can make him something, you jump on the opportunity, ha! We chose a pattern together and it is huge! Thankfully, it’s only one color and is coming along pretty quickly. I hope to have it done and framed before his birthday in the fall.
- Deep freezer organization. // We have a few deep freezers on the farm and despite my best efforts, they always turn into a chaoic mess. I saw a picture on Pinterest that would work for us and got right to work! I ordered a bunch of HÅLLBAR bins (in both 3 gallon and 6 gallon) as well as a few UPPDATERA containers from Ikea and they are perfect for my needs.
Frugal Accomplishments //
- found my son’s preferred shirt (same exact shirt, bigger size) new with tags on the secondhand market
- refreshed my first floor curtains by washing with Oxyclean
This Week in the Liturgical Year //
February 21 was the Optional Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop & Doctor.
To Read: Message for the 100th Anniversary of St. Peter Damian by Pope Benedict XVI
To Listen: St. Peter Damian—The Lord Be With You from Catholic Culture Audiobooks
To Add to the Library: St. Peter Damian: His Teaching on the Spiritual Life by Owen J. Blum
To Copy in the Commonplace Book: “A very good penance is to dedicate oneself to fulfill the duties of everyday with exactitude and to study and work with all our strength.”
Reading //
- We Still Need Paper Maps from Katherine Johnson Martinko at The Analog Family // “Maps do more than orient a person. They also spark imagination, curiosity, and wonder.”
- How to Raise Readers, in Thirty-Five Steps from Brad East at Front Porch Republic // Loved this list and agree with it all!
New Additions to The List //
- Little House in the Ozarks: The Rediscovered Writings by Laura Ingalls Wilder and edited by Stephen W. Hines
- Folk Fashion: Understanding Homemade Clothes by Amy Twigger Holroyd
- Volcanoes in Human History: The Far-Reaching Effects of Major Eruptions by Donald Theodore Sanders and Jelle Zeilinga de Boer
- I’m Staying with My Boys: The Heroic Life of Sgt. John Basilone, USMC by Jim Proser
Watching/Listening //
- Lesson 6-8 of the How to Think Like a Thomist: An Introduction to Thomistic Principles from Aquinas 101 at the Thomistic Institute
- Keeping a Comic Diary from Jane Porter // This looks fun.
Loving //
- the cards from Painted Tongue Press // I keep forgetting to share about my first purchase on Go Imagine! I was so pleased with these letterpress cards and will definitely buy more.
- this quote from Henry Ward Beecher: “Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.”
from the archives…
WEEK EIGHT 2024 // Now Is the Time
I’m glad your floor is finally done and that quote is very true.
Me too!
Hazzah to new floors, and getting things back to order!! Freezers seem to have a magical ability to become disorganized! The repeat sickness is plaguing us as well….ugh!! We have never had so many people sick in a winter season. Ready for spring anytime now!!
It’s anecdotal, but it seems like everyone everywhere has been sick this winter! So terrible.
the floors are lovely! hurrah! Now I am curious as to how those ikea containers will fit in the deep freeze. My own deep freeze has an unreachable bottom level….
I have to work my way through a bunch of bones and fat (from our chicken/beef/pork) before I can really start using the new system, but I’m hoping to stack two on top of each other all the way across. I’ll report back!