October Mid Month Update

Welcome back friends! Thanks for following along with my life! :)

We had some cool mornings where I had to bundle up a little more to enjoy my walk. I'm walking nearly 50 minutes a day...all outside. I hope to continue well into the fall. The picture (above) of the leaf caught my eye, so I thought I would share. 

My days are rather routine these days. Putting self care first. Waking early to journal, reading about ten pages of a book. I also walk around 500 steps in the house after waking just to get the body moving a bit before I sit down to write and read. I made a rule for myself to drink 16 oz of water before I have coffee. I still help my husband make the bed and one of us always unloads the dishwasher once we are in the kitchen. I'm usually out of the house and getting my walk in by 8:15am. 

I finished two sewing projects in about a week. Each afternoon I would go down to my basement where I set up my sewing machine and put in about an hour of work. Small chunks of time made fast progress and I rather enjoyed this way of getting them done. In the past, I set aside nearly a whole day and would wear myself out in the process. I liked the pace of this slower approach. 

I continue to work on deep cleaning the home for fall. It's cooler, so ceiling fans are no longer running. I made quick work of giving all four of them a wipe down. I did a couple extra loads of laundry to refresh the mattress cover, the quilt and blanket on our bed this week as well. On my dusting days, I added in sweeping the ceilings for cobwebs. I didn't notice too many luckily! 

Decluttering has been limited, in part because there is not much that needs to go. The main progress is that I posted a large lot of books for sale on eBay. There are two weeks left to dive into a few areas. Once the month is over the items are going to Goodwill. 

I didn't think there was much to do for Christmas preparations this week, but as you will see there was one thing! I was inspired because this area below is where I was set up with my sewing machine. I was going to take the table back to the garage, but decided to set it up in the basement for another reason. 

I decided to move my sauna and set up the table in front of this window.

I set it up and set out all the gift wrapping supplies! 

All of the gift bags, and tissue paper are in the gift bag you see. 

The sauna was moved over here. Trying out a new spot for awhile.

I did buy myself a Christmas gift, so I guess that's progress too! I also made some notes after talking to my daughter, she may have given me some ideas I can use. I was in Kohl's as well, and looked around. Something there sparked an idea that might work for someone. October is a good time to be in stores as merchandise comes out...not busy and gives you time to think of ideas. 

Grateful for all that's been accomplished this month so far and looking forward to where I will be at the end of the month. The week ahead has a couple more deep cleaning tasks, at least one home maintenance project and work to make another three week meal plan. 

Good luck with all you are working on! Remember to take your time when you can, slow the pace, and find time to take care of YOU!