The Simple Life

After work today I went to Sam's Club--swung by quickly as it's a hop, skip and jump off the freeway. I needed two things. Literally. Cat food and dishwasher soap.

And that's what I got...plus some raspberries (they were only two bucks!) and some croissants (they'll make the best sandwiches for all of the packed lunches at our house!) and some fresh mixed veggies (Roy loves these) and some fruit popsicles (At least they're semi-healthy...) and ... well, you get the idea. By the time I headed out the door with my overstuffed grocery cart, I'd clearly crammed in far more than two items.

So as I drove home, I contemplated the fact that my cupboards are already bursting and yet...I now have to fit in even more stuff. Once I finally pulled into the driveway, a little over ten hours after leaving it, I called Jace and together we hauled in all of the goods. He was, of course, starving, and so I threw the freezer items in the freezer and then juggled all of the boxes on the countertops so that I could quickly throw together homemade tomato sauce and fresh ravioli that I'd picked up at Sam's on the last trip there. For the next fifteen minutes, I emptied the dishwasher and rearranged the refrigerator and made a list of things I placed in the freezer and sorted through mail and threw away papers that have sat on the kitchen table for far too long and strained the ravioli and dished up a plate Jace! It's ready! and thought about sending him off to eat by himself since the table was such a disaster and then, on second thought, decided to join him because, of course, that's what good mothers do and so, finally, at almost 6:00 Jace and I sat down together, in the living room, on the couch.

Yeah. That's family dinner at the Seals' home.

A few minutes later (as it doesn't take Jace long to consume a plate of ravioli and green beans), I headed back into the kitchen to finish my project. When we first moved here four years ago, we bought a little freezer as we desperately needed one. I'm not sure how we survived so many years with just a refrigerator freezer...but we did. But anyway, it's a disorganized mess. No--really. It's a disorganized mess. No matter how many times I organize it? 24 hours later I can't find a thing. And so, for the who-knows-how-many-times time, I took everything out, stacked it on the dryer, placed all of the frozen fruit together (for Savana's smoothies) and then placed all of the breads together on one side (It's embarrassing how many loaves I found stashed at the bottom) and threw away some stuff that I didn't recognize and...well, my freezer, at least for today, looks a whole lot better. And there's even space for more!

That seems to be the MO around here: more.

And then I finished clearing off the table. I picked up the pens and opened the door of the hutch to place them in the container that holds pens only to realize...there's no room left. Are these pens breeding? When did we get so many pens?

And by the door? About 12 pairs of shoes...

By the gas stove? A stack of polo shirts that Jace has outgrown and some boots that are so trendy and cute but awkwardly sized so nobody wants them and a box of homeschool material that will never get used--at least not at our house--and a bag of stuff for the Wii that never gets used anymore, either.

When we first moved here four years ago, we came from a rather small apartment. The guy who moved us said I've never seen a man with so much stuff or a family of 5 with so little. And it was true. Roy, of course, can fill a truck simply with what he packs into a garage. It looks impressive with all of the shelving and drawers and such. But there is a lot of stuff.  Yet we as a family had learned to live with a lot less as we had to in order to fit. And honestly? I loved that apartment. I loved the coziness of it.

Anyway, then we moved into this rather large house--and now? Well, we've moved into it rather nicely.

We need to de-stuff.

Ronald Reagan said, Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God.

I love that quote. I think it's a great mantra to live by. But I think I need to get back to the live simply part. I need to eat more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, clean out my closets, and haul some boxes to Goodwill.

I need to stick to the list.