Intentional Homekeeping

Its been 5 days.....Tsk Tsk Tsk!  But the days do go by so quickly when one is having so much fun (insert sarcastic tone here).  =)  It is true though, that the days seem like they are whizzing by and sometimes I have to just hang on for dear life and hope I can catch my breath at some point!  Which brings me to a subject I have been cogitatin' on lately.  Organization. Homemaking. Living Intentionally.  So, as is my usual habit when I want to know something, I've been browsing the internet looking for websites that have good tips (and free printables!) on organization and homemaking.  I really want to be more organized.  I have this vision of my house all neat and tidy--not in a sterile, furniture store way, but a cozy lived-in tidy.  Baskets on shelves all in neat rows, the hutch all decorated for whichever holiday is nearest, and the bathroom sparkling fresh.  But between living here by myself and working full time, so much just doesn't get done.  Why bother?  There's no one to see it anyway.  Sometimes it bugs me, but other times I have other things to do so I don't think about it.  But lately I've been thinking about how much I love this place in the country, how much of a sanctuary it has become for  me, and I thought Why Not?  Why shouldn't I focus on that---making this place into my cozy refuge from the "howling wilderness".  So what if there is no one to see it, no one to share it with at present.  I'm here, I see it, and I think it would make my current contentment here even richer.  It would also give me something to work on.  I don't have friends close by, so why not take the lonely times and use them to work on my "nest"?  Now don't get me wrong, I have friends.  An abundance of them.  However, many of them are far away or just far enough away so that its not easy to get together for quick little visits---like you would if you lived just across the drive or around the corner from each other.  So this makes for empty times.  So I've been thinking that if I took more time to make my house a home this might help with the lonely times--both the work and the place it creates.  It would take the focus away from the lonely times and put it into creating something.  Am I making sense? I keep running across the phrase  "Intentional Living" and I think this is what I am talking about.  Living day-to-day (and not more than ONE day at a time) instead of existing day-to-day.  To me this also includes Intentional Homemaking.  Keeping house--and dressing it up, cooking, making gardens---all on purpose.  Not just flying by the seat of your pants every day.  (Not that there won't still be days like that, but maybe fewer than there are now.)  I think this may be one of the keys to contentment I've been looking for.  (Or maybe this is all just a bunch of mishmash brought on by the fact that I am turning 40---yes, you heard me!--40 in a few days.  I don't know.  Is this what a mid-life crisis feels like? lol)  I am learning, albeit very slowly, that you need to focus on the good things in your life so that you can cope with the not-so-good things.  This place in the country is one of the oh-so-good things in my life.  So if I focus some intentional attention here, then maybe it will help me cope with the "lesser nice" things (like my job).  Surely knowing that I can run home to my cozy country cottage must count for something!  =)   And of course while I'm saying all this, please know that my first and foremost source of comfort and strength and contentment is Jesus Christ.  In all my posts and wanderings, know that He is a given.  So all this talk about Intentional Living and cozy cottages is fine, but it is completely impossible for me without having Him first.  Got it?  Okay, just so's we understand each other. =)  With my 40th looming there are lots of ideas on getting started.  You know, fresh decade, fresh start kind of stuff. lol  One thing I see everywhere are Homekeeping binders or organizers.  Yep, want one of those.  I also want to put some kind of schedule (say it with the sh sound instead of sk---shedule) to this here blog.  Not sure what it will be, and I don't want to lock myself in too tight so that I can't ramble when the mood strikes.  But something.  Maybe like a picture of the week post or recipe of the week.  I really would like to journal as well.  I've started and stopped so many times in my life, but especially for this my 40th year (I know, ain't that so special....) I want to journal.  I ran across an article about a woman who started a "one-sentence" journal.  Every day she wrote just a sentence (or 2 or 3) about her day.  This way she could keep it up without getting overwhelmed and now she has this awesome collection of snippets from her life.  Little memory word pictures.  Or there is a photo journal.  I'd love to do a photo-a-day, but I really don't think I can keep that up for an entire year.  But maybe a photo a week or something.   Lots of ideas tumbling around in my head!  Since I turn 40 on Saturday I had best be getting something honed up!  I'll let you know what I decide.  What do you do?  Do you have a Homekeeping Binder?  How do you keep organized and keep your nest clean and cozy? How do you journal?  Do tell!

Well, now I've rambled enough to more than make up for the 5 days without anything. (You really don't have to nod, you know.  T'ain't polite.)  I'm off to find something sweet to eat and wait anxiously for new Canon Rebel to come in the big brown truck tomorrow!  Happy Birthday to me!  =)