Eliminating the Distractions

I am doing some serious house cleaning these days. I have been increasingly stressed and moody lately and have realized there is just too much trying to crowd into my life and it is time to declutter in a big way. The band directing job Jim took a little over a year ago has him running both the middle school and high school band programs which means in addition to his teaching classes during the day, he is gone to rehearsals or other events 2-5 nights a week and most Saturdays. Add to that an hour commute, and he is rarely home. I now teach full time and have been really embarrassed at how hard that transition has been for me. We are still involved in youth and music ministries at church. Our boys are getting older and more involved in things at church and school. With my tendencies to run and turn to distractions such as the library, Facebook, crefts, or shopping, housework is not getting done very well. So with all that, and more bad days lately than I like to think about, I am clearing out. I have set nearly all of my books and craft supplies in the garage ready for a yard sale later this month. I have returned all of my library books with no plans to return to the library soon since the boys both have enough books in their rooms to start their own library. I already rarely turn on the tv and have no friendships left that cause time on the phone or in outings. I have discarded my pen pals and have reduced my swapping of crafts and letters on Swap-bot to a once in a while treat. Next to go will be Facebook. If I cannot discipline myself to only getting on once a day and only after my other work is done, I will delete my account. I have our cabinets and freezer well stocked and so will not be
returning to the store for anything but bread and milk until November. (This should also help in reaching financial goals). I will also be at least reducing my time on this blog and will probably delete it since I have no business giving homekeeping advice right now. I have long been way too distracted and so not able to focus on my husband and sons and on our home as I should. Our schedule is busy and though there are some other things I hope to drop from it in the next few months, with the sort of jobs we have, it is likely to always be busy. I just need to step back and reclaim relationships with God and my husband and children. Thank you for reading this set of ramblings and to those who know me in real life, once again, I am sorry. I will leave up my book review blog at uncurablebookworm.blogspot.com and will occasionally post there. I may also return to blogging after a break and after I figure out how to make it more profitable. For now, though, this is good-bye. I am off to finally, really, be a keeper of the home.