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Catholic Minimalism Redux: Week Three

July 15, 2018 by lesliesholly

Oh, I was so excited for this week.  I am ALWAYS wanting to minimize my kitchen more and more.  Back in January, I got a lot done.  BUT, I had intended to go back and do more during the catch-up week, and as I have explained, Week Three ended up being my last week.

I didn’t follow the day-by-day instructions this time, for one because I only recently organized all the refrigerators and the pantries are pretty empty at the moment, and also because I wanted to hit areas that I didn’t get to last time.

This first drawer is my favorite.  No before picture, but I bet you don’t need to see this because I just know you have this drawer at your house too.  You know, the one that is always getting stuck shut because there are too many utensils in it.  I got rid of so much stuff from this drawer and even organized it a bit, and now every time I open it I feel happy.

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I still have too many knives in here, but maybe I will be able to bring myself to get rid of some more next time.

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This was another drawer that was overstuffed until I got rid of some aprons and also some chef hats. (Why did I have chef hats? And I rarely use aprons.)

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Here’s the silverware drawer before:

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And here it is after.  This is really going to make me happy too.  I had to fight with Lorelei over that egg slicer even though we have literally NEVER used it in seven years.  (She’s a bit of a hoarder.)

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I bet you have a cabinet like this one too–one that stuff just falls out of and you slam the door and hope for the best?  Anyway, I did this one last time and I’ve done it at least once since and I probably will have to keep at it every few months or so . . .

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But for now, doesn’t it look wonderful?

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This is another thing we’ve maintained very well since last time, so no before picture, but we tidied it up a bit.  How’s that for a junk drawer?

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I am far from finished with the kitchen, but I am planning to do more during catch up week, both because I need more time and because Emily will be home then and I need her help.  So stay tuned for that, and for next week when Kids’ Rooms are scheduled!

Posted in Catholicism, family | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment »

Summer Fun: Exploring History

July 15, 2018 by lesliesholly

Y’all, it is HOT.  And our access to a swimming pool is gone.  It is hard to want to leave the air conditioning to have summer adventures, but we managed three days of fun this week.

I couldn’t get it together till Wednesday, when we had to leave the house for an appointment anyway.  Immediately thereafter, we drove downtown to visit Blount Mansion.

I vividly remember my own first encounter with this bit of Tennessee history as part of a seventh grade field trip–I was unimpressed and thought it wasn’t much of a mansion at all!  This time I was absolutely enthralled with such details as panes of glass installed in 1792–the first glass windows in town–and still there to be looked through over 200 years later, and the desk on which the Tennessee Constitution was signed, and William Blount’s very own fancy shoe buckles still in their original box.

Our guide did a great job of bringing history to life for us.  We spent close to two hours in the museum, the house, and the gardens, and Lorelei was NOT bored which she had come expecting to be.

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Thursday we went out for ice cream for the third time this summer. (Did I mention it was hot?) Lorelei and I enjoyed it but William did not like how fast the ice cream melted in the heat (we were very messy by the end!).

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Friday was really exciting.  Last week William had a follow-up appointment with his oral surgeon in Oak Ridge.  There was a traffic jam along our usual route back over the Clinch River to Knoxville, and Siri routed us a way I had never seen before.  Along this lovely country road we spied signs for an historic cabin and cemetery, and we passed right by a park.  On Friday, I told the kids we were having an adventure and we drove back to explore these places.

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We discovered that Bull Run Park has a swimming area and made plans to go back and enjoy it!

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Next we headed to the David Hall Cabin, and were conducted on an informative tour of this two-hundred-year old cabin and a couple more by the one of the owners, whose wife’s father was raised in it.  The Baumgartners live behind the cabins on four of the original 50 acres.  We thanked Mr. Baumgartner for all he and his family continue to do to preserve this history for us to enjoy and learn from!

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After looking at the cabins, we went back into the woods and explored the Arnold-Hall Cemetery, where David Hall (a Revolutionary War veteran) is buried along with other members of the families.  Y’all may know I love cemeteries, so that was a treat for me and the kids indulged me!

That’s it for this week.  I’ll be honest–I can no longer promise to do something every single day.  But I DO have some plans for next week!

For more summer fun, read on:

Why We Can’t Have a 70s Summer and What We Are Doing Instead

The Summer Fun Continues . . .

More Summer Fun

Summer Fun Update

Summer Fun:  Vacation

That 70s Summer

In Which I Grow Lazy

Posted in Graveyards, homeschooling, Knoxville, Parenting, Vacations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Catholic Minimalism Redux: Week 2

July 10, 2018 by lesliesholly

Week two of the Catholic Minimalism challenge is bathrooms.  We have four of them!  Last time around, I thoroughly minimized the two upstairs.  In the time since, the one on the main floor was repurposed when Emily moved all her things to the basement bathroom, which I won’t be dealing with at this moment as she is sharing it with her brother and his wife, who are moving out soon.

So . . . all this is to say that I did a quick go-over of the bathrooms on the first day and then devoted the rest of the week to the upstairs hallway, including the linen closet and the laundry room, all of which have been long-time disaster areas.  Here are some before pictures:

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This is the hallway at the top of our stairs, which leads to three bedrooms, a bathroom, the laundry room, the playroom, and the linen closet.

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These are pictures of the terrible laundry room with the ridiculous amounts of tablecloths I needed to go through as well as things we actually use but never put away.

I did not take any before pictures of the linen closet because it had been minimized already and did not really look that bad.

Here’s what I did:  First I bought four new laundry baskets from the Dollar General Store and organized all that laundry (clean!) from the first picture.  All that belongs to my son and daughter-in-law, who are only here temporarily.  There is nowhere to put it, and it’s not mine to minimize, but it looks much better coralled.  I also got William to carry all those boxes down to Lorelei’s room, because she was too lazy to do it and they have been sitting there for weeks.

Next I got Emily for moral support and we went through all the tablecloths and placemats in the laundry room plus all the towels and bedding in the linen closet and got rid of SO MUCH and put the rest away.  Everyone has their own towels already, and I only kept three extra emergency towels.    I was able to get rid of things I had held on to last time we did this, and I am sure that I will be able to let go of more tablecloths especially next time around.  Minimizing is an ongoing process and a mindset and you don’t have to everything all at once!

We will be going to Goodwill later this afternoon with three kitchen garbage bags full of towels, bedding, and table linens in good condition that someone else can enjoy!

The last step was to get Lorelei to help me go through the clothes that she never puts away in the laundry room.  We got rid of some and sent the rest downstairs to her room.  I also purchased two additional laundry baskets to keep her and William’s clothes organized as they leave the dryer and make it easier for them to be transported to their real home.

Here are the linen closets, the laundry room, and the hallway now:

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A little Catholic decor to finish things off

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Next Week:  Kitchen!

For more adventures in minimalism, read on:

My explanation of Catholic Minimalism.

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week One Redux

Posted in family, home decor | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

A Plethora of Peacocks: Lessons from Drama and Real Life

July 8, 2018 by lesliesholly

Back in my high school days, the Drama Club was one of my favorite extra-curricular activities.  I participated in every production that occurred while I was a student.

My all-time favorite role was Penelope (Penny) Sycamore, the mother in You Can’t Take It with You.  This wacky woman, the matriarch of an eccentric clan of characters, was always at her typewriter, writing plays.

As the climax of the action nears, we learn WHY Penny writes plays–because eight years ago, a typewriter was delivered to the house by mistake!

I think about his whenever I talk about the peacocks in my house.

We moved here nearly seven years ago, after our previous home burned down.  For three weeks John and I and the “little kids” lived at my sister’s house, the big boys stayed with friends, and our dog hung out at my other sister’s (Emily was away at college).  We needed somewhere to move quickly, somewhere that would accommodate our large family and our need for an in-home office.

We ended up in a home that had been customized by the prior renter, who apparently had a thing about peacocks.  There’s a peacock stepping stone in the garden and a statue just outside the front door.  There are peacocks painted on either side of the front entry and another in the breakfast nook.  There’s even a tiny one in their family coat of arms which we’ve chosen not to paint over in order to give this very new house a little bit of history.

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Now we could have asked our landlady to paint over all the peacocks.  (We did ask her to paint over the red tree on the living room wall which was encircled by the words “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one, single, solitary step.“)  Or we could have just tolerated the peacocks.

Instead, like Penelope Sycamore did with her misdelivered typewriter, we embraced the unexpected.  Searching for meaning, I found that peacocks have been a Christian symbol of resurrection, which seemed fitting as we left our old lives more or less in ashes and started all over with a new home and new possessions.

And, as it happens, Cracker Barrel has a collection of peacock decor items which have over the years put me in serious danger of becoming a crazy peacock lady.  I have a peacock lamp and a variety of decorative items like candle holders and vases in peacock colors.  I bought throw pillows to match the theme and eventually plan to paint one wall a peacock blue.  I even have peacock shoes!

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As I wrote the above, I realized that maybe there’s a reason why the role of Penelope Sycamore was my favorite role meant so much to me.  I don’t know whether I absorbed something from her, or if the casting was foreshadowing, but there is more of Penny in me than I ever knew.

Like her, I’m the mother in a houseful of rowdy people who may or may not be related to me at any given time.  Penny welcomed a Russian ballet teacher, an expat grand duchess, a drunken actress, and the mailman (who never left) with unfailing hospitality and good humor.  When my boys were younger it was not unusual for our house to be filled with people I had never seen before.

Penny didn’t let her family responsibilities get in the way of her personal pursuits, and neither do I.  Like Penny, painting or typing with the chaos all around her, I’ve learned to tune out all but the loudest screams while I blog or read.  I ignore the shenanigans in my basement just like Penny remained unfazed by the sounds of exploding fireworks in hers.

Like her, I’ve learned not to care about being conventional but rather to follow my heart and allow my family members to do the same.  Penny equally applauded her husband’s fireworks, her son-in-law’s printing, her older daughter’s dancing, her younger daughter’s engagement, and her father’s snake-collecting.  It never occurred to her to worry about what others would think of the family’s lifestyle.

Penelope Sycamore was completely secure in herself and her family.  She didn’t even think about whether other people would like her or not.  She was able to put worry aside, fully inhabit her days, and enjoy life as it came.  I’m not there yet, but I’m trying.

I will not die an unlived life . . . I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid . . .

~ Dawna Markova

Thank you, Penny.  Now bring on the peacocks!

Posted in Deep Thoughts, family, FIRE, Gratitude, home decor, Parenting | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Summer Fun: In Which I Grow Lazy

July 7, 2018 by lesliesholly

I’ll admit it–it is harder to have fun all the time than you might think.  Honestly, I really, really like sitting at my desk having uninterrupted time to get work done.  Leaving the house is stressful, and sandwiching fun in between not only work but also family business like medical appointments (two this week) is not easy.

So this week I outsourced some of the fun to John, and therefore this post will be short on pictures even though the week was not short on fun!

On Monday evening, John took the kids to see The Incredibles 2.  John and the kids all love movies, me not so much, so that’s been “his thing” since the big kids were little.

Tuesday I took the kids and Emily out to breakfast at Maple Street Biscuit Company, a newish place that I had been passing daily while picking up William at school and had been dying to try.  If there’s one where you are, you should go.  Only William was not a fan, because the waffles had infinitesimally tiny bacon pieces in them which he admitted he could not taste but had to remove one by one anyway.

Wednesday was the Fourth of July (I’m sure that is not news to you).  We had a cookout at our house with my family.  We had planned to go downtown for the symphony and fireworks show afterwards but it was like a million degrees so instead we took William’s suggestion (actually his demand) and watched Independence Day, which is definitely one of my top ten favorite movies of all time.  Bonus:  everyone in our neighborhood was shooting off fireworks like crazy and we could see them through our windows without leaving the television or the air conditioning.

Thursday was the big event of the week, planned for some time since I had bought a Groupon for it months ago–a visit to Rainforest Adventures,  which is an hour’s drive away in Sevierville.

Things I liked:  it was mostly inside and air-conditioned, we could see the animals up close and they seemed very happy and well-cared for.

Thing I did NOT like:  The overwhelming stench of animal urine that greeted us the moment we walked in the gift shop and literally made me feel ill throughout the two hours we were there.

Here are a few highlights:

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William with the serval

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Lorelei and William admire two ridiculously large pythons

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William with the black caiman

Friday it was John’s turn again.  This time he took Lorelei and William to see Ant Man and the Wasp.

I take Saturdays off.  So far they are all still sleeping which is fine with me.

See more summer fun posts below.

Why We Can’t Have a 70s Summer and What We Are Doing Instead

The Summer Fun Continues . . .

More Summer Fun

Summer Fun Update

Summer Fun:  Vacation

That 70s Summer

Posted in family, Knoxville, Parenting, teenagers, Vacations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

When God’s Generosity Meets the Demands of Conscience and Science

July 2, 2018 by lesliesholly

I’m a cradle Catholic, born in 1967. And I recall hearing a lot about the birth control pill growing up. I doubt I had any idea how it worked, but I had the general impression from the books I read, the media I consumed, and the people I knew that taking it was just what people did.

I knew that Catholics weren’t supposed to use contraception, and I personally knew many families who appeared to take that teaching to heart. In my Catholic school at that time there were still many big Catholic families with seven kids or more. However, in twelve years of Catholic education I don’t recall EVER hearing this teaching explained. The Church, as I experienced it, taught it was wrong but not WHY. I definitely had the impression that this was some old-fashioned idea that was safe to ignore.

Read the rest at A Drop in the Ocean, where I am guest posting today.

Posted in Catholicism, Contraception, Deep Thoughts, marriage | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Catholic Minimalism Redux: Week One

June 30, 2018 by lesliesholly

Remember back at the beginning of the year when I was participating in the Catholic Minimalism Challenge, and making all kinds of progress, and posting impressive updates?

Well, along about week three, we got the flu.  For the second time.  As you might expect, that derailed basically everything except survival.

But a new challenge started last week, and I jumped at the chance to pick up where I left off.

Week One is supposed to be the Master Bedroom, which I did thoroughly in January.  In addition, I have kept up with it in the months since, and have even gotten rid of more things.  So I only needed to devote one day.  I went through the closet and drawers, and got rid of two small bags of clothes and a stack of books.  I did not go through all the jewelry and the sentimental things–I think once a year is enough for that.

I don’t have any pictures from the first day as there just isn’t that much change to show.  For the rest of the week, I worked on the hallway outside my office  I was SO EXCITED to tackle this area!  Here’s before:

 

What a mess, right?  Things were constantly getting knocked off  the top and on to the floor, and every time I walked by all that mess it made me sad.

This was the perfect time to tackle this area, because most of this is homeschooling material, and my homeschooling days have ended.  Lorelei will enter 8th grade at the local public school in August.

So I went through all of the homeschooling books, and got rid of some of them.  I probably should get rid of a lot more, and I admit that putting them in boxes and moving them into the garage, which will be the VERY LAST THING that ever gets minimalized, is just punting the problem down the road.  But let’s not let the perfect be the enemy of the good, right?

Lorelei is spending some time dog-sitting for my sister with Emily, so I did not have her much-needed assistance with this project.  Therefore there is another box filled with things that she will need to go through.  Not my box, not my problem!

I’ll show you what it looks like now, and then I will explain what I’ve put there.

 

This shelf and this area now mostly belong to me.  I am feeling happy that as my children grow and sort of leave, I am able to claim more space in this house for myself.

I love that the top is currently bare.  I hope it can stay that way.  I might consider putting some pictures or decorative items there, but the space is crowded and things might get knocked off.

The top shelf is primarily books I have received in exchange for my honest review thereof, or have won via social media giveaways.  I probably don’t need to keep them all; that’s something I will revisit next time I go through the challenge.  At least I want to keep a list of them.  I am also keeping whatever books I am currently reading on that shelf, and my extra journals.  Most of these books were previously stacked in a dusty heap on the bottom shelf, and some were sitting in a cardboard box in my office, a space that has now been freed up!

Second shelf are Catholic project items.  For example, I have a binder for the Catholic Minimalism Challenge, and it lives there.  My prayer journal is there.  My binder with various Advent and Lent and other liturgical year tools is there.

The bottom shelf is a work in progress.  It currently contains homeschool materials that I borrowed from others and need to return, and extra folders, notebooks, and such that may be needed when school begins.  I’m thinking that we will need space for extra paper and school supplies for use in doing homework and I am willing to use the bottom shelf for that if need be.  I will have a better idea how I will use that space by the next Challenge.

Finally, in the corner you will see a couple of totes.  Yes, I found a use for some of the many totes that were taking up space in my bedroom!  One of them is holding a lot of prayer journaling supplies–scissors, glue stick, colored pens and pencils and markers, Catholic coloring book, prayers, prayer cards.  The tote keeps them contained, and if I want to go elsewhere to journal everything is ready!  The other tote is holding a special Christmas gift from my husband–a monthly subscription to a mystery to solve.  It’s really fun but also takes time we don’t seem to have, so I am keeping it all organized here so that when we devote an evening to working on it, everything is ready to go.

So there you have it! Next week is bathrooms.  Again I expect to spend one day on them, and then I am planning on working on the laundry room and the upstairs hallway for the rest of the week.

Posted in Catholicism, family, home decor, homeschooling | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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