The Most Gorgeous...Time
Oh Happy Spring!
As I promised from my last post, here are some pics of my new WFH office situation! I have to admit, I love working in this space. The light is amazing, I haven't had to break out my webcam light to look human, no more sunken place. Please note my flying zebra "zoom" background, I'm very proud of it. I dislike background filters, so it was important for me to find a fun background that wasn't too much fun and distracting. I used a temporary zebra wallpaper by Scalamandre - very easy to apply. There is a version of this wallpaper, in red, in the film, The Royal Tenenbaums. I actually get quite a bit of interior design inspiration from films. If my family likes the film, we usually like whatever design element I glean from it. Please note, if your family's favorite film is some messed up slasher flick or Silence of the Lambs type thriller, that design trick may not work, also perhaps some family therapy is needed. I digress. If you haven't used temp wallpaper before, it's like a big sticker, so depending on the room you have it in, it can be very long lasting. I don't recommend it for use in bathrooms with showers, too steamy. There are many cost friendly options available and online tutorials on how to apply to walls and furniture. I currently have temp wallpaper all over my house, it's faster and cleaner than painting.
But of course the pièce de résistance is the "desk". I could've gone the traditional route with a proper desk but 1) I have a tough time being truly "traditional" 2) I don't plan to need a home office forever, I needed a flexible piece. This hella heavy concrete number, feels almost primitive but it can be used as a desk, a console, a foyer table...I've named it my Flintstones desk. I name stuff.
Speaking of naming things...the term "spring cleaning" is tired, ya? Like don't tell me when to clean. Also, we really should be deep cleaning more than once a year, but still why foul up and single out a wonderful season with a chore? I understand why some folks don't clean more often, it's a tedious task, kinda how I feel about gardening. Digging outside, no. God love all the gardeners and shops like Hummingbird Bouquets, they make having fresh flowers a labor- free joy! I digress, again. The pandemic shut down my social calendar, not hosting dinner parties and other get togethers at our house, meant no pressing "need" for a targeted deep clean. That's right, I use parties as a motivational exercise. For the first time in my life, I had to conscientiously think about and schedule cleaning. I also had to find ways to make cleaning more enjoyable, or at least less soul crushing. I use the "timer" method. I set a timer for about 1 hour, put on some cleaning tunes - Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill is excellent, especially if you're doing the cleaning by yourself while your partner is off doing something fun, like golfing. The timer helps me focus and move quickly through the task in order to keep from spending my entire day off cleaning. This works for me. I also picked up a game changing tip on bed linen. I used to buy full sheet sets for our beds, now I buy only "top" sheets and pillow cases, no fitted sheets. We have a mattress pad and I just lay a top sheet over the pad, as long as you're using a flat cotton (not sateen) or bamboo sheet, the sheet really doesn't move around that much, just tuck and it should hold. Even if you have a "Jimmy leg" sleeper in your bed, and the sheet does move, because there's no elastic, it won't snap off and creep off the corner like a fitted sheet. By no longer using a fitted sheet, one person can easily change the bed quickly, with zero thoughts of homicide while being stuck doing the chore alone. This is how many hotel beds are made. Our household has also moved to more natural cleaning products, there are so many available now but white vinegar is a true work horse, we buy in gallons and save hundreds or something.
Time
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Time 〰️
Blah, blah, blah - y'all know how to clean, but this is a lifestyle blog so I decided to throw in some housekeeping tips. But that's not what this post is about. It's about, "time". I use temp wallpaper and find shortcuts to changing bed linen because I'm becoming more aware of my precious time on earth. For real.
I learned something recently that shook me a little.
The average lifespan is about 76.5 years (that’s not what I learned) - obviously some people live shorter/longer lives but 76.5 is a benchmark. And 76.5 years in weeks is about 4000 weeks. WHAT?! Um. That just can't be right, it has to be more like 30,000, ya? Only 4,000? That's a small number. And that's what shook me. Okay, let's say we all make it to 90 years due to better healthcare, selfcare, and stubbornness - that's still only 4695 weeks! I checked and double checked the math. I'm not sure why seeing the lifespan in weeks vs years is so jarring for me. I guess because I know I have legit wasted more than a few weeks of my life on straight up bullshit. I’ve wasted weeks on stuff and situations I had no business obsessing about, like my looks, economics, family drama, work drama, how someone feels about me, if my house was clean enough to host my best friends, why did Will slap Chris....the list goes on. I wasted those weeks because I didn't think how small the number of weeks in a lifetime is - and the revelation humbled me. I have a HUGE, healthy ego, so to humble me is no small feat. As a result, I've decided to put just about everything through my new "time on earth" lens and it's been incredibly liberating. If there's a personal life task or even an unpleasant person that will waste a week of my time, I'll find a way around the encounter. If I go on holiday and it rains the whole damn time, I'm planning to slap on a rain jacket and have a wonderful holiday week. Rain happens. Some of us are fortunate enough to be able to pay someone to handle big week long tasks that we don't want to do, but I apply the rule now to other tasks and situations that don't take any money at all but have the potential to eat into my consciousness and soul longer than a week. I guess this revelation was my own form of "spring cleaning", I'm grateful for this knowledge.
Here's to efficient cleaning and maximizing the weeks and living life as fully as possible.