SmallNotebook.org in 30 Seconds

I want to welcome everyone who has visited Small Notebook lately (welcome new readers from Lifehacker, Apartment Therapy, and Nesting Place — what a week it’s been!)

I know it can be hard to find everything in the archives of a blog, so let me share the simple philosophies we talk about here on Small Notebook:

1. Life is simpler when we have less stuff. (You can see my paper pile makeover.)

2. The fewer things we keep, the more special they are. (Do you struggle with too many sentimental things?)

3. Organize until it’s good enough, then stop.

4. You don’t need a house to feel at home. (How to make the most of your apartment.)

5. Taking care of our home is about taking care of people.

We have an amazing community here so you should definitely check out the comments at the end of each post.

Book update: I’m writing an e-book about how to simplify blogging. I’ve been blessed and thrilled to see this place grow to more than 10,000 subscribed readers, but I haven’t even joined Facebook. I don’t blog about blogging, but I have a lot to say about it, and every time I hear someone ask, “How do I balance my time with blogging?” it makes me write faster.

I cannot wait until this book is ready to share with you next month. (Click here to be added to the email list so you won’t miss it!)

Thanks for reading here,

My Day is a Series of Five Minutes at a Time

“Now we’re in trouble,” thought Blue Kangaroo.

Some days go so smoothly, I get an amazing amount of things crossed of my list.

Some days when I look at the clock, I can’t believe it’s lunch time because I don’t know where the morning went.

As a mother to small children, it can be hard when I feel like I lose control over my day. It seems like small things shouldn’t take a long time to do, changing a diaper for instance, but everything takes so much time when you add it together.

When a morning presents difficult challenges, like this morning when I cleaned up a mess that is too gross to tell you about, it’s easy to feel sabotaged. How many times have I wondered if my children are working against me? Like when you’re trying to get ready to go somewhere, and your kid takes her shoes and socks off at the moment you should be walking out the door.

In life with small children, interruptions and messes and small things are not disruptions to my day, they are my day, and I should be ready for them. Why would I expect my day to go as I planned?

It’s just a rule of life, along with our family rule of “Don’t put nuts in your nose,” and the advice that it’s simply no use to rush a three year old. So I hope to laugh about it and know that these days won’t last long.

Detective Snow White is annoyed that Tom doesn’t want to go on a secret mission with her, and we need to go to the grocery store, which is an adventure in itself. So here we go…

If You Could Live Anywhere…

A couple of days ago Doug called me at home and said he read that with about $30,000 of income a year, our family could move to Belize and live on the beach.

Where was Belize?

It took me a split second to decide that I could quickly sell our furniture and move.

I don’t know why I was suddenly willing to do that.

Maybe it’s all these years of apartment living. Or maybe it’s how I am SO OVER my stuff.

It was obvious what my priorities were by my first two questions:

1. What kinds of food would we eat?

2. Do they have internet?

Doug said that yes, they do have internet, so if we move to Belize I can keep blogging, but I’ll be doing it with my toes in the white sand.

I’ve never chosen a city and just moved there. Every move has been job-related. I don’t think we’ll really move to Belize, but I love the idea that we could go anywhere.

Good Reads: the Smokin’ Hot Edition

Almonds are drying on trays on my apartment balcony.

Who needs a dehydrator when it’s a hundred and seven outside? Thank you, Texas.

(If you’re wondering what drying almonds is all about, soak nuts for several hours in salt water, then dehydrate them until they’re crispy crunchy. It makes them tasty and easier to digest. The Nourishing Gourmet explains it better.)

Good Reads for your weekend:

Little Changes, Big Results — from Pink of Perfection

Temporary Living — from Like Mother, Like Daughter

Garage Sales are Weird — from Sit a Spell

Decoration Philosophy — from White as Linen

How to Make a Bento (Lunch) Box — from Alpha Mom (The cuteness will kill me. I love this stuff.)