Category Archives: Operation: Reclaim My Life

Operation: Reclaim the House: What I Planned vs. Reality

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Operation: Reclaim the House, Week Two

The Plan: Paint the front bedroom, switch around furniture and BOOM, move Pippa into her new bedroom.

The Hiccup: Julian was a close contact last Friday and had to do distance learning this week.

Poop.

The Reality Check: There was no way in hell that I was going to paint a room for the first time while distance learning with my six-year-old.

The Feelings: I was super bummed to delay this project. Pippa was devastated by the delay. And Julian was sad he couldn’t go to school.

Monday: I started deep cleaning the kitchen. “Started” being the operative word of that sentence. The microwave and toaster oven are now sparkling, thank you very much. Then I moved on to the main bathroom and whipped my medicine cabinet into shape. I smile every time I open it. It is so wonderful to take out my deodorant without risking a toiletries avalanche.

I thoroughly enjoyed creating this visual of a toiletries avalanche.

Tuesday: Dark feelings. Julian and I were both grumpy, resisting the s-show that is distance learning. We went to a local nature spot and got barefoot in a stream. It was glorious and exactly what we needed.

Wednesday: Frustrated by the delays in reclaiming the house, I tackled the cutlery drawer. I just wanted to take everything out, give it a good cleaning, and declutter anything we didn’t need. Alas, I only finished about 80% of the job. Le Sigh. Distance learning is a real bitch.

Thursday: Thursday was yesterday. But I am drawing a blank as to what we did. I think it involved YouTube.

Literally no idea what transpired yesterday.

Friday: While Julian powered through worksheets (so. many. worksheets.), I indulged in some retail therapy but it was all in the name of Operation: Reclaim the House. First, I bought velvet coat hangers that will take up less space than my clunky plastic ones (allegedly):

Then, little plastic containers because damnit, I’m sick of storing q-tips in a ceramic mug.

I had to get this toothbrush and toothpaste organizer because I’m sick of toothpaste oozing all over the counter.

These Swedish dishcloths are supposedly more absorbent than regular dish towels and take up less space.

And last but not least, I am really excited about this dispenser for the shower. I’m going to first use if for the kids’ bath products. If it’s any good, I’ll buy one for the grownups. Yay!

Final Thoughts On Week Two Of Operation: Reclaim the House: Distance learning is a certified bitch but retail therapy helps.

Next week: I’d like to say that I’ll get the bedroom painted but I’m wary of making plans while Omicron rages…

I Got A New Desk And My Life Is Already Better

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Operation: Reclaim the House

Week One, January 1-7, 2022

Long story short: I GOT A NEW DESK AND I AM FUCKING OBSESSED!

As part of Operation: Reclaim The House, I am giving the kids their own bedrooms. Julian will keep the room they share, and Pippa gets our guest room/office/disaster zone. This is where my desk lived:

It certainly has character.

The desk fits the window nook perfectly, and Pippa needs a desk, so I decided she would inherit the desk with the room BUT WHAT ABOUT ME? I’m a writer! I need somewhere to write! Then I realized the window in our living room is the perfect spot for a desk. I ordered myself this desk from Amazon, set it up yesterday, and I am officially obsessed.

Why didn’t I think of this before? Probably because I was busy with babies and then preschoolers and pandemics. But seriously: why didn’t I think of this sooner?

I’m so happy!

Next up: Painting Pippa’s future bedroom. This will be my first time painting a room (gulp) but how hard can it be? [Insert hysterical laughter]

A Brave New World: The Intuitive Eating Edition

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I quit Noom.

I broke up with diet culture.

2022 is the year I reclaim my body and heal my relationship with food.

I have tingles just writing these things. Good tingles. Excited tingles!

I joined Noom in February 2020. I weighed 209 pounds. I lost twenty pounds. Then I regained some. Lost some. Regained some. My weight crept up and up until I weighed in at 230 pounds in November 2021.

God I am so sick of dieting and diet culture and all the shame, shame, so much fucking shame.

I wrote plenty of blog posts about Noom and the things I was learning and how I was convinced that this was it. This was the “lifestyle change” that was going to help me reach my “goal weight” whatever the fuck that means. I will keep those posts – for now. (Though writing this, I find myself thinking it would be very cathartic to delete them!)

Noom asks “Noomers” to step on the scale every. single. morning. I have not stepped on a scale since before sometime before Christmas. I do not know how much I weigh right now.

Why do I feel like I have escape a cult?

In 2022, I am working to Reclaim My Life. From January through March, I am focusing on Reclaiming My House. Then, I will switch gears and focus on Reclaiming My Body for three months. But even though my focus is currently on decluttering, cleaning, and changing up our home, I am already reclaiming my body.

Step One: I started reading Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating, by Christy Harrison. The book is dredging up all sorts of feelings. I am feeling a lot of resistance along the lines of, But I want to be thin! If I stop dieting, won’t I be fat forever? Can’t I be thin? Why am I doomed to be fat? I am going to feel these feelings, explore my resistance, and listen to my inner voice.

I do not know where my inner voice will take me, but I do know this: for years, my inner voice has been pointing me toward intuitive eating. Maybe I will embrace intuitive eating for the rest of my life. Maybe my inner voice will lead me somewhere else next. But I know that magic happens when I listen to my inner voice, so I am diving into intuitive eating.

I have no idea what I’m doing.

I’m terrified but also elated.

And I feel this comforting cozy peace, like I have arrived somewhere that I am meant to be.

It’s a brave new world. I don’t know what it looks like, but I know it does not involve Noom.

Operation: Reclaim My Life. Four Quarters To A Better Me In 2022.

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Over the past several months, the word “reclaim” has floated into my consciousness again and again. When I look at our messy house, I do not simply think about decluttering; I want to reclaim our home. When I practice hot yoga, I meditate on reclaiming my body. And when I journal about my beliefs and values, I yearn to reclaim my authentic self. Again and again, in different contexts, I think about reclaiming my life.

That is why, on the eve of 2022, I decided “reclaim” would be my word of the year.

While brainstorming ways to “reclaim my life”, I realized my work could be divided into four categories: home; body; inner child; and stories. The year divides nicely into quarters, so I will focus on each category for three months. Here’s my plan:

January-March: Reclaim the House. Declutter, deep clean, organize and start decorating.

April-June: Reclaim My Body. Quit diet culture. Adore my body. Move in ways that feel right to me.

July-September: Reclaim My Inner Child. Play! Have fun! Follow my curiosity! Be my most bitching, radiant self!

October-December: Reclaim My Stories. My words. My beliefs. My values. My canon.

Oh my goodness, I am so excited for my Reclaim Series.With Operation: Reclaim the House, I will clear out the junk and create space and energy for my other work. By the end of March, our house will be whipped into shape and I’ll have systems to keep it tidy. I’m sure I will still have work to do in terms of decorating (e.g. painting our kitchen cupboards white) but I’ll be ready to move on to…

… Operation: Reclaim My Body. That work has already started with hot yoga. But I am going to read up on intuitive eating, get massages, and shower my body with love. I imagine I’ll also invest in some new clothes. I have a few months to brainstorm this!

In July, I’ll switch gears to Operation: Reclaim My Inner Child. We have a pool, and I’ll have my own personal summer camp. My inner child is already doing backflips.

And then I’ll end the year with Operation: Reclaim My Stories. This work will require the most brainstorming, so I’m saving it for last. But I suspect that wihile I deep cleaning and decluttering our house this month, I will hit upon a few ideas to deep clean and declutter my soul all year long.