Brand New....but glad to be here!

Subject: Brand New....but glad to be here! Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:51 am

Good morning!

My name is Susie, and I'm a 52-year-old wife and mother to two teenaged boys. We live in a lovely little town called Delmar, near Albany, New York. Our home is a 1919 Crafstman two-story with a large front porch, sleeping porch off the master bedroom, and wee back porch. We can walk to restaurants, coffee shops, library, schools, Farmer's markets....it's a lovely place to live.

My circumstances have recently changed such that I am now home full-time, and oh, my, am I in trouble. While I love and appreciate an orderly, clean home filled with good scents from the kitchen, and with fresh linens and sparkly clean windows, I have no routines and structures to get there!

It's ironic, that after years of working as a health care professional, I find myself at a loss in my fifties as to how to run a proper home. I'm taking my first steps by just digging myself out of the clutter that's accumulated and beginning to work on little routines.

I am so appreciating this website. It's so inspiring. I do have aprons, so I guess maybe you'll all let come in and play?

Susie

Subject: Re: Brand New....but glad to be here! Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:01 pm

Susie...I love the sound of your home....porches are "my thing" and I don't have any. Brought back childhood memories of sleeping on our porch, playing "house" etc....it was a lovely spot to just "be."

Welcome to Brocante....glad you've found us. My circumstances have recently changed too and I understand just what you mean about trying to get a routine in place...I'm not much good at that so we can "flounder" together. (lol) I was working in our newsagent's business over 50 hours a week and am no longer doing that so I have lots of time to sort out our flat. Trouble is I a a great procastinator and I spread my work to fill my day...maybe that is your problem too?

Anyhow....enjoy reading and participating to Brocante. Glad you're here.

Jacquie x (I'm in the UK)
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Subject: Re: Brand New....but glad to be here! Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:59 pm

Jacquie, please to make your acquaintance. Thank you for the warm welcome. My avatar is a picture of my front porch. It's large enough for a long dining table and chairs on one end, and a sofa and loveseat with tables at the other. Since our home is small, we use the front porch as an auxiliary seasonal living and dining room. Very pleasant to eat out there, nap, or read and have some tea.

My problem isn't so much procrastination, as I just feel overwhelmed by the chaos that's developed over the years. My husband is a fabulous saver who doesn't like parting with anything. So there is a lot of STUFF we don't use. We have so many books, we have no room for them!

I've just decided to go room by room decluttering properly until I get to the point where I can do a proper scrub. Thankfully, my kitchen is in decent shape and is reasonably clean.

Thanks again for the welcome, and perhaps we can cheer each other on!

Susie

Subject: Re: Brand New....but glad to be here! Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:24 pm

Hi Susie and welcome.

Subject: Re: Brand New....but glad to be here! Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:28 pm

Welcome to this land of all types of organizing, puttering about, vintage ideas, and alot of nice people from all over the place.
We may be spread around like butter on a homemade slice of bread but we have alot in common, and are so very different too.
I had a therapist that said to me....how do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time of course. Your house will come in bites and you will enjoy it if you let yourself. Stressing doesn't get it done, just alot of extra lines and wrinkles...bah humbug, we can't have that!
I'm from the states too in Florida, it is hotter than heck here, can't stand it. If I had a choice and hope to soon, I'd like to go back to Ohio where I'm originally from, for a short time only during the summer. I have two kids grown and out of the house. I'm divorced and would like to find a nearly perfect man to share my time with but I think they are all living on a desserted island somewhere.....the perfect men are gay...
or so they think...LOL...
Have a nice Saturday and nice meeting you.
Barbara

Subject: Re: Brand New....but glad to be here! Sat Jun 21, 2008 2:17 pm

Barb, thank you for the kind welcome. Where in Florida do you live? My husband grew up in Miami. His sister still live there, and I love visiting and seeing the incredible tropical foliage.

As far as men go, do persist! I met my husband online in 2000; we married in October, 2003 and are very happy together. After my divorce, and being a single mom for a couple of years, I went about finding a husband the same way I went about getting a career: doing everything in my power to maximize the changes of success. Took a while, but he was worth waiting for. Don't give up!

Susie

Subject: Re: Brand New....but glad to be here! Sat Jun 21, 2008 4:04 pm

Hi Susie. Welcome to Brocante! I LOVE how your house sounds. Don't fret too much about the clutter. Do a room at a time. I found myself in a similar position after years as a working mum ie: divorced, remarried. I changed continents and went from full time to part time to not working outside the home.

You gradually develop a routine and one that, thankfully, gives you a lot more leeway than the one you had previously!

Looking forward to hearing more from you.
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Subject: Re: Brand New....but glad to be here! Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:12 am

Welcome Susie. We are so glad you are here! And believe me - you have, as Barb put it, come to a very welcome land. We all know, in various ways or another, just what you are feeling.

I adore Craftsman style homes, and your sounds spectacular! I love the photo of the dining area porch - I'm assuming that is your home. So pretty!

I find the hardest part of getting control over your home is letting go of the perfectionism that controls you. Oh is it tough! I'm still struggling with that but getting better.