DAY TEN OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Today is day ten of the Happiness Project.  I posted my September chart of happiness.  So far I have been working on my emotional clutter.  Today I tackled a nagging task.  I had some outstanding project with a client and I have been procrastinating dealing with it.  I have been procrastinating and procrastinating for two months.  Today I finally emailed the client and asked for the item they owed me so I could finish the project.  They were happy to hear from me.  I thought they would be angry which is why I procrastinated.  Another reason not to procrastinate.  You never know what will happen and it makes no sense to assume you do.

I have also been working on Observing the Evening Tidy Up.  That means that before I go to bed or go downstairs, I go around and pick up any items that are lying around.  Hang up a coat, put my keys in the bowl, dishes in dishwasher, shoes by front door, and mail recycled or dealt with.  That keeps the house tidy and I don't have to do as much in one big clean up .

Until tomorrow...

DAY NINE OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Today is day nine of the happiness project.  I arrived home from my trip today.  Usually I would drop all of my bags and things and sit down.  Today I tried a new way.  I took the items from the car and took them to the room where they belonged.  I immediately put the food away.  Then I put the CDs away. (yes, I have a car that takes CDs.)  Then I put away the items in my office: umbrella, tripod, backpack.  Then when I was watching TV, I unpacked my suitcase and put everything away.  I unpacked my bathroom bag and medicines.  Next thing I knew I was all unpacked.

It felt good to have it all done.  Then I ordered food to be delivered.  After I ate, I made the bed and put out the clean towels.  Everything was done but the laundry.  Since it was so darn hot, I am waiting on that.

Here are the last of the photos with Joy.

Joy having grapefruit with brulee

Joy enjoying a sunny day with the top down!

Finally at home.  Time to relax!

Until tomorrow...

DAY EIGHT OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Today is day eight of the Happiness Project. Almost home and the closer I get the more I am thinking about how things will be different.  How I want to rearrange the house.  How I want to do things differently.  It all seems to easy in my head.  It is just so much harder in real life. 

On a side note I heard this weekend that my very young niece has a very serious eye problem that has required her to be hospitalized and all sorts of specialists to be called in.  Folks have been asked not to call and my sister-in-law is posting information on her blog so she doesn't have to keep repeating stuff.  I am respecting their wishes and send them my thoughts.

Joy at the Rogue River.

Lunch at a Rest Stop.

The Peerless Inn in Ashland.

Ring shopping in Ashland. Joy bought a beautiful Oregon Sunstone.

Best Vegan Milkshake!!

Joy is enjoying another vegan burger. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY SEVEN OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Today is the seventh day of the Happiness Project.  This trip is making it easy to feel less cluttered.  I have been sleeping deeply.  I actually slept past 6:15 am.  I am spending a lot of time thinking about my project and can't wait to get home to actually work on it.  Meanwhile we can enjoy Joy's journey.

Joy is enjoying a glass of micro beer.

Joy is at the otter tank.  That is an otter of Joy's left shoulder.

Joy is at an ocean blow hole.  She is also enjoying the afternoon at the beach.  The wind has picked up her dress. Naughty girl!

Until tomorrow...

DAY SIX OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Today is the sixth day of the Happiness Project.  I had a rough day yesterday after doing so many things.  I went to see sea lions that were not there.  I saw a lighthouse, a churn, and went to lunch.  It was a packed day and I was out in the sun for too long.  Today we saw a lot but I stayed out of the sun for the most part. 

I have been thinking about my plan to reorganize the house.  I want to switch things up a bit and I have been planning things in my head.  I have to see if any of my plans will work once I get back.

Thai food for lunch. Joy likes her food spicy.

Joy took a hike up to this waterfall.

Joy enjoyed watching these ATVers. 

Another view enjoyed by Joy.

Joy needed to buy groceries for dinner.  She was making vegan and non-vegan pizza.

Until tomorrow...

DAY FIVE OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Today is day five of the happiness project.  I took a lot of stuff with me.  I kept telling myself that it didn't matter since I was driving and I could take as much as I wanted.  I think that worked against me.  I never read a magazine and I took three.  I took two books to write in and I never wrote a word.  I took my tennis sneakers and I never wore them.  I took more audio books than I could listen to in two trips.  I could have pared my stuff down a bit and had less to carry.  The lesson is just because you have the room doesn't mean you should pack stuff in every crevice.

Joy at my friends house taking a nap

  Not too many Joy photos today.  Joy had to stay behind when we went sightseeing, she wasn't feeling well today.  She will be feeling better tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

DAY FOUR OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Day four of the Happiness Project.  It is hard to work on clutter when I am on the road.  I am certainly making due with so much less.  I am very organized on the road.  I don't want to leave anything behind so I am ultra organized with my things.  I took a lot of stuff on this trip because I was going to be in the car for five days.  I drove from CA to OR.  I drove for five out of the eight days.  I had plenty of snacks and drinks and vegan food in case the places I stopped didn't have any.  Come prepared!

Joy eating breakfast at the B&B

Joy eating lunch in Oregon

Getting some gas in Oregon.  They pumped her gasoline, checked her oil and washed her window.

Taking a rest break.

Joy on the Oregon coast.

Until tomorrow...

DAY THREE OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Still driving and thinking.  Working out my emotional stuff in the car.  Okay maybe I am not but it sounds good doesn't it?  I am mostly trying to see how long I can go before I think about the situation.  Pretty long if I have the audio book on.

Joy on the California Coast

Joy at the Avenue of the Giants

Joy getting comfy at the B&B

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Okay, it is day two of the project.  Since I am out of town, it has been hard for me to tackle the clutter issue when it comes to objects.  So I decided to work on emotional issues.  I spent some time today in the car thinking about my emotional clutter. I have a lot of baggage right now and it needs to go.  I am working on it.

While I was driving I listened to an audio book about a women who had a loss and was making it back to real life.  See, working on my issues through an audio book!

On this trip I decided I wanted to do something fun.  I thought about how people bring gnomes on their trips and put them in their photos.  I wanted to do something similar.  I looked around for something that meant something to me.  For an object.  But I could not find anything in the house so I went to the mall.  Then I found it.  JOY.  If you have seen the movie Inside/Out, you will remember Joy.  She was the positive emotion that countered all the negative emotions (fear, anger, sadness, and disgust).  She was the one who tried to make it all okay.  I took the Joy doll with me on vacation and took photos with Joy all over the place.

Joy and I eating lunch on our first day on the road.

Joy at the Inn

Joy eating her delicious vegan dinner

It was a blast taking these photos.  It made me smile.

Until tomorrow...

DAY ONE OF THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

I have been reading this book titled "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin.  I read the book before and blogged about it back a year ago.  Now that my life has gone through a change, I decided to do my own Happiness Project.

A Happiness Project is when you pick a time frame and choose things you want to work on that will make you happy.  In the book Gretchen takes one year and every month she works on a new topic.  Such as family, spouse, work, home, etc.  Then she makes a grid of topics that she wants to work on. Some of the topics might be Spend more quality time with spouse.  Or Create a work blog.  She also made some rules to live by. 

After a year of pondering I decided I wanted to do a happiness project.  I started on September 1.  My first month is all about Clutter.  Actual clutter, emotional clutter, all sorts of clutter.  My title is: Clear out the funk.  Sub title: “I just need some time in a beautiful place to clear my head.”  

My Categories are: 

• Clear out closets and garage
• Clear out emotional clutter
• Tackle a nagging task
• Restore, maintain, organize
• Use my "to do list"
• Identify the problem and solve it
• Follow the "1 minute rule"
• Observe evening tidy up rules
  

Each day I need to observe as many of these categories as I can.  If I do observe any of them, I get a star in that square.  The point is to get as many stars as I can. 

I am so ready to do this and find my happiness.  I am going to blog about it while I do this project.  Why? you might ask.  I think there is a connection between happiness and health.  Happiness and rheumatoid arthritis.  Happiness and getting up and moving.  Happiness and life.

If I am right, my happiness is going to make me feel better.  I know that just feeling happy is not going to cure my RA.  I just think there is a correlation and I want to see it in action.  Happy patient keeps RA at bay.  Stay tuned.

Until tomorrow...