I’ve made pretty good inroads with decluttering. Batches of books are gone to the library, years of old clothes are gone to The Salvation Army. FlyLady got me started and keeps me going on serious decluttering.What? You don’t know FlyLady? Yikes, are you ever missing out!

Housework is last on my list of priorities, and nowhere on my list of interests. But since I hooked up with FlyLady and her delightfully tricky ways around housework, I don’t apologize for “this mess” when visitors come. Because it’s not a mess. It’s not a chore either. A bit of a miracle is what it is.

FlyLady isn’t for everybody, I found out. My friend was a perfect housekeeper for thirty years. Now she’s very nice about my shiny sink. But I can tell that my friend, whose kids are grown and who has reinvented herself, feels emancipated when she ignores dust. Oh, she’ll clean everything up, but first she flips housework the artistic finger, as it were.

With my home decluttered, I notice that I have no décor. I thought I’d find some décor under the clutter. In my world, clutter was décor. I was going on the principle that filling space is decorating. Nope, that’s just clutter. True, the closets and drawers are fantastic. But frankly, the living room looks like the Grinch just finished with it.

I think I’ll waltz on over to FlyLady’s site - see what she’s got re sprucing the place up a bit. I’m going to check out Cruising Through The Holidays too.

p.s. Nobody’s paying me to say this.

What’s introvert and what’s extravert behavior on New Year’s Eve? I don’t think you can tell them apart, except that introverts disappear occasionally.

Introverts need to recharge with solitude. On Year’s Eve, this can become party-hopping – when the time between parties is used as invigorating alone time. Another way is to hop in and out of the same party, but this tends to offend bewildered extraverts.
“Where’d you go?” they ask.
“Outside.”
“What for?”
Here’s where I run into trouble. The real answer is that I’m an introvert, parties sap my energy, and I need to recharge alone. Even if I could be heard over the din of the party, I’d still be misunderstood. They’d think I’d said, “You tire me.” And that just isn’t true. So instead I say, “I wanted a little air.”
Keep smiling. Keep dancing. Help pass around champagne in fluted glasses. Loiter near the spinach dip and schmooze a bit.
And an hour later, try to steal another quarter hour of quiet air.

I wonder if there’s such a thing as a loud introvert. Since introversion and extraversion have to do with how we recharge our energy, I can’t see how ‘loud’ should come into it. Although it must have been an introvert who originally said, ‘Be quiet, I can’t hear myself think.” And the extravert would have the one thinking out loud.

I guess those are stereotypes. Extraverts aren’t necessarily shallow and introverts aren’t necessarily deep.

When we were teenagers, my brother wanted to apply to a military academy. So Mom set him up with his very own special study space, where he would go after dinner and remain until … well, the next morning. The rest of the family kept very, very quiet. Bro eschewed all sports – that’s like me eschewing books – as well as TV and radio. The result: his grades went down. Today I think I know why. Bro is the family extravert. The rest of us are introverts. We didn’t know that being alone was distracting for him, just as distracting as being with people would be for the rest of us. Bro was not recharged by solitude. He was drained by it.

Since then I’ve had the example of Emily and Brandon, my niece and nephew. Emily studies in the kitchen, the action center of the house, with the radio going, the telephone ringing, neighbors traipsing in and out, everybody talking all at once – and she studies right out loud. When her parents check her homework they find it’s well done. Brandon, on the other hand, is an introvert. He’s young and wants to stay with everybody else. His parents allow that for a while. Then they check his homework. Sometimes he’s accomplished almost nothing, so he has to finish studying at his desk in his room. They try very hard to make him know he’s not being banished. Sometimes he polishes off his homework in half an hour, if he’s alone.

I think of washing instructions that come on tags for clothes. Wouldn’t it be helpful if people came with instructions?

Introverts who live in the Toronto area or are planning to visit this year might be interested in attending SPLASH! This one day workshop will be facilitated by Carole Cameron, author of the forthcoming book, SPLASH! An Introvert’s Guide to Being Seen, Heard and Remembered.

On the same web page, I noticed another book, The Happy Introvert: A Wild and Crazy Guide for Celebrating Your True Self by Elizabeth Wagele. I was hoping to find it at my local library, but unfortunately, they don’t have it. I have a Chapters gift certificate which someone gave me last year (earlier this year, actually, but my mind is already in 2007 mode) - maybe I will look for it there!

We had a storm recently and the power went off. We had been told it was coming so when the power went off, we were not surprised-not prepared, but not surprised.

It was a windstorm. I’m not very fond of windstorms. I’ve lived in places where the wind would blow all the time. It gets on your nerves when it blows all the time. You pretend it doesn’t bother you, but it does. And sometimes the wind howls and moans and races across the valley before it hits your house and you think the roof is lifting off.

This wind was like that-or so my neighbor said. Her house is sitting higher than mine and is more exposed. She stayed awake and feared this wind-like I used to do when I lived in exposed houses. This time I slept.

In the morning the power was still off. And it was kind of an adventure. A little scary as people tried to call others and learned that some land phones worked and some did not; some cell phones worked and some did not. And then as it got light I surveyed the damage. Many branches down. Enough to build a good size tree. My house was ok. But what about everyone else?

That made it hard. I couldn’t watch TV or listen to the radio. I couldn’t find out what had happened elsewhere. A helicopter hovered overhead for quite some time before slowly moving on. Wearing only my nightgown I watched it from my front step. As it flew over I noticed a neighbor also watching it-also wearing her nightgown. I heard that radio stations were advising people where they could still get gas-and that there was mass confusion. Attempts to (unsuccessfully) track down shelters where faithfully reported. People called in suggesting ways to keep exotic pets warm.

When it was again dark, a neighbor invited me to share their fireplace. It was a welcome break.

It wasn’t until the following morning that I walked to the next block and saw that a neighbor’s tree had fallen. It lay parallel to the road and beside the house. A large section of sidewalk and driveway were raised and broken into 3 large pieces; I could look down into the hole where the roots had been; a broken cable wound through the roots.

That night it got cold. I slept in my thermal underwear, lined jeans, 2 sweatshirts, a vest, a hat, and socks. Even under layers of blankets I was cold. The next day I accepted my daughter’s invitation to go to her house. There I slept in a bunk bed and was finally able to get warm. My ferret stayed in her guest bathroom. The ferret had been even colder than I.

The following night, late, when I checked my answering machine, I heard my message. The next morning I went home. My grandson, upset that I had left while he was asleep, told me “don’t ever leave without telling me again!”

My son was without power 24 hours, my daughter, 48; I went 96 hours without. Four houses across the street were dark for 8 days. Now, 13 days later, “all but a hand-full have their power restored.”

Most of us lost the contents of our refrigerators and freezers. For some of us that “clean-out” was long overdue. No more trying to read by candlelight. Many businesses that never close, did. Eleven people lost their lives due to carbon monoxide poisoning. Neighbors came together and checked on each other. Committees are being formed to “learn how we can react better in the future.” People knew (government did not) that checking on-line for emergency information doesn’t work when there is no power.

Now, my freezer has 100 tea lite candles-ready for the next “storm of the century”. I still carry a flashlight in my pocket

And now, because that is the way things work, there is a contest to “name the storm.”

I came across this interesting blog entry: The Introvert’s Path To Success: Learn To Act Like An Extrovert

A couple of excerpts, and my comments:

I’ve learned to live in an extroverted world and have even been called a “closet extrovert” because if someone brings up business as a topic of discussion I will end up talking for hours.

I also become very talkative when it’s a subject that excites me - like personality type, or organizing!

I am not particularly shy, so I don’t mind interacting with people and trying to be extroverted, but it does have side effects. … After two hours … I am exhausted and ready to go home.

If I am out at networking or other events on two or (shudder) more days in a row, it’s not unusual for me to then stay in for several days afterwards.

Some of the other entries and articles linked from this sound very interesting too - I’m looking forward to checking them out!

I can’t let the holiday get away from me before sharing with you an article, written by Dr. Elaine Aron (author of The Highly Sensitive Person): What to Do About Extravert Envy. Introvert herself, she has some interesting things to say about it.

Enjoy, and have a warm and wonderful holiday.

I found out what feels so wonderful about washing windows in the springtime. It’s Vitamin D. As tempting as it may be to shelter from winter by the warmth of a cozy fire, the result can be a SAD lack of Vitamin D. You know all those perky people with tans and skis? They get sun, so they got Vitamin D.

But we take vitamin pills, you say. And milk is Vitamin D enriched! Yes, indeed, but it’s not enough. Only the sun can give a decent fix of Vitamin D.

I’ve tested this sun theory. My apartment has a sheltered balcony where I can take the sun but where the wind can’t touch me. Sure enough, twenty minutes of sun on my skin makes my problems smaller and my possibilities grander. I clean the apartment within an inch of its life, yodeling all the while. I become, well, perky. Perky isn’t so bad from the inside.

Were I frugal, I would leave it at that. After all, sunshine is free, in terms of money. But in terms of effort in the dead of winter, sunshine is way too expensive. So I’m buying an Ott light.

What’s an Ott light, you ask? I’ll skip most of the scientific mumbo-jumbo, except to say that it’s full spectrum lighting (whatever that may be). More to the point, it’s a lamp that gives us the perky thing all winter, without the hassle of snow shovels or skis.

I’ll get back to you in February, when I know I can stick out another month of blizzards, and let you know how it’s going. And then I’ll get back to you again in April, when white-outs cover black ice and the sun is but a distant memory. At that point I’ll be typing in all caps to tell you that IT’S SNOWING AGAIN! AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN! …

Unless it’s true about the Ott light. If it is, I’ll get back to you in April to remark how interesting it is that we’ve set another world record for savage winters. I’ll try not to be too perky about it.

“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

At 6’2½” tall, Thomas Jefferson was slender, freckled, and sinewy. He was an eloquent and powerful writer, but was a shy man and avoided public speaking. When he wrote the Declaration of Independence, he was known as the “silent member” of Congress. Although he sometimes seemed cold to strangers, he was emotional, sympathetic, and held intense convictions.

His humanitarianism profoundly influenced Thoreau and Whitman. The quotation often attributed to Jefferson, “That government is best which governs least”, was actually from Thoreau in On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience.

Timeline:
1743 – Thomas Jefferson was born on a plantation in Shadwell, Virginia. He spent his boyhood exploring the wilderness and reading books.
1757 (age 14) – Jefferson’s father died. He inherited 5,000 acres of land and many slaves.
1767 (age 24) – Jefferson became a lawyer.
1772 (age 29) – Jefferson married a widow, Martha Wayles Skelton (1748-82). They had six children.
1776 (age 33) - Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.
1779 (age 36) – Jefferson became governor of Virginia.
1782 (age 39) – Jefferson’s wife died after the sixth birth. He burned all their letters, possibly for reasons of privacy.
1785-1789 – (age 42-46) Jefferson served as minister to France. While in France, he sent for his daughter Mary, who arrived accompanied by a slave, Sally Hemings. During his lifetime and in his Will, Jefferson freed a total of seven slaves, all skilled tradesmen of the Hemings family. There is conjecture that Jefferson fathered the children of Sally Hemings. There is DNA evidence, but it was not taken from a direct descendant of Jefferson.
1801-1808 – (age 58-65) President. Jefferson preferred to live a simple life during his time in office. Formal state dinners became more casual and entertaining. Jefferson discontinued the practice of delivering the State of Union Address in person and sent the address to Congress. He preferred working in the privacy of his office. During his presidency, Jefferson gave only two public speeches: his inaugural addresses.
1808 – (age 65) At the end of his presidency, Jefferson returned to Monticello, his Virginia plantation. He worked as a scientist, inventor, linguist, and architect, and established the University of Virginia.
1826 – (age 83) Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, exactly fifty years after the Declaration of Independence was signed and on the same day that John Adams died.

Jefferson wrote the inscription on his tombstone. He insisted that no more be added.

HERE WAS BURIED
THOMAS JEFFERSON
AUTHOR OF THE
DECLARATION
OF
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
OF THE
STATUTE OF VIRGINIA
FOR
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
AND FATHER OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.

DVD’s

Jefferson was portrayed

by Ken Howard in 1776

and by Nick Nolte in

Jefferson in Paris.

My eyesight isn’t so keen these days, which is kewl, because who wants to see my post-menopausal beard anyway? Without glasses, my mirror shows me flawless, unwrinkled skin. A great start to the day.Chin hair is instead of leg hair, right? Wrong. And not instead of bikini hair either. The day is fast approaching when I will present myself at the beauty parlor for a full body wax.

I shouldn’t speak too soon, but I don’t have hair growing out of my ears – yet.

But on my head? It’s down to half of what it was, I tell you. I have the skinniest hair I’ve ever seen, and my hair was fine to begin with. By “fine” I mean thin. The first time I heard somebody call my hair “fine”, I was a little kid. I remember thinking, “If it’s fine, why are you pulling on it?”

I don’t know what to call half the thickness of fine hair, some genteel beautician’s euphemism – sleek, maybe? Ephemeral? Evanescent? That’s it. We can look forward to a whole line of products for evanescent hair.

I’m a natural blonde, to which I used to add “Eat your heart out.” Now I see my brunette friends, with their masses and masses of dyed hair. Who’s eating her heart out now, hmmmm?