a 'challenge of the utmost kind'... part two

'the reveal' i fear, will be some what of a disappoint...

for i have not discovered a 'fountain of youth' hidden under a mound of moss in my back yard, nor have i unearthed a pot of gold beneath Gladys, to pay for electrolysis and other such things.

no, dearest readers the only thing i have discovered is the 'art of ignoring'...

but before you start "booing" and shouting "well, that's a load of old crappity crap Tif", let me enlighten you to the ways of 'ignoring' and how it can change your perspective on life.

not only did the nostril hair of weeks back cause me to ponder deeply, but so has the 'comings and goings' of Mr Vertigo, along with the number 41 looming and also, may i add the nagging feeling i get of being 'tired'... not the usually 'tired' at the end of the day sort of 'tired' but the

"i'm just plain tired, all the time" sort of thing going on...

and so i have taken it upon myself to deal with this situation, instead of ignoring it,

(which is ironic because i'm telling you how fab the 'art of ignoring' can be... but when did i really ever make sense of anything anyway)

i have pondered the situation in my mastermind chair, inbetween my epiphany crafting moments, 'wondering and a thinking' about what i am to do. after all i have made my own nest and therefore i need to nest in it,

i have lots of children (although plenty have more than me),

i have lots of critters (once again, there are plenty with more than me)

and i have a crafting business i am so eager to take to another level and yet i do not know quite how.

the answer i believe, is to stop wasting time on things i do not wish to do any more or that cause 'negative' feelings...

with this in mind, the first to go is wasting precious time on 'my age' and how i look as a 'middle aged' person. let me assure you, i don't spend everyday thinking about it, but as i head towards another birthday, those pesky negative thoughts rear their ugly head, taunting me and mocking me when i catch my reflection...

so that's where my 'challenge' comes into the picture. for instead of seeing my 41st birthday as a bit of a 'bleep' on the horizon, i chose to use it as a marker for the start of my challenge, thus causing me to look forward to the date, even relish getting to 41 and starting on a whole year of 'challenge'... a perfect way to 'ignore' i am even 41, i will be way 'too busy' being 'busy with my challanging ways' everyday to give it a second thought. how perfect is that!!! those pesky nostril hairs can't get to me, those frown lines aren't having a last laugh anymore, oh no... for i am studying the fine 'art of ignoring' with a distraction technique called 'a challenge of the utmost kind".

so without 'further a do' i must unveil to you, what i have been twitting on about since yesterday...

now of course you are probably all thinking, well that's not such a big deal.

but i beg you to take a few minutes of your day to ponder what really is involved when choosing to buy only handcrafted and secondhand for a whole year for one's self and one's home... not the 'icing' on the cake sort of things but the heart of the nitty gritty stuff that goes into one's home and one's closet. 'the basics' if you will..

i was giddy with excitement when i decided to participate with my little brain's thoughts, as i get closer to the 'kick off' i'm not quite so giddy as 'Mr Doubt' has come knocking, trying to weaken me with thoughts of the problems that may occur along the way.

i am keeping my fingers crossed no appliances pack up on me (why oh why, i didn't change out Mrs W. Machine before this is beyond me)...

however, just to be clear, i do have two exceptions to my challenge.

1: undies and tights.

if such a time occurs that i require new undies, most doubtful as i do not care to be bothered with buying undies, then i shall be purchasing new (no need to go into the 'whys' of that one), the same goes for tights. being a skirt and dress girl, it is most important for winter that i have woolly tights to keep my 'skinny pins' warm. i have never seen these secondhand at the thrift store so i am allowing myself to purchase a new pair if an old pair is beyond darning... and trust me, most of my tights do have darned holes in them already.

2: gifts.

having talked this over with my best buddy Debbie, she assures me that i must accept a gift that is not handcrafted or secondhand. that it would be the height of bad manners to return a gift on the principle that the giver had gone to anthropologie and bought me a lovely 'something' and i tried to give it back. i think she is talking a lot of sense as usual so i'm willing to accept gifts, especially ones from anthropologie and especially around christmas time (never have i wished my man to lurk upon my blog as i wish this moment in time)

there we have it dearest readers, from sunday 20th september, i shall sally forth,

for one year becoming a handcrafted, thrifty mama... who will try very hard to get creative with her wardrobe and her home, which according to our #2 when i announced my 'challenge' isn't that impressive.

"well that's not a challenge, look around you mother, we practically live in a thrift store"

and she has a point, i feel.

she has filled her little etsy store up, not a huge amount but it's better than nothing, and remember she is ignoring the negatives and so technically her little store is 'half full' and not 'half empty' ~ Tif