MM: {Marvelous Mondays} Simplify

{How was your weekend? I hope you had time to relax & be with your family, at least some of the time.}

My Weekend

I learned how to portage this weekend. Do you know what that even means? I ask, because I didn’t, before I learned how to do it.

I guess I must have glazed over that bit in my readings of Huck Finn.

To portage, as it refers to kayaking or canoeing, is the labor of carrying or transporting a boat, raft, canoe, or kayak, around an obstacle in the water.

In our case, when we were going upstream on the rapids where the water was too shallow, we got out of the kayak & carried it along the bank. Hence, we portaged.

The we, is me & my brother Brian.

{More pictures of our trip, on my FB page.}

Spending 7 hours on the water with my brother was the kind of thing I rarely get to do as a parent. I have 6 brothers & sisters, & it’s hard to keep up with them all since we have families of our own. To be able to spend that much uninterrupted time with another sibling, was a wonderful thing.

When we were young, I looked up to him only as a little sister looks up to her smart, hard working, older brother, does.

He always did well in school. 7 years older than me, he was the kind of big brother that inspired me to read Roots, by Alex Haley, when I was 12 (he read it when he was 8). When I was 10, he sat me down & taught me how to understand & read scripture.

Now that we’re adults, we have a lot of similar interests. He’s an engaging conversationalist (the kind that’s always throwing out random trivia), so we had a great time rowing, enjoying nature, & talking family, movies, books, religion, ideas, being vegan (he’s not).

He’s an accountant turned attorney. Owns his own law practice. A voracious reader. A marathon runner & weight lifter. Has 5 kids (they all play musical instruments & read like there’s no tomorrow), an immaculate house, a beautiful garden & an awesome home gym in his garage.

Giveaway.

Did you get a chance to enter the Bob’s Red Mill/Wholesome Sweetener’s Giveaway?

Simplify.

I read this post about simplifying & streamlining your life so that you have more time to do what you want.

Something that I’ve needed to do, & has been long overdue, has been going through my various accounts & deleting the unnecessary. The post suggests going through your Twitter account, for example, & getting your follow list down to something that is manageable.

I think it’s kind of a joke to see someone’s Twitter account where they are following 56,000 people. How in the world do you ever know what’s going on with anyone if you are following that many people? I think less than 400 is about the right amount for me. Any more than that, it’s just too hard for me to keep track of people, & I think that’s what Twitter is all about, right? The personal connections.

On my Twitter account, I unfollowed some corporations & celebrities that I feel don’t add to my life, that got me down to about 370, a number I’m more comfortable with.

My email, though? Was a mess. Since I signed up for gmail more than 5 or 6 years ago, I’ve never deleted an email.

Can you believe it? So I had a big FAT number glaring at me every time I opened my inbox: 21,390.

I took the plunge & cleaned shop. Created folders & indexed everything. The bulk of my emails went into archives (I’m not ready to delete everything forever, just yet) & the rest went into labeled folders. This got me down to zero in my inbox.

I did the same for my google reader. I don’t know how many blogs I follow (a hundred?), but my to-read list was getting out of control. So I marked everything as read.

This was Friday.

I opened up my google reader this morning & email, after not really keeping on top of it over the weekend, only to find it piling up again.

214 new posts in my google reader & 84 emails.

It’s okay. I’m going to stay on top of it this time :).

My goal is to only have 4 or 6 emails in my inbox at any given time, like my blogging friend Jacqueline.

We had a Twitter conversation about it.

She is a fashion historian. You know the types. All organized, into things like labels, & such. Still. I aspire to that kind of organization.

Other good things.

I want this salad.

Soy foods & all the hype.

Too many yummy vegan summer foods to choose from, don’t ya think?

The secret to a clean house (YES!).

Proof that I am a dork, because this website makes me giddy.

Read this before you reach for your next diet soda.

A really, really healthy brownie. Probably the healthiest I’ve found.

So many gluten-free flours, so little time!

This cape is just the thing for Hyrum & Asher.

Another movie that doesn’t come out for months & months, but looks so good! (I LOVED the book, but then again, a good tragedy is hard to find.)

Confused about eating fat with your salad & nutrient absorption? This article has some helpful info that will shed some light on the issue.

I adore & admire everything about this blog, especially this video.

I think wall stickers are the best thing since gluten-free sliced bread.

Do you journal? I used to be a fanatic & never missed a day (that was before kids). Now I’ve discovered a great free online private journaling site, Penzu, where I can keep track of my entries. Things I love about this? 1) I never have to worry about losing my journal (or my kids finding it & turning into an art book) 2) I get to pick my own personalized font, & 3) I can type faster than I can write (plus you can add links to your journal). There’s a free version or you can upgrade to a pro version, which is what I’m using, for less than $20 a year. Click here to get 20% off the annual fee for pro.

LASTLY….Women: You are more than the sum of your parts.

I want to share with you a video Design Mom shared on her site today.

This video touches on a subject that I personally feel touched by. First of all, I AM a woman and I have two daughters. I want a future for my girls that is filled with a strong sense of self-worth. Not conceit or vanity, mind you, but confidence in who she is. And who we are as women, does not match up with what advertisers & the media portray us to be.

Watch this video (it’s short & so worth it). Please. And then tell me what you think about it.