Wow, did we ever take the Declutter Challenge to heart today! I tackled the balcony and the cupboard in the living room, Igor worked on the hallway closet. We’ve both been working on the clothes and shoes for awhile. So today we had lots for the dumpster, and about 4 bags of clothes and shoes for the Missionaries of Charity. We’re cheating a bit on one thing – taking a box of dishes to Igor’s parents house to store in their attic.
We managed to create 4 clean shelves! 2 will be Dad’s during the rest of the summer. The other two were packed back up tight, but with things we relocted from other more useful spaces – like under the kitchen sink.
And all of this was after starting another change – getting back to exercise. I was doing pretty good for 6 or 7 months working out about twice a week with a friend and a personal trainer. But I haven’t been since early May, and since I don’t see any free weekends for the next couple of months, it’s unlikely I’ll get back into that routine. But we both have been feeling flabby and fat. Igor impressed the heck out of me by getting up early last Monday and going for a jog. He did it again 2 more times during the week, and this morning I joined him. I haven’t been running in nearly 4 years, but boy did it feel good. Hard!, but good. There’s a small track near us, so we jogged there, and I think altogether I ran about 1.5 km, plus I walked a couple times around the track. We came back and did sit-ups and push-ups, and then tackled the cleaning! It was definitely too much for the first day, and I know I’ll be hurting tomorrow, but it feels good to start exercising again. And I love that Igor suggested doing it together – one thing I really disliked about going to the trainer’s was giving up my Saturday and Sunday mornings with Igor. But this is a great way for us to spend time together, and to support each other in getting in better shape. I hope we can keep it up!
Anka in Kyiv 