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What a Great Wife - Surprised me with Big 35th Birthday Party

May 18, 2023

My wife deserves a medal. For one…having to spend her life with me, what an effin challenge for this lady, right?

Well, she organized a surprise 35th birthday party for me on Saturday, May 17th. And it was totally unknown to me, a total shock. Plus, as an added surprise 22 friends and family showed up to wish me well.

I had NO idea, one of my friends picked me and my kid up, as he asked me to help him do some errands with him, so we end up on a huge ass goose chase, that takes us to Maryville, Missouri, 100 miles away and back again over to my home in the suburbs of Kansas City. Over 200 miles in his 2007 Ford F-150 to drop off this tempurpedic mattress and this cat “pagoda” wtf that is. We also pick up his fiance and her brother.

Anyways, the party was supposed to begin at 5:30… we don’t get back until 7pm. Actually a couple of my guests had to leave to go pick up their kids from the babysitter. Some of them got to the house around 4ish, so they were waiting upwards of 3 hours.

Anyway, my mom and dad were there, my in laws, bro, bro and sis inlaw, 3 friends from 4th grade, one from kindergarten, and like 8 from college on. What a trip.

Some other great news, today we went garage saleing today, and we ended up picking up this solid oak kick dining room table w 4 chairs that is super sturdy and kick ass… Originally, $1200+ got it for $175. Pure Garage Sale Ownageness.

I had no hint or idea this was transpiring. What a great wife I have… and just the other day, i was jokingly bitching because her birthday is April 27th, then Mothers Day, and tomorrow is our anniversary… this is like the Ms Wright - 3 week arsenal holiday bonanza.

She busts out a surprise bday party. Complete with a Jayhawk Birthday cake! My first cartoonish birthday cake since like age 11 or there abouts. Plus, my 6 year old son came with, and didn’t tip me off about the party either.

Life’s great joys are kids, friends and family. I’m so grateful to be loved. And now, if I died, I know that at least 22 people would come to it. And that is comforting to know. Hah.

Thanks everyone. I felt the love.

Successfully,

Travis Wright

Written by Travis Wright · Filed Under Achievement, Family, Friendship, Optimism, Organization, People Skills 

Zen Mind: How to Declutter

September 17, 2023

by Leo Babauta - ZenHabits.net

One of the things that gives me most peace is have a clean, simple home. When I wake up in the morning and walk out into a living room that has been decluttered, that has a minimalist look, and there isn’t junk lying around, there is a calm and joy that enters my heart.

When, on the other hand, I walk out into a living room cluttered with toys and books and extra things all over the place, it is chaos and my mind is frenetic.

I’ve been a simplifier and a declutterer for years now (probably 8-9 years) and I’ve gotten pretty good at it, but I’ve found that you have to keep coming back to revisit your clutter every once in awhile.

Here are my top decluttering tips:

  • Do it in small chunks. Set aside just 15 minutes to declutter just one shelf, and when that shelf or that 15 minutes is up, celebrate your victory. Then tackle another shelf for 15 minutes the next day. Conquering an entire closet or room can be overwhelming, and you might put it off forever. If that’s the case, just do it in baby steps.
  • Set aside a couple hours to do it. This may seem contradictory to the above tip … and it is. It’s simply a different strategy, and I say do whatever works for you. Sometimes, for me, it’s good to set aside part of a morning, or an entire Saturday morning, to declutter a closet or room. I do it all at once, and when I’m done, it feels awesome.
  • Take everything out of a shelf or drawer at once. Whichever of the two above strategies you choose, you should focus on one drawer or shelf at a time, and empty it completely. Then clean that shelf or drawer. Then, take the pile and sort it (see next tip), and put back just what you want to keep. Then tackle the next shelf or drawer.
  • Sort through your pile, one item at a time, and make quick decisions. Have a trash bag and a give-away box handy. When you pull everything out of a shelf or drawer, sort through the pile one at a time. Pick up an item, and make a decision: trash, give away, or keep. Don’t put it back in the pile. Do this with the entire pile, and soon, you’ll be done. If you keep sorting through the pile, and re-sorting, it’ll take forever. Put back only what you want to keep, and arrange it nicely.
  • Be merciless. You may be a pack rat, but the truth is, you won’t ever use most of the junk you’ve accumulated. If you haven’t used it in the last year, get rid of it. It’s as simple as that. If you’ve only used it once or twice in the last year, but know you won’t use it in the next year, get rid of it. Toss it if it’s unsalvageable, and give it away if someone else might be able to use it.
  • Papers? Be merciless, unless it’s important. Magazines, catalogues, junk mail, bills more than a year old, notes to yourself, notes from others, old work stuff … toss it! The only exception is with tax-related stuff, which should be kept for seven years, and other important documents like warranties, birth and death and marriage certificates, insurance, wills, and other important documents like that. But you’ll know those when you see ‘em. Otherwise, toss!!!!
  • If you are on the fence with a lot of things, create a “maybe” box. If you can’t bear to toss something because you might need it later, put it in the box, then close the box, label it, and put it in storage (garage, attic, closet), out of sight. Most likely, you’ll never open that box again. If that’s the case, pull it out after six months or a year, and toss it or give it away.
  • Create a system to stop clutter from accumulating. There’s a reason you have tall stacks of papers all over the place, and big piles of toys and books and clothes. It’s because you don’t have a regular system to keep things in their place, and get rid of stuff you don’t need. This is a topic for another day, but it’s something to think about as you declutter. You’ll never get to perfect, but if you think more intelligently about how your house got cluttered, perhaps you can find ways to stop it from happening again.
  • Celebrate when you’re done! This is actually a general rule in life: always celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how small. Even if you just decluttered one drawer, that’s great. Treat yourself to something delicious. Open that drawer (or closet, or whatever), and admire its simplicity. Breathe deeply and know that you have done a good thing. Bask in your peacefulness.

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Written by Travis Wright · Filed Under Achievement, GTD, Habits, Organization 

Huge List Of GTD & Productivity Sites/ Personal Development Blogs

July 6, 2023

So I found this huge list over at Mallosworld.co.uk. It is a fascinating lists of sites with tons of information in it. In fact, the reason I found it, was because of a backlink back to my site here. Cool. Enjoy the list! Pass the word!

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