Just a BlinkProof Time Flies

The Simplicity Project (TSP) is big. What I am finding is that TSP is not made up of one big idea or plan. It is, however, made up of a lot of little ideas, attitudes, and of course projects. I haven’t dumped out every toy in hopes of restructuring the whole house in one day…yet.

I did what every good perfectionist procrastinator does – crafts! I have so much do to it seems a bit daunting and the results so incredibly faraway. So, I gave myself permission to get a little thing done. It is only a teaspoon of completion in a lake full of life goals but the reward of completing a project that was over one year old is priceless.

I made the blue photo frame on the left at a Mother of Preschoolers (MOPS) meeting four years ago for my son Ryan. When Molly came along, I purchased a second blank frame from the MOPS leftover craft cupboard with intentions of making a similar frame for my darling daughter. Now she is already 15 months old!

Ryan as a newborn. Molly at 12 months.

Both frames are just paper mache-type cardboard and are cheaper than cheap, but I think they look pretty cute with the personalization.

3 Teaspoon Project Nuggets

1. Limits If it can be done in 1/2 hour – do it, but only once in a while. It is too easy for me to start digging out crafts and seasonal decorations and never stop! The goal is to simplify my life, not layer it so badly I can’t see where I am going.

2. Satisfaction This should be fun. Hey if organizing, planning, and simplifying get me tied up in knots of regret and dissatisfaction they are not working. It felt really good to get a little thing done. Insert pat on back here.

3. The Lily Effect There is a story of a crabby, messy hermit that one day receives a lily in a vase from a neighbor. The messy decides to clear off his table to set the lily on. He washes the table then stops to clean off the chairs so he can sit by the flower. Pretty soon he cleans the whole house and starts doing maintenance work. Somewhere along the way he changes his heart and opens his home to his neighborhood. Doing one small thing can change your outlook on the entirety of a project or idea.

I love cookbooks. I really enjoy small church syndicated spiral bound cookbooks. I especially love old cookbooks that have been endlessly poured over by someone in the past. Recipes that have been passed down generation to generation are of course priceless.

History pops off the page with every dog-eared tab and stared recipe. I create the sights and smells of the dishes being prepared as I wrap up my imagination in the potential delivery of a meal made over 60 years ago. Birthday banquet?  Company cuisine?  Daily dinner? What was going on in the world during this “meal” prepared from the brand new 1947 Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book?

• Cost of a gallon of gas: 15 cents
  
• Average cost of new house: $6,600.00
  
• CIA established
• The United Nations General Assembly votes to partition Palestine between Arabs and Jews.
• Jackie Robinson took to the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers becoming the first negro to play in Major League Baseball.
• The start of the Cold War which endured over four decades, from circa 1947 until the decline and eventual collapse of East European and Soviet state communism in the late 1980s.
• The transistor is invented.
• The sound barrier broken (traveling faster than sound)
• British seize “Exodus 1947″ ship of Jewish immigrants to Palestine
• Gentleman’s Agreement, Miracle on 34th Street, Great Expectations, The Bishop’s Wife came out in theaters.
• WW II peace treaties signed
• WW II sugar rationing finally ended in U.S., began May 28, 1942
• 1st “Howdy Doody Show,” (Puppet Playhouse), telecast on NBC

Newspaper clipping recipe for Top Velvety Chocolate Cake with Fudge and Marshmallow

“Helpful” tips from this BHG Cook Book edition:

When presenting food left overs one must belie the origins completely.

Warm and cold meals can be served any time of the year. One will need more warm meals in the winter months to allow oneself to maintain proper body temperature.

Keeping ones strength up is important to endure long work days. Carbohydrates, proteins and fats all work to ensure energy in ones day. If you become very active it is best to include many fats in ones food.

May how things have changed. Although, some remains the same. Cake is good and War is hell.

Love,

Jess