So, I have ADHD. And for me, this means I am scattered. I have a LOT of interests and I do all of them, which means I’m fairy mediocre, decent or hopefully good at some of them, at least. 😆 Since I don’t just focus on one thing, I’m not a master at anything in particular.
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First off - I got accepted to play (as a substitute) for the Delano Chamber Orchestra in Wichita, Kansas! I picked up my music last week. So I need to get practicing violin again. I’ve sort of stopped playing a bit since going to Las Vegas with my kids in August. Not sure why, just lost my focus. But I need to get practicing again !!
Rehearsals start in January for a performance in February. I tried the music. It’s not going to hold my attention very well, so this will definitely be WORK to learn it.
I will not have a stand partner, and I will be last chair, second violin. In school, this would have driven me absolute bonkers. I was so competitive, it was very ugly.
But now? I’m just honored to be invited to play in the group. I am a little sad that I don’t have a stand partner. I love having a stand partner. But I will still be in the middle of an orchestra playing fantastic music and there’s no sound like it - being on stage, surrounded by musicians, playing a song together. I love it love it love it love it!
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“Out with the old, in with the better.”
I am so excited to say that October 28 was a big day for me - I moved to Kansas in September, 2022, and put all of my stuff (a 3 bedroom home + 2 sheds) in to a huge storage unit. Something like 14’ x 20’. It was FULL from back to front, left to right, top to bottom. There was very little room to maneuver in it, to get things out.
I’ve worked on and off over the last year, to donate, throw away, downsize things. (I’m not great at selling on Facebook Marketplace - so selling my stuff hasn’t been an option, unfortunately.)
I bought a tiny house in July of 2023 after staying with a friend for a while. The ceiling caved in the day I wrote the paperwork. (I want to blame an insurance company for doing the inspection, denting the roof, jumping on the roof and caving in 1/4th of the ceiling in the living room! But no insurance company will say they sent anyone out to inspect. I had to eat the cost to repair the ceiling.) And then the water heater broke. 😆
So, Saturday, late morning, a friend of mine and I each drove our cars to my storage unit. He’d picked up a water heater for me and his car was 1/2 full of the water heater, and we filled the rest of my storage in to his car and mine! And we drove to my tiny house. We loaded what was left from the storage, in to my garage, and he removed the broken water heater and put in the new one!
Because it’s a tiny house, things are cramped in there. He had to remove the bathroom sink, the medicine cabinet over the sink, and the wall enclosing the water heater to get to it! And after he installed the new one, we had to make sure it wasn’t leaking. (It was, the first time we checked, but got that fixed right away, so it’s not now.) and then put back the medicine cabinet and the sink. What a great friend he is, to do these things for me & know how in the first place! Wow!
But - the point is - My Storage Unit is E M P T Y !!! I no longer have to pay for that !! Hurray !!!! Very exciting !!!!
One of the things that has helped me get rid of so much was seeing what I could do when all of my things were in storage a year ago - I was able to sit down and write a (non-fiction) book in a month. I didn’t have to spend my month dealing with possessions and having all the emotions that goes along with having too much stuff all the time. It felt so incredibly good to be pared down to the minimum of what I needed - clothes, food, food for my dogs, medicines for my dogs and me, and my iPad for writing, and my phone because of course I have my phone.
It’s amazing how much I can accomplish when I don’t have all that stuff sucking the life out of me and causing me overwhelm.
Speaking of writing books …
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Every November is “National Novel Writing Month” [NaNoWriMo] ! Last year, I attempted on November 1, to start writing my book, “The Aeronauts,” and got some feedback I didn’t ask for, about writing books in general. The person told me no one can write a book fast. She said it takes YEARS to write a book. And it popped my balloon of happiness to be finally writing a fiction book.
As a result of this feedback I didn’t want, I have written pretty much nothing in the last year, despite the fact that a year ago I had several books outlined & ready to go. I just put all of them on pause and, well, I sulked or despaired for the last year. I’m done with that now. That person can live in their limited world. I’ve got books to write!
Writing short stories & novels has been my dream since high school. My Creative Writing teacher during my senior year in high school, loved my fiction writing (about mostly vampires) and believed in me.
20+ years ago, at the age of 28, I came up with the idea for “Fairy Tech,” and started writing it. Then I got married and let it all go. I’ve lost what I wrote back then, so I’ve started it over. Last week, I added a bunch of chapters to it, and I thought this would be the book I’d work on this year for “NaNoWriMo.”
Well, Saturday morning, October 28, 2023, I had a dream about a sequin dress and it got me thinking about a whole different idea! So now I am writing that book, as of midnight last night - November 1.
Part of what has me thinking about the empowerment of women is reading Zawn Villains Substack newsletter “Liberating Motherhood.” It’s a really good newsletter, I am learning so much!
We’ll see if I can get a first draft of a complete novel done by the end of November!
I have the characters in my head, and am assigning them names & back stories. I should really sit down and write the general plot points, but I am just writing and seeing where it goes. I know where I want the novel to GET to.
I’ve written over 1,500 words and am continuing to write !
This book will be about women starting a second chapter in their life, and finding success together. I’m very excited for this book, and I hadn’t even thought about it as of a week ago!
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And now for something completely different:
I am spontaneously having a Scentsy party online! They have a new Christmas tree that I absolutely love. Scentsy also has a stuffed animal bunny and a Mickey and Minnie in a sleigh that I think look adorable.
My friend, Becca Jane, is a new Scentsy consultant and I’m doing the party with her as the consultant. Just for fun!
It’s the Christmas shopping season and new items are coming out all the time for this holiday season, so I figured, “let’s do this!”
If you’d like to view it, the link is:
Jodi’s Scentsy Party: https://whatchawhiffin.scentsy.us/party/17897701/jodis-scentsy-party
I have set up a Facebook page, too, where Becca is sharing the new things that come out, so we can all see the fun things together:
Jodi’s Scentsy Party on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/659247979610870
It is the ceramic Christmas tree that put me over the top, making me want to do this party. It’s just too cute and reminds me of my Gran’s ceramic Christmas tree.
You can find this at: https://whatchawhiffin.scentsy.us/shop/p/86479/merry-little-christmas-warmer
It’s a limited edition warmer, and just launched today - November 1 ! I don’t think it will be around very long.
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I am looking forward to this season’s holidays. I watched “Hocus Pocus” last night while handing out candy to the maybe 9 kids who came by. I also gave away (antique, wooden!) Bunny Martin yo-yos to the kids who were about age 11 and up. They were all so excited to receive a yoyo! I told some middle school kids that if they set up a yoyo club at their school, let me know, because I can come and teach them all how to use it. We’ll see if they do it!
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Anyway, I am excited it’s November - I get to see my boys again in December, in Colorado for our family Christmas celebration.
Let me know what you’re up to, what projects you’re doing, what you’re working on, struggling with, proceeding forward with … I love hearing from you & chatting about life !
With appreciation for ALL of you,
Jodi Rose Crump
Yup, I think I agree. You are the community I am looking for, too.
Thank you for commenting on my post. I have been downsizing since my mother died. I had forgotten the time savings that go along with it. Thank you for reminding me.