Getting Rid of Stuff

So I'm a big purger.  I am constantly going through closets and rooms and filling up donation bags for Goodwill or Cradles to Crayons.  It makes me feel so peaceful to have things all sparse and have only the necessities.  It's fabulous.  With kids though, this can be tricky.  So I mysteriously get rid of toys and books that are not played with or that I dislike while the kids are sleeping or playing elsewhere.  Sometimes they ask me for a particular toy that I've donated, and I just shrug and say I have no idea where it went.  We live in such a society of abundance, it's easy to get overwhelmed with just so MUCH.  I like getting rid of old stuff and making space for new stuff, in and out, in and out.

People who don't get rid of stuff - packrats - are fearful to get rid of stuff because they think they might need it at some point.  Sometimes that happens to me - I donate something and then regret it.  But that's okay.

Now with us moving to Germany my purging is reaching new levels.   Each thing I look at I consider whether it's worth moving to Germany with us, or worth storing for 3 years, or whether I can just let it go.  It's a great mentality and really makes me consider what we really need....which isn't really that much.  :)

Moving and My Tree Book

So my tree book, The Tremendous Pagoda Tree of Martha's Vineyard, is coming out next month.  On Arbor Day.  Very appropriate.  I'm so excited about this book as I first thought of it about four years ago, and then wrote it, and then decided to find an illustrator (and I did, and she's so awesome it's ridiculous), and we started working on it.  It completely, 100% is how I envisioned it.  I love this book!

Last spring we were in the process of selling our condo in the Back Bay and buying our home in Brookline.  This felt like a really big deal to me - moving and having three kids and two cats is kind of a big deal.  I was trying to decorate and donate stuff and buy stuff for our new home, all the things one does in moving.  And I felt busy, so I decided to postpone my tree book until this spring.

Ironically, now it IS this spring, and we are moving AGAIN.  But this time we are not moving 2.5 miles away, we are moving way far away to Frankfurt, Germany.  And it doesn't feel busy!  It just feels fun and easy and like a big adventure.  So here's to moving in a non-busy way and being so very excited about my book coming out, all at the same time.

My first entry

So there is a lot going on in my life right now.
1. My first children's book, THE TREMENDOUS PAGODA TREE of MARTHA'S VINEYARD is about to debut.  It's being published by my amazing sister's publishing company, Lychee Books.  www.lycheebooks.com
2.  I'm working on my second children's book, which is still top secret.  It will come out spring 2014.
3.  I have three children - 7, 5 and 2 (which in and of itself is a lot going on).
4.  And, we are moving to Frankfurt, Germany in June.  For three years.

All of this made me think that I should start a blog!  So here it is.  Stay tuned....