Last week was kind of a stressful week for me. Well, really the past month has been somewhat stressful. Dealing with the A/C, the floors, the water, etc. Its been the kind of week/month that makes you start feeling really overwhelmed with life. You, or at least I, start thinking about everything that needs to be done, the errands, shopping, cleaning, laundry, etc, and thing start feeling to completely impossible that you, or rather I, just don't do anything. Not the way to get things accomplished.

I sort of had an experience this last week that was pivotal in my new line of thinking.

Let me first start by saying that I always have a TON on my mind. And while I'm doing one thing, chances are my mind is on a billion other tasks that need accomplished.

So Monday started off pretty uneventful. Chloe and I did some grocery shopping, went and got something to eat, then stopped off at Kmart. Then we went home. I pull into my driveway like normal, open the garage, pull the car in. I get out of the car and get ready to get Chloe out of the back, when something catches my eye. What, you ask? Well, laying on the back of my car, right underneath the spoiler, were my car keys. Now I have two sets of keys with me usually, which is how I was able to get home. So I think to myself now lucky I am that those keys stayed on my car the whole way home! Now it's only less than a mile from Kmart to my house (.7 miles to be exact), but still, pretty impressive!

How did this happen? Well, when I put Chloe in the car, normally I'll set my personal belongings on the car somewhere while I strap her in. Usually I don't have my purse with me, so if I don't grab my keys from off the car then I immediately know because I can't start my car. So usually what happens is that I'm sitting in my car, realize I don't have my keys, get back out and grab them, then go on my merry way. And every time the thought occurs to me that I should change that habit.

Back to the story. Fast forward to the next day or so when I take Chloe to the city market for lunch. Can't find my wallet. Hmmm. Maybe I left it in my car. Nope. Maybe I put it in one of the bags that I left Kmart with. Nope. Then it occurs to me. There is a very strong possibility that it was put on my car with my keys. And my keys were the only thing that made it back.

Now getting a new driver's license, that probably will be a little inconvenient for me. Credit cards--easily replaced. Olive Garden gift card--not replaceable, but hey, I don't really care for it anyway. Zoo membership-again, already got that replaced. Wallet size pictures of Chloe that I had been holding on to, deciding what to do with, that was the real killer. I can't tell you how upset I am over that.

And the worst part? Completely avoidable. If I could just slow down and think about what I'm doing as I'm doing it.

Which brings me to my new philosophy. Living Simply. Simplifying all the normal tasks in life. Giving my complete attention to everything I'm doing. And I bought a book. It's called Simply Living.

It's a 10 week system that gives you a list of 4 tasks to tackle each week in order to add order and alleviate stress. I figure it's worth a try. So each week I'll report back here on what my tasks are and how I did accomplishing them.

1)Drink 8 glasses of water a day

2)Walk 20 minutes every day

3)Save $2/day or an equivalent of 1% of your weekly take home pay

4)Organize one drawer or closet of your choosing

Wish me luck!

And really, what post would be complete without some pictures of Little Miss Chloe!?!?!