And my word for the year is.........ORDER

Yes, my word for the year is Order. A number of artist's whose blogs I read have chosen words to focus on this year and when I was considering what was relevant and pertinent to me, Order came through very strongly. But I guess I should explain what Order means to me....

I have a very busy life with two toddlers, four businesses and art. I plan on increasing the amount of hours I spend this year on Human Resources work (things simmering there which I will explain at a later point) and as I do all the paperwork and accounts for our construction business and two property investment businesses as well as a minimum of 15 hours study a week, and having two toddlers that are only in part-time daycare, I need to have order in my life to get everything done and not be stressed.

In the past six months or so since I took over half the garage as my studio, I found that I worked so much better and was so much more likely to pick up a brush or pencil if it was tidy and everything in order. Because every minute is precious (and anyone who has had two babies within a year will agree with me) I need to just go for it if I have some time when the munchkins are asleep.

So we (my lovely husband and myself) have been expanding this concept to the rest of our house and getting things in the right places, getting rid of the junk drawer (horrors) and the junk container (which sat on kitchen bench as the junk drawer was filled) and clearing out what we don't use. I cleared 7 boxes of excess kitchen stuff I don't use from the kitchen cupboards (see my pretty dinner set all in order above).
As part of this Order campaign, I have been completing some of the projects I have been talking about for ages. The "Letter" wall in the kid's room is one of those things. I have been picking up different letters for a few months now and still have a pile to paint up and extend it, but I actually got them painted and hung on the wall and I really like the effect.

I have also been putting my books in order. As you may recall I have in the vicinity of 5000 odd books. This is a small selection of the sci-fi/fantasy genre in alphabetical order.

Order also applies to how I spend my time. I have worked out a schedule which specifies how I fit in everything I do and also have quality playtime with my lovely toddlers and some time for me. This year the kids are in daycare an extra day and I am currently using this particular hour right now which is dedicated to art to update my blog (as I am aware I've been a bit slack recently - too much housework and "ordering").

So to sum it up, my focus on Order this year is for everything important in my life to have its place and appropriate time and resources allocated to it. That means I will achieve all my goals, our businesses will thrive and develop in different directions in this new economic climate, I improve my artistic skills, successfully complete my art study, kick-start my new direction with HR and have a loving family that spends lots of quality time together.

What is your word for this year?

By the way, the last photo is just one I took before of some beautiful lilies I bought this morning that were reduced. As my husband reacts badly to lilies (sensitive sod), they are currently in the garage where their beautiful scent is going to waste. But I got some great photos and hope to draw or paint them at some point.