Remember me?  The woman who preaches about simplifying your life?  Well, lately I've been away from this blog because I was too busy complicating mine.  Not because I wanted to, mind you.  Circumstances were that I had to, in order to make things simpler in the long run for me and my family.

OK, enough of the cryptic-speak.  Here's what's been going on...

Our business (http://www.nativedave.com) began in Plano, a suburb of Dallas.  Then we moved to Corpus Christi.  Then the economy took a header and nearly 'disappeared' our business.  Then interest in our services picked up.  Then David had to travel to Dallas almost every week to meet with clients and to attend to family affairs.  So now, here we sit, catching our breath, catching up on designs, trying to catch up on housework (did some super strain of mosquitoes invade our home and pull out every single book and toy while we were away???)  No amount of coffee could give me the energy to tackle this insurmountable chore...believe me, I'm testing this theory.  Daily.  The living room alone makes me tired just looking at it...

So with all this trekking back-and-forth, I've had plenty of time to think about my life now, where I've been and where I want to go next.  In a nutshell, I need less stuff and less space so I can have more time for more adventures.  By adventures I mean going places, sure, but more than that.  I want new and different experiences with new and old friends alike.  Like surfing.  A new friend surfs, her husband surfs, and she's invited us to join them for a surf day.  Or like finally FINALLY writing at least one of the kabillion books I've worked up in my creative brain over the years.  An old friend reconnected with me on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com) recently.  She is a published author now!  And working on her fourth novel!  I'm so happy for her...and inspired.  I don't know if other creative people feel this way, but in order to put myself out there, I need uncluttered, somewhat clean space.  All the stuff mucks up my brain and distracts me from my thoughts.

It's not Sage's toys or books.  It's the totality of too much stuff for our home.  It's the disorganization of stuff that, when organized, surprisingly has several "identical twins."  (Really?  How many hammers do we need???)  It's the piles of clothing that nobody wears, nobody has time to donate to a thrift shop or women's shelter.  It's the working hard to afford a house big enough to store a bunch of stuff.  I don't want my life to be ruled or defined by stuff (or constant, obsessive cleaning of stuff!!!!)  Ha ha.

My future life will contain much less stuff.  And will be more mobile.  And there will be chocolate -- oh yes -- lots and lots of chocolate for everyone.