I really am part-time!

Despite the recent focus on actions, one of the biggest LUREs (that is Lighten Up Ripple Effect for those of you who didn't catch my neato acronym) has actually been in my head. I guess you could say that I'm redefining the word "need" again. That process, along with our financial habits, the needs of our baby business, and just a general antipathy to big corporations, has led me to my current 3 day corporate workweek. Since today is the first day that I'm really feeling that (I drove from Fort Stockton on Monday, my first real day off), I thought I'd talk about what I'm planning to do with all of this time!

I'll be picking up the "back office" work for our business, of course. Invoicing and inventory, banking and bills - you know the drill. This will free up HTH to do the work that actually earns money. I, as always, will be the business' overhead!

For the next several weeks, I'll also be NOT thinking about what I want to be when I grow up. I should say that this will have to be done sometime in the near future, because I do expect this part time corporate role to end as early as September or as late as February of 2009. In this transition time, I'll finish do a couple of Lighten Up things.

• Sorting: I have a 2300 square foot house with lots of storage areas. Over the years, some of the areas have become a touch cluttered. So, I've been working my way through them. After yesterday's monumental pantry sort, I now have only 2 random closets and the bathroom storage areas to do.
  
• Big Projects That I Have Been Avoiding:
  

1. Put all music onto the computer and sell off CDs. Most of our music is on the computer - but not all - and we have yet to get rid of CDs despite the fact that we rarely use them. This will be a rather large task.
2. Scan all of the pictures into the computer and put on redundant online storage. This too, is a big one.
3. Master bathroom construction. I've outsourced the bathroom design and project management to my sister V. I'm hoping that means that I don't have to think about this much, but I know that construction will mean all kinds of household management changes!
   

Although I don't think any of this could be actually called house cleaning, that is what it feels like. Cleaning my house to stave off too much chaos is a true indication that I come from a long line of Southern women!

I'm using this housecleaning time to moodle a bit on a very important question. What would I like to be doing with my time? Our current business only needs a few hours a day from me and I have no intention of becoming a full time house manager since I manage the house better when I don't have all day to do it! There are several different options that I'm considering, but I don't expect to really know which way to go at the moment. I'll probably try a few things before I settle down. But I do know this - if it weren't for the LURE that had me redefine "need" in my own head, I would not have the luxury of this time to choose. Being able to take that time is - by my definition - Teir One of being independently wealthy!