Organizing The Crap Out Of My House

I fell behind with organization and not-so-important household chores sometime during our busy summer. I still haven't quite recovered from the mess I got myself in. I blame it on the huge undertaking that was moving the kids' rooms around. That project unhinged several related projects and I became overwhelmed. When I get in that big of a mess, I tend to step back, take a breath, then procrastinate ever finishing. The first big side project stemming from the renovation was the yard sale overflow. I dug tons of stuff out from every nook & cranny in our house. It all went into the garage, waiting to be organized, cleaned, & priced for sale. Some if it never made it to the yard sale. I just ran out of time. That junk lived in my garage for over a month while I parked outside. Finally, I broke down and did nothing else until the mess was taken care of. The result is that our garage is now cleaner than it has been in years and the local clothing shelter got a huge donation from the She Says kids. Win/win.

I felt so much better completing that project that I started taking on new projects that have been hanging over my head forever. Some of them are so big that they make me want to hide under the covers and cry. So- I'm trying to take one itty-bitty project at a time. This week has been the week of projects. I've decided to tackle each day whatever is getting on my nerves the most at that very moment.

Yesterday, I organized my coupons, which was supposed to be a start to cleaning up my desk. I've been kicking booty lately with coupons & I'm quite proud of my achievements. That means I have coupons coming out my ears though. I brought the coupon binder out of retirement, removed the coupons that expired in April, and filled it with all kinds of current lovelies. I'm pumped now and ready to tackle some serious savings!!

Wednesday, I moved The Box. The Box has been sitting in the upstairs hallway causing a hazard to any person who needs to get through. It was ridiculous and I will never admit to you how long it sat there. It was falling apart because of being kicked, tripped over, and filled past maximum occupancy. I just didn't know what to do with it or the stuff that was taking residence inside it. I ended up carrying it downstairs two flights to its new home in the basement. No, that's not the best solution, but it works for now. Plus, I don't have to worry about one of the children killing themselves in the middle of the night. I also organized two kitchen cupboards that day. They were the kind of cupboards that housed things I hadn't seen in so long, because I couldn't get to the back of them. I ended up finding a basket full of baby head bows that I hand washed & passed down to a friend expecting her first baby. That was a definite feel-good moment, although it was bittersweet. 

Tuesday, we got our first snow. That prompted me to clean out the coat closet. I hate that chore, but it must be done every year. During the summer, the hats & gloves tend to party and move all over the place. I like to keep a segregated closet where hats are not allowed to interact with gloves or scarves. It's done now and I was able to check another thing off my list. 

Monday turned out to be sock matching day. Hubby & the boys have been complaining lately that their sick supply hasn't been lasting from one laundry day to the next. I sat on the basement floor and matched for a long time. It was shocking to see the size of the pile of sock balls I created. But the better news was what else I found. I had been missing an adorable owl t-shirt since summer. It was new and I only wore it two or three times. The last time I remember wearing it was to Big Sis' Field Day at the end of May. Ridiculous. It was buried under the unmatched socks, thanks to one of my sons who had laundry as a chore one day. They are so lazy & will do whatever possible to avoid work. Sometimes, their avoidance of work takes more energy than the original chore. Who is raising these people?  The bad news is now the shirt is too big, due to my recent loss of 22 lbs.!

So, the moral of the story is, whenever feeling overwhelmed, take one small thing at a time until you start seeing a difference. The end results make you feel so good & you end up energized to complete the rest of the tasks. Yes, it may take until I'm 97, but I'm going to get this place clean & organized. Wish me luck on my journey!