4 Inches

I measured the pile of paperwork that I removed from my desk, the kitchen table and the kitchen counter. Now, yes, it’s a little spread out, but at its tallest, it is four inches. FOUR INCHES of things I have deal with, one by one by one. Even if it’s just to move it to another pile. For “deal with immediately” “file” “for taxes” etc. It’s 2:39 in the afternoon on a Sunday. I’ll check back in an hour and we’ll see where I’ve gotten. I may even measure it again!

One Hour of Work Later:

A lot of trash thrown out, all filing separated (although not filed yet!), LONG To-Do list made, two bills paid, two Washington DC Field Trip paperwork filled out and money put into envelopes, and am about to start on the annual Medicaid Insurance online. Feeling MUCH better now that I at least know what is in the pile and most of what needs to be done with it. I t measured the “to be filed” pile and it’s 2″ high. None of the to be dealt with piles are tall enough to measure. Whew!

The Second Week of Freedom

Ok, that’s a little over the top, I’ll admit it.

But still…peace and quiet during the day cannot be overrated!!

Last week I didn’t do a whole lot but sit on my butt, relax and enjoy the peace. My reward to myself for surviving the end of the summer and the incessant “MOMOMOMOMOMOM” that I heard.

This week is a bit different. I’m setting that timer for 15 minutes and getting things done, bit by bit. Going through things. Throwing things out. Cleaning that darn playroom. Just because I can’t stand it one more second. And hey, I found a book that Ethan has been missing and therefore crying over. THAT made it worth it!

I don’t know what it is about family being home that renders me incapable of getting things done, but I’m oh, so grateful that I make up for it when they aren’t around.

Just a Little Bit

I volunteer with the Parkesburg Churches Community Outreach, which is an organization funded by many of the churches in our area to help out with those who need food, clothes, rent, etc.

With the economy taking the turn it has, there are more people needing help and less help to go around. It’s a sad but true fact.

PCCO is hosting a yard sale in a couple of weeks to raise money. Since no one ever comes to our neighborhood for yard sales, we gathered up four boxes worth of stuff and donated it to their cause instead. And all of a sudden the office (where I’ve been storing it all) seems SO MUCH CLEANER! I’m thrilled to be able to actually walk in here and maybe even get the vacuum in here as well!

What a difference decluttering can make!

Organizing the Organizer

Let me go on record as saying that if any of my clients ever came over to my house, they’d throw up their hands in disgust and ask why in the world did they hire me?

Just like everyone else in the world, I have the best of intentions. I start out great. But then I have four kids who think there is a cleaning fairy (named Mom apparently). And I myself tend to “pile” wherever I see a flat surface.  And then I work, which gets me behind, which yes, I see the irony of completely.

I just began reading Organized Simplicity, which is off to a great start.  Maybe it’s the spring. Maybe it’s the fact that we are having a yard sale on April 2nd. Maybe it’s just that I’ve had enough and really want to purge/declutter/trash/you name it. I want to GET RID OF STUFF.

As I tell my clients, wanting to do it is really 1/2 the battle. The rest is just getting the time and keeping at it.

My Life, New and Improved

So I’m up at the Hershey Feeding Clinic this week with Ethan. I leave the house at 7:10 in the morning and come home somewhere between 5:30 and 6:00 depending on the status of accidents and traffic lights. Oh, and how fast I speed on Rte 283.  Shhhh!

In between arriving and leaving my day is made up of 15 minute sessions with Ethan’s feeding therapist and then 30 minute breaks. Except for lunch, which is a longer break. I talk to the other mom and her son, I help Ethan put in videotapes, I get out and put away toys, I read a book and I read magazines.

Lots of magazines.

My mom dropped off 6? 7? magazines last month. Normally I flip through and then throw out pretty quickly. Instead those puppies sat on a speaker for weeks, just waiting for Hershey. Ladies Home Journal, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping…all women’s magazines chock full of recipes, quick tips on cleaning, fashion ideas and, oh, ways to improve yourself, your life, your home, your amount of clutter and your marriage.

Some of them have actually resonated with me. I look at the desk I’m sitting at, which once again just mocks me with the piles and papers and who-knows-what-in-the-world-is-actually-under-there?, and feel the urge to tackle it once again.

I hear my husband hint that maybe marriage counseling might not be a bad idea and wonder which of the wise suggestions about improving my marital relationship I should listen to. And put into practice.

The one thing I’ve noticed, though, is that I get all this inspiration 50 miles and over an hour from home. Once home, it’s very easy to slide back into the old routine. Which obviously, isn’t working so well. Maybe instead of just reading, I should take some notes. And talk it over with my husband.

Bulk Trash

Twice a year a rather large trash truck pulls around to gather what is nicely called “bulk trash”.  These are items that, for whatever reason, do not fit in a trash bag/can but still need to go to the dump.

Item A: The loveseat in the playroom. When we moved into this house 10 years ago, the previous owner left behind a fair amount of things, a set of living room furniture being one of them. The sofa and chair went years ago to a family, but the loveseat stayed behind and has been beaten, ripped, playdo’d etc to death. It is not worth passing on. It is not worth donating to the Habitat Home Store. It is not worth anything except taking up space in a landfill.

Item B: The “Green Cabinet”. Years ago (and I mean YEARS AGO), Jim’s grandparents lived in a home and enjoyed their lives there. They were thrifty and handy and often Jim’s grandfather would build something instead of buying it. The Green Cabinet is like that. It was made to house a turn table/record player on the top (in a lower section), a VCR in the middle, and a TV inside it’s doors. 1) we don’t use turntables anymore. 2) we use DVD players AND VCR players AND a DirecTV receiver in this house so more room is needed. 3) We need to be able to access the back of the TV to plug in various and sundry handheld plug’n'play games. 4) It’s GREEN and very, very ugly. Could it be handed to someone else? Maybe. Although the multi-leveled top would probably get in the way. People just don’t use turn tables anymore, unless they are DJ’s and then I don’t think a green cabinet would be helpful to them. So into bulk trash it goes.

Halleluia. Now if we could just find a buyer for the Victrola Jim’s stepmom gave us 9 years ago I’d be thrilled. Anyone? Anyone? Buehler?

FlyLady

So I was a FlyLady follower a few years ago. I tried to follow her stuff perfectly, because that’s the way I try to do thing. Except the amount of emails eventually got to me. So I unsubscribed and have been fine ever since. I did continue to set my timer for 15 minutes and work uninterrupted for those time periods–that I will probably use for the rest of my life. But the rest of it went by the wayside.

As did my house.

Jim and I had quite the talk a few days ago about the house. I’ve been slacking off. I know I have. Right now it’s straightened, but that will disintegrate within a few days. So last night I checked out Flylady again. Instead of getting her overwhelming emails–seriously dozens each day!–I’m going to print out her stuff and follow it that way. I don’t know if a particular system is better for me or not, but it’s worth a try.

Physician Heal Thyself

Have you ever had so much to do OUTSIDE your home that the INSIDE of your home went to pieces? That’s been my life in the past few days. Sunday I went to church, ate lunch and then worked. When I came home I was beat and ended up not doing anything. Monday Bennett had a doctor appointment down at DuPont (hour away), which ended up including x-rays and another doctor appointment, as well as lunch in their cafeteria and a visit to the pharmacy. He missed the whole day of school. By the time we came home (left at 9:40, home at 3:00ish) I was again, whupped. I did one load of girl’s laundry but that’s it. Yesterday I worked and went grocery shopping. Did another load of girl laundry. That’s it. I am SO BEHIND. So the organizer’s house is a disorganized mess!

I’m staying home today!

Oh, and Bennett is fine. He has a condition called Hirschsprung’s Disease, where a part of the bowel doesn’t have nerve. It doesn’t know it’s full, so it doesn’t empty. He had emergency surgery when he was a LITTLE baby, had a colostomy for five months, and is fine now except not potty trained at 7. The doctor x-rayed his abdomen and his colon is completely full of stool and he’s not emptying it when he “goes”. We have a not-so-fun treatment of this coming up on Friday. I will spare you the details, but it will hopefully be the first step in finally potty training.

I used to think that I’d be passed talking about my kids’ bowel movements by the time they hit this age. Oh well!

Toy Purge

I just finished doing the twice-per-year-or-so toy purge with the kids. This entails getting a basket and taking each and every toy and asking the kids “do you play with this?” If two or more say yes it can stay. If only one says yes (unless it’s a special case) or if it’s broken, outgrown or I’m just sick of it then it GOES. With Christmas, and it’s annual influx of yet more toys, coming, this just needed to be done.

The kids actually enjoy this. There’s very little arguing and they are not sad to see old toys go because they know they get to keep the ones they play with.

This year, I have to admit, I got TOUGH. I told them they could keep four stuffed animals. Ok, I upped it to five. I’m not that tough. But together that’s FIFTEEN stuffed animals, including Webkinz. That’s plenty! (and I’m sure they will be getting more at Christmas, please, Lord, No!). They were ok with it, although Laura had a very hard time deciding who was #5. She sleeps every night with Eeyore and has three Webkinz, so that was the easy part. But apparently deciding between the little bear and the big bear was incredibly heartwrenching. I almost gave in and made it six, but I stayed firm and she eventually settled on the little bear. Whew. Now to get rid of them all! ::sniff sniff::

What could you purge today with your children?

Defeated

What is it about my desk that makes me unable to keep it clean??? I can keep my kitchen clean. I can keep my living room clean. But not the desk! It’s the total dumping ground of the first floor! ARRRGGGG!