Setbacks

There have definitely been some setbacks lately.  Things have been crazy in life.  I have had to focus my efforts elsewhere which really bothers me.  I did some organizing projects, but I am now in survival mode again.  I want so badly to move forward again.  I will find time this week to do something to move forward.  That is my goal.

I am also starting some new ideas for weight loss. I have joined an online community where I can record diet/exercise and really track what I am doing.

I have done some purging of stuff and it felt good.  Gotta do some more of that!

I'll get there... eventually.  Grrr... those annoying setbacks.

It's been a year....

Wow, I can hardly believe that it has been a year since I last posted.  It has been a crazy year for sure.  We got pregnant shortly after my last post and had some complications with the pregnancy, forcing me to "take it easy" and basically do nothing but survival stuff during the pregnancy.  And I gave birth to the baby in January by c-section so there were 8 weeks of recovery where I was restricted on my activities.  Having 4 kids and restrictions make for a very unorganized house.

I was watching a documentary the other night on hoarders.  Scary stuff, I tell you.  I find that maybe I have some hoarding tendancies of my own.  Although I really hate it when things get messy and I constantly think about getting rid of stuff.  Not that I do very well at getting rid of it, but I know that I would never let it get to the point that those people do.  But it is bad enough for me.  So, seeing that show motivated me to get back into the swing of streamlining my life.  And it is perfect timing.  I am 8 weeks postpartum and all restrictions have been lifted.  I can get life under control again!

Part of that is getting rid of the baby weight that I have put on throughout my 4 pregnancies.  I really think that there is a correlation with holding on to "things" and holding on to extra pounds for me.  So, I embark on this journey with renewed energy and enthusiasm to achieve the life I want to live.

I was in the shower this morning thinking about this, and the thought came to me that I should do different posts for each day, and keep my focus shifting to keep things interesting for me.  This is what I came up with:

Modify Monday - This is where I focus and talk about the organizational improvements that I am making in my house each week.

Trash-it Tuesday - This is where I focus on getting rid of things that I no longer need.  Mostly donating or recycling, but I was going for alliteration here.

Weigh-In Wednesday - Yep, it's just like it sounds.  Wednesday is my weigh-in day.  And I will record my thoughts and feelings on weight loss each week.

Thoughtful Thursday - Just whatever I have on my mind.

Fitness Friday - Talking about what active things I have focused on each week.

Scrapbook Sunday - The day that I work on getting family history things done.  Write in journals, organize pictures, etc.

Saturday is my day off.  Let's see how this goes!

It's been a while

Well, things have been very busy around our house. We went on vacation after that last post, and then we all have been sick at various times since then, we bought a rental property and have been trying to rent it, so I have been in survival mode on the organization since then. Now that we are almost through all of the craziness, it's time to get back to the monstrous task of decluttering our home. I guess at this point I can officially say I am "Spring Cleaning". So, since it if officially Spring (although the weather hasn't gotten the memo) I am going to add deep cleaning everything to the agenda. You know, under beds, behind furniture, kitchen cabinets, etc. It just needs to be done. In the process I will hopefully get rid of lots of stuff! I also have a garage sale coming up in May that I will gather things for. Yes! Back to my plan!

Catching Up

So, I am way behind on recording on the projects I have done lately. Last week I:

Got the house ready to have the carpets cleaned (I love this! There's nothing like clean carpets - especially with 3 kids running around making messes)
Cleaned out and organized the linen closet
Went through all of the kid's books and organized them
Went through more kids clothes
cleaned out the car - now I just need to vacuum it before it gets messy again
and
My husband worked on all of the electronic stuff and his papers in the office

All in all, not a bad week.

Control

Ok, so yesterday I had one of those moments where you realize why the house organization has become such a problem. One of my issues is that I just can't let go and let someone else help with the organizing. I am the type of person that likes for the organizing to be done "right" more than quickly. My husband is more of a "quick" organizer. Mostly his organization consists of throwing things away without thinking too much about them. I, on the other hand, have to think every single thing through. If there is an item that I'm not sure what it belongs to, I set it aside and think about it until I can figure it out. My husband will just toss it in the garbage if it is not immediately evident as to where it belongs. This drives me crazy because then you end up with items with pieces missing. His solution to that - throw it away.

So, I find myself going through the garbage after every time he "cleans up" around the house. I know I should not do that, but I can't take that he doesn't think about things. Yesterday I peeked in the garbage while he was cleaning and found an entire sewing project that I was in the middle of working on in the trash. It just happened to be in a plastic Target bag, so he assumed it wasn't worth keeping. I was really grateful that I rescued my hard work from being thrown away, but this did not help my control issue with the home organization. It just confirmed that I need to make sure he is not throwing important things away. And it fueled my need to do it all myself, the way I want to do it. I feel this constant panic to get through everything quickly myself so he won't want to suddenly "help" me with it.

I gotta get through the house quick. So I don't have to feel like such a control freak.

The paper mountain

I worked on the paper mountain today. Went through all of the school papers that come home each day. They had worked themselves in to quite the pile.

I also gave a huge bag of clothes to my sister in law for her son to use now that my son has grown out of them. I like giving things to people that I know. Somehow that makes getting rid of things easier for me.

Good day.

Yesterday

I forgot to post yesterday, but I kept with my cleaning plan and I was able to go through a bunch of clothes to give away. I also dropped off 2 bags and a box of previously gathered clothes, shoes and books to donate. It felt good once I drove away, but I still had that paniky feeling as I was unloading them, wondering if there was something in there that I might be able to use and might want at some point. Hopefully this will get easier with practice.