Thursday, February 11, 2010

Blog Break

I'm taking a blog break just because it's been long week and I've been working hard.

There's been the obvious. Snow. I shoveled twice during the storm, 45 minutes each time. I only shoveled because I had somewhere to go and then the second time was because I really need to park my bus in the driveway and it won't go up the drive unless I shovel down to the concrete. Nice, hey? The Mr. also took two cracks at it with the snow blower. Nothing horrible, but it just makes you tired and longing for a little catch up rest for the rest of the week.

Next up. Little Miss had school cancelled on Tuesday. Again with the snow thing. The kicker is, they also have had Wednesday and today off. She doesn't have school on Fridays. Not a bad situation, but with 2 little ones under foot it makes the other tasks in life take a little longer and a little more creativity to accomplish.

What other tasks, you ask? Well, it's two fold. On one hand, I've just reached clutter overload and I really, really want to live in a pretty grown up sort of house. So I'm working hard to do the painting. So far I'm done with the dining room, living room, half bath on the main floor and the front hall. I still have the kitchen, family room and the upstairs to do. The upstairs is a hall, 3 bed rooms and a full bath. Anyway, the second part of it is getting ready to redo our foster license. We're looking to license with a different county and get allowance for 3 foster kids in addition to our 3 family kids.

Now, getting ready for one of these license things is really a lot like getting your house ready to sell. You need everything to be as clutter clear and organized as you can stand. You also need to do some seriously deep cleaning before they scope the place out. They're just like buyers. They look in your cupboards to see where you keep things. They'll look in your closets or under the sinks. They'll check out your basement storage area and your garage.

So, I've been working at it. Thankfully I'm not really under a time constraint other than one of my own making, so that's good. But it's a real task. I'm realizing how much I let slide in the first 5 years I've been in this house, especially with homeschooling. I was stashing things everywhere thinking I'd need it later for home school lessons. To be fair, a lot of it, I probably would have used, but I'm guessing we're going to be a part of the public schools for a while. That doesn't necessarily mean I'm tossing or selling a ton of stuff, but I'm certainly organizing and storing. I'm no longer keeping things in easy reach thinking I'm going to need to use that thing in a week or so.

My purge program is pretty simple and a lot like everyone else's. I do one space at a time. I have 3 categories, just like Fly Lady, throw away, put away or give away. I don't give myself too much time to think about any one object and I allow myself to be guilt free about throwing things away. Another thing I use to help myself make decisions about keeping or tossing is to think about a few questions. Is it a family keepsake? Have I used it in the last 6 months? Is it a holiday item, meaning, you don't have to toss it simply because it's not being used currently, but it also means you don't have to keep it simply because it is a holiday thing. It's kind of good to go through the holiday stuff every few years and get rid of the things that you haven't put out around the house for the last few years. I guess, just think about it. If you've had toddlers 3 years running and as a result haven't put out your china nativity set, don't toss it because you'll get to use it again as soon as everyone understands "don't touch", but don't loose it inside your own house either.

I've also realized some things too. I have kids. I know, news flash, but it means that unless I'm a shrew or I go OCD on the kids, there are going to be days with crumbs on the floor. Spills and stains will still happen. Even with the best supervision, markers still sometimes seem to draw on the walls. And some things, I just have to do myself, if I want them done my way. For example, I like to have The Little Mr.'s shirts on hangers, but I know that short of torture and being a few years older, those shirts are only going to get on hangers if I put them there.

Speaking of, that's where I'm going now. To the boy cave.

And that reminds me. One of the things I'm thankful for today are air fresheners.

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