MY MAD RUSH

Today I will clean up the whole house, declutter every room, the attic and the basement, then I will empty out the garage and clean up the back yard. While I am at it I will do all the laundry, change all the sheets, play with the kids for 3 hours, cook up a storm and have I mentioned lose 50 pounds. I will also do the shopping and write letters to friends.

What is it with the last 2 days of a year that make me think I need to get everything done before the year is up? I wish I had someone who told me what I should do next and make sure I actually get it done....

QUIET DAYS

As expected Christmas didn't leave much room for decluttering. But let's face it. Everybody needs a break now and then and Christmas is a wonderful reason.

I did some virtual decluttering. I cleared my hard drive and started sorting pictures that were downloaded multiple times in various places. Plenty to do still but the main job (to copy them all into the same folder) is finally acomplished. The problem that caused them to be downloaded into differened folders is solved now, too. Unfortunately a lot of them still might be there now 2, 3 or even 4 times. Maybe that canbe a task for tonight. Get rid of doubles. Hope you enjoyed the holidays!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I hope, that for a day or 2, you can put your worries aside and enjoy these days in  which we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

May we learn to respect and lover ourselves and see our true potential!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!

PRESENTS

I am happy to say that the pile of presents under the tree is rather small. Maybe to small. But then again. Maybe not! My children have more than they need already. There is one thing I would like to get for James, but a wool hat and scarf to stay warm onhis way to workcan hardly be considered excessive. I have started plotting on things to do differently from now on. I want to make a "sorting plan" for myself, with one shelf or drawer for each week day. But I thought about how long it would take me to make that plan. And then a sentence from one of the last episodes of "hoarders" came to my mind. The daughter of the hoarder said:"Mom if you would just stop worrying about all the things you still have to do and simply do them we could be done bynow." OUCH! That one hit home. Hard. SO instead of sitting down making that plan I cleared the top shelf of the far left cabinet in the kitchen. Took everything out. Cleaned it, threw a few things away. Put some things in the basement and now I am here wondering what I actually want to put there. I might not havefinished my shelf but I am happy to say that Everything I took out of there has found a new permant home (until I get to that shelf hahaha). No seriously. I have no leftovers from the clean up and figured I will just start with the next shelf. I am sure by going through the kitchen I will come acrosssomething that willbe perfectly stored up there.  Dehoarding is a long slow process when you are on your own, but as long as more goes out than is coming in, you are doing ir right!

PICK YOUR BATTLES WISELY

It will be Christmas in a week. I have put all sorting on hold. I still have a sick kid at home and I really want to have a nice Christmas. I will do what it takes to have it. If that means filling empty laundry baskets to have a clean living room that is what I will do. If it means I can't play games online ...oh..wait. No I won't go that far. hahaha No seriously. Entirely different topic. One for a different post ;)

I have chosen to stop sorting, because I know I won't be done before Christmas. I will feel overwhelmed and sad and I'll feel I  have once more not reached my goal. So instead I will focus on creating an atmosphere were my family can relax and enjoy each other for Christmas. There will be room to play to enjoy the new things. We will have good food and the place will be clean so I can sit down without thinking:"I better clean up this and that."

I can fight the hoard after Christmas. I know it will still be there.

I'M BACK

The upside with nobody ever reading your blog is that your fans don't miss you when you don't post. HAHAHA! The last 2 weeks have been rather challenging. I was sick, the kids were sick, more kids were sick, my husband James (I know I know, the person who picked that name had a wicked sense of humor) was sick and the place here literally went to pieces.

When an overwhelmed friend once told me her house was such a mess, she didn't know where to start I told her that can be good news, too. I said in my case it means that I don't have to even get off the couch to get started.

I've worked so hard and achived so much in the last couple of weeks. Seeing the place right now is kind of discouraging. But I've done it before and I can doit again. I just really would like this place to look clean for Christmas.

MONDAY! MONDAY...

Monday. Oh cursed Monday. The bad thing about Mondays is that they bring a lot of work with them. The good thing is that it is work I handle well. Like laundry, and cleaning up the kitchen. IT is work that I have done so many times that I don't have to eventhink about what I do next. I worked hard today. Very hard. Not only did I get 2,5 hours of household work in but I also worked on what I call the abominable pile. The last pile of hoard left in living quarters. Seeing the progress I made over the last few months is the only thing that keeps me going at the moment. I know that if I stick with it I can do it, but sticking with it on days like today with sick kids and all it involves is sometimes hard. I am glad I found friends that can relate and encourage me on my journey.

2 BOXES GONE

Believe it or not. I got rid of 2 boxes of books. Admitely one the 2 smallest ones, but they are gone, none the less. And no, not from offering them online. Nobody called. But I picked up a tiny cardboard box an aquaintnace lost in the parking lot and he told me he needed it to start the fire. I jokingly said that if he really needed paper to start the fire I could offer him 6 boxes of books. He wasinterested, said his wife had use for old books. no matter what. I ran to my car to show him and yes, he took 2 boxes of books. Even if it only was about 20 % of what I still have to deal with it's 20 % less.  And I didn't even have to throw them away. I just hope he didn't get in trouble with his wife! ;)