Cleaning a closet...

I'm back to getting organized... decluttered! I must say that I took an extended break at the Holiday time. Things just got so hectic, The Kids were sick, I've been sick, Mr. Wonderful's been sick, we've been traveling, working, etc.... it's just been a busy time.

NOW... I'm refocused on my decluttering efforts. I started small with a closet/drawer project that I've been meaning to tackle for some time now. I have all my "beauty" products in a drawer that The Kids can get into to. LUCKILY, they haven't shown much interest in it, BUT I've been meaning to move everything out of the drawer and up onto a shelf in our master bath linen closet. In the process I wanted to FINALLY weed out much of the "beauty" products that I've been keeping JUST IN CASE. I really don't use half that stuff... and most of it never really worked for me anyway. Not really sure WHY I feel the urge to keep it...

Anyway, here's what I've done so far... it's NOT completely finished, but it's a lot closer to the way I've been imagining it. AND the stuff I don't want the kids to get into are now on higher shelves... in a closet that we can child lock for now. Eventually, we might even have to move to some sort of lock box system... ESPECIALLY for the medicines that are now on the TOP shelf of the closet.

Here's the BEFORE and AFTER...

My hair/leg/miscellaneous care drawer is now... ...a drawer for Mr. Wonderful and my towels.The make-up/teeth care drawer is now......the hand towel drawer.The closet which was mainly a linen/cleaning/hodge podge closet is now... home of my "beauty" products (ALL of the remaining ones that didn't get tossed... they ALL fit into that basket with pink liner... I can take this basket out as needed and EVERYTHING I need is right there for me to use... no more searching), cleaning supplies, medicinal/first aid supplies, and extra sheets for our bed. There are still a few miscellaneous items that I'm NOT sure whether to toss yet or not... like the alarm clock you see (that's mine, currently I don't use it, but if I ever get a job again I'll probably need it... or if I want to get up BEFORE the kids).So, there you have it... my much neater... more kid proofed closet and drawer! OH, the added bonus?! Right now I have an empty drawer!! I'm not sure what to do with that, but it's there to be used... we can always use an extra drawer, right?! (NOTE: I forgot to take a before picture of this drawer, but it contained all the first aid, extra health care items that have now found a new home in the closet.)

AND of course, there's the TRASH pile... and the donate/give away/sell pile...OH... and nothing was purchased to aid in this reorganization project... just used items that have been laying around the house unused!

Downsizing Christmas...

Now that Christmas is done, I've decided that I needed to organize the decorations that have just recently been taken down. I don't have a TON of Christmas decorations, but I have been storing them between at least three closets. I decided to make things easier... AND to actually be able to FIND everything next Christmas... I would organize and downsize. Here is a look at the majority of my decoration pile. That's TWO full totes (the smaller size), and a couple random boxes that I filled up while taking decorations down. I decided that I wanted ALL of my decorations to fit in the two totes AND in one closet (well, NOT including the tree which has a place in our downstairs storage closet). I would LOVE to have more decorations, but at this time I just don't have the space for it... so weeding out the favorites from the not so favorites is a necessity.

I decided that I HAVE to keep all my ornaments. Ornaments tell a story. I have every ornament I ever received and they all tell a story about some point of my life... whether it be a favorite cartoon character or an instrument that I played. I also have several ornaments that belonged to my mom... they are favorites from when I was growing up and always bring memories of past Christmas celebrations.

Beyond ornaments, I decided to keep two Christmas platters out of the five that I currently have. We tend to spend extended family gatherings away from our home, so they aren't really needed. I kept a Santa's cookies dish and one other platter for our own little family celebration. As far as other knick knacks, I weeded out those that I don't really like until everything fit... I have to let the bouncy snowman stay even though he doesn't actually fit... he's just too cute! :) AND now everything fits in the two totes on the floor of my upstairs linen closet. Perfect! ... AND I'll LOVE it next year when everything is so easy to find next year since it's all in one spot!

Oh... I did have an extra ornament tote that wasn't pictured in my first picture. It is currently home to The Kids' ornaments. They don't have much right now, but I would like to keep them separated so that they can take them for their own in the not-so-near future. For now, it's nice that they will be able to put their own special ornaments on the tree next year without any hassle on my part in finding them. The Boy really enjoyed hanging HIS special ornaments this year... and it'll be nice to keep that up! BTW, this ornament tote fits on the shelf right above the Christmas decoration totes!
I must say that I'm already looking forward to having a MUCH easier time decorating for the holidays next year!! :)

How to look good NAKED!!

I watched this show today on Lifetime. It's the new "How to Look Good Naked" with Carson Kressley from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." Let me say... I'm a complete fan after just one episode!

I must admit when I first started seeing commercials for this show... I was just like "he just wants to see naked women" (I admit that I wasn't REALLY paying attention to WHO the host was), "who wants to watch a show about changing beauty queens" (some of the commercials were showing him prancing around beauty queens and talking about change... again, I wasn't REALLY paying attention), and "that's not going to help anyone." BUT I saw a clip on a morning show... can't remember which one it was (probably Good Morning America)... and it got me to the point that I wanted to see the show.

It has a GREAT concept, the show "teaches women of all shapes and sizes how to go from self-loathing to self-loving without resorting to interventions like extreme dieting or cosmetic surgery." Carson takes these girls through a number of tasks... he shows them how to pick the right undergarments, how to dress for the right body type, how to do hair and make-up, how to pamper (think day at the spa), and helps them to see how others see them... and how that is different than how they see themselves. At the end of five days with Carson, the girl is different... she has changed her self-image. Oh yeah, and she does a nude photo shoot!!

I admit that I don't REALLY love my body these days... what with my thunder thighs, muffin top, and flabby arms... so this kind of show appeals to me. I don't know if I've EVER been happy with my body... even when I got down to a size 8 between the births of The Kids. People have told me that I look good... skinny even, but I get too focused on the scale. How can I look skinny when I weight 182 pounds???? (I can't believe I'm revealing that here!) I have to admit that I AM 5 foot 8 inches... so, although 182 DOES put me in the "overweight" category according to BMI calculations, it doesn't label me as FAT. I think I'm FAT though. So, when I tell myself that I want to lose 30 pounds to get back to my size 8s... really I only need to be healthy... I need to exercise (I do fine with the eating healthy), but only to be healthy AND get some energy back... NOT to necessarily to lose weight. At this time I HARDLY ever exercise (pretty much my exercise is marching around the house once or twice with The Kids). I could use some help with my body image... and this show should help me to see more clearly! My wardrobe definitely needs help (I'm living full-time in the baggy clothes these days)... and I know I need help with pampering myself, too! So, I WILL be watching this show again... and hopefully, learning to LOVE my body for what it is!!

My BIGGEST problem with this show was the commercials (no TiVo here) that were shown during the show. Ummm... guess what over half of them were?! Dieting aids!! Lifetime puts this GREAT show on to help women with their body images, BUT then every commercial break tells them to diet or lose weight. Ok, I know they need their money, but you'd think they'd work on that a little don't ya think?!

Anyway, if you haven't checked this show out yet... and you don't REALLY love your body as it is, check this out!! :)

This entry has been cross-posted at Mom Chatter.

Christmas Cards

I LOVE receiving Christmas cards... AND there was a time that I loved sending them out!!!

Now, it just seems to be one more major hurdle I stumble on every Christmas... I just can't seem to get it together enough to get them all finished and sent. The last few Christmases I've probably finished about 1/3rd of my list by Christmas... and by Valentine's Day I've finished off about a 3/4 of the list. Therefore, there seems to be an unfortunate 1/4 of my list that HAS NOT received their Christmas cards from me in several years. It's REALLY a shame!

It's time for a Christmas card makeover. It's just NOT working this way... and I end up feeling awful that these people never hear from me anymore! I've thought about NOT sending them, but that just doesn't seem quite right. I miss the many REAL letters I used to get... letter writing is quickly becoming a lost art form. I want to keep people's mailboxes filled with SOMETHING other than the regular bills and junk mail!!! I've come to the conclusion that my Christmas cards just can't be what they USED to be (card, pictures, update letter, and personal letter)... at least temporarily until The Kids are a little older and can help out more (some of my fondest Christmas memories are of helping my mom get the Christmas cards ready to mail). THIS Christmas... I'm sending a card with pictures... AND THAT'S IT!!!

NO letter... it just doesn't seem to work for me. INSTEAD, I'm going to be weeding through my list and identifying those people that deserve a letter... those that I don't keep in touch with often enough. I'll divide these people into 11 groups... and spread the letter love over the first 11 months of the year (I'm figuring that might add up to a letter a week). December will be kept for Christmas card preparation and mailing. I think this will be much easier on me than writing a MASSIVE amount of letters during one of the busiest times of the year!!

We'll see...

I'm still around!

Now that I finished the BIG 30 Day Organizational Challenge (here and here)... I'm just taking a breather from my decluttering efforts. I STILL have closets (can you believe we have 9 closets in this house... and only 7 rooms... not including bathrooms) and one more room to work on.

I'm thinking I'm taking December off from home decluttering. I need to work a little on mind decluttering (there's just SO MUCH going on with the holidays being here) and weight decluttering (I have about 30 pounds I'd like to lose). I'm NOT sure that I'm going to be working on BOTH right now, but I should! I'm afraid that if I wait 'til January for starting the 30 pound shedding, it will become one of those failed New Year Resolutions. We'll see. I think a goal of "lose 6 pounds" by the end of December would be reasonable. As for the mind clutter, I just need to get some of my holiday "to do" list done with. The Christmas Cards, shopping, travel plans (we were going to travel back to my hometown, but have VERY recently changed plans), finishing stockings, etc., etc., etc. It's all "listed" in my head. I REALLY need a better way to store information such as that!

So, I'm here... just NOT entirely sure what to do with myself next!

30 Day Organizational Challenge- Got the Closet Done

I've FINISHED Org Junkie's (Laura) 30 Day Organizational Challenge!! I must say, I didn't think I would have time to complete this portion of the challenge at ALL. I did it... and I'm so proud of myself!

I found in the last week that to finish my WHOLE room project, I had to do the closet that I had only thought about doing at the beginning of this challenge. This is my front closet (across the entryway from the "book/office" room) that I have always intended on using for coats, picnic/outdoor items, and eBay storage. Well, it USED to work, but then we just started throwing in EVERYTHING... or things that didn't quite fit in the "book/office" room. AND the clutter from the closet started overflowing into the entryway. Here's what it looked like BEFORE and AFTER I cleaned/organized it during the last week!

This is the whole view...

This is the left side of the top shelf...

The right side...

The eBay storage on the right side of the closet... (the first is BEFORE... I didn't get very good ones of the BEFORE on this side... and the other two are AFTER)

AND the close-up of the front view...

To help ease Laura's judging process she asked that I answer the following five questions:

1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it?

• For this closet, the hardest part was just fitting the stroller and the vacuum in it so that they weren't sitting in the front entryway. The days are starting to be numbered for the HUGE double stroller, so soon the vacuum will take it's place and it will be sent on to another home!
  

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order?

• We have to REMOVE coats from the closet once they don't fit! I found at least 10 coats in this closet that don't fit anyone in this house. I also need to keep up on the picnic/outdoor gear! The box on the upper shelf, right side is my box of PaperBackSwap books. The other boxes are eBay... which I WILL be listing in January or February! I need to keep it trim, since I don't really sell much on eBay.
  

3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?

• The coats are being donated. The other "stuff" were clothes that will be sold or donated, old costumes that will be sold or donated, and car items (which have been put BACK in the car).
  

4. Now that you have completed the challenge, do you think having and keeping your space organized will make a difference in your life?

• It will be so nice to be able to get to my eBay items. It will be nice to be able hang or remove coats without several others falling down. It will be nice to hang VISITOR coats (we didn't have room before). And it will be nice to easily grab picnic/outdoor items when the season returns!
  

6. Why do you think you should win the challenge?

• I'm proud that I was able to tackle this space in several hours. It may still look a bit cluttered, but once that stroller is not being used any longer... this closet will be perfect for our purposes! Although, I started this project LATE in the Challenge, I did tackle it with all the enthusiasm I had for my WHOLE room project! I came, I conquered, and now we have a much more user friendly closet! :)

To see other 30 Day Organizational Challenge participants, go here or here.

30 Day Organizational Challenge- THE END

I've FINISHED Org Junkie's (Laura) 30 Day Organizational Challenge!! I must say, I was TOTALLY nervous about this and afraid that I wouldn't complete the challenge on time. I did it... and I'm so proud of myself!

I chose to work on my front "office" room for this Challenge... mainly because it was the WORST room in our house. Originally when we moved in to this house, this room was designated the "book room." It was to hold all our books... AND my computer. That decision was made before The Kids came along. From the beginning, it never really moved out of "storage" or "unpacking" mode and since kids, it became a repository for all our things we didn't know what to do with... our junk! Most of the junk arrived in this room when The Girl was born and we lost our spare bedroom!

The BEFORE and AFTER tour (sorry, I couldn't figure out how to get them side-by-side)... this is the view you see when coming in the front door.
If you turn your head to the right, you will see my "office." I didn't do MUCH with this area, as it had been organized previously!A little more to the right and you see the kitchen entryway.
Then, there's our BIG bookshelves!
The entryway, we started at...
AND finally, to the right of the entryway...
We are SO HAPPY to have reclaimed this room as a "book/office" room!! :)

Now I would've LIKED a slipcover for our hideous hand-me down chair, but haven't yet succeeded. AND there are a few other "decorating" projects I would be glad to do/have done, but for now it's CLEAN and that's AWESOME!!

To help ease Laura's judging process, she's asked that I answer the following five questions:

1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it?

• There were so many HARD parts to this challenge: the massive amounts of stuff crammed into this room, the time limitations, The Kids, the distractions, the regular chores, and more! I think that the HARDEST part of this challenge was battling my own thoughts. The negative thoughts, as well as, the "hoarder" thoughts.
  
• I overcame the negative thoughts by purging them on my blog (I REALLY think this helped) AND continually reminding myself how nice it was going to be to actually use this room for it's intended purpose (I DEFINITELY kept returning to my "vision" for the room). Mr. Wonderful helped a lot with this, too, by continually reminding me HOW much I had done... and how good it was looking (or how much change he already saw... this "outside" perspective REALLY helped)!
  
• The "hoarder" thoughts are still there, but I helped battle those thoughts by starting with the "easy" junk... the books, the clothes... the objects that didn't have THAT much sentimental value to me or much use in this room OR our home. Once MOST of the "easy" clutter was removed, it made it easier to deal with the mementos... and it had put me in the right mindset for cleaning/purging. The mementos were a much harder task to deal with. I started with a VERY large bin (I'm not sure on the exact size of this, but I'm pretty sure it's the LARGEST made by Rubbermaid)... of items I've collected since High School and I whittled it down to two small boxes of keepsakes AND several binders of letters. There was a LARGE of amount of stuff in the bin that I had NO idea what it meant to me anymore! ...AND then there were all the silly things that I still know what they meant (for example, sugar packets that my summer "camp" buddies and I used to "steal" from restaurants and pretend to use as energy boosters in class), but there's not reason to keep that memento to remember (plus, that's a pretty GROSS thing [the sugar packets] to keep... a bug magnet, although I didn't find any thankfully)! It was a hard project, but I feel much happier now that I've tackled it!
  

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order?

• We are working on getting EVERYONE in the mindset of putting books away after reading, even The Girl who is 1. I figured out a solution for The Kids books. These baskets were sitting unused in The Boy's room, so I thought they would work nicely on the kid shelves! I think they will have an EASIER time putting books in a basket, rather than trying to fit them back on the shelf!
• Another change, is that I NOW have room for my photos (which still need some organizing) and old memory letters on the bookshelves! To be able to keep this up, Mr. Wonderful and I will have to continually evaluate our book situation. We ARE NOT getting more bookshelves (we have set our limit to ONLY current bookshelf space), and if we get more books... we will have to send some books out! I did join PaperBackSwap and am allowing us to have ONE box of books to exchange. This box is NOT full yet!!
• Most importantly, EVERYTHING comes into this room MUST have a place or it is banished! This room will never again be a storage room!!
  

3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?

• I purged a TON of "stuff." On my sidebar I have a list of items that I've purged since the beginning of this challenge (TOTAL Items Purged is approximately 294)... boxes of items donated to Purple Heart: 2, books freecycled: 112, cassettes freecycled: 133, other items freecycled: 41, and bags of garbage: 6. Freecycle has been where most of my "stuff" has been outsourced, too! I LOVE Freecycle! I also have a pile of items awaiting donation pickup (5 large boxes, 3 smaller boxes, a bag of coats, and two chairs that were NOT yet included in my Purge list because they aren't OFFICIALLY out of my house yet)... sitting near my front door. They will NOT leave this spot until they are placed outside the door on their scheduled pickup date!
• I'll admit... that TWO small boxes of mementos were moved to another room. They just didn't fit in the newly organized space... and fit quite nicely in a new room!
• MOST of the items purged from this room have also been PURGED from the house (through Freecycle, donations, or trash)... making the whole house seem lighter! :)
  

4. Now that you have completed the challenge, do you think having and keeping your space organized will make a difference in your life?

• It will definitely make a difference in my life. I might actually invite friends over more often. I will no longer be embarrassed if an inspector, neighbor, or landlord stops by unannounced. Mr. Wonderful and I can actually USE this room to read and relax... instead of sitting in the family room watching TV! The Kids can now find books that have been hidden away for months... a whole new library for them to explore! I actually have a place to organize photos. My letters are no longer stuffed in a box... they are on the shelf and can be enjoyed when the mood hits! I can ACTUALLY consider opening up this room to be an option for meeting tutor clients. I can "play" at the computer without feeling suffocated by all the stuff in the room! :)
  

5. Why do you think you should win the challenge?

• I have already WON this challenge... I got my room and I'm already so much more relaxed! Coming in the front door is a whole new experience... I'm not immediately bombarded by the thoughts of ALL the things I NEED to clean/organize!
  
• I think in terms of "winning" the prize... well, I put in a LOT of time in this room to get it RIGHT and DECLUTTERED! I didn't keep track of actual time spent, but I would estimate a good 4-8 hours on weekends and 2-3 hours during the week.
  
• I think the change is QUITE noticeable both in the room and our habits! Not much clutter was transferred to OTHER rooms (only a few odds and ends... and the TWO small boxes I mentioned earlier)... MOST of the clutter was sent away!!
• I have overcome some MAJOR mental hurdles. I am a pack-rat... and I'm learning to deal with that urge. I am fighting my hoarding ways... I don't want to be OVERRUN by my stuff... it's suffocating. AND now that I've conquered my WORST room, I see how much better I feel without the "stuff" and how much nicer it is without it. I will now be more "picky" about which mementos I will keep... and which non-mementos can stay AND come into our house!
• We have used container limits (the bookshelves) to help combat future clutter problems.
• I tackled MOST of this project on my own. Mr. Wonderful helped TREMENDOUSLY on the weekends with entertaining the kids while I cleaned and he sorted "his" books, but otherwise, I was on my own. I don't really have any organizing freak friends who live nearby that I could call in to help... and those that are have young children that need to be watched, too!
  
• AND overall, I did have FUN with this challenge! I did get overwhelmed at times, but mostly I tried to enjoy the project... especially when I got to the hardest part of it! I let myself think back and remember the past and I used these "happy" thoughts to help push me through! :)

So, there you have it! The finished room and my thoughts on the whole challenge!

NOTE: To see the beginning, go here... for update #1, go here... for update #2, go here... AND for update #3, go here!

...AND to see other 30 Day Organizational Challenge participants, go here or here.