Quick Before I Get Sidetrack'd

Here is a portion of my pre-Boo to-do list; these are all things that will effect him directly (I’m currently omitting things like clean fridge, dust blinds…you know, the fun stuff). I’m sure there are other things that have and will come to mind, but right now I’ll share “Fifteen on Friday” because it makes for good alliteration in the title.

1. Find and purchase boy crib bedding that I actually like and can afford
2. Choose a paint color for Boo’s walls
3. Find new homes for various items remaining in Boo’s room
4. Prep and paint trim and walls
5. Hang closet doors
6. Buy mattress and box springs for Little’s big-girl bed
7. Move nursery furniture to Boo’s room
8. Find chair that I would like in Boo’s room (and hope it is in the budget)
9. Buy burp cloths that aren’t pink
10. Go through Little’s clothes to see what can be used for a boy
11. Create registries
12. Find a double stroller that I’m willing to push (and can maneuver)
13. Purchase sling(s), nursing pillow, and possibly some other “wants” for myself
14. Wash clothes, bedding, blankets, fabric parts of equipment, etc.
15. Set up tour of maternity floor at hospital since it is a different hospital than where Little was born

And there you have it. Now if I can just quit procrastinating and get some of these things crossed off…eleven weeks to go!

Last week I learned from my friend Diane that Wednesday is anti-procrastination day at FlyLady. Now FlyLady is not a site that I’ve frequented in the past; although, I have visited several times in the last few years with good intentions. But I digress; today is anti-procrastination day, so I thought I would not put off (again) until tomorrow what could be done today. I think you could all guess that I have not accomplished all of the things that I’ve been putting off (that would take more than one Wednesday and probably many of the days in between those Wednesdays), but I did make a start on the pre-Boo to-do list.

Today started with getting up a bit early to get a shower, dressed, etc before Little woke up. This is something that I’m finding makes the day flow a bit more smoothly; especially if we have somewhere to be (which we usually do). After eating breakfast and getting Little ready for the day we had about 20 minutes before we needed to leave for Bible Study Fellowship. But, because we’re not procrastinating today, we left early and stopped by Kroger to pick up the items that I didn’t get at the store on Monday. BSF ends around 11:15 and we headed straight to Target to pick up a few things, like laundry detergent, that weren’t urgent but would be soon. While Little ate lunch I mixed and kneaded this week’s batch of bread (we also sang and talked about the birds in the backyard while she ate her applesauce).

And then during the first rise on the bread I conquered the task that gets marked off the to-do list: cleaned and organized the pantry. I still have some work to do in there, such as getting spice racks to go on the back of the door (so that I can actually find my spices when I need them instead of digging through the entire shelf only to find that I’m out of something), but the biggest part of the work is completed.

Now the bread is finishing it’s second rise, I’m finishing up this blog post, Little is still napping, and I think I’ll rest a bit. It feels good to have one thing off my list. Happy anti-procrastination day!

We just got a call for a second showing of the house this evening.

I have a friend coming over in about an hour.

My house is a wreck.

Hopefully I’ll be back later with more!

~ Little’s face is looking much better after 2 doses of antibiotic; I think we’re on the mend.
~I’ve walked 9 of the last 10 days.

No, I am not bulimic; fortunately, I have never struggled with eating disorders. Eating – why yes, that is something I engage in regularly; but the purging part, well, not so much. I really hate to vomit. But I digress; on to the point of the post.

Every year in late Spring or early Summer I go into purge mode. When I’m purging there is very little that is truly safe; pretty much anything that isn’t nailed down is fair game. Matt can sense purge mode coming and begins to nail things down. Things like the dishes, clothes, furniture. You know, the stuff that every sensible person cleans out once a year. I mean, do you really need to eat off of a plate? Are you really going to wear that shirt again (no matter that you wear it once a week)?

The last several weeks I’ve been cleaning out. It all started when my neighbor, Lindsey, and I decided to have a yard sale. I went through the house ruthlessly searching for anything that we no longer used or needed, then I enlisted Matt’s help in the hunt. We ended up with boxes of things that we toted to Lindsey’s driveway in hopes that our trash would be someone else’s treasure. What didn’t sell went immediately to Goodwill. A couple of hundred dollars and more space in cabinets and closets were ample reward.

This weekend I attacked our paperwork. “Important” papers had grown to take up a two-drawer filing cabinet and a couple of other file boxes; I could take no more. It took a good portion of two days to sort through and shred all of the papers we were holding onto that we didn’t really need. I filled four kitchen size trash bag with paper and got down to one file box containing the papers that really are important. I feel a hundred pounds lighter.

So, today I am thankful for a husband who puts up with (even encourages to an extent) this quirk of mine and I am thankful for our cross-cut shredder. I’m sure the shredder is thankful for a day of rest.

The 30 Day Organizational Challenge has come to an end, and I’m happy to report that I completed my work on Little’s closet with time to spare. I moved things, removed things, container-ized things, and better contained things. I’m quite pleased with the finished product, and there is plenty of room to grow.

Laura has asked that each participant answer a few questions about the process and experience:

1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it? The hardest part for me was getting started. I overcame my hesitancy by taking everything from her closet and dumping it in the living room floor.

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order? I’m trying to be very conscientious of putting things back where they belong and putting her clothes into the baskets neatly.

3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space? Most of what I purged was clothing or baby items that Little has outgrown. Because we hope to have more children, these items are now residing in the attic or her “outgrown clothing” storage box.

4. What was the biggest lesson you learned from this experience? It really didn’t take long once I began the process; it’s all about getting started.

5. Now that you have completed the PROCESS, do you think having and keeping your space organized will make a difference in your life? It will definitely make it easier to find and get to her clean clothes. The new storage for her “to grow into” clothing will also help me keep an eye on how much clothing I have for the next season.

And now the fun part; before and after photos:

I added containers to the shelves to hold onesies/tees, pants/skirts, fancy pants (what we call diaper covers), sleepers/pajamas, socks, etc. The clear bag container on the top shelf contains clothing of sizes she has yet to grow into (mostly 12-18 months for the fall and winter); the boxes on the bottom right contain clothing she has outgrown that we need to return to other people. The wicker basket on the floor will hold items she outgrows until I have a chance to sort them and get them into longer term storage.

The overall results: her closet is neater and more functional; thus, so is the rest of her room.