Moving

I'm back!  Well, sort of.  Things have been in a state of chaos for the past couple months.  First we pack up to move.  Then we unload.  Then we live in chaos.  Most people pack in an organized way.  You know, dishes in one box labeled "dishes", keepsakes labeled "keepsakes"... you get the idea.  In our case, we shoved, crammed and tossed whatever fit into whatever container was available with no label thus creating chaos.  In retrospect, we should have packed the first way.  It took 2 weeks to find my knives.  Do you know how hard it is to cut chicken with a butter knife?  I still haven't found the lid to my large cooking pot, nor have I found my daughter's swim suit, the chip clips or the soy sauce.  Every time I get an area "set up", it winds up cluttered again in order to "set up" another area.  I'm hoping things will find their place by Christmas.  I think that might be wishful thinking, simply because life doesn't stop due to a move or any other crisis in life.  The dishes and laundry still need to be done.  Lice, diarrhea and dirt still happen.  Yet somehow the rooms need to be painted, boxes unpacked and put away and areas set up to look like a home and not a dorm room.  I suppose my next 30 day challenge could be to have things "pretty" by Christmas.  We'll see what life throws my way and I'll try to keep you posted!

Magnitude

I am overwhelmed at the magnitude this task has been.  I walked to the basement on at least 3 occasions in the past few weeks only to turn around and run back upstairs.  Up until about an hour ago you couldn't see the floor.  Piles and piles of clothes, dress-up, toys, trash, totes up the wazoo and more clothes.  I went down there about an hour ago with high hopes of finding my jeans as the weather is chilly these days.  I picked up the floor (clarification- I cleared a path on the floor.  You can actually see the floor, but it is still just a path.)  I made a pile of clothes I think my girls might like.  I bagged another bag of clothes I don't want anymore and clothes I know the girls don't want.  I moved on to my clothing bins.  I managed to downsize from 3 totes to 1, bagging the items I no longer want or need.  STILL NO JEANS!  I have no idea where I put them.  I did find a pair of brown pants that fit so I guess that's what I'll wear til I locate my missing pants. 
I'm also overwhelmed because my little decluttering challenge has turned into an urgent-I-don't-have-a-choice-anymore task.  I was informed recently that we are losing our house.  I don't care to go into all the details but I do know this:  WE HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF!  So now not only do I have to declutter, I have to pack as well.  Good grief, we cant go camping for 2 days without bringing 2 cars full of stuff, how am I going to pack to move? 
So, if you don't hear from me in the next couple months you can be sure I'm either bagging, boxing or passed out! 

9-10-11

Today is Riley's birthday!  After cleaning up after her sleepover party I tackled the living room.  I went through Tobin's clothes and blankets eliminating 2 totes worth.  I also bagged a bunch of clothes from our yard sale this summer.  I rearranged the living room a bit to make a bit more room.  I still need to go through Tobin's toys (it's amazing how many he has after only one year of life!)  We then went to the Renaissance Festival for the rest of the day.  I'm tired!  Tonight I will relax and drink a glass of wine!

September 7

It turns out one bag a day is a lot harder than I thought it would be.  The first hurdle is time, I have had very little extra the past week.  Emotions would also be a huge problem.  Why do we tie emotions to things?  They are just that, things.  They do not feel, they do not care and they don't hold the spirit of the person who gave it, played with it or looked at it.  I shouldn't care if that toy was once played with by one of my kids.  It doesn't make the toy worthy of taking up valuable space and time in my life.  Yet....it's still hard to part with things.  Tonight it is late and I still have to make lunches for my girls.  Tomorrow night we need to get ready for Riley's golden birthday party on 9-10-11.  I think I will try to get together a bunch of stuff for Savers on Saturday (I hope!) 
Some day it's all going to be gone anyway, why not get rid of it now?!

Getting rid of.....days 1-4

I kind of cheated for these first few days of September I brought 4 bags to Savers last weekend .  I have cleaning, lesson planning and school stuff to do this weekend so I probably won't be getting to any new bags of junk until next week.  I have 6-8 boxes on the deck that just need to be loaded up and brought somewhere.  I will try to get a bag of junk together this evening if I have the energy, otherwise I'm going to shoot for tomorrow after I clean the much neglected house. 

New 30 day challenge!

My house is a mess.  We are drowning in clutter.  Too much is what we have.  I have tried to declutter in the past to no avail.  It seems the harder I try, the deeper I fall into the clutter hole.  If I get rid of one bag per day I think I will accomplish several things.  First I will be putting very little energy into the project and thus not be as exhausted as I would be if I had spent 8 hours bagging and boxing up stuff.  Second I will be able to enlist the help of my fabulous daughters, either to help with the baby or to help purge (they also feel overwhelmed when we ask them to declutter).  Third I will be able to feel like I'm at least doing something and therefore not feel guilty about passing the piles of junk everyday.  And last but not least (I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons I just am tired and need to go to bed!)  I'm hoping the end result will be a more organized home with more usable space.  The plan will be to start September 1st.
PS.  I also plan to get back into eating healthier once school starts.

Trust

God is my help, my deliverer, my stronghold, my rock and my shield.  Psalms 46:1 and 18:2

It's easy to say, it isn't always easy to do.  I know God will take care of us during hard times.  Sometimes I have a hard time remembering to trust Him.  I place too much of my emotions and energy stewing and fretting about what people do when I should be placing my ALL in God. 

I haven't been eating very healthy lately.  I keep hoping I will wake up and suddenly desire to be healthy.  I also keep hoping I'll wake up one day and be the perfect Christian, wife, Mom etc.  I'm just so tired and spread so thin and issues arise and I just want to curl up in a little ball and go to sleep for a week and when I wake up I want the nightmare to be over.  DRAMA! 

I am blessed to have food in the fridge, 3 beautiful kids, a husband who has a full time job and much, much more.

I am thankful, I am grateful, I am blessed and I am learning to trust.