De-Cluttering

Chris and I are still on our de-cluttering kick. Granted, we haven't made a lot of progress in this area, what with everything that I've been dealing with these last few months. But we've made a vow to get back to it and start making progress again. The areas where we have de-cluttered and organized (our bedroom, the girl's room, playroom), are so much more pleasant and easy to manage. I need more of that general feel in the whole rest of my life.

Ironically, I need to do some emotional de-cluttering, too. That, however, is going to take considerably more time. If only it were as easy as making three piles - one to keep, one to throw away, one to donate.

"Okay, let's see. The pain from my childhood? Nobody needs that - we'll put that in the 'throw away' pile. The guilt I have from recent life events? Donate. Somebody might be able to put that guilt to good use in their life. The joy I have from being with my family? Definitely a keeper."

Yeah...emotional de-cluttering. I like that.

Procrastination

Yes, I know I've told y'all this before - I am a HUGE procrastinator. I'm not proud of this fact, it's simply one of those things about me. I'm not sure where it comes from, exactly. Maybe it's my self-destructive tendencies. Maybe it's a method of distraction. Could it be that I'm just lazy?
More likely it's a mix of all of those things.

On Sunday we leave to go away to a nice little country inn with a big group of friends. We do this every year, and it's wonderful. We get away from the city, bond, have fun, relax, communicate...it's great. I've been craving this vacation since Christmas. With recent events in my life being what they are, this is something that I desperately need. I need a break from "everyday life" so that I can focus a little more on what's really important in my life right now -- which is feeling like a whole and complete person.

I've been procrastinating all week long. I have a million and one things to do before Sunday morning. Yesterday afternoon, instead of making lists, cleaning, packing, or doing any number of other preparations, I spent the afternoon playing dress-up with the girls. When Chris arrived home from class, he found me in a huge afro, with a crown on my head, dressed in a yellow gown.

No, I didn't get any packing done, but the girls and I had a lot more fun. Isn't that what life is all about anyhow?

The packing and preparing will get done, one way or another. The great thing about us procrastinators is that we're GREAT at pulling last-minute miracles out of our asses.

Getting Organized

Last week when I had my little "mini-vacation" at my girlfriend's glorious apartment, one of the things that particularly struck me was how organized and un-cluttered it is. Granted, she's a single woman with no kids, so she's way ahead of me in terms of organizational and de-cluttering potential. However, being there did inspire me to pare down our belongings, and get our things completely organized, once and for all. My plan is to go through our house, room by room, being completely brutal and getting rid of things we've been hanging onto for too long, and finding permanent homes for the things we actually do want to keep. I've been wanting to do this for quiet some time now, but I've never had a good, solid plan before. This feels good, doable.

We started this morning with our bedroom. I was amazed at the things that I unearthed that we've been storing for no particular reason. We've got one huge Rubbermaid bin, almost full now, of "things" to give away, a garbage bag almost full of garbage, and another bag of clothing to donate. And that's just our bedroom.

It's going to take some time to make our way through the entire house. And some areas, like our basement, will take a lot longer than others. I think I'm leaving the basement for the very end...I shudder to think what's waiting for me down there.

I am happy and excited about the prospect of finally getting this done. In the aftermath of Christmas, I'm looking around our house and seeing that we have WAY too much stuff. Some of that I have to accept - we've got kids, and there's a certain amount of "accessories" that go along with them. But anything not necessary to our lives at this point is going to be vacating the premises.

I can hardly wait to feel lighter.

The List

I am happy to report that I am surviving. Items are being crossed off my list, despite the fact that I managed to add some new things on there, too. For a while there it seemed like for every old item I crossed off, I found at least one new item to jot down.

Working from a list serves me well. It helps me to organize my thoughts and not panic. I feel capable with a list, and organized. It helps soothe my tendency to panic and completely melt down when I have too many things to accomplish. I need to make more lists.

Tonight we are going to a Christmas party and I can hardly wait. I almost never have an excuse to dress up...so when I do, I like to go all out tonight. I'm really looking forward to it. Even us moms need to feel pretty now and again...and with all the jeans and t-shirts in my life, the occasional dress up event, that really can't happen too much.