My Mission

I made a New Year's resolution that I would clean out my house this year.  I have never lived in one place this long...is that weird?

As of this summer, we will have lived here 10 years.  T-E-N, all in the same house.  And I have accumulated way too much stuff.  We've been doing a garage sale every year and I make sure I go through the kids' clothes and toys periodically, but still, things have piled up.

I had sort of been putting it off, but then I watched a show on HGTV that made me almost physically sick.  (It wasn't "Hoarders" although that show gives me nightmares...) It was called "Selling Spelling Manor."  Candy Spelling took cameras on a tour of her mega-thousand square foot home and all of the STUFF she has collected over the years.  Her attic alone was 17,000 square feet and was FULL.  I don't ever want to be like that.

So, it's all getting sorted, organized and gotten rid of.  Each painful drawer and closet at a time.  I am giving myself the entire year; because I'm going to need it.

I started with my office.  But every time I clean another area out, stuff gets piled in my office, so I have a feeling that my office will get reorganized multiple times.

The other night I cleaned out a smallish desk I have in my kitchen.  Took me FOUR HOURS.  And I did not lollygag.  It was ridiculous.  I filled an entire trash bag and another bag with stuff for Goodwill.  It looks no different from the outside, but every time I look at it now, I am happy, because I know if I open the front, it won't be an avalanche.  And I will be able to find my stamps.

I am going to reorganize my office again today and find spots for a few things that I took out of my kitchen desk, and then it's on to the rest of my kitchen.  Hopefully I will get that finished up in February, because some big changes are afoot in there...