Extra Shampoo and Hangers

I’m feeling a bit, let’s just say, unorganized lately, and for an organization F.R.E.A.K. this isn’t a good place to be.  When we moved into our new house a year and a half ago, I purged box after box.  I threw away old trophies, (except the 4th grade 2nd place spelling bee trophy I won) magazines, and junk that had no place in our new home.  I had a huge garage sale of hundreds of things and what didn’t sell, went straight to the local charity donation center.  It felt so wonderful to have only what we needed go with us.

So how is it, twenty months later, I feel like it’s all come back?  I have the spring cleaning bug so badly, I’m tempted to go to the doctor and see if there is a cure.   Problem is, it feels so daunting right now, that I don’t know where to start.  Pick a room, any room and it needs some organizational tending.

The kitchen has five junk drawers and we’re not utilizing the space in our little nook very wisely.  The linen closet has sheets for beds we no longer have and no matter how many bottles of shampoo I have stored in there, I always buy a new bottle before looking in there and using up that supply first!  The laundry room needs hangers.  Hangers. That’s pretty simple don’t you think?  The boys’ rooms….well….let’s just say….they need some serious work….days worth of work.  Then there’s the garage. Sigh.  Sigh again. 

I really need a coach of sorts to just stand over me and ask all the questions that need to be asked.  “Do you really need 15 blank spiral notebooks?  How many $1 Michaels’ bin journals do you think you’ll use this year?  When was the last time you filed anything away into that green file cabinet?  Why do you have full sized sheets when you don’t have a full sized bed?” 

I know when it gets done I’ll feel light as a feather, but until then, I’m feeling the extra weight of the wrapping paper and extra sheets and the fifteen spiral notebooks on my shoulders.  I know it’s temporary and will get done, but until then, wish me luck in the motivational department.  I’m going to need it. 

I Don't Like to be Low on Windshield Wiper Fluid

I guess you could say I’m a neat freak. I like order and tidiness.   I like having a place for the scissors and knowing that they are always in the same spot when I need them.  I like using the notebook that hasn’t been drawn in to jot my grocery list down.  When everything is neat and orderly, I feel good.   I think I’ve always been like this, but as I get older, I find I’m much less tolerant of “messy”.  I can’t think straight or clearly when the blankets aren’t put away or there are breakfast dishes in the sink.  I don’t have a nervous breakdown when the house is in disarray, but definitely feel much happier when the house is picked up and closet doors are closed. 

There is a real switch that “clicks” in my brain when things are organized. I can feel it go from off to on instantly.  I’m not obsessive compulsive about it (really I’m not), but there is a definite difference in how I feel.  I am a classic visual learner, so maybe that has something to do with it.   The learning path to my brain is directly connected to the visual path of my eyes.  If there’s clutter on the highway, I feel like I’m driving the day after a snowstorm without windshield wiper fluid.  I just can’t see clearly and everything slows down. 

I’ve found this to be true in my writing as well. I can’t write when the house is alive and filled with “Mommy” and the sounds of the TV.  I need quiet to process my thoughts and put them down onto my keyboard.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the “Mommy” and the sounds of the TV too, but for the time I want to be creative, I’ve found that I’m more inspired when things are tucked away in their designated spots and the highway is clear for miles and my wiper fluid it topped off to the brim.  I appreciate and enjoy a clean windshield.