30 Bags in 30 Days ~

A few weeks ago my sister asked if I wanted to join a group on Facebook; the goal of the group: decluttering. I said sure! I love to get rid of stuff! I get rid of clutter constantly around here. Clutter makes me crazy and drains me of my creative flow. So when I joined the group I didn't really think I had that much to get rid of because like I said, I'm always in the process of getting rid of stuff.

A crazy thing happened a few days before the challenge began (on Oct 1st) I started noticing drawers that wouldn't close. I started thinking that maybe I could benefit more from this challenge that I thought. And then I started thinking that if I went through a major purge around here our home would be ready for the holidays. Score!!

I've already made a trip to Goodwill and have two more bags ready to go...then yesterday I hit a road block.

I decided I would go through "the drawer." You know the one. The one that gets something added to it every time you walk by it. Before the day was over our king size bed was covered with piles of papers, pictures, receipts, little toys, birthday cards, thank you cards, report cards, broken pieces of who knows what...you name it, it was in the drawer. Not only was the bed covered, but the dresser was piled up as well. I told my sister that out of the entire house and all that needs to be decluttered this drawer was going to be the hardest thing to tackle.

I thought you would benefit from a visual (a grainy picture taken with my substandard phone camera because I didn't want to have to download from my real one.) Please take note of the pacifier on the bottom left of the photo. Yes, that was in the drawer along with a Christmas ornament, a ball of yarn and several pieces of canvas artwork. I really have no idea how all that got in there. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person who has been using that drawer as a catch all.


Let's move away from the problem and look towards the solution...I took a scrapbooking class at Big Picture Classes several years ago. The one thing I took away from the class is how to organize your kids' school papers. R and K both have plastic file boxes with files for each grade, so as I sort papers (from the last 3 years thank you very much) I'm filing them away. That's the easy part. I'm stuck with what to do with all the other little odd bits; that's why I'm blogging right now. :)

Here's the file boxes. Nothing fancy, but they do the trick (when used correctly.)

Now back to all the other stuff. I have no idea. I wish I could wiggle my nose and it all be gone. The inner hoarder (I think there's one in all of us) wants to get a plastic tote and with one swipe of the hand it all be neatly stored away in our storage building, but I know someday I will have to deal with it so that's not an option for me. I'm just going to have to suck it up and muddle through. I will be checking in with my FB group from time to time to get cyber support and inspiration.

Why, you might be asking yourself, would I share such an embarrassing picture of clutter on my dresser? Well, you know I'm all about keepin' it real and 99.99% of the time the top of that dresser is clean. I guess you could say that picture is the storm before the calm...or whatever. :)

Ok, I'm about to hit the publish button and get back to work...have a happy day. :)

More Than a Few Things That Drive Me Crazy ~

Most mornings I wake up in a great mood. This morning was no different; I woke up, worked out, fixed breakfast, woke the kids, and aside from K being exhausted and crying that she didn't want to go to school, all was right with the world. And then I started thinking about a conversation we had last night on our way home from football practice. The kids were talking about the tacos they had in the cafeteria that day and how they didn't have much taco meat on them and no cheese. K said she could see the container of cheese when she went through the line, but they weren't putting cheese on the tacos. Then R chimed in and said he heard the cafeteria ladies talking about how with all the new "laws" that Michelle Obama had put in place they couldn't put cheese on the tacos. What the heck!?! If you know me at all, you have to know my blood was boiling at this point of the conversation. I put in my two cents, we got home, ate supper and went to bed not really thinking much else about Taco Tuesday...until this morning when K asked for the millionth time if she could buy a PopTart at lunch. For the millionth time I said, "No." What is wrong with the world when the cafeteria ladies can't even serve a taco the way God intended a taco to be served but they can sell the kids PopTarts to "raise money" for the cafeteria? I just don't get it. If I were on a health rant right now I would talk about how the kids brains need fat to function and fat is not the problem here and how not putting cheese on a taco is not going to solve the child obesity epidemic. The problem is all the crappy whole grains and sugar laden foods our kids are being fed. Oh and have I mentioned how they've cut sodium out of our kids' diets as well? And did you know that sodium and iodine are necessary nutrients for our bodies to function properly? His lack of sodium at school may just well be the reason why R can come home after a long day of learning and eat a half a jar of pickles.

Are you ready for the next gripe? Self flushing toilets. That's right, those stupid toilets that think they know when you're finished and flush when you least expect it. This morning I went to the restroom with K before  school and that psychotic toilet flushed 6 times before we got out of there.  We are in a drought. There are people whose lawns are dead and we have toilets that are flushing willie nillie all over the place. It makes me crazy!

This may or may not be the last gripe. It's my blog and I'll gripe if I want to, gripe if I want to... :) Ok, so I have friends who like to give me a hard time about my obsession with health and wellness. I have friends who, whether they know it or not, hold me accountable and keep me walking the walk. I'm fine with my friends poking fun and telling me the cake I eat at parties is not gluten free. I'm not sure why gluten has become the butt of all jokes, but it has. I would apologize to gluten but I hate it, so I won't. :) This gripe is not about my close friends making fun of me. No, this gripe is about people who make fun of me behind my back in rather disgusting ways never expecting that I will find out. Oh, yeah, I found out and if you happen to be reading this you might want to beat me to the punch and delete me from your FB friends list. Just sayin'


So...I think I'm done. That's it. I'm really hoping after hitting the publish button I can get on with my day with a better attitude. My house needs a good cleaning; maybe that'll do it.