The Year Challenge

School has been out for over a month now, and it has been HECTIC.

This year, the end of the school year means one thing:  The One Year Challenge

The challenge was thrown down by one of my friends, and because I can't seem to say no to a challenge, this is what I'm doing for the rest of the year.  My house is on the verge of becoming painfully cluttered and disorganized.  Really disorganized.  I have one year to get it cleaned up and straightened up and stuff gone that I don't need anymore.  Thank goodness there is enough to do that I can keep switching off jobs, and I won't get bored. 

There are bookshelves to go through, clothes to be sorted, painting to be done, floor tile to be replaced, furniture to be re-done, furniture to be thrown out and replaced...... Well, you get the picture.  And all of these things need to be sandwiched in between gardening, canning, dental appointments, visits from family, and the kids' summer activities.  Plus, planning for the new school year, which starts in just over a month. 

Yes, it's less fun than a vacation.  

However, I think I will find it MUCH more satisfactory.  If I went on vacation now, I wouldn't be able to relax, because I would keep thinking about the horror that is my house.  We're planning on going on vacation next year.  This year, we're concentrating on getting our house cleaned out and organized in one year.  

So far, we have managed to blow through sorting out the kids' clothing (a HUGE job), and a small section of my clothing (an even bigger job!).   I organized my canning supplies already, so that was a big job out of the way, and by organizing those supplies, I was able to organize my pantry a little more.  Or at least find space for most some of my empty jars. But I swear these things multiply at night, when no one is looking.

I have a list of things that need to be done.  It's an ever-growing list.  It's probably never going to end.  I'll just keep adding things as they come up.  I've actually started to hum a little song to myself whenever I add things to it:

The more it grows (tiddly pom) the more it goes (tiddly pom) the more it goes (tiddly pom) on growing.  

And nobody knows (tiddly pom) how long it grows (tiddly pom) how long it grows (tiddly pom) there's no knowing.

I'm looking forward to this process, actually.  A lot of people deem it necessary to try to find a schedule, and stick to it.  My life is constrained enough.  I need the freedom to be able to jump from one project to another, and not feel like I'm doing it in the wrong order.  Some days I'm ready for dealing with clothing.  Some days I want to work in my kitchen.  Some days I want to paint.  Some days I want to be a handyman and do repair work.  As long as I get one thing done a day that needs to be done, I'm okay with that.  It might make things kind of chaotic, but I'm okay with that too.  My life is chaotic.  It probably always will be.  But that's what makes it perfectly imperfect.

As Time Goes By....

I thought only a week had passed.  I didn't realize it has been much longer. 

 

See, this is what happens to me, and a lot of overscheduled people. It happens to all of us.  We live in this crazy world where we are continually being pulled in multiple directions at all times.  And no matter how carefully we schedule, if one little thing (or one big thing....)  goes wrong, everything seems to fall in on itself like a house of cards. 

Sometimes it doesn't need to be something going wrong.  Sometimes it's just saying "yes" to the right thing at the wrong time. 

Or a big old combination of all of the above.

On April 4, I accepted a challenge from a friend of mine to get my house cleaned up and organized.  I was excited and ready to roll with it.  I want my house clean.  I want all the extraneous stuff gone.  I was ready to move forward with it, and I was going to start documenting it here on my blog.  

Yeah.... This NEVER happens.

Guess what?  That draft is still sitting there, waiting to be finished.  Life, once again, got in the way.  Everything wound up getting in the way.  On top of everything else, two of my wisdom teeth that were in really bad shape were causing me so much pain, I couldn't concentrate on anything.  And I mean ANYTHING.  I already had an appointment scheduled to see my dentist, so I wasn't going to try for an earlier appointment. When I finally got to see him, it turned out that those two teeth had to be extracted that day.  So I wound up losing about 3 days of life, due to pain and pain medications.  I did some remarkable catching up on my sleep, and now my teeth are causing me a lot less pain.  Bonus!  

This is more like it.

However, in a perfect world, things would have gotten done, regardless.  Is this a perfect world?  Nope.  This is an imperfect world.  Dinner still needed to made.  Dishes still needed to be done, along with laundry.  Children still needed to be taken care of.  The house needed to be cleaned.  Basically, everything that I usually do still needed to be done.  Deadlines needed to met.  And I was two weeks behind on pretty much everything, or so it seemed, just because of two teeth.

So now I'm rushing to catch up.  Trying to get caught up on laundry, switching out clothes for the season, getting plants ready to be put into our plot at the community garden.  One day this week

, I have a contractor coming to take a look at our bathroom (which is needing some SERIOUS work done on it) and help us figure out which way we need to go.  Once the demolition on that starts, and the rebuilding of our bathroom, I know that my work is going to increase a lot.

I just can't seem to get back into a rhythm that works for me at this moment, so I'm plugging along, doing things as I see them.  And trying to figure out how to schedule everything, without completely exhausting myself.  

And it might just be me, but this seems to happen a lot.  In my world, anyway.  As soon as I get a good schedule going, and it's working for me, and I'm getting a little bit of free time, something comes along and clogs up the works.  

I'm learning though that taking things one baby step at a time, I'll get everything done.  I need concentrate on one task at a time, and not worry about the other 12 million things on my To Do list.  

Do you build time for problems and possible issues into your schedule?  And if so, how do you do it?  Let me know!

Fast Forward: Where I Want to Be in a Year

Now that 2015 has settled somewhat comfortably around me, it's time for me to figure out where I want to be in a year. 
I'm hoping for better health, once my painful dental problems are cleared up.  (Side piece of advice, kids take care of your teeth.... dentists are your friends, and so is dental floss.)  I'm hoping for less pain, everytime I breathe in.  I'm hoping for no more teeth falling out... You get the picture. 

I'm working towards finishing many works in progress for my house:  the crocheted t shirt yarn rug for my kids room, walls repaired and painted,  bathrooms repaired,  and clutter out of the house.  There are so many projects I've got my fingers into right now, and the number is growing (as always), and I spend most of my time just trying to keep up.  

In a year, I'm hoping that things might be on more of an even keel.  Yes, I know that life will always be chaotic because of my husband's work schedule, my schedule, and the children's schedules.  I'm hopeful, but I'm always realistic.  I'm just hoping that we won't be lurching from one crises to the next, always feeling like the rug is being pulled out from underneath us.

I'm hoping that the garden I put in this spring will be fruitful, and I will be able to put up a lot of veggies for my family, reducing our food bill.   I'm hoping that the weather this spring and summer creates an optimum growing season for all the fruits and berries in the area, so I can make a lot of yummy treats for my children and husband.  I want to spend my summer canning all the fruits and veggies I can so that we will have enough next winter.  

I will sort peacefully through my recipes and get them organized, into binders and folders.  

Basically, in a year, I want to be more organized, on a better financial path, and healthier than I am now.  

Funny, though.... I think that's what I wanted last year, too.

Spring Cleaning: A Time of Renewal, Rebirth, and Hope

I always used to chuckled when people would mention "spring cleaning".  I never did spring cleaning.  Maybe once or twice when the boys were babies, but never really since then.

This last year, I really started to take a look at my life.  My house, my family, our finances.... And I was disgusted.  We were existing, but not living.  We were struggling.

Cooking in our tiny kitchen was nothing short of a nightmare.  Storage in our kitchen was nonexistant.  Our dining room was turning into a catch-all room, as was our living room.  The living room was also my work area for my business.  And it was out of control.

Over the next month or so, I'm going to be concentrating on my "Kicking Butt Campaign".  I am eliminating things I don't want or need.  I'm going to utilize the great ideas I have given to other people,  and using them myself to regain control of my house.  I will reuse what I can, and get rid of the rest.  I'm going to make my house a home, to the best of my ability.  

The way I'm doing this is quite simple.  I take one small section of one room, figure out what I want it to look like, and then do my level best to make it look that way.  If I have to move furniture, I do it.  If I have to scrub down the wall, I do it.  Some of the stuff that won't get used gets thrown out.  I discovered that my public library is needing some supplies for their summer kids program, so I'm working hard on sorting out the supplies they will need, and packaging them up.  Some stuff is being donated to my children's school.  

Summer Library Program Donations

School Donations

I figure there is always going to be someone who will need some of my stuff more than I will.  So my spring cleaning regime this year is going to be several months long, and with a lot of stuff leaving my house, going to people and places that can really use it, into a yard sale box, for when we hold a yard sale this spring, OR into the trash, because no one in their right mind would ever want it.

How are YOU tackling spring cleaning this year?

 

Housekeeping is NOT My Thing

I might be a housewife, but I will fully admit that I abhor housework.
Seriously.  I really do.
There are so many more interesting things to do in the world.   Paint a picture,  read a book, bake, cook, crochet, embroidery,  take a nap.... oooh.  A nap sounds nice. All warm and cozy on the couch, under my favorite blanket...  oh.  Sorry.  I got distracted.  I'm back.

Housework. 

About once a month, I wind up reaching some sort of limit as to the level of mess I can handle.  At this time, I go a little nuts, and get a lot of cleaning done at once.  Once a month,  or thereabouts,  I wind up doing a mini deep clean on whichever particular room has reached critical mass.  I have to admit, however, that since I decided to close my business, I find myself concentrating more on my house.

Now when I move or clean off a piece of furniture, it stays cleaned off, more or less.   I find that I am more willing to throw things out.  I'm willing to part with more of the crap that has built up over the years.  I'm finding that I am more willing to take the time to organize and clear stuff out.  It's going to be a long haul.  Things like this don't change overnight.  But I'm glad it is happening, and I'm looking forward to sharing the changes with you.