Distracted, me? How did this happen?

It’s been a few days since I decided to start down this path and I started off with a bang! I emptied, I organized – I ran out of time. So I stuffed everything back into the cupboard and decided to start off first thing the next morning. That evening, after TroubleMaker was in bed, I planned. I listed target areas, I devised ‘free’ and cheap ways to organize the stuff I have with stuff I already own. I did make one trip to the store and bought $7.50 worth of balsa wood to construct a mostly-found object spice rack. Hubby and I even toured the thrift shops to see if I could find cheap organizational storage ideas.

And then I felt overwhelmed. Because although I want to start in the kitchen, I quickly realized that the fever was spreading. I tripped over 17 pairs of shoes at the back door and again hung my ‘everyday’ coat over the newel post on the stairs (because there was no room in the closet at the backdoor) and I knew that I was in serious trouble.

The back entrance way, the ‘appliance’ closet, the front hall closet and now you can add the spare room closet because in an attempt to keep us twisted ankle free, my hubby moved our winter boots there (because the front hall closet is chock a block full of other stuff). My son’s dresser is overflowing again with clothes, my ‘underwear’ drawer needs revamping, my sewing room/office is beginning to look like land mines went off in the corners (the middle is free because we have a spare inflatable bed set up for my mother). There is the cupboard in our bathroom and the broom closet off the kitchen.

Then I saw my recipe ‘stack’ and nearly cried. I can’t do this – I’m not organized enough! I start off with such good intentions but then I get seriously overwhelmed and get easily distracted with an area (or thing) that might be easier.

I even went so far as to try and pick out fabric to sew new curtains for the kitchen (not in the budget, but definitely needed) – all in an attempt to not get back to the original plan – clean and organize my kitchen.

I suppose I should just quit while I’m ahead and sit on the floor and play endless hours of “bocks” with TroubleMaker but I know it will only be a little while before the now disastrous spice cupboard calls my name again.

So here I go, again, back in the mire. Give me 24 hours – then send in a search party.

Getting Organized!

I’ve always wanted to be one of ‘those’ people who knew exactly where everything was at any given second. I want to have neat little containers for push pins and paper clips. I want little plastic cases for papers and pencils; I want glass jars on shelves with coloured pasta in them.

The fact of the matter is, I’m a “piler” – a word so evil in the English language that even the most renowned spell checkers can’t actual verify if my spelling is correct… Yes, folks, I “pile” stuff - everything from tin cans in the cupboard (with the labels helter skelter) to piles of unopened mail. I pile books, cd’s and bags of pasta. I pile clothes on a chair in my room and metres of unsewn fabric in my craft room.

Ladies, gentlemen: my name is Corrie and I’m a piler. It is sometimes also known as a ‘stacker’ – but that is just a junior title… In order to be a true piler, you must create piles so high and so deep that even your best friend or husband won’t venture into your office to rummage through your things to find the book they lent you or the receipt for the kid’s bike.

The other qualifier to being a ‘piler’ is to be able to – at a moment’s notice – go to any stack in the house and find exactly what you’ve been asked to retrieve (give or take a pile or two). I never ceased to amaze (and annoy) my coworkers with my ramblings of “have you seen…?” followed by “Oh! Here it is – it was in a different pile!”

I know this is my flaw – I do and try as I might, I just can’t seem to hold my various attempts at organizing together long enough to do any good. Eventually, and rather quickly, I might add, my organized desk goes back to a disorganized stack of piles. I’ve cleaned my sewing room/office up so many times that I don’t think my husband believes me any more when I speak about ‘getting organized’ in there so that I can work on the mountains (the graduated form of piling) of projects I need to accomplish.

So – why am I writing about getting organized? Well, because like so many things in my life, I think if I make them public and attach some accountability to my attempt, it may keep me on track and on target! So over the next few weeks, I will be organizing and making a true attempt to remain organized as I move forward into a new phase in my life.

We are on a tight (hear "no") budget for this. I want to do it as cheap and green as possible but reusing, repurposing and revitalizing things I can find already in my house or get for free from local recycling places.

The readers of my blog are my judges on this journey and you are also the ones I will be accountable too... In the form of a monetary reward if I fall down on the job! Leave a comment and and check back June 1 and I will do a random draw for a $25 gift certificate from Ikea (as who better for home organization than Ikea?).

First stop... My kitchen!