I Think I'll Just Get Another Root Canal, Thanks

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I suppose it's a testament to how much fun I had at Christmas that I didn't take one single picture. It was crazy busy, since I hadn't been home (Bay Area) for two years, and I had lots of catching up to do. It was great to be back home in the IE, too, as the boys have been on a continual high for most of the past couple of weeks: No school AND we get presents? Awesome!

It would have been great to capture on camera their faces (and screaming and jumping around) when when they opened their presents; I guess I was just enjoying the moment too much. Is that possible?

And now I've got the after-holiday blues. Not because I feel let down or that I have to get back to the everyday drudgery. The main source of my bout of the doldrums (peppered with stress and a double shot of anxiety) is the fact that January is approaching.

It seems like everyone is excited to gear up for the new year by getting organized and clearing out clutter. They are energized to get a fresh start. Me? I'm not energized. In fact, I'm the opposite.

All I want to do is pull the covers over my head until February. You see, the act of organizing gives me hives. I would love to have someone come do it all for me, and then maintain it for me as well. But seeing as how I don't have a personal assistant, maid, or magic genie, the awful task is left up to me. I think I'm actually getting hives just writing about it.

The biggest problem right now is that I don't know where to put stuff. I don't really have a space of my own, so all my crafting materials, office supplies, books, etc., are scattered throughout the house. Along with my own detritus, there are the boys' clothes, toys, games, you-name-it lying around, too. Don't think I don't get after them, but I can only fight so many battles in a day.

My workspace (which is typically the dining room table) usually looks like this:


You can see the computer desk in the back, but I hardly use it since the boys are on the computer a lot; anything left on the desk has the potential to get broken, misplaced, or seriously filthy.

We obviously don't eat dinner here.


Problem is, even when it's cleaned off, it's not really a place I can use as a desk, as it just looks so messy if anything's on it.

Ah, if only it were this easy:

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I suppose technically it's that easy, but I might be worse off afterward.

Pretty much anything I organize just ends up back on a table or counter or on the floor waiting to be put away. Of course, you professional organizers out there are saying, "a place for everything and everything in it's place." Yeah, okay, but when there is no "place" that is not trampled on, rifled through, or touched by BOYS on a daily basis, it's a bit easier said than done.

With that, trying to organize seems like it's not even worth the trouble, since everything would still have to be scattered around in different cupboards, under tables, and crammed in nooks. This pretty much goes for all rooms in the house. It seems like everything is out of place and it's just so...overwhelming!

(Of course, looking at the big picture, I should be grateful to have things I want to hold on to, and the necessary cupboards to house them.)

I wish I had the organization gene, but let me tell you, it does NOT run in my family. And I'm pretty sure it doesn't run in Ralph's family, either. (Let's just say I don't envy the boys' future wives....)

Yeah, I suppose I'm just using all this as an excuse to not even start organizing. It's just hard to build up any enthusiasm about it like the rest of the world right now.

Maybe I'll try again in February. Or not.

Daily Kitties 1.5.09 ~ Conquering Clutter With Catty Kitties

It all started out okay. The kitties were helping me empty my inbox.


They helped me recycle my out-of-date papers and receipts.


They started helping me decorate my new filing folders, and pick up loose bits of trash.





Then came the LOOK.


It was all over after that.



I thought it was over once Pixie moved to the couch, but I was wrong.


I could see they were going to be no help at all to me at this point, so I had to finish these on my own.


I'm hoping that the pretty paper and signs will help me to want to keep them nice and organized, but I have a suspicious feeling that I'm just decorating berths on the Titanic....

Daily Kitties 12.30.08 ~ Organizing the Crafts Shelves

Yes, the kitties and I have officially been bitten by the organizing bug. Well, I have, anyway. The kitties love the ramifications of it, though.



I decided I couldn't handle my crafts shelves in the disheveled state they were in. I've basically just been shoving yarn, fabric, ribbon, glitter, gift wrap, and all other kinds of detritus into the black hole and closing the doors. (This is my usual form of "organization," by the way.) So when I finally got everything out, it looked like a tornado had picked up the nearest Joanne Fabrics or Michaels and dropped everything in the middle of our garage.





I also had about a gazillion plastic bags that I'd been saving to make projects like this:




I've taken a bit of a break from that, though, so I don't need to keep all those millions of bags. So most of what Bunny is laying in got tossed:


I also realized that, while baskets are pretty and can be used to organize some things, they don't really make good holders for all my craft stuff, since I have to stack them. They just end up looking like this:



Therefore, I decided to use plastic containers with lids instead. The kittens agreed that the baskets worked much better as nap spots or play houses:






Once I finally pulled out all the plastic bags and set them aside to recycle, I realized I had much more room. Then I put all my yarn and fabric, etc., in their own containers, and voila!




Look Ma! Clean couch!


Of course, some stuff like Christmas wrap and decorations has to be put up in the attic for storage:


But at least it's finally in boxes!

Much to the kittens' dismay, I decided to use the baskets to organize the laundry-room shelves.


I don't know if they'll ever forgive me.

"We are NOT amused!"

Consumerism and the Beauty "Ideal"

This post came about for two reasons. First, I was looking to reduce my clutter for the Happy to Be at Home challenge, End '08 Great. July has been "Conquer the Clutter" month, and I've been slowly weeding out a lot of things that I don't use and don't need and are simply taking up space in my home.

The second reason I'm writing this entry is because I was on Crunchy Chicken's blog the other day and she had written an entry about the fighting the beauty ideal in our country/world. There is constant pressure for us as women (and men, too) to keep up with beauty trends, believing if we just get that one perfect lipstick, shampoo, perfume, etc., then we will be as beautiful and successful as the movie stars.

I'm afraid I fall into that trap in a big way. My main addiction is make up. I don't even wear that much compared to the rest of my So-Cal counterparts, but for some reason I buy and hoard all types of creams, powders, pots, tubes, pencils, glosses, and glitters in order to make up my face.

This pile is just my lipsticks!


(I'll spare you the rest of my consumer stockpile.)

After looking on a website called Skin Deep which gives the ingredients and toxicity of the different cosmetics and skin care products on the market, I decided it was time to clean up my act (and conquer my clutter). On the site, I found that many beauty aides contain ingredients that are possible human carcinogens and even linked to neurotoxicity and cancer.

(Some were even found with BHA, a fragrance additive that is in violation of government restrictions - "Banned or found unsafe for use in cosmetics." A lot of bad things have to do with fragrances, which I used to love in my beauty products, but no more.)

In order to reduce the chemicals I'm putting on my body (as well as in the environment), I've been slowly trying to phase out my beauty products. I've already done away with shampoo, and am working on eliminating conditioner as well. I make my own deodorant, and use only coconut oil as moisturizer and lotion. Make up being my big hang up, I'm taking it little by little. With just my lip products, I found I had more lip balm than I will ever need in this lifetime:



And even when I get cold sores, I still don't need this much:


I'll probably keep the abreva though, because it's $17 a pop. Can you believe how much I (and countless other women) spend on products?! Just my make-up box alone has hundreds of dollars worth of crap stuff in it.

Okay, moving on to the lipsticks. Do I really need seven lipsticks that are the exact same shade? And the red one on the end didn't even look good on me when I tried it on in the store. Why am I keeping it around?


Don't even get me started on my lip glosses.


I told you it was bad. This is even after I'd already weeded some out before the End '08 Great challenge started. I finally pared it down to this small drawer:


Still a lot more than I "need," but I'm working on my addiction, people. Baby steps.

I felt bad throwing away hardly-used products, especially if someone else might be able to use them. I contacted my city's clothes closet/donation station and talked with a woman there who works with our homeless population. I asked her if there was a need for beauty products, and she was very happy to hear that I have a ton of stuff to donate. I can clean and sanitize most of my makeup, which can go to women looking to dress professionally for interviews, etc.


Much of my beauty/makeup stuff I will continue to use until they run out, and then search for less toxic replacements. I do feel much better now that I've gone through and uncluttered so much of my beauty regimen. Not only do I feel better about having a cleaner space, but also I feel better about what I'm putting on (or not putting on) my body.

Oh, and one other added bonus: While I was cleaning underneath my bathroom vanity and putting my products in order, I found an escapee. The boys weren't with us this weekend, which is why her absence went unnoticed for so long.


Fat Girl (so named by the boys because she eats so much), is a red-eared slider who resides in the boys' bedroom.

Right here she is sulking because I put her back in her tank:



We had to put a temporary weight on top of the tank until we figure out a better solution:


I'm surprised she was able to make it off the bookshelf without hurting herself. (A friend who saw this picture laughed at the "BUTT" book. It's The Day My Butt Went Psycho, which I mentioned in a previous post. I'm reading it to the boys in order to get them more interested in reading. They love it so far.) I'm glad she's back in her tank, safe and sound. I have no idea how long she'd be behind all my stuff if I hadn't been clearing it out.

For more stories about conquering clutter, head on over to Happy to Be @ Home.

End '08 Great: Conquering the Clutter

Hmmm.... I like this idea. It's like a mid-year resolution. The women at Happy to be @ Home are hosting a carnival of sorts to help those of us who tend to need a bit of a fire lit under us to get anything done started at times. The challenge for the month of July is to Conquer the Clutter. Gee, don't know if I have enough clutter to last a whole month's worth of cleaning.... and then she wakes from her dream and sees the piles encroaching on the last bit of clear space.

I've decided on a few main problem areas to tackle this month. The delightful linen closet, the corner of the garage (a.k.a. the Man Cave), the crafts and games cupboards, the photo cabinet, and my paperwork/files, which I think will be the toughest.

This past week, in order to get some of my paperwork in order, (and to have a place to work on the mess that is my filing system), I cleared off the catch-all of detritus dining room table.

I can't believe all the stuff that gets thrown there! It looks like I have 5 bags lying around, all for carrying different stuff. I have cups left over from me bringing them inside from the car, some Knifty Knitter™ circles for making hats for my co-worker's twins, office supplies, junk mail, and a bunch of other flotsam and jetsom....

And here's the abandoned file box that was supposed to help me keep papers together while they were being transitioned to the filing cabinets.

Notice how it's collecting dust with papers sitting on top of it instead of inside of it.

I lined up my containers for the job: my pretty new in-box (re-decorated with scrapbook paper), a "pending box" for papers, etc. that need to be kept out of filing because I still need some information or they are going to someone else (hopefully I can transition that into my filing cabinet eventually). The two cloth grocery bags are for items going to another room, and papers that need to be filed. And the garbage can is our recycling bin.


I actually managed to sort through everything on my desk and the table in one sitting. I was able to put a lot of stuff in the recycling bin (yeah!) and a lot of the stuff just needed to be put back where it belonged, somewhere else in the house. I found a home for the Pending box on a shelf so it's not in the way:



and sorted through and organized my office supplies.

I simply used cut-up cardboard food and beverage containers as dividers to keep everything neat in the drawers. Seeing the supplies this way makes me realize how much I have and how I DON'T need ANY more!


Finally! I can see the table!


I still have to go through the bag that holds my files, but now at least I have a space to do that!
And, in an effort to bring less paper clutter in to the house, I made a label that I am going to stick inside my mail box:



These are all baby steps, but I'm hoping that they will culminate in a less-cluttered home. To hear about more people who are working on their own personal mountains of clutter, visit Happy to Be @ Home and get inspired!

Organizing and purtying up the office

I would rather lick my kitchen floor than do paperwork (and that's saying a lot considering that it's the busiest room in the house and can get pretty disgusting). Looking at piles of bills, receipts, warranties, and other detritus that builds up on my desk makes me slightly ill every time I glance in that direction. Being that I'm more of an avoidance person than a just-do-it-now-and-get-it-over-with person, I know that I'll have to see a pile grow to dizzying heights before I'll finally roll up my sleeves and dive in. So I thought maybe I'd at least give myself something pretty to look at while I'm contemplating where to start my ascent to the top of the pile.

As much as I wanted to go buy a pretty, fabric-covered box or something like it, I've learned that I easily get buyer's remorse and am much happier when I can make it myself. Therefore, my current trash heap "in box" is just an empty file-pockets box. Functional, but totally uninspiring:



I decided I wanted to dress it up a bit, see if that would make me more willing to tackle the beast. I thought about wrapping paper, but all we have is Happy Birthday and Christmas paper. I'd really have to be in the mood for those, and they would only be really appropriate a couple days of the year. Then, when I was shopping for yarn at JoAnn's Fabrics, I found these scrapbook papers on sale for 16¢ each:




I simply cut them down to size and pasted them in and around the box:


You can tell I rushed, as the corners of the box are still peeking through, but I don't care. I'm just happy to have something purty to look at on my desk now. We'll see if it actually gets me to keep things orderly...

Oh, and I used an extra piece of the paper that I had cut off to make a sign for a box that I'm now keeping in the cabinet, out of sight. This is for papers I'm having to hold on to for one reason or another and just don't want to have to look at:




Just making that change inspired me to look around to see what else I could organize. I cut up some old food boxes and used them to organize my office supplies/junk drawers:

Wow, I've got a lot of pens!

Now I'm inspired to do even more! And most of it was stuff I already had lying around the house. I only shelled out 80¢ for the rest!

For more inspiring ideas, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer, which is what inspired me to do all this in the first place!