Back

I'm back after a few weeks with an update on how I'm doing redoing my life and stuff.

It took me a little bit to get going and once I did, I now feel like I can't stop.

The big hurdle for our family and for me is getting all the Christmas/holiday things put away after Christmas. There is so much and I keep sorting and tossing but I can't do too much because the items have meaning or belong to other family members. And even though we don't need any more Christmas items or decorations, we always get something for a Christmas present or we manage to buy something on clearance after 12/25. This year my husband got another large plaster Santa from his mom. The Santa will not fit in our "Christmas" closet. Yes, we have a designated closet for all of our Christmas items- it's in the basement. Don't like it, don't want it, and doesn't fit anywhere. I left it in the large box next to my husband's workbench. Not the ideal clean out, but it's not shoved into a closet that is already stuffed with items. Stuffed, but organized I need to add.

The trees are finally down, the live tree and the artifical one. The artificial one is in the attic. I packed away the ornaments this year in a way that it will make it easier to set up next year. Why two trees? Wouldn't life be easier and more organized with one? The live tree my husband and daughter set up and put the lights on. She and I pick out the tree together. The artificial tree she and I set up and decorate. We get to put only white lights on and certain ornaments- a color theme. It's a big part of the Christmas ritual and it's something that she and I share. Hopefully, next year it won't be as tedious to decorate and put away, now that it's more organized.

Here's what else I've done. I cleaned out the linen closet and my pantry. I've sorted through all the baking items and tossed old spices etc. I threw out or stored somewhere else the large amount of bowls I had that took up space. I cleaned off the desk in the kitchen and filed or tossed the papers that have accumulated.

I've been extremely diligent about taking care of the mail the day it arrives.

Now I'm going through piles of papers in the guest bedroom, including the piles and folders associated with the volunteer jobs I have. Also in proces is organizing the information I've accumulated for a job search and redoing of my resume.

I feel like now that I've started, I don't want or can't stop. I think this is the most important thing I've learned from this process so far. It's getting started that's the hardest. The task at first seemed insurmountable, and I started attacking it in a pretty haphazard way. Once I cleaned the linen closet and baked goods, though, I thought, this wasn't as bad as I thought. I had thought that the two areas were a disaster and would not look clean or organized ever. Guess what- they weren't a "disaster" and they are now clean.