Organized!!

Instead of making New Year's resolutions, I choose a word for the year. The word I chose for 2009 was Organize!

I've done... very so-so with that thus far. With young kids, it seems like you no sooner clean something, and they've undone what you had just finished previously.
Sometimes, this can get me feeling down. "Why bother!" I start to think to myself.

But with my birthday, I decided that this year I will take charge of things! So....

I went around the house taking pictures of the different projects I want to tackle. "Trimming The Fat" I like to call this endeavour. At some point, this will turn to self as well..

My 1st project, my closet. Here is the 'before' picture. Paperwork and books were piling up on the top shelf. Papers needed filing, books needed weeding out. I started hanging sweaters on the pegs that were meant for scarves, hats, etc.. I have far too many clothes that I never wear either due to them being out of season, too old, or the don't fit. (back to that need of turning myself into a project) My floor was covered with more books, clothes that had fallen off of hangers, shoes that hadn't been on my feet for years, a bag of diapers (seriously), and so on.

I started with the top shelf. I took all of the paper work, filed or threw out each piece of paper. Found a document I'd been looking for for weeks (score!). I then went through the books, set some aside for a yard sale, and put the rest in order. I went through pictures (some on the shelf, some in a box on the floor) and had a great time walking down memory lane!! (may post some of these pictures at a later date) I even found some nursing pads! Wow, they've been there a long time!

Next, I weeded through the clothes. Lots are off to Good Will. Some have been put into the 'dream bag'. The bag I dream of needing to take out again when I can fit into those sizes. A few pieces were even tossed. It was fun seeing fancy dresses that once had a lot of use in my past life (not getting new age on you - just talking about my early 20's when I had lots of fancy socials to go to... now finding a t-shirt without a stain will do for most of my social obligations ;)

Lastly, I rescued the floor. I put books where they belonged, took out the box that had been housing shoes with an inch of dust on them. Why did I have 5 pairs of high heeled black velvet shoes? I kept a few pairs, saved a pair of unworn boots for the yard sale, and tossed some heels that I've had since my 20's.

Finally, after hours of sorting, filing, cleaning and throwing, here's what I had. A clean closet!! Hooray!!

While I was attacking this project, I'm sure it goes without saying that my cherubs were destroying the rest of the house. Ahh... Well, today I tidy up the house. Catch back up on laundry. And hopefully move on to my next project. The boys closet!!!

I'll keep you posted...

What are you working on?