Goodbye Clutter

Pegboard is UP!

2011-06-27T12:08:00.007-06:00

This morning, Shera, my awesome professional organizer, came over and helped me hang the pegboards that I painted last week.

The thing with pegboard is you have to put furring strips behind it so that it sticks out from the wall a bit, leaving space for you to put little pegboard hanging gadgets into the peg holes.

The window wall was pretty easy. We (as in, Shera) hung the furring strips on both sides of the window.

Guess what? You need a stud finder and a level and DRYWALL screws! Who'd a thunk it?

(Not me. Just another reason why Shera is so awesome!)

The other wall was a little weird because the people who built this house got very—uhm—creative. Finding studs was sort of a joke here. In another room, they'd hot glued very thin furring strips to the cement wall, then hot glued the wallboard to the furring strips.

Yep.

On this wall, it seemed like maybe they'd used plywood behind the wall. But whatever they did, Shera was able to make it work.

Shera getting ready to attach the pegboard to the furring strips.

And ta-da! Here is the window wall:

And the other wall:

If you want to do this, just google "how to hang pegboard" and you can find a zillion instructions.

Next up: hanging vertical storage on the pegboards and moving in the furniture.

Peg-Boardage is Awesome!

2011-06-20T12:54:00.009-06:00

Shera, my awesome professional organizer, suggested I do vertical storage in the Craft Room. So I looked at a LOT of different ways to do that and decided to go with the pegboard system because:

it's in my budget

and
it's cute

On Wednesday, Burrito (my awesome grandson & errand buddy) and I ran errands all over the place collecting supplies for the pegboard vertical storage sytem.

We found some awesomely cute wall stickers in pink, green and blue at the Dollar Store.

I fell in love with those colors and decided they absolutely MUST be the theme of my room.

Burrito fell in love with a helicopter.

Then we went to Home Depot. I got white pegboard, pre-cut in 24x48" pieces for only $6.70 each.

I got three.

I also got 1" furring strips which came in 8 ft lengths for less than $1 each. I got three and had the HD boys cut them in half for me (they do it for free), which gave me six 48" furring strips.

After that, we went to the bank, and the post office, and Target, and Bed, Bath & Beyond. When we got back home, I asked Burrito if he wanted to help me start building stuff.

He said, "No thank you, Grandma."

So this morning, I painted the pegboards:
I used the Rust-Oleum Ultra Cover 2x Coverage spray paint in Key Lime, Spa Blue and Berry Pink.

I love the pink and blue. The green is a bit too yellow (and not an exact match to either the stickers or the paint cap), but it's close enough that I can live with it.

Next step, hanging the pegboard on the walls...

Craft Room — Painted

2011-06-14T12:28:00.008-06:00

The Craft/Hobby Room is painted. The room is still pretty dark because I don't have the new light installed yet, so it's hard to see. But if you happen to make out any drips or spots or whatever, just know that...

I DID THAT ON PURPOSE!

I used the Glidden Brilliance Collection, 2 in 1 Paint + Primer in Crisp Linen White, from Wal-Mart.

Here's the window wall:

And here's the wall directly across from the window. The entire top half of this wall is corkboard. I just painted right over it.

And here's the corkboard wall with my shelves in place. This will be my Gift Cupboard, where I will store wedding gifts, baby gifts, and gifts for other miscellaneous occasions.

Having a Gift Cupboard allows me to shop sales and stock up on items when they fit my budget. And when I get an invite to a party, I can quickly grab a gift and go. No stress, no worries.

I had these shelves from the UB business so I can't tell you where to get them, but they're plastic and light weight. I think you can find them, or something similar, at most home stores (Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.) They actually come with two more tiers, but I wanted a lower shelf so I can use the corkboard.

The thing I love about these shelves? They are pretty easy to take apart and set up, as evidenced by the fact that...

I DID IT MYSELF!

Craft Room — Step 1

2011-06-11T13:28:00.012-06:00

I got started on my downstairs project today. Because of how I'm moving stuff around, I have to do little room first, then green room, and last, the shipping room.

The history of this little room is: junk room, bedroom, closet/dressing room, bedroom, junk room, bedroom, UB room. Who knows what it will be the next time I get a bee in my bonnet, but for now, it will be my ~~play~~ ~~jewelry-making~~ Craft Room.

I moved out most of the UB stuff last weekend, so all I had to do today was:

1) Move out the UB trash, the shelves that belong to someone else,
tax records, and gift wrap...

(See that blue tape on the wall? Shera—my awesome professional organizer put that there. It says "Work Table" to remind me what goes there. I had to pull the tape down, but I can still remember what to put where because I drew a map.)

2) Move out my shelves, the jewelry-making supplies , scrapbook stuff,
and the odd boa or two.

It took me about an hour to empty the room and tape it off.

The faux wood paneling makes this room way too dark. I can't see in the dark, so I need to lighten it up.

Because I'm painting over paneling, there are some issues that I don't usually have to worry about when I paint a room. For example, I had to sand the gloss off the walls first so the paint would adhere better. I also had to use a primer.

I'll need to do two coats of paint and I didn't want to add that third layer and more time to the job by priming separately, so I decided to go with the Glidden Brilliance Collection, 2 in 1 Paint + Primer — which I got at Wal-Mart early this morning.

And let me tell you, the paint guy at my local Wal-Mart is NOT a morning person!

I chose the semi-gloss interior latex because the semi-gloss reflects more light than the satin, and the latex is much easier to clean.

I wanted white, because white reflects the most light, but did you know there are like a bajillion shades of white paint? I picked Crisp Linen White, because even though it's bright white, it's a little softer. Plus it has more of a warm, pinky-creamy tone, rather than a gray or blue tone. (But it's not nearly as pink as it looks on the computer screen. It really is a nice bright white.)

So here I am, ready to kick some painting bootie!

(I keep several low self-esteem outfits on hand,
specifically for home make-over projects.)

First, I sanded the walls.

I told DH that I was getting him a BLACK & DECKER MS2000 Complete Sanding Kit for Father's Day. But since I needed to use it today, he'll actually just get the empty box wrapped up real pretty.

(That's sort of rude, so maybe I'll get him a Gift Card to his favorite restaurant, like Olive Garden. I could die for their Five Cheese Ziti al Forno. And DH loves the... uhm... wait. He really doesn't love Olive Garden.)

(Oh, well. I'm sure I'll think of something.)

I like this sander because it's small and fits in my hand easily; it has several attachments for detail work; and it's ORANGE. And it worked great.

See? See the sanded walls?
See how much work I did?

Sanding took about an hour to do—including reading the sander instructions and figuring out how to work it.

And then I painted the first coat. That took about two hours.

The Glidden went on really nice and thick. I liked it. But I'll still need a second coat.

One of Glidden's selling points was that this paint was low-odor.

Guess again.

It smelled like that thick, white gluey paste from elementary school. Personally, I think I like regular paint smell better.

Here is the room with the first coat of paint:

It has to dry four hours between coats, so I'll be doing the second coat on Monday.

Then I have to figure out how to hang the new light fixture...

Shipping Room

2011-05-27T16:01:00.004-06:00

Yes, even though Urban Botanic will be gone as of June 4th, I will still need a shipping room.

Why?

Because I'm a publisher—and even though 99.9% of my future publications will be digital or print-on-demand, I still have a storage unit filled with hard copy books I need to sell.

[And, no, I'm not distributing for other people anymore. That was not fun for me—and I'm old enough now that I'm all about the fun because, face it, I may not have that much more time left. Relatively speaking, I mean.]

This will be the last of the three rooms I tackle (the yellow one here) because I have to move my curriculum resource books and my favorite fiction books off the built-in shelves where they now reside and get them settled into their new home in THE LIBRARY!

(Yes, I'm giggling!)

Then I have to do a major SORT & PURGE.

And like THE LIBRARY!, this room will cost me NO MONEY to do! Just lots of elbow grease and some slave labor. (*cough*Chris*cough*)

I will post some before and afters of all three of these rooms when I start the work, which will be right after June 4th's big UB Yard Sale.

Belle won't be jealous, but...

2011-05-27T14:50:00.009-06:00

I have a big room in my basement. (The green one here.)

Over the years, this room has been used as a junk room, play room, offices for Rosehaven, Professional Pre-Press, Urban Botanic, CustomScentsOnline, and half a dozen other businesses that I've started and closed.

This is the room that depressed me so much when I moved Rosehaven back home from the warehouse that I went to Home Depot and bought the happiest color paint I could find:

Apple Green

That color still makes me smile when I walk into the room.

Right now, though, it's crammed full of UB stuff, boxes, and miscellaneous junk.

That does not make me smile.

BUT. I'm turning it into a LIBRARY!!!

Yes!

My own private, personal dream library.

Okay, it's not going to make Belle jealous...

but it certainly makes me giggle with glee every time I think about it.

Okay, so here's the plan...
To Do List:

Move out all the Urban Botanic shelves and product
SORT & PURGE all the boxes and stacks of crud all over the floor
Move bookcases from garage down to room
Move Favorite books from Shipping Room to Library
Move curriculum resource books from Shipping Room to Library
Decide what to put in the file cabinets (might move them out and add more bookcases...)
Decide what to do with desk (definitely keeping it, but not sure what I'll use it for.) (Personal perfume making, perhaps...)
Make a book inventory

And the best part of the Library plan is—it's absolutely FREE! It won't cost me a penny!!!

Craft Room

2011-05-27T14:23:00.004-06:00

I'm calling this my Craft Room, for lack of a better label. (The pink square here.)

It's also my "Hide the Presents from the Grandbabies" room, the "Jewelry Making Kit Storage" room, the "Paper Scrapbooking" room, the "Gift Wrap" room, and the "All-Purpose Miscellaneous Creative Crap" room.

It needs some work. Right now it has a lot of left over Urban Botanic stuff in it, but that will all be gone next weekend.

Hopefully, I will make enough $$ at the UB Yard Sale to do the following:

This is the plan:

Paint walls white
Brighter ceiling light
Add table/floor lamps
Use vertical storage to create a “store” of craft supplies to shop from

A. Gift Closet

Build floor to ceiling shelves
Put Christmas gifts in tubs
Easy slide out storage

B. File Cabinet

File cabinet to hold idea books and patterns (2 drawer?)
Space above cabinet??

B & C. Wall

Create vertical storage for scrapbook paper & supplies

D. Wall

Create vertical storage for craft and gift wrap supplies
If no studs, attach furring strips to front of paneling to build out studs for vert storage; decorative
IKEA $2 curtain rods to create wrap paper hangers on wall above table
Hang scissors, etc.
Store bows & ribbon

E. Wall

2 tier plastic shelving
Corkboard—Idea board; make it pretty

Estimated cost: $200?

Getting in the Zone

2011-05-27T08:42:00.005-06:00

Shera—my awesome professional organizer—came over yesterday and we zoned three rooms downstairs.

This was the original big picture back in 2009.

Things have changed.

For example, Urban Botanic is no more after June 4th's big UB Yard Sale. So...

Here is the new big picture:

We zoned the three colored areas.

Zoning means, we looked at the space available and my current needs and interests and determined what will go in which space.

We didn't actually do the work yet—but we made the plan.

And it felt so liberating!

I am totally excited about putting this plan into action. Details for each of the rooms coming soon...

Pig Shelf!

2011-04-05T15:53:00.002-06:00

Shera, my lovely personal organizer, came by today and look what we did!

And when I say "we", I mean she did all the work to hang the shelf and I watched.

I also offered helpful comments like, "Hey, that's a cool electric thingee you got there. It puts those screws right into those studs like butter!" and "Wow! Stud finder? It would probably go berserk if my DH came home right now."

After hanging the shelf, I showed her all the progress I'd made the past two weeks since her last visit. She said lots of really nice encouraging things to me—and even clapped at appropriate intervals.

I like her very much.

Grab & Go Project Organizers

2011-04-01T17:36:00.008-06:00

My working office is teensy. Some would even say, claustrophobic. I would say claustrophobic! There are days when I go in there and feel like I can't even breathe.

Maybe it's not quite as bad as this woman's office

---------->

but it's pretty tight and squinchy.

I loved my office at the Rosehaven warehouse. It was the perfect size with lots of space and bookcases and filing cabinets and a lovely assistant to straighten everything up for me and... *sigh*

The challenge of a small office is finding a place to put all the things you need to have handy when you work.

One of my challenges is having a place for my projects-in-progress materials. I used to use a rolling cart and plastic sleeves but there's no place to put the rolling cart except in the closet—and that sort of defeats the "have everything handy" rule.

Shera Hawkes, my lovely personal organizer, had a great idea: Office Project Boxes! Each project has it's own box.

I looked at several variations of this idea and the ones I settled on were the Iris 3 Case Table Chest and the Iris 3 Case SLIM Table Chest. I found them at Office Max. I had to go in to the store because they weren't shown on their website.

What I really like about these:

they fit nicely on the shelves over my desk
clear—I can see what's in them
plastic—I can use labels on them (I love my label maker)
snap tight latches (they really do snap tight; don't pop open when you drop them) (I know this for a fact; I tested)
grooved handle for easy carrying
they are like little briefcases so I can grab and go if I need to work at a client site

AND

they come with a shelf sleeve so you can EASILY slide them out and back into the same spot; you don't have to stack them directly on top of each other, which means, when you take one out, the rest of them don't fall down on your head.

Here they are in use, in my office!

Project Tracking System

2011-04-01T17:08:00.004-06:00

I am a visual learner/rememberer. I NEED visual reminders of things. So I devised a tracking system for projects in the works using a magnetic memo board my sister gave me years ago and sticky notes.

It works like a charm!

But...

The memo board came with pre-attached stick-em to hang it on the wall. Which didn't work too well after being moved three times.

I tried various ways to hang it, including thumbtacks and dental floss. All of them failed after just a few weeks and my board would go crashing to the floor.

Then I found this:

TOTALLY AWESOME! Works perfectly.

I recommend it for every hanging project!

Office Wall Decor

2011-04-01T17:00:00.002-06:00

I want a framed poster of this for my office.

Thanks, Annette, for posting it on Facebook.

Worth Every Penny!!!

2011-03-30T09:58:00.005-06:00

I've been trying to do this de-junk, de-clutter thing for so long by myself. I make a little headway, then get bogged down.

So. I hired a professional organizer to help me.

Shera is AWESOME!!!

She came over for the initial interview last week. It was two hours of total mortification on my part, but she made it easy for me. She walked me through some sorting processes and helped me think through some issues.

Shera also gave me a few ideas to get me started—or rather, re-started. I've already implemented a few of them and they are great. I will be posting about them and providing links to cool stuff as I go.

It feels really, really good to be back to this organizing project with some energy behind me and Shera is great at stoking that energy. If you're in the Utah County area and need someone to help you with your own dejunk and organizational issues, give Shera a call.

Another Year Later...

2011-01-01T20:27:00.003-07:00

Still working on it...

I started this blog two years ago. I'm tempted to be down on myself for not having finished the de-junking project yet.

But I have to remember, it took me 50 years to get in this place, it may take some time to get out of it.

I have done a lot of work—and I'm proud of that. Some of it has been internal—changing thought processes and habits. For example, remember this? My Career Planning Chart?

That's what it looked like back in June 2009.

Here's what it looks like now:
Big change, huh?

Basically, I closed down (or am in the process of closing down) all side businesses. I now have only three areas of focus:

Publishing—I'm relaunching Rosehaven with a new marketing plan that is more cutting edge and can survive the changes in the publishing world.
Writing—My writing (fiction and curriculum). I have taken off all the blogs I did for side businesses and hobbies. The ones that are left are all business related or for my own personal benefit (more memory joggers, like this one). The exceptions are the four blogs I ghost write. But I pared those down from nine.
LibrisPro—This is the former Professional Pre-Press, redesigned to focus on books and author services. This is my source of income for right now.

I've also made a very conscious effort not to bring cluttery stuff into my home anymore. I make myself stop and think before I bring in new things.

I still have lots of work to do before I can say I'm "done"—and really, there is no such thing as "done." Life is ever-changing and so dejunking and reorganizing will always be a part of it. But I'm determined to get the huge chunk of it done so that I can live a freer and more streamlined life, focusing on the people and the work that I love.

Living Room Blinds!

2010-12-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

I finally got some blinds for the living room! Earlier this month, as part of the Artist's Way group I'm doing with some friends, we listed 10 Tiny Changes we wanted to make and then pick one to do. I picked "Get blinds for living room and take down those ratty looking sheers."

I budgeted $30 for them, planning to get cheapies from Wal-Mart. Then, when I was cleaning my office, I found a $40 Lowe's Gift Certificate that DH's brother had given us for Christmas last year! So that, plus my $30 got me some awesome blinds!

I bought them on the 7th, planning to hang them right away, but I hit some issues—they were too heavy for me to hang alone, Christopher couldn't figure them out. DH had to finally go buy some tools that we already had but can't find. (Grrr! Yes, still not organized.)

However, I (as in, DH) finally got them hung!!!

Not sure what I'm going to do with that big gaping hole up at the top. The sheers were hung decoratively with a little doo-dah there in the middle. Maybe I'll get a valance or something...

Office Work!

2010-12-19T17:32:00.003-07:00

I wish I'd thought to take "Before" photos of my office. You'll just have to trust me that it was a mess of disorganization. Not at all conducive to creativity. Or thought. Or work.

On Thursday I started the dejunking, re-organizing my office project. I walked 2 1/2 miles moving stuff out of and then back into the office. That gives you some indication of how bad it was. (Seriously, 2 1/2 miles. I wore a pedometer.)

I still have a few piles in the living room that need to be dealt with: one laundry basket full of stuff I need to sort and decide what to do with, and two buckets of paper that needs to be shredded or filed, and a very small stack of other things that need a home somewhere else besides my office.

But after working all day Thursday and most of Friday, I'm ready for the "reveal"!

West and North Walls from Door

This is the view of the North wall from the doorway. You can see that there is space on my shelves and on the table behind my chair. That's where I do paperwork.

I have only the two laptops on the computer desk. I have two printers to the left (you can only see one) and one printer on the floor under the desk. (Why do I have three printers? One's color, one's black laser, and the one on the floor is hooked to the PC because I couldn't find the printer drivers.) (But now, due to the dejunk, I know where that CD is and can load it on and get rid of the third printer, as soon as I get rid of the virus on the PC...)

Notice the artwork by the window—Mary Englebreit. Love her!

South Wall

This is the view of the South wall. It shows the two good printers.

What you can't see because I take blurry photos is that my bookshelf is neat and organized. Top shelf holds writing-related books. Second shelf will hold "my" books (the ones I'm writing; they are still in the living room waiting to be sorted. (Although, I may move the writing books down to shelf 2 and keep my dictionaries and "my" books on shelf 1...)

Shelf 3 is paper.

Shelf 4 is my book portfolio (books I've helped create) and some notebooks that are too tall for other shelves.

Shelf 5 holds resource books, like how to do html, etc.

And notice my collage there to the right of the bookcase? That is the Vision Board for my creative side. :)

West Wall

Another view of the West wall that shows my neat and clean shelves.

East Wall

The East wall is for long-term storage. The left closet has two filing cabinets and some sorters. The right closet has software, office supplies, etc. And see that blue/aqua colored box with the clear box on top? Those are my art supplies. (I love containerizing!)

Also, since cleaning out my office stirred up my allergies and I woke up Saturday with a bad headache and sore throat, I used that day to load most of my music CDs into my iTunes program on my Mac. Been meaning to do that for a looonnggg time. I used to listen to music when I worked but haven't done it for years because I don't have a CD player in my office anymore. I've missed it. Now I have it back. I'll be transferring the tunes to my iPod sometime soon.

And this next week? What will I be doing? You never can tell...

Still Here; Still Working on It

2010-01-07T14:51:00.003-07:00

Haven't posted in awhile, but that doesn't mean I haven't been working toward the goal of dejunking and fixing things up. I just marked off a bunch of stuff in my sidebar.

If I ever say the words YARD SALE again. . .

2009-08-31T07:27:00.000-06:00

. . . somebody slap me, HARD!

See, here's the thing. I love Yard Sales. I come from a long line of yard salers, going back generations. I love going to Yard Sales. I used to love having Yard Sales. And in the past, they've been really successful. I've made over $500 more than once in my yard sale-ing career. So it's going to be really hard to resist having one in the future.

But apparently, Yard Sales are a younger woman's game because this one absolutely did me in.

First, there was the emotional part of it. I ended up sending over 600 books out the door. That was really, really hard and part of me is now regretting it. Logically, I know it was a good move and that I'll probably never open that used bookstore I dream about at night.

But emotionally? It was like saying goodbye to friends who are moving to the other side of the world and I may never see them again.

Then there's the physical part of it. I'm not very strong. My arm muscles are like spaghetti. Sometimes my leg muscles can barely get me up the steps, and if I'm carrying anything (like boxes of books), they just won't lift us both.

I spent four days sorting books, deciding what to keep and what to let go, then carting them up from downstairs. I pulled stuff out of my garage and sorted through it. (Clean Sweep has nuthin' on me!) My girls came to help on Saturday and I couldn't have done it without them because by then, I was hurting bad.

After the sale, we hauled everything to D.I.—two truck loads.

Sunday morning, I woke up sick and sad. Sick from dust allergies, and sad because I have an overactive mind/body connection and when I stress my body, I get depressed. I yelled at my DH several times, and then around 9:00 p.m., I had a total meltdown—sobbing uncontrollably over something really stupid.

I'm better today. Better—in that I probably won't yell or cry. But I'm still depressed.

So, now you're wondering, was it worth it? From a purely monetary standpoint, no. After expenses (hiring neighbor boys to help, signage, etc.), I only cleared about $100.

But, after I get undepressed again, it will totally have been worth the effort of dejunking. In the past month (including what is going to the dump later today), I figure I've moved about 10 pick-up trucks of stuff I no longer need or want out of my home.

I'm not proud that it was in there in the first place, but I'm dang proud it's gone!

And as soon as I get my energy level back, I'm determined to continue on until I'm pared down to only the things I use and love.

Ginormous Book Sale — Reminder & Update!!

2009-08-27T11:08:00.003-06:00

Ginormous Book Sale
& some other stuff too

August 29th, 8:00 a.m. till noon

426 Titles & Counting!

Click HERE for details.

A Happy Rainbow

2009-08-21T21:13:00.007-06:00

Today I had planned to work on my new business website but after three hours of frustration, my brain exploded.

I took a break, ran some errands, and then tackled my office desk drawers. I finally finished creating my new filing system. Each company has a different color file.

It took me six hours and a full thing of labeling tape, but it's done. It looks like a happy rainbow. (Sorry, the photos don't do them justice.)

This is my writing drawer. Yellow for my blogs. Gray for ghost writing projects. DiVoga files for my books. And in the very back are red files for my Ebay/Etsy business.

These are home files—a happy, happy orange color so I won't be completely depressed when I pay my bills.

My publishing drawer—Rosehaven/LDS(maroon), Oak Rose Press/natural health(pink), Miles Ahead Learning Resources/home schooling (lavender). It's also my design drawer—Professional Pre-Press/typesetting, editing, etc.(green), Desert Rose Designs/online design (blue).

Finally, my fragrance drawer—Urban Botanic (teal) and CustomScentsOnline.com (purple).

Y'know, looking at this? I sort of think I'm nuts. One of these days, I really have to decide what I want to be when I grow up and close down all the other side businesses.

But not today.

Ginormous Book Sale—August 29th

2009-08-20T08:30:00.005-06:00

I decided to have a Book Sale.

My house, August 29th, from 8:00 a.m. till noon.

There will also be a few other things for sale, as well but the big push is books. This is a steal folks—D.I. prices at $1.00 per paperback, $2.00 per hardback. Some of them are like new. Fiction, non-fiction, classics, YA, children, reference, LDS. . .If I don't plan to re-read it, it's out the door.

My goal is to reduce my book collection by two-thirds.

It hurts me to even type that.

[Deep breath.]

I currently have over 100 books collected for the sale—and this is only from one room! (I have books in every single room of my home—except the bathroom because that is just gross.) By the time I'm done, I expect to have between 400 and 500 books for sale.

So mark your calendars!

Update #1: Here's a link to a SNEAK PEEK of some of the titles I'll have for sale. Will be updating that list frequently.

Update #2: If you have extra books cluttering up your house that you'd like to DONATE to the sale, box them up and send me your address. I'll come get them this weekend or you can drop them off at my house at any time. I'm willing to drive as far north as Midvale and as far south as Spanish Fork.

Peter Walsh

2009-08-19T08:19:00.000-06:00

I started reading Peter Walsh's book, It's All Too Much—which I purchased on my Kindle so it does not add to the clutter already in my home.

While I like Julie Morgenstern's writing style a little better and her tips for organizing are clearer to my brain, I very much like Peter's treatment of the emotional side of cluttering.

He recommends making several passes through, rather than one huge dejunk. I like that idea because you can see an immediate improvement which will help bolster you through the rough emotional decisions.

Between the two books, I should have an amazing life when this is all done.

A Tale of Two Pigs

2009-08-18T07:53:00.001-06:00

Okay, not so much a tale, as two different pigs from my collection get referenced here. Yes, I have a pig collection. I love pigs.

I also know that at some point, near the end of this process, I will be cutting down the size of my current menagerie.

But I can't think about that right now or I'll get sad, and these are two happy stories. So.

Little Pig #1:
I have a little pig planter that I use for a key jar because 1) I kill indoor plants, and 2) I needed a place to keep my keys where I could always find them. This little pig worked fabulously for several years. I had a spare set at the bottom, then Meg's spare set, then mine and Meg's main key sets would vie for top position in the pig.

Point being, my keys were always near the top and easy to grab.

Then Megan got married and moved out, taking her keys with her. Now there are only my main keys and my spare set in the pig. (Do you see where this is going yet? Let me give you one more clue.)

My spare set of car keys does not have a house key on it!

Yes, this morning, I grabbed my keys from the pig and ran off to work. Did some shopping on the way home—which included frozen and refrigerated items. Pulled into my drive, where I then noticed, I had the spare and no way to get into the house—unless I wanted to climb in the kitchen window, which I not only did NOT want to do, but is also physically impossible for me.

Spent an hour at Sandra's until Melanie could come let me in with her key.

Solution: My spare set of keys is now in a different place. The only keys in my cute pig are my main set.

Not-So-Little Pig #2:
My sister gave me this ginormous piggy bank. This was AFTER I'd decided I was going to dejunk and not bring anything new into my house. But it was so cute!

It lived in a box of stuff for several weeks because I knew that with my commitment to living a more streamlined life—and I really am totally committed to this—I could not bring this pig into my life without one dang good reason.

When I was cleaning out the room for my new office, I stumbled upon the pig and it's total cuteness again, and it melted my heart. But still. I was committed.

Also as I was cleaning out the room, I found about $3.00 in change in various boxes. (Don't ask me why money gets found in nearly every box I go through. I think I have money elves.) My first thought was: Yum! I can go get a frozen yogurt!

My next thought was, I should collect all this money together and use it to help pay for the changes I want to make in my home. So I put it in a stack with the $60 I'd made selling two dressers.

(You know where this is going, right?)

Suddenly, the lightbulb went off! Money—mostly change—that I needed a special place for PLUS cute pig I wanted to keep. Marriage made in heaven! I now have over $100* in my pig and it makes me incredibly happy every time I look at it.

*Dear thief, who is now planning to come rob me because I told the entire Internet that I have cash in my house: 1) You'd never figure out which pig it's in (yes, I have THAT MANY), and 2) My kitchen window is not that easy to climb into, 3) My killer dog will bite you, and 4) I'm sure my neighbors have much more cash lying around in their house.

I Knew This Blog Was a Good Idea!

2009-08-16T13:02:00.004-06:00

Already I've lost the paper where I wrote down what color files I was going to use for which company.

I looked and looked, and I was about to throw a major fit when I remembered. . .

I'd listed them HERE!

Yay, me!

And you thought I was just being OCD. Ha!

Down side, I couldn't remember where I'd posted them. So I'm giving them their own post and adding a new category: Specs. As in, the specifics of what I'm doing.

Coding for Files

2009-08-16T12:55:00.007-06:00

Updated Jan 2010

So I can remember. . .

L = Left tab; C = Center Tab; R = Right Tab

Desk files (monthlies)/Cabinet Files (long terms)

Color Coding and Tab Index
Drawer 1

Rosehaven Publishing: Maroon (although I prefer to call it burgandy)
L = Royalty Reports/Client Info
M = Banking, Budget, Marketing, Projects/Admin & Long-term financials
R = Monthly Bills/Vendor Info

Miles Ahead Publishing: Lavender
L = Royalty Reports/Client Info
M = Banking, Budget, Marketing, Projects/Admin & Long-term financials
R = Monthly Bills/Vendor Info

Professional Pre-Press: Green
L = Current Clients
M = Banking, Budget, Marketing, Projects/Admin & Long-term financials
R = Monthly Bills/Vendor Info

Desert Rose Designs: Light Blue
L = Current Clients
M = Banking, Budget, Marketing, Projects/Admin & Long-term financials
R = Monthly Bills/Vendor Info

Drawer 2

Urban Botanic: Teal
L = Monthly Bills/Vendor Info
M = Banking, Budget, Marketing, Projects/Admin & Long-term financials
R = Licensing Info/Reports
CustomScentsOnline—closed this company. Using the same files as UB.

Drawer 3

Home: Orange (for monthlies)
L = Monthly bills
C = Banking & Income
R = Receipts (Medical, etc.)

Home: Navy (for long-term storage files)

Drawer 4

Writing: Yellow (because isn't that a happy color?)

Blogging: Misc DiVoga fancy folders with ultra cool designs that I found on CLEARANCE at Office Max!
Special Project: Dark Purple
M = Projects
R = Client Info/Invoices
Any Moment: Red
L = Royalty Reports/Client Info
M = Banking, Budget, Marketing, Projects/Admin & Long-term financials
R = Monthly Bills/Vendor Info

I like the SMEAD brand: Jewel Tones and Brights; 11 pt weight; 1/3 cut. I prefer 2-ply tabs, but they're not available in all colors.

It's About Time

2009-08-15T11:14:00.006-06:00

I haven't gotten to the Time Management section of Julie's book yet, but I'm feeling the pressure to do something to help me stay clear and focused.

I've made these time block charts before and they help a lot. I block them out according to what my best day is—scheduling creative time in the mornings, and more mundane time in the afternoon. I don't always do what it says, when it says I should—but I'm always clear on what I'm giving up if I choose to use my time differently.

I'm making an informed choice.

My Perfect Weekly Schedule

Click for bigger images.

Morning Routine: I normally wake up somewhere between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m., no alarm clock. My body just won't let me sleep in. In order to have my best day, I like to immediately go exercise (walk outside or do my Wii Fit), then get myself ready for the day. Once I'm fresh and clean and smelling nice, I take some time to read scriptures, ponder and pray. Last I do a little day prep—like throw something in the crock pot or do up some dishes or whatever.

Creative Work: This is my best time of the day. It's when I like to write, design, edit, or do whatever comes from the creative part of me. This is also when I do paid work for my clients.

Lunch: Well, duh. (If it's not on the schedule, it's at a variable time.)

Business Work: This is the business end of my workday. I return phone calls, emails. Pay bills, process orders, create reports, research business related things, do marketing—whatever it takes to keep my business going. On Fridays, I run errands. I like to schedule appointments then too, if possible.

Dinner and Clean Up: Eat. Clean house. (If it's not on the schedule, it's at a variable time.)

Read: I like to read in the evenings—books to review, books for fun, blogs. Some nights I have things like my Writers Group, my Book Club meeting, Date with my DH, etc. And, okay. Some nights I veg out in front of the TV or play Spider Solitaire on the computer. But still, this is when I plan to read.

Grandma Day: I tend my grandsons every Wednesday. They help me do laundry (they're great at putting things in the washer and dryer) and clean house (they love to dust). We play most of the day. When they nap, I do the household chores I can't do when they're awake.

Saturday: This is my special day (and not because it's the day I get ready for Sunday). I do whatever I choose to do on this day, which includes getting my nails done, having pedicures, visiting with my sister, scrapbooking, bracelet making, home organizing, yard work, playing with my kids, rest, rejuvenate, etc. Sometimes I might read. Sometimes I might watch TV all day. The point is, I pick what I want to do.

Sunday: Church and family.

White Spaces: Few and far between, but those are empty things where I have nothing to do. So mostly, I will do nothing.

So if you've read this far, you're probably asking yourself, "Does this woman really think we give a flying leap how she spends her day???"

And the answer is, No. It's to remind myself what I mean by my cryptic notes.

Moving Stuff in Today!

2009-08-14T09:45:00.002-06:00

Today is the day we move Urban Botanic from their offices to mine. I've cleared out two rooms for it. DH and I are both sore and tired today, and I imagine we'll be even more so by evening but hopefully, it will be worth the effort—if for no other reason, I'll have all the UB product line at my fingertips.

Ready for the Big Move!

2009-08-13T16:16:00.005-06:00

Nine days since I've posted about a project or progress (not counting the report on how well the new perfume production area is working).

I feel like I haven't done much, yet I've been very busy. On Thursday, Aug 6th, I had a convention during the day (only brought home two books). Then I tended my grandson until Monday, Aug 10th. No way I could do much cleaning or organizing, or even planning while he was here. Then I had to work on Tuesday, it was Grandma Day on Wednesday, and now, today. . .

I've been working like crazy! Tomorrow, my new UB business is moving into my downstairs, so I had to get a lot of homework done to be ready for it.

I went through the small bedroom downstairs (sorry, once again forgot the "before" photos) and it is now totally empty.
There were loads of boxes of stuff in there, and drum set, and a dog kennel. All moved out. I sorted through the boxes and threw out two bags of trash. I have two big boxes to donate. And I have a TV, computer monitor, file cabinet and other miscellaneous to sell. Ah!

Tomorrow, this will become the room where I fill and label bottles. If I had the energy—and one more day—I'd paint the walls white to brighten the room a bit. But I don't have either, so it is what it is for now.

Then, I went through the left side of the big room downstairs, the part that isn't being used for my perfume production. Almost everything is cleared out of there, as well, except for some things that are too heavy for me to move. Have to wait for hubby to get home to do it.

This room will be where I store product and fill orders.

Last, I went through the shipping area. It needs a lot more work, but it will do for now.

I'm tired. I have a mildew/dust headache. Now I'm off to treat myself to a chocolate, sugar-free frozen yogurt! Then I'm resting up for the big business move-in day tomorrow.

Easy Peasy!

2009-08-11T19:12:00.003-06:00

I filled perfume orders over the weekend. This was the first time using the newly organized perfume production area. It worked perfectly!

Except for having to go get a new roll of paper towels, everything I needed was within reach. I didn't have to stand up to get anything. I had the orders done lickety-split!

Heaven!

Miscellaneous Project

2009-08-04T20:35:00.004-06:00

The other project I did today was I took down the Christmas cards that were taped to the back of my front door.

My daughter said that didn't count as a project, but I'm counting it anyway.

Now I have a naked door.

It's kind of sad, really.

Hall Closet #2

2009-08-04T20:15:00.006-06:00

No, you didn't miss hall closet #1. I haven't done it yet. Hall closet #2 was bugging me more than #1.

While I should probably be working on the downstairs office/production area because I need to use that space soon, today was Grandma Day. Working down there with four little helping hands is just not a good idea.

So the first project I did today was tackle the hall closet that is sort of a linen closet. This is one of the areas that I had organized before using Julie's system. But when you have teenagers who don't give a hoot about Julie's system, it quickly turns into a mish-mash of hair products, lotions, jewelry, and camping supplies.

And okay, I'm just as bad as they were and shoved miscellaneous cleaning supplies in there too.

Here are the before photos. Because the hallway is only three feet wide, I couldn't get it all in one shot. Here are the four shelves. Then there's a space on the floor that has old towels shoved in there.

Notice that little hand? And how easy it would be for it to reach over to get those cleaning supplies?

Yeh, I noticed that too.

So the plan for this closet is to make it a Personal Toiletry closet. First, I cleared out everything and wiped it down. (I'll need to do this again when we paint, but this will do for now.)

I sorted through all the junk and only put back those things that DH and I will use. I also baby-proofed it, putting anything that could hurt children up out of their reach.

Here are the after photos.

Notice the cleaners up on the TOP shelf? The next shelf (which the babies can't reach) is my personal stuff—hair product, toiletries, sewing kit, jewelry.

Shelf 3 is nicely containerized—soaps, toothbrushes, cotton balls, q-tips. If the babies get into this, they could make a mess, but it won't hurt them.

Shelf 4—our neatly folded beach towels and the ones I use when I dye my hair. The space below where they used to be on the floor now holds our extra toilet paper.

Taken out of the closet: one large garbage bag of junk and four shoe box size containers of toiletries that my girls used. Plus about 14 toothbrushes that our dentist gives us, but I don't like the size. They're going to a neighbor boy's Eagle project.

I could just sit and look at this closet for hours! (sigh)

Donate Pile Gone to a Great Cause!

2009-08-03T10:39:00.005-06:00

Remember that D.I./Donate pile I talked about last week? Well, it's gone.

Completely.

My DH has a friend who is trying to adopt a baby and they are holding a huge yard sale this weekend so we let them have all of it.

Heather & Blaine Roberts
315 South Center St
American Fork, UT

Saturday, August 15th
8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

and

Saturday, August 22nd
8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Link to more info.

It feels really good to give to a cause that I know will help someone to do something worthwhile and wonderful.

If you get a chance, go check out their Yard Sale. Lots of cool stuff from multiple sources!

CustomScents Production Area

2009-08-01T20:00:00.002-06:00

Completely inspired by my hard-working girls, I went through all the boxes they'd labeled UB—this is all the stuff I use to make my CustomScentsOnline fragrances. This is now my new CSO production area.
This is a pretty desk and hutch office set, but it won't fit in the room upstairs, so I kept it down here. I think it will work really well.

And yes, I painted the walls bright apple green on purpose about two years ago. I was depressed about my business closing and hated to work down here. So I went to Wal-Mart and bought the happiest color paint I could find. I like it.

Up on top is some extra product—oil warmers, puff sponges and extra oils.

On the middle shelf are "Smell Me" cards that go out with every order, my label maker, and a few momentos.

On the desktop to the left are all the oils I use to mix the various fragrances. To the right is a file box of product labels. The calculator is for helping me figure the recipes correctly.

In the left side cabinet:

This holds everything I need to make the Twilight Sampler Packages:

latex gloves (to protect my cute new fake nails)
tape
recipe binder
parfum sampler vials
parfum bottles—1 for each of the 20 frangraces
droppers for filling the vials
baggies to put the samplers in
info cards in the sampler kits

I already had the cute little boxes and dropper bricks but now they're all in one easy-to-reach spot for me.

In the right side cabinet:

Some extra travel size bottles that I use sometimes as gifts
Some discontinued oils that I use for personal recipes
Everything I need to create parfum samplers for non-Twilight fragrances (I don't sell a lot of these, but enough that I need them nearby)
Customer recipes (for when a customer calls in an order for refills)

And then the middle shelf:

All my unscented product, plus some Scent of the Month bottles that I still have for sale.

I am so pleased with this area. It will make it so much easier for me to create the custom scents and get them out in a timely manner! I love this little corner.

Doing Some Homework

2009-08-01T19:30:00.001-06:00

My girls are amazing! They came over today and helped sort through junk.

And when I say "helped," I really mean I gave them some instructions and then took off to play with my sister while they did all the heavy labor.

I was so amazed when I got home! They really rocked it!! They spent 7 hours going through boxes and piles of stuff—trashing some things, donating some, putting others in boxes for me to sort through. What's still there now feels do-able for me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are my angels.

And I was so inspired by their hard work that I jumped right in and started on some of the "homework" they gave me—stuff I need to do before they come over again in two weeks for more slave labor.

My first homework assignment was clearing off all the stuff stacked on top of my filing cabinets downstairs. Which I did. I wish I had a before photo, but I forgot to take one. But imagine 4 distinct piles, about 8 to 10" tall. Yep. It was a mess.

Here they are now—nice and empty.

And I didn't just move the piles to another spot. No, no, no!

I went through them.

Most were business-related papers. Some things were shredded, others just thrown in the trash as is. Some things got put away in a new permanent home. Other things need to have a home made for them, so I sorted those into two boxes—one for 2009 stuff that needs to be filed up in my new office, and the other for pre-2009 that needs to be sorted by year and put in the appropriate tax record boxes.

Ah, what a feeling of accomplishment!

The Dreaded Garage

2009-07-28T16:16:00.007-06:00

Julie says to take before and after pictures. Hah!

Okay, well, here's my garage as of 10:19 this morning:

In the garage are:

Things left over from last summer's yard sale

Seasonal stuff

Stuff I brought home from my parents house when they moved last year

A few pieces of furniture we no longer use

Junk

Trash

Etc.

I have a very long storage unit in my driveway where I keep books (from my publishing company). It also had some furniture in it that I don't want or need. I decided that the things in my garage that I wanted to keep, I'd move to the storage unit for now. Then put stuff in my garage that I want to sell or otherwise dispose of.

Then I started two piles alongside my storage unit. One marked "TRASH"—which is stuff I plan to send to the dump. The other marked "FREE/D.I."—which is stuff I'll be giving away and/or taking to Deseret Industries, as I get to it.

You're welcome to drive by and take whatever you want from those two piles. Some of it isn't too shabby, especially the D.I. pile. But it's still dusty and dirty, which is why it isn't already on its way to D.I. I need to clean it up first.

If you don't know where I live but are close to Pleasant Grove, UT and want to check it out, e-mail me and I'll send you my address.

Today's accomplishment: I hired two neighbor boys to help me get started. We got all the storage bins and keepsakes and furniture that I'm keeping moved out into the storage unit and the furniture that I want to get rid of moved from the storage unit into the garage.

Had a VERY busy week

2009-07-24T10:09:00.001-06:00

This mucking out thing?

It's a lot of work!

I've been crazy busy with organizing and with keeping on top of the normal daily routines, with a few extra zingers thrown in.

This past week, I have:

Redrawn the office graph. I discovered I'd not only drawn the furniture to a larger scale than I did the room, but I'd also turned the room dimensions wrong-ways (putting the door and window on the wrong walls) so everything was all skeewampus.

Decided which furniture I'd move into the new office and where it would go.

Moved all the stuff that was in the small bedroom (soon to be new office) out. It had been used as a piano, baby, Urban Botanic, junk room.

Cleaned the room. Fortunately, I like the colors in there, so I did not have to paint the walls.

Gone back to the store for the storage bins (which were now on a better sale!) I got 4 colors, one for each kid. As I muck out, I throw their stuff in a bin and label it. Yay, me!

Moved the big office furniture upstairs to the new office. (Technically, DH did that one last night, but I supervised and pointed and said things like, "Put that there, slave boy.")

Packed the most pertinent files and stuff in boxes, then hired a neighbor boy to haul it all upstairs to my living room.

Got a new chair mat because the old one was mildewy and gave me a headache. (I cannot believe how much they charge for a piece of ugly plastic! For those prices, they ought to have pretty pictures on them.)

Got a 4 foot table. I had hoped to use one of the tables that I already had, but they were either too long or too wide for the space and I had to have a table.

Still to do before the end of the week:

Unpack the office stuff that's currently in my living room and put it away—computers, printers, files, office supplies, projects, planners, books, wall art, etc.

Hang some shelves.

Put in some hours on my research job.

Work on the policies, etc. for the new business venture that has precipitated all this dejunking and moving stuff about. (More details coming soon!)

Next week's project:

Rearrange everything that was in the downstairs office area so that it will hold lots of shelves and tables and bins and other stuff. All the things for my soon to be announced new business venture which I am very excited about.

Dejunk/clear out one of the downstairs bedrooms so it can hold all the overflow stuff that won't fit into the main office area downstairs.

Oh, and did I mention that I spent several hours on Sunday and a few more yesterday at the hospital?

That is my DH in the ER this past Sunday. He's had gallbladder attacks for years, but they had to become severe enough to debilitate him before he'd go do anything about it.

Yesterday he had more tests run. I went with him and can report he didn't cry, not even once. He is so brave and strong. Sometimes too brave and strong for his own good. Last night, after his tests and working all day, he moved furniture by himself. (Okay, that one almost caused a fight between us because I think he should ask someone to help him, but he won't. Men!)

But I am very grateful for his help and support. If you feel inclined, we wouldn't say no to a few prayers thrown his way. Hopefully they will find out what is wrong and fix it soon.

Shrinking Spaces

2009-07-16T19:07:00.001-06:00

Today I measured the small bedroom upstairs—the one I'm turning into an office. Then I graphed it out on paper so I'd know the dimensions of the room. Did the same thing with various pieces of furniture. The idea behind this is it's a lot easier to move little pieces of paper around until I find a way for it to all fit, than to move the actual furniture.

I don't know what happened because it turned out all weird. Some of the furniture that I've had in that room before no longer fits. It's too big for the spot. So either the furniture grew or the room shrunk!

Whichever, I'm going to have to do it all over again because Baby Shrek drew all over my room map with markers (that I probably could have ignored) and then Baby Burrito spilled my Sobe all over it. I hung the map up in the shower to dry but I think it's hopeless. Oh well.

I also started sorting through the stuff that was in this room. In it's latest incarnation, it started as a music room for Megan's piano. Then I put my UB stuff in there. Then when grandbabies came along, I put their toys and a porta-crib in there. But around Christmas time, it sort of became a catch-all for junk.

Today's accomplishment: Sorted through about 1/3 of the junk in the room.

Mapping Out the Big Picture

2009-07-01T13:59:00.001-06:00

So here are the basic maps showing what I want to do to my space. Most of them are labeled with what I want them to be, not what they currently are. (Exception—the snake pit in the backyard; I want to cement that over and put in another shed.)

As I post about each individual room, I'll go into more detail, but for now this is the overview. (Click on images for bigger pictures.)

UPSTAIRS

Most of the "big furniture" has been moved into place. Some of the things that need to be done upstairs include new flooring in the living room, hall, main bath, kitchen and great room. I may also need to repaint those areas. Right now my walls are a golden yellow and I love them, but it's getting hard for me to see so I think I need to change to a more reflective off-white or cream color in those rooms. The main bath also needs a new paint job.

In the kitchen, I want to paint the cabinets, completely reorganize what's in those cabinets, and possibly get a new fridge. The old one is over 12 years old and making noises, doesn't keep things as cold as it used to, and the ice maker/crusher broke.

I'd really love to put a bookcase with lower cabinets in the Great Room and a flat screen TV over the fireplace. (Doesn't need to be big, just flat.) If possible, new furniture, like a sectional or something so that more of our family can gather in that part of the room.

Eventually, I want a different table in the kitchen, but don't know what yet.

The living room, bedrooms, office and baths need some basic reorganization and a few smaller things but they won't be too much work.

DOWNSTAIRS

The downstairs needs MAJOR work. I need to convert it into a business, production, shipping area that will allow me to ship books, as well as the product from the new business venture that I can't yet announce to the world.

The two small rooms on the left side were once used as bedrooms. I want to convert the top left to an extra storage space for my UB supplies. The bottom left I'd like to make into a guest room with twin bed (or day bed) and a creative craft room for me, where I can work on my scrapbooking and jewelry projects, etc.

The top middle area used to be my old office. On the right is a nice desk and hutch that won't fit anywhere else. I'm leaving it in place and that's where I'll mix up my CustomScentsOnline orders. The remainder of the space is where I'll put up some tables and shelving for my new venture, for order processing, storage, etc.

The shipping area needs to be slightly revamped to make it more usable. It's not too bad as it is, except I've just shoved stuff in there lately as a temporary holding area while I clear out the other rooms.

Oh, and the hot water heater down there needs to be replaced. It's on its last leg.

The Atomic Dog Room and the Bomb Shelter I won't even deal with at the moment. EVERYTHING else on my list has to be done before I will even think of tackling them!

FRONT YARD

This image is mostly pie in the sky wishing. When I lived in Orem, one of my favorite times of the day was early morning in the spring and summer when I'd go outside and play in my flower garden. This was so soothing and it revitalized me. I miss that. So. . .

The Rose Garden is currently a ginormous overgrown lilac bush and a bunch of weeds. I love roses and I'd love to have a small, nicely contained grouping of rose bushes there, in various colors and varieties.

The Bush/Strawberry/Lilac area to the right of the porch is dirt and grass, with nothing setting it apart from the rest of the lawn. Right up next to the house it's mostly dirt and very thin grass because it doesn't get a lot of water or sunlight. I'd like to put in a smaller, controlled lilac bush there at the edge of the house—or some other pretty and fragrant bush that can tolerate some shade. Then along the front, some curbing or brick/rock edging to create a flower bed there and plant a variety of bushes and shade tolerating strawberries or other ground cover.

The Flower Garden in the front used to be exactly that, but no more. It has some sprinklers and a rock back wall but it has nothing in the front to keep the grass from overtaking it. We still have a few tulips and daffodils that bravely come up in the spring, but there are fewer each year. It's mostly grass now. I want to raise the bed a tad, put in a rock front or curbing and plant colorful annuals in there.

The Mail/Flowers area is all gross weeds. All the neighborhood dogs think it's "their" territory. Double ugh. I'd like to either put in annuals or a thick layer of bark so the animals will stay out of the dirt.

The Porch to the left of the small concrete porch/sidewalk area is falling apart. Seriously, it's a safety hazard. It's wood, splintering, and rotted in the center area. It needs to be taken down and completely rebuilt. Also, the cats crawl under there and use it as their litter box. Ugh! I'd love to go vinyl with that, or something that will last a little better than wood.

The fence on the right side is wood and in need of major repair. I'd love to go vinyl. We'll see.

Other repairs muchly needed are screens on the windows (or maybe new energy efficient windows). One of the cats thinks screens are intended as claw sharpeners. I'd also like some light along the sidewalk that leads to the door because it's really hard for me to see in the dark. I'd like a new front door with a peep hole and dead bolt and chain lock. (No, I am not paranoid, just practical.)

Oh, and a roof. Yes, we very much need a new roof before winter.

BACK YARD

Have you seen pictures of the white-trash ghettos? No? Well, come take a peek in my backyard.

Actually, no don't. Just trust me when I say it is bad. I'm thinking about six trips to the dump. Maybe more.

The lawn needs to be leveled. It slopes down to the back right corner. The grass is in bad shape because we have three cats, a dog and a wild racoon that roam around back there. Plus, I really think all the neighborhood animals come to our house to party. I mean, really, there's no way our animals could poop THAT much.

We have a stretch of concrete that goes partway back. There's a shed there where DH keeps a lot of stuff. I never even go look in there. I'd like to extend that back to the fence and put in a second shed—one for smelly things like lawn mowers and snow blowers, etc. and one to store things like Christmas decorations and DH's drum set.

I'd also like to fix the two garden areas—the one along the back fence and the square foot grow box area in the back right. Right now they're used as a weed garden and cat box.

And I'd like to put in a little play area for the grandbabies—swing set, slide, playhouse or something.

Lastly, I'd like to put in a gate—our fence got knocked down when a tree fell on it a couple of years ago. We put the fence back up but not the gate. Oh, and a dog run so all the dog doo is contained in one area and not spread out all over the lawn.

I think that's the major portion of it. Ought to be, huh?

Note: Our tiny budget for repairs and fix-up won't cover everything, but I figure if I have a big picture in mind, I can do it a bit at a time. I'm guessing it will take a few years to do what I want, especially to the front and back yards.

What Items Are Most Essential to Me?

2009-06-19T10:57:00.001-06:00

Part of Analyzing is determining what is most important to you, so you make sure there's a space created for the things that really enrich your life.

These are the things I love, that bring me joy, or that make me want to get out of bed in the morning (not necessarily in order of importance):

My Family—I love it when my family gets together. I love to take photos, but I usually forget or can't find my camera. I especially love the impromptu get-togethers and would love to do more of them. I also love spending time with my husband. And I also like to spend time with my friends. But I am so tired from the daily grind, the grindiness due in large part to the clutter and disorganization, that I rarely get to spend time just hanging with the peeps. Hopefully, a simplified and organized lifestyle will help remedy this.

Family Photos/Scrapbooking—I love putting together and looking at my family photo albums. I get a lot of satisfaction from the artistic expression of putting them together. I also feel really good when I remember things we did together that were fun and brought us closer together. It helps me not to feel like such a loser of a mother. I need a place to create these albums, a place to store my supplies, and a place to store and/or display the finished albums.

Church/Spiritual Life—This is very important to me and I never seem to get enough. I miss church too often due to health issues, brought on in part by my disorganized efforts at staying healthy. Sometimes I skip church because my lack of organization has put me behind the eight-ball on a project or I'm too exhausted from being overworked on a Saturday. (I tell myself the ox is in the mire, but that's a lie. It doesn't count when you've pushed your ox into the mire.)

Also, it's hard for me to pray and feel the Spirit when I'm surrounded by a house that is not in order. (Example: The words that go through my mind when I step on a bead while standing up after a prayer do not invite the Spirit to remain with me!)

Grandchildren—I love having my Grandma Days! I need a place to keep their cribs and toys that is easy to access but doesn't block daily routines on non-Grandma days.

Heirlooms—I have some old furniture, decor items and collectibles that have been handed down to me from various family members. I love this stuff and the heritage that exudes from it. I need places to store and display them. I would really like a unique, character home that lends itself to an eclectic decor, but since that is not possible, there has to be a way to blend these beautiful pieces in with the functional pieces we need.

Books—I love books. I re-read books. I sleep with my books. I am committed to paring down my books, but pretty much, a room without books is a travesty in my opinion. I need bookshelves in every room. I need the books organized and accessible and catalogued.

Music—I like listening to my music but it's hard to do because I have CDs scattered all over the house and I can never find the one I want. I need a central, attractive, easy to access place for all my CDs, and I need my favs on my iPod.

Entrepreneur/Writing stuff—I really, really like starting new businesses. I really, really like writing and editing and anything to do with words. I really, really, really like it when the two are merged together. That is just hog-heaven for me. I need a work space, planning space, physical storage system for organizing and retrieving my ideas, as well as a time system for working on various projects, with ticklers for date-related promotions, articles, etc.

What's Not Working? Julie's Fill-in-the-Blank Quiz

2009-06-18T09:49:00.002-06:00

I am totally not going to list all the areas in my life/space that aren't working. Let's just say, everything but what I mentioned HERE.

Julie's quiz is fill in the blank. Her part is bold. My part isn't.

I can never find my notebooks/planners, to-do/appointment schedules that tell me what I'm supposed to do and when; book that I'm reading; ink pens and clicky pencils (the ones I really like); business files and contracts; tax records and other financial forms; tools, nails, hammer, tape measure; purse; shoes; time; brain; fun.

I have no place to put mail; magazines; to read/consider later stuff; gift wrap; baby toys and stuff; gifts for future giving; personal and business files; stuff that goes in my car; outdoor tools/chairs, etc.; out-of-season clothing; momentos; my car; scrapbooking stuff; food storage.

There's no room for the grandbaby port-a-cribs and toys; winter coats; puzzles and games; books; eating at the table; having guests stay over; food storage.

I am tired of missed opportunities; looking at the clutter; feeling guilty about the clutter; being embarrassed when people come over; looking for stuff; buying stuff I can't find but know I have somewhere; forgetting important to-do stuff and appointments; feeling rushed and overwhelmed; feeling cramped.

I can't breathe; think; write; start new ventures; sleep; meet deadlines; play without guilt because of the clutter.

I'm losing a lot of money on missed opportunities; missed sales; sloppy and inconsistent marketing and planning; buying stuff I already have; comfort food.

The disorganization makes me feel like a loser, incompetent, stupid, bad, embarrassed, guilty, cramped, like I can't breathe or move.

When people visit, I cringe (big time!); make excuses; pretend to be in the middle of a major project that explains the mess; stuff things in back rooms.

I'm sure I'll be adding to this list over time.

What's Working?

2009-06-17T09:51:00.004-06:00

No matter what state of disorder your space may be in, I guarantee that buried beneath the rubble are some systems that are working just fine for you. (Julie, OFIO, 50)

Promise? There's hope? I'm not a total loser?

Seriously, I recognize that there are areas of my life/space that are working well. Most of them are systems that I set in place the last time I went through Julie's book.

Here's what is working for me:

Most of my dresser drawers—I have dividers and containers that help keep things separated. For example, my sock drawer. Yes, I have an entire drawer just for socks because I like socks. I got some translucent plastic drawer organizers at BB&B and they work wonderfully.

The only dresser drawers I have issues with are: the one where I store my electronics cables and the one where I store my TV remotes, toys, books that I play with before I go to sleep at night. And that's because they don't have dividers and organizers. Yet.

My color-coded filing system in my home office. I started this with three colors/companies years ago and those three still work. Now I just need to implement the system with the other companies/projects I have going on in my life.

Uhm, that's about it.

I have other places that are almost working and only need a few tweaks. For example, my master bathroom is almost there, my bedroom closet, and my living room. The gray storage unit in my driveway is functional, though a little crowded for my taste—but that's temporary. My shipping table was working pretty well, until I stacked a bunch of junk on it recently.

I also have places that used to work, but either I've outgrown them or they need moving and/or reconstruction due to the current changes in my life. My UB/CSO closet was working until I decided to move that whole area downstairs. Now it's in boxes on the floor. My bookcases and the rest of my shipping area were working but now are filled with overflow. The kitchen worked for about five minutes, but it needs to be repaired, revamped and child-proofed.

I've got my work cut out for me, but I'm thankful for those two gleaming points of light in my life—my dresser drawers and my color-coded files.

It's good to see that something is working. Right?

I said, RIGHT??

Drawer Organizer Combo (Set of 5)

2009-06-16T10:08:00.000-06:00

Polypropylene drawer organizers keep your stuff organized and fit practically anywhere. Translucent so your things are easy to find and hand washable so they're easy to keep clean. Set includes three small drawer organizers measuring 12" L x 4" W x 3" H and two medium drawer organizers measuring 12" L x 6" W x 3" H.

I love these! They're inexpensive and the long skinny ones are the perfect size for organizing my socks. I have one organizer for each color—blue, black, tan, misc colors, and holiday socks.

The bigger ones I use for organizing my bras (can I say that on the Internet?)

You can get them at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $9.99

If you use these or if you've found them cheaper somewhere else, let me know in the comments

3 Steps to Organizing

2009-06-16T09:37:00.000-06:00

Julie defines three overall steps to organizing your stuff. They are:

Analyze

Strategize

Attack

From having done this several years ago, and in starting to do this again now, I can testify that each of these steps is very important. You don't want to jump straight to the Attack stage, where you actually do the physical part of the job.

It won't work because it won't make sense to you.

It's very worth it to take the time and be thorough on the Analyze and Strategize steps.

Which I will do now.

(Even though I really want to get to the Attack stage fast.)

Quoting Julie, Chapters 4, 5 & 6

2009-06-15T09:30:00.001-06:00

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from chapters 4, 5 & 6 of Julie Morgenstern's book, Organizing from the Inside Out.

No matter what state of disorder your space may be in, I guarantee that buried beneath the rubble are some systems that are working just fine for you. (50) [Promise? There's hope? I'm not a loser?]

Study your environment for your natural habits and tendencies; see if you can work with rather than fight against them. (51)

Organizing is about designing your space so that it reflects who you are and what's important to you and arranging things logically and efficiently so that staying organized will be easy for you. (59)

Design a system that is intuitive and natural to you so that you can find things and put them away again without too much thought. (70; emphasis added)

Give each item a single, consistent home. (73)

Living with a Disorganized Person

2009-06-13T09:18:00.002-06:00

I'm soooo glad to be through all that introspection into all my psycho obstacles. I love that Julie's next chapter lets us focus on SOMEONE ELSE!

My DH will be the first to tell you that his life is in chaos and he is disorganized. Part of that is because he's working three jobs. Part of it is also his need to hoard a little bit.

He thinks his disorganization really bothers me, but it doesn't. It only really bothers me if I'm looking for something that he had last, and I really need it and I can't find it.

Or when I need something out of a storage box. He always stacks them too heavy and too high for me to get to.

Otherwise, I simply organize behind him. He hates this, but I can't help it. I'm a little OCD that way. But I try to respect his boundaries.

For example—his Atomic Dog Room. (I have no idea where that name came from, but that's what he calls his office.) DH has one room downstairs that he can keep as messy as he needs to keep it. And he does. It's take-your-life-in-your-hands and enter-at-your-own-risk messy. I rarely even open the door.

This works well for us.

**In this chapter, Julie talks about helping people with ADD or OCD. She says, "Help them rise above the details and create a system that is good enough." (her italics) Given what I said HERE, it makes me wonder if she wasn't telling people how to deal with ME!

Need for Perfection

2009-06-12T09:04:00.000-06:00

True confession #9 of psychological obstacles that keep me cluttered and disorganized.

This is another biggie for me—right below Unclear Goals and just before Sentimental Attachments.

For me, included with the Need for Perfection is the Need to Be Right/Do It Right. There is a slight distinction. I'm so afraid of doing something wrong that often I'm paralyzed into inaction.

Wrong things would be:

Getting rid of something I will need later
Wasting time
Wasting money
Not doing what God wants me to do
Not doing it how He wants me to do it
Not doing something well enough
and a whole host of others that are just too pathetic to go into here.

I have a friend who believes in "the power of the little bit." Do a little bit here and a little bit there, and any progress is better than no progress. I tell myself this a lot. I tell it to others and they think I'm soooo wise. But do I do it?

Not so much.

I want to do things right, once and for all, and have them done. I don't like lots of change or constant change. I never move my furniture around just for fun. I move it until I discover the best arrangement that is most functional for me and then I leave it there until it rots. And I like it that way!

Same with pictures on the wall. I find a picture I like, hang it where I like it, and it stays. Example, I have a piano that has had the same picture of Christ with children hanging over it for more than twenty years. I've moved four times and every time, that picture goes right in the same spot. I like it that way.

Clothes. When I find a style I like, I often buy multiple colors. I have one shirt that I've worn since my son was born. He's 25 now. (Okay, so I didn't wear it for the years that I was really heavy and it wouldn't fit, but I still wear it now and I still love it.)

I want to find the perfect solution and keep it. Forever.

I'm weird that way. And some of that I will not change because it gives me peace and comfort. But I need to find a functional balance, a "good-enough."

I'm working on it.

Sentimental Attachment

2009-06-12T08:43:00.001-06:00

True confession #8 of psychological obstacles that keep me cluttered and disorganized.

This is a biggie. I'm like my mom in this. My dad teases her and says she has to keep everything her kids touched or breathed on.

I say, what's wrong with that?!?

Seriously, this is a big issue for me and a big contribution to the clutter I have.

Often, it's hard for people to let go of things they aren't using anymore because they infuse them with a tremendous amount of meaning. These objects come to represent another time, person, or part of themselves that they feel will be lost forever if let go. (Julie, OFIO, 31)

My crazy thought processes go something like this:

If I get rid of it, I'll forget how cute my kids were when they were little. This especially applies to photos, art projects and stories they wrote.
What if, in the future, one of my kids asks me if I have some little thing they made or did as a child, and I tell them no, I threw it out—and their feelings are hurt because they really wanted to keep it?
Won't my grandchildren love seeing things their parents made/had when they were young? (I know I loved that.)
Momentos—if I get rid of these momentos I picked up when I had such a good time at whatever with whomever, I'll forget about the event itself.
Gifts I don't really like—someone paid good money to give me this gift that they thought I would like. I can't just toss it. What if they come to my house someday and ask what happened to it? What do I say? I might hurt their feelings.
If I get rid of this shirt, poncho, jewelry, whatever, no one will ever know how cool I was in high school/college. They'll think I've always been an old frumpy woman. And even worse, I might forget how cool I was!

The solution?

Remember that, "Objects can remind us who we are, or who we want to be, but the real truth is inside us and doesn't go away." (Julie, OFIO, 32) [I'm making this into a poster.]
Take a picture and keep it stored on my computer.

Dislike the Space

2009-06-11T08:34:00.000-06:00

True confession #7 of psychological obstacles that keep me cluttered and disorganized.

I hate my house.

Okay, hate is too strong of a word. Here's the deal. It's a rambler with three bedrooms upstairs and a full basement. The issue is the basement—it's getting harder for me to run up and down those stupid stairs. Also, it always smells mildewy down there. Plus, when my office is down there, I feel like I'm in a dungeon, being punished for something.

So, I bring my work upstairs and I work in my bedroom, or the living room, or the kitchen. And then I never put the stuff back downstairs. Then I lose it because my stuff has no home upstairs.

Plus. Everything is falling apart, needing repairs. I don't even want to get into that.

Moving to a new home is not an option right now. So I have to figure out a way to make this house usable and functional. And I think I'm on the right track. More about that in my planning stage.

Need for Distraction

2009-06-10T08:22:00.002-06:00

True confession #6 of psychological obstacles that keep me cluttered and disorganized.

This one is iffy for me. I'm not sure this is a problem, but it might be.

I almost skipped this obstacle entirely until I read this about Kevin (Julie's case history person):

[Kevin] hadn't been prepared for all the free mental space an organized office would give him. Suddenly his mind flooded with more distressing issues in his life. . .All these years his worries about being disorganized had conveniently distracted him from things he didn't want to think about. (Julie, OFIO, 30)

Fact 1: I worry a lot.

Fact 2: Worrying about clutter is easier than worrying about children, finances, and health because theoretically, I can do something about the clutter. If I wanted to. If I tried.

Fact 3: I'll have to wait and see what the full impact of this issue actually is.

Fear of Losing Creativity

2009-06-09T08:01:00.004-06:00

True confession #5 of psychological obstacles that keep me cluttered and disorganized.

Before I start this one, let me say I did fine one area that I have no issues in: Need to Retreat. At least, no issues that I am aware of.

After that one, this category is my smallest psycho obstacle and the easiest to overcome.

I'm very visually oriented and I like things to be pretty. That's why I'm a good typesetter and editor. I like to put the pretty on things. I'm not so good matching colors but yes, I like the pretty; I need the pretty.

So when I started organizing with Julie the first time, I went with color-coded file folders. I could afford them then. This time around, I almost didn't do it. Colored folders are more expensive and I need a lot of them. I thought about colored labels, but that just doesn't do it for me.

When I realized how deeply I respond to the pretty, I realized that in order for this system to work, I had to go for the color. (Sorry, Jim.)

Fortunately, I found some on sale (Smead Jewel Tones collection and Smead Brights collection, 5 colors per box each).

This is my system, coded for the various business ventures I'm involved in:

Rosehaven Publishing: Maroon (although I prefer to call it burgandy)

Miles Ahead Publishing: Lavendar

Professional Pre-Press: Green

Desert Rose Designs: Light Blue

Urban Botanic: Teal

CustomScentsOnline: Dark Purple

Home: Orange (for monthlies) and Navy (for long-term storage files)

Writing: Yellow (because isn't that a happy color?)

Blogging: Misc DiVoga fancy folders with ultra cool designs that I found on CLEARANCE at Office Max!

I also have some colors I haven't used yet—red, gray, pink. But they won't go to waste because I'm sure I'll be doing another business venture at some point that will need it's own color.

Anyway, I've got my pretty colors and this part of the problem is solved. Now I just need to put the files into use. I've gotten a start on it, but it will take time to complete.

Fear of Success/Failure

2009-06-08T07:40:00.001-06:00

True confession #4 of psychological obstacles that keep me cluttered and disorganized.

Disorganization is a convenient way of holding yourself back. (Julie, OFIO, 27)

Well, duh!

This is my issue. I want to write novels. I've wanted to be a writer ever since I can remember. I loved to read. I was always reading. My parents had to lock me out of the house to make me play, rather than read.

Somewhere around 4th grade, I realized that maybe I could write one of these books that I love to read so much. I've been playing at it ever since.

However, I've never written a book. Never completed one. Except for a novella I did in high school because we were supposed to keep a daily journal for one of my classes and my own life was too boring for words, so I made it up. (It's not too bad, but it has a maudlin ending that would never fly and also some life messages that I no longer agree with.)

Although I've never written a novel, I've written a LOT over the years, including: a regular column in my junior high newspaper; an underground newspaper I wrote and published in high school; poetry in the college newspaper; short stories; song lyrics (one was picked up by a country singer in Montana, but then she decided not to record it after all); feature articles, movie and book reviews in a local paper; a non-fiction book; lots of newsletters and advertising stuff; and I blog, blog, blog my little head off.

But no novel. Why? Because that type of creativity comes from a place inside me that is highly disrupted by chaos. That was my excuse. I can't create in chaos. I didn't even try to write a novel while my children were young. About four years ago, I started working on writing seriously again—but again, the chaos and clutter keeps me from really doing it.

But that's just an excuse. The real reason I don't finish anything?

[Oh. My. Gosh. Am I really going to say this in front of the Internet?]

The real reason is:

What if I do finally finish something and it's horrible? And people hate it and they hate me and that means that I'm no good at the one thing in my life I've always wanted to do, the one thing that I told myself, "Well, I might be a lousy housekeeper/cook/mom/neighbor/whatever, but I'm secretly a good writer and people would like me if they only knew how good I could write," and if I lose that fantasy because I'm really a bad writer, then that means that I'm a bad, useless, lump of poo who doesn't deserve space on the planet and then I'll have to go eat worms and die.

Nuts enough for you?

But I'm tired of that. Really. I'm almost 50!* If I'm going to do it, I need to do it. No excuses.

The End.

*That's not too old to start (David Eddings published his first at age 47)

Unclear Goals & Priorities

2009-06-06T13:11:00.004-06:00

True confession #3 of psychological obstacles that keep me cluttered and disorganized.

Uhm.

This is a huge issue for me. I have interests in so many areas and there are so many things that I want to do, or might do, or will do if I get a chance, or will only do if I have to but I want to be prepared for it. . .

What do I want to do when I grow up? You should see my career planning chart. You want to? Well, okay. Since you insisted. Here it is (click for bigger image):

So, okay. These are the things I want to do. Some of them more than others. The trouble is, the ones I really want to do make less (or no) money than the ones I only sort of want to do. And I need to earn a living.

So, what to do? What to do?

Because I can't decide, I end up flitting around among all of them. I do what I love, until I feel guilty for not earning any money at it. Then I do the ones that earn money until I hate them. Back and forth, back and forth.

I guess I need to pick one, or maybe two, and focus on that until it's proven successful or until it fails. Then decide if I want to branch out to something else. But which one?

This particular psychological problem is going to take some time to work through.

In the meantime, my solution is "Eeeny, meeny, minee, . . ."

Conquistador of Chaos

2009-06-05T12:30:00.005-06:00

True confession #2 of psychological obstacles that keep me cluttered and disorganized.

Some people keep their lives or spaces disorganized because they love the thrill of coming to the rescue and creating order out of chaos. (Julie, OFIO, 25)

This does not apply directly to me. I hate disorganization. It makes me physically ill. I look at my chaos and I get so sick I have to sit down and cry.

I must admit though, I do like creating order out of other people's chaos. Or rather, showing them how to do it and then watching them do all the work. (ha!)

Anyway, the reason I've included this psychological obstacle is that I do exhibit some of the behaviors that Julie says fits this category. Here they are, along with my justification of why I don't think they're a fit for me.

I keep setting up systems and not sticking with them.

Justification: I don't stick with them because they don't work. If I found one that worked well for me, I'd stick with it. For example, Julie's system. It worked well for me before, which is why I'm updating it now and finishing the process. Also, I had a time management system once that I loved—Franklin Covey's planner on my PDA. But when the PDA broke and I had to upgrade, the new & improved planner system didn't work like the old one. Not only did I not like it as well, but it left holes that allowed me to double-book things. A mess! I didn't stick with it because I was forced out by advancing technology!

I feel my organizational system is always in process, never complete.

Justification: That's not because I like the chaos. It's because I never have the time, energy, or inclination (all at the same time) to finish putting the system in place throughout my entire life/roles. The places where I've used Julie's system are working well. I just need the time and some help to complete it.

Thrive on solving challenging problems but get bored with maintaining the solutions.

Justification: Okay, maybe this one fits better than I'd like it to, but that's due to my strong entreprenuerial spirit. I like taking on new projects and challenges, getting them organized and up and running, then handing them over to someone else for daily operations while I take on a new project. I think there's a distinction between that and what Julie describes. Yes. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The other three behaviors she lists don't apply to me. (But maybe they apply to you. BUY HER BOOK.)

I'll Walk By Faith

2009-06-04T11:54:00.001-06:00

I've been thinking about my last post for awhile. It does little good to identify a problem if you can find no solution for it.

I think I've found a solution or at least, something that will work for now.

When I was 16, I received a blessing from God that has become very dear and very important to me. One sentence in that blessing states:

I bless you that you may never want for the necessities of life.

If I truly believe this religion that I embrace and call my own; if I truly believe in the divine inspiration of these blessings; if I truly believe that God will answer my prayers—then I must live like I believe. And that includes letting go of all the extras.

I'm not talking about throwing out my food storage or giving away all my earthly belongings. But if I'm holding onto something solely out of fear, it's time for me to let it go and trust that if I ever do need it in the future, God will provide it for me, as He has so many times in the past.

So for now, I'll walk by the faith I profess.

Which reminds me of a song I love, I Walk By Faith by Janice Kapp Perry.

Chorus Lyrics:
I walk by faith,
a daughter of heav'nly parents.
Divine am I in nature by inheritance.
And someday when God has proven me,
I'll see Him face to face.
But just for here and now I walk by faith.

Need for Abundance

2009-06-02T11:02:00.007-06:00

So this is my true confession #1 of psychological obstacles that keep me cluttered and disorganized. (Please don't mock me. This is close to my heart.)

I never really thought I had a great need for abundance—and I still don't think I do. What I have is a fear of scarcity. Especially when it comes to consumable items.

I believe I get that from two main sources:

While I grew up in plenty and never knew what it meant to go hungry, my mother grew up in the Depression. Her family really struggled for the basics. She knew what it was like to be really poor. I can remember her saying things like, "We better stock up, just in case we can't ever get [whatever] again." I also know that she has a hard time throwing things out because you "never know when you'll be without and wish you had it."

There were also all those starving children in China/Africa/Russia that I needed to worry about. That stale bread I want to toss might mean the difference between life and death to them! So because I can't toss it due to the huge boatload of guilt it causes to do so, I keep it until it's too moldy for even starving children to eat. Then I throw it out. (Multiply this by every single food item in my house.)

And it's not just food. It's everything! For example, I can't throw out a used file folder that is bent in half, with very rubbed edges, a small rip at the bottom, and a suspicious looking watermark on it. There are poor people all over the world who would love to have it! Someday I might be one of those poor people wishing I had even that poor excuse for a file folder to put my papers in.

My DH is not very helpful with this because he was very poor growing up, as well. He has some issues with hoarding. (I can see his issues because they're not mine. Funny how that works.) He doesn't like to throw anything away. He'll even eat the moldy bread! (Not really.)

Therefore, it's very hard for me to throw things out. I keep imagining situations in which I might need the item in question in the future and that I'll sorely regret tossing it now.
My religion. What? What does religion have to do with it? Well, my church believes in Provident Living. (Yes, we capitalize it.) We believe we should have a year's supply of needed consumables, just in case. It's what God wants us to do.

And He wants us to raise our own food, sew our clothing, recycle old clothing into new items, and generally be wise and judicious stewards over the world's resources. So throwing out anything that could be reused or recycled—by myself or by starving children wherever—is tantamount to SIN in some circles! (Or at least, to the committee that lives inside my head.)

Also, I can't even count the number of times I've heard this quote during General Conference or in Sacrament meetings:

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.

(There are times when I really hate the person who coined that phrase.)

And while I agree with this in theory, do you know how dangerous it can be in real life? I have cabinets of cleaners and cosmetics that I've bought and tried but can't use myself for one reason or another, yet I can't just throw them away because that would be wasteful! Someone else might really appreciate them. And that's just one example!

Okay, maybe this isn't exactly what Julie meant by this category in her book but it's the way that I interpret it for my life.

Oh, and I thought of one more thing that falls in this category. I have this huge collection of books, teaching supplies, arts and craft supplies, toys, games and other items that I hold onto even though my children have outgrown them. I keep them because:

What if the world falls apart and we no longer have access to these wonderful things. I want to be able to have them around for my grandchildren or neighborhood children to use. I mean, all my neighbors are stockpiling food and clothing, but what about the arts? Literature? Emotional needs? How will we teach our children? Who is thinking about that?

Is that totally crazy? Am I just insane? Or do other people think about these things?

Some of this sounds really ridiculous. I mean, really.

And yet.

And yet, I still feel incredible guilt over this whole issue and I don't know how to get over it or past it or through it or whatever. I don't know what God wants me to do—and that's very, very important to me. Do I collect books because He has inspired me to do so? Or because I'm nuts? Would He rather I do something else—like share them now? How do I know?

The thought of doing something "wrong" completely immobilizes me.

Psychological Obstacles

2009-06-01T10:54:00.001-06:00

Julie has 21 questions in her book. If you answer 'yes' to three or more, you likely have a psychological obstacle you need to deal with. I answered 'yes' to 14.

Yes, that's more than half. [sigh]

Julie lists 10 psychological obstacles and I have issues in all of them. Ugh. Well. Uhm. Whatever. I'm just going to bite the bullet and talk about them and hope that if anyone ever reads this, you'll have your own issues and will not think I'm a total nutcase!

This is hard. Really. To talk about some of this stuff.

But I really, really want to get organized and uncluttered and dejunked and FREE! So I'm going to do this and let the chips fall wherever they fall.

External Reality Roadblocks

2009-05-30T10:14:00.001-06:00

External realities are roadblocks that interfere with organization, which are not of my own making—or at least, not totally. These are things that "happpened" to me. I need to face them, accept them, deal with them, resolve them (when possible).

Julie's book has a little quiz on this section. These are the items that apply to me.

Company downsized/merger/growth/etc.—This is several lumped all into one. At the end of 2006, my publishing company went out of business (except in name only). Had to move all the stuff from the warehouse back to my home. Went into a major depression/flu. Spent about 6 months in bed. Still have not dealt with all the ramifications, excess or decided what exactly I'm going to do with this company. Let it go completely? Or revive it somehow?
Starting home business—Since the beginning of 2007, I've tried a number of work-at-home business ventures, including various blogging for money, selling on ebay. editing, typesetting, customized jewely, Twilight-inspired fragrances sold online, Fragrance Designer for Urban Botanic (also now defunct), research assistant, writing my own books, asst. manager of a bookstore, book reviewer, etc. I still do some of them; have quit doing some. I'm having trouble deciding what to do when I grow up. Still looking for one that's a good fit for me and will earn a living.
Family changes—the last child just married and moved out. We're transitioning into the empty nest lifestyle and learning to be parents to adults.
Outside pressures—I often feel a pressure to respond to phone calls and e-mails on the other person's time frame, rather than my own.
Technology—I have a hard time keeping up with upgrades and changes in my computer systems. My PC is outdated and slow. I've set up a virtual PC on my Mac, but it's not working efficiently. I can't find a time management system that I like so my brain is scattered between a paper planner, wall calendar, iPod touch, Palm Pilot, Franklin system, and iCal. Something has to give.
Skill needs—Not in Julie's book, but just as real—one of the new venture ideas that has the most energy for me requires me to learn a whole new skill set—HTML and CSS mark-up; and file conversion of various types. I don't have the software or the resources to learn it right now and I'm too cluttered and disorganized to do it. At the moment.
Interruptions—I have constant interruptions at work. And distractions.
Deadlines—I work in a dead-line driven business—or at least, a good portion of it is. Deadlines for editing, typesetting, blogging, order fulfillment, etc. I really, really hate deadlines. They make me physically ill. I want to be done ahead instead of always playing catch-up.
Paperwork—I have a paper-intensive business. I'm trying to convert much of it to electronic formats but that's not working as well as I'd like it to work. Plus, I "think with ink". Sometimes I don't know what I think or feel until I write it down. Typing on the computer doesn't do the same thing for me. I need to have a physical pen and paper and the kinesthetic motion of writing.
Transition—I'm in the midst of several transitions. Moving to the empty nest, turning 50 in a few months, grandparenting, changing careers, switching the focus of my business.
Boss—I have a highly disorganized boss (me) who constantly interferes with my work day.
Spouse—My DH is a clutter-bug/mild hoarder.

So according to the quiz, I have to deal with the following external realities:

an unrealistic workload

the speed of life/technology

life transition

uncooperative partner (he's not really uncooperative, he just works so much that it's tough for him to get organized too)

temporarily limited space—I'll have plenty of space once I dejunk

The first two are the biggies. Not completely sure what to do about these realities but I can definitely see that some of Julie's tips and suggestions will help me deal with them.

Just knowing that they exist takes a lot of the guilt out of my situation. And that's a good thing because guilt completely freezes me up and makes me non-functional.

What's Holding ME Back? (Technical Errors)

2009-05-29T08:14:00.003-06:00

Using Julie's book as a guide, these are the technical errors, lack of skills, that I am dealing with—and my commentary about them.

Items have no home. The first time I went through Julie's book (several years ago), I assigned homes for lots of things. This has worked really well for me. Most of those items I am able to keep pretty good track of. They rarely get misplaced or lost (unless my DH or one of my kids use them). But I never finished the job. Plus, I have lots of new items that have no home.

Action plan: Go through each room. Decide what it's function is. Create homes for the things that need to be in that room.
Inconvenient storage. I have a rambler—and navigating the stairs is getting harder for me. Often I'll need to use something upstairs, but it's "home" is downstairs—or vice versa. So while I'll go get what I need, ~~sometimes~~ frequently, I don't put it back where it belongs.

Action plan: Since I can't just torch my house and build a new one all on one level, I'll be creating better homes for things—even if that means I have to have two sets of things, one for upstairs and one for downstairs.
Too much stuff. This is a big house, and we're down to two people living here so I can't say that I don't have enough space. I just have too much stuff. Waaay too much stuff. And now that I'm entering a new phase of life—the empty nest/grandparenting/lots of personal freedom phase—some of the things I've kept because my kids might need them are now completely superfluous.

Action plan: Simplifying; getting rid of the things I won't need or use in this new phase of my life.
Organizing is boring. Not really. Not for me. I love organizing—or at least, planning to organize. What I don't love is putting the planning into action. It's hard for me to lift and tote and carry things. I don't have a lot of upper body strength (as in none; as in spaghetti muscles) and I don't have a lot of stamina. So while my heart's in the right place, and I'm emotionally committed to doing this, the follow-through is hard.

Also, my DH works three jobs and there's no way I'm going to make him lift and carry after he gets home from a 15-hour work day.

Action plan: Hire neighborhood boys to help me. [Update 7/28/98] Good news! My daughters took me to dinner today and gave me an early birthday present. They're going to be my body slaves and help with some of the stuff that I can't do by myself. The boys are in for it too. I have the best kids!
Organizing is expensive. (This is not in Julie's book, but it's definitely one of the things that holds me back.) To get truly organized in a way that works for me, I need containers and shelves and other things. I also need to do ~~a little~~ [uhr, uhm] ~~some~~ [uhm, well] quite a bit of home repair. We've lived here 12 years and things are starting to need replacing.

Action plan: We have a small budget for repairs. Prioritize the repairs. Sell current stuff I don't need/want to earn money for stuff I really do need/want.

What's Holding You Back?

2009-05-28T07:56:00.001-06:00

Julie proposes a three-level diagnostic to determine what's holding you back, keeping you from decluttering and becoming organized. The three levels are:

Technical Errors

External Realities

Psychological Obstacles

This information is invaluable. On this blog, I will only be addressing the areas that are holding ME back. I'll totally skip the things that aren't an issue for me. So I highly recommend that anyone reading this BUY HER BOOK.

Yes, it's that good.

And you'll want the paperback copy so you can highlight it and write notes in the margin as you go through it.

Clutter is Not a Character Defect! (Take Two)

2009-05-27T07:52:00.000-06:00

I haven't found one case in all my years as a professional organizer where the clutter was caused by sloppiness, laziness or incompetence.
(Organizing from the Inside Out, Julie Morgenstern, 15)

Oh. My. Gosh.!!

The burden has lifted even further.

I love Julie. She's my new BFF.

Quoting Julie, Chapter 2

2009-05-27T07:27:00.002-06:00

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from chapter 2 of Julie Morgenstern's book, Organizing from the Inside Out.

One of the most fundamental principles of organizing from the inside out: understanding the cause before seeking a remedy. (14)

I haven't found one case in all my years as a professional organizer where the clutter was caused by sloppiness, laziness or incompetence. (15) [**!!!**]

Self-awareness is your most powerful tool in getting and staying organized. (15)

[Julie has a whole list of technical errors, external realities, and psychological obstacles that lead to clutter. This list is worth the price of the book!] (16-33)

[on dealing with the speed of life] Apply the brakes from time to time, ...think before you jump and be willing to say "no" occasionally. (20)

Every time we go through a major change [in our life], we experience a breakdown in our organizational systems. It's inevitable. (21) [emphasis added] [**!!**]

If you have a need for abundance, it is often better to organize what you have than try to force yourself [or others] to throw stuff out. (25)

Taking on too much and feeling scattered in a million directions are typical symptoms of having unclear goals and priorities. (26)

Disorganization is a convenient way of holding yourself back. (27)

Work slowly to overhaul your system. (27)

Design your system to be simple, fun, and visually appealing so that it reflects your creative personality and feeds it. (30)

Objects can remind us who we are, or who we want to be, but the real truth is inside us and doesn't go away. (32)

Free up space by letting go of the old. (32)

There are a hundred ways to organize a filing system [or any system]; the one you choose is less important than sticking to it. (33)

Don't get so caught up in the process that you never see the result. (33)

*[...] = commentary added by me.

Clutter is Not a Character Defect!

2009-05-26T07:42:00.005-06:00

Organizing is a skill.
(Organizing from the Inside Out, Julie Morgenstern, 8)

Can you even imagine the relief I felt when that one sentence sunk into my brain?!!?

All my life, I've felt like there was a very organized person trapped inside me. I crave organization, clean lines, simple designs.

Most people think I'm very organized—and I suppose, compared to many, I am. But the truth is, I make attempts at organizing and decluttering but I never get it quite right.

Also, due to health issues, there are times when I shove things anywhere I can find a space—and then dealing with them later is overwhelming.

At the age of 49 1/2, I look around me at the clutter and disorganization in my life and I feel so guilty. I feel like I'm a bad person because of it. I mean, why in the world would I ever let it get so bad?! I'm embarassed and ashamed.

But when I read Julie's sentence from her book, I internalized something that previously I'd only hoped was true. Organizing is a skill set. There are concrete steps for learning how to do it and there are tools needed for success.

Disorganization and clutter is NOT a character defect. It's not a SIN. I am not a BAD PERSON.

If organizing is a skill, then I simply need to learn it and practice it.

I feel like a huge burden has been lifted from my shoulders!

Quoting Julie, Chapter 1

2009-05-25T07:12:00.008-06:00

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from chapter 1 of Julie Morgenstern's book, Organizing from the Inside Out. (You really need to get this book!)

Being organized has less to do with the way an environment looks than how effectively it functions. (7)

If a person can find what he or she needs when he or she needs it, feels unencumbered in achieving his or her goals, and is happy in his or her space, then that person is well organized. (7)

Organizing is the process by which we create environments that enable us to live, work, and relax exactly as we want to. (7)

Organizing is a skill. (8) [Not a character defect.]*

Getting organized boils down to the same very simple, predictable process. (9) [that means I can learn it and do it.]

Organizing is sustainable, if your system is built around the way you think. (9)

You can no longer afford not to be organized. (10)

Organizing has become a survival skill for the modern age. (10)

Organizing from the inside out means creating a system based on your specific personality, needs and goals. It focuses on defining who you are and what is important to you as a person so that your system can be designed to reflect that. (11)

Three steps to organizing: Analyze, Strategize, Attack. (13)

*[...] = commentary added by me.

The Real Reason for this Blog

2009-05-23T06:42:00.008-06:00

I've tried dejunking and reorganizing before. I make in-roads. I just never get it DONE, COMPLETE, FINISHED.

I have a notebook that I use to track stuff—what I want to do in each room, what I need to do it, ideas, possibilities, etc.

Problem is, I keep losing the stupid notebook and having to remake it.

Also, I'll do internet searches for ideas, forget to put the results in my notebook, and lose the bookmark. Or I get paint swatches, etc. and lose them.

So this is my online notebook. You're welcome to follow along if you want, but it's mostly for me.

Okay. So. This task of dejunking, organizing, prettying up my home is MONUMEMTAL. I'm using Julie Morgenstern's book, Organizing from the Inside Out, to help me. I read this book several years ago and loved it. It really helped a lot, but it's time for a refresher course. I'm re-reading it and doing the exercises, which I'll be posting here.

She has another book I might get called, Shed Your Stuff, Change Your Life.

I also want to get Peter Walsh's book, It's All Too Much. (Or at least, I think that's the one I wanted. Can't remember because I lost my stupid list of books!)

Previewing both of those on my Kindle before I buy them to make sure I really want them.

Anyway, here's what I'm going to do on this blog. I'm re-creating my notebook online. Boring for you; wonderful for me! For a bit, I'll be back-dating some posts as I transfer what I have in my notebook onto this blog. Basically, the categories break down to:

Talk the talk. This is where I discuss what I learn in various organizing books, my thoughts about organizing, the obstacles I encounter, my opinions, my fears, my dreams and wishes.
Plan the Plan. This is where I plan what I want to do in each room of my home or area of my house. It will include info on function, needs, decor ideas, etc.
Walk the Walk. Otherwise known as "implementation." It will include before and after photos, costs, efforts, daily accomplishments and other things that detail putting my plans in action.
Dance the Dance. This will be my successes, finished projects, and how wonderful life is due to my efforts here.
Quotes. These are organizational quotes that I find in my research and love. I'll swap them out in the sidebar, but you can read all of them by clicking the "Quotes" button.
4Sale. As I declutter, I'll have things that I want to sell, rather than donate. I'll list them here first. They may not be cleaned up yet. Once I get to it, they'll be listed on KSL.com or ebay or somewhere like that. So if you see something you like, e-mail me.
Subcategories. These will include smaller categories within the first four, such as each room of the house, or each job or task, broken down into what makes sense for me.

That's it. I know this will help me. Hope it helps you too.

Time for a Change!

2009-05-22T09:42:00.008-06:00

Hi, and welcome to my Goodbye Clutter! site.

About This Site:
Why did I create "Goodbye Clutter"? Well, it's the result of a mid-life crisis, a few years too late.

I turn 50 in a few months. That's right—the big 5–0! It's long past time for a change.

I have way too much stuff. I don't want to spend what's left of my life taking care of things I don't want or don't need. In preparation for entry into my Golden Years, I'm paring down to the bare bones.

I'm also embarking on a couple of new business ventures and I have to create the space and organization I need to be successful.

Inspired by Clean Sweep (I love Peter Walsh) and Clean House (gotta' love a woman who has the courage to wear flowers in her hair), I'm going to be heartless and ruthless. I'm getting rid of the junk and decreasing the clutter. I'm only keeping things I absolutely need and/or love dearly.

I just need to figure out how to do it. . .

A HUGE THANK YOU to Cori Carpenter of Scrap-e-Blog who did the blog design work for me. I love it! Her backgrounds are free and she makes matching headers and buttons for donations. Go over there and get a new look for your blog—and tell her Karlene at Goodbye Clutter sent you!

About Me

2009-05-22T08:26:00.003-06:00

I'm a still-49 year old woman who is happily married with four wonderful children and two fabulous grandsons. I earn my living in a variety of ways—writing, editing, entreprenuerialing.

When I'm not working or dejunking, you can find me reading, hanging out with my family, or blogging at my other sites (see sidebar).