Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Planning the Challenge

Now that I've taken on this huge THING I'd better make a plan. Because I know myself. If I don't figure out a game plan I'll find a way to quickly talk myself out of it.

I just love the perspective being 45 has brought me.

Today I will plot my course.

That's almost scarier to me than the actual day by day action that this will require!

The first thing I thought about was the need to stock up a bit on easy dinners. Menu planning is hard around here. Sometimes the days turn out very differently than planned. I've learned to utilize my plan by simple having all the ingredients and at least 3 simple dinners on the plan. I grew up eating what was put in front of you. Sometimes it was really boring. Other times it was really great. Nevertheless you ate what was there. Dh has a different attitude regarding food. Being the creative soul that he is his eating is often mood driven. He'll often say, "That just doesn't sound good right now." At 4 o'clock in the afternoon!!! For years this drove me nuts. I finally figured out to always have one of his simple favorite meals always available. I also learned to say, "Do you know how much time that particular thing you want takes to make?" We're both getting better about it.

Back to the task at hand.

Another part of this planning is that I have about 5-6 days being out of town to work in to the scenario. And another time consuming financial project to deliver.

Some people would say that taking on this challenge is unrealistic. Probably. But I'm tired of waiting for a huge chunk of time to become available to get started. That simply will never happen. That's one of the reason my home is in the state that it is! So, the buck stops here.

Yes, it will be a busy month but I can do busy for 1 month in order to get some peace and order back in my home. I can rest in March.

A familiar hymn is playing in my head right now.....

"Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven....."

This venture is going to require sacrifice. It's going to require me to not simply sit down at 7pm. Creative projects will need to be put on hold until March. But I think if I give myself a realistic stopping point each day it will help. And I also have to remember that the kids are probably going to want to take a break before each day is done but now is the time for teaching by example.

Cross the finish line each day before sitting down.

Monday, January 30, 2012

The 29 Day Organizing Challenge

Begin date: February 1 End date: February 29

Details can be found over at orgjunkie/challenge

I am often inspired and intimidated at the same time by this idea.

Laura over at The Organizing Junkie has put out a call for entries in her new challenge. And although the whole idea kind of scares me to death I've decided to jump in and give it a go.

My house is BEYOND cluttered. I took the before pictures of several rooms this afternoon and I'm not sure I have the courage to post them. Every single room is way out of control. And it makes it hard to get anything done.

So I guess the only way to go from where I'm at is UP.

The challenge is a minimum of 1 room. My goal is to really tackle the entire house. My theory in setting such a huge goal is this: If I actually get the entire house done my life will be easier. If I only get 1/2 the house done my life will be easier. I've decided to hold at least 2 yard sales during the month. Whatever is left after each sale goes immediately to the thrift store for donation. We simply have too much stuff. And I'd like to see a little financial return on a good portion of it leaving.

Goodbye clutter! Hello peace!