Yesterday I spent the day in the garage... my mom came and made lunch for the kids, helped with the two little ones, and nap time as well.  She also helped moved things around.  There's still a lot to go through, but I "skimmed" off the top and filled three garbage cans (the garbage man doesn't come until Wednesday, so this isn't going to be a pretty site!).  I appreciated the help, but wasn't able to do the "bulldozing" that I like to do.  This is a "type" of cleaning though, too.  Especially when you have help, it's not always possible to really go through everything.  With my mom here, it would've been more time consuming for me to try and bulldoze (go through everything), and since I had help... why not use it?

"Skimming" is hard for me to do because I'm a real detail person (which is why I get behind so much... the whole house can be falling apart, and I feel the need to organize the cupboards, or clean out drawers... now, while these things need to get done... sweeping up food off the floor and doing a load of laundry (or several), would be a better place to start!).  Skimming off the top (like the process of making cream)  means dealing with the "obvious" first.  We moved things, and in the process, and also got rid of the things that didn't need to be moved (empty or old cans, spray bottles, ect.).  The hardest thing about skimming, especially for a detail person (some people refer to this as "annal" - tee hee) is that we can get side-tracked along the way.  KEEP YOUR FOCUS!  If you need to, stop, sit down, and take another look at how you're progressing... I had to do this a couple times yesterday.  We moved my husband's tall tool chest, and were going to move a rack of all his supplies, and I just didn't know where it should go exactly, so I sat down to process it (and have a water).  That way I wasn't making a hasty decision and have to re-do something (which would make my "helper" very frustrated).

Skimming still leaves a great sense of accomplishment... not like a completely bulldozed area that's finished, but you need to remember what it looked like before you started!  I like to take "before" and "after" pictures even.  I've kept them on my computer (and yes, I will be posting some of these as I make my way through this process... not only to humble myself, but certainly make you feel better... or normal anyway!).  That way, when things get out of control again (please disregard this if it doesn't pertain to you... I suppose I be the only one on earth that gets behind... ) you can be encouraged by looking back on the "before" and "after" pictures you have, and know that it's possible, and with the Lord's strength, you WILL do it again.  (As long as we're on it... how is it that I always get behind again?!  I mean, why can't it just stay clean once it's done??  And how does it get to be so bad again?  How many times have I said, "I will never get behind now..."  Oh, to have a quarter for every good intention...)

My garage is a big accomplishment, in that I'm not completely embarrassed for anyone to see it now.  I know there is still stuff to be done, and the hardest thing now, is making sure I'm disciplined to finish it (without it getting destroyed before then).   My mom and I are going to have a garage sale in a few weeks, and that will help in getting rid of the big things stored toward the front of the garage now (our garage is too small to fit our suburban in, so that's another reason why it gets so disorganized... there's never a vehicle in it, and it's only used for storage).  My husband also needs to go through a lot of his things, but instead of "nagging" him about this, I will be praying that he's terribly convicted... I mean, that God will gently urge him (tee hee) to get it done.  It's important to remember when you've had a mess for a long time, even though the steps to "get 'er done" have been taken, you can't expect everyone around you to "fall in line".  It's all a gradual process...

Speaking of  my laundry room... that's the next room to get done... (tee hee)  May God bless your day.

In Him,
Amy