We’ve been getting a lot done around here this week.  This is the week that I try to finish all of my unfinished projects and get the “school” ready.   

My long, narrow, all-purpose closet in the back of the house was my biggest project that I had put off all summer.  I call this closet the back-bone of our house.  It’s where I put a lot of stuff that I don’t have room for anywhere else.  We don’t have a garage, or a basement (well, we have a “cellar”, but it gets wet and it’s icky, so I pretend it doesn’t exist). 

I decided to take a shelf down, and in its place, I bought these big, plastic, Rubbermaid closet kind of storage things.   I ended up buying three and they take up an entire wall.  I think that I’ m very happy with this decision.  One is for dog/pet stuff and gardening tools; another one is for winter coats, hats, mittens, and boots); and the one we just got today is for dishes and kitchen stuff I use only occasionally.

I threw out a lot of stuff, but there are still things I’m undecided about.  I’m hoping that this project will be all done by tomorrow.  I am also working on the room that we used to eat in when we were remodeling our kitchen/dining room.  I had thought that we might still eat in there so I had left the plastic table set up.  That table had become a put-everything-you-don’t-know-what-to-do-with table.  This room is directly across from my guest bathroom, and it was looking positively awful!    Today, I took everything off the table (and gave most of the stuff a new home); folded up the table and sent it to storage. I am going to try to find some cheap book shelves for this room to store books that I just moved out of the back closet.

It's been a good week so far - accomplishing projects I've put off; making appointments for the coming weeks; working on a menu plan for the month of September (still in the making); and harvesting a lot of berries and vegetables.  Now, if I can just find a little time to work on some new pictures I have (for blogging, at course!) I'll be a very happy girl .

I finished this book over the weekend - and it's one of those that you need to close the book, and then open it up again and review.  I'm the type that I have to underline, mark, and make notations all  over the pages.  That way, when I get done, I can review the book quickly by glancing at all the things I thought were worthy of noting with my pencil (or pen).  I seem to retain everything a whole lot better if I do this..

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At the end of every chapter, or, sometimes it's all through the chapters, the author gives you a workshop type of outline/questions to think about and answer.  There's a place for you to fill in your answers, and she highly suggests you don't just read this book, but follow through with her questions and your written answers. 

The following is the first chapter's questions and my answers:

“Write down the top three areas of your life that you most want to see changed in the realm of organization. These areas may have to do with time or with your physical surroundings.  Perhaps it’s a task like grocery shopping or menu planning…or piles of paper…or your before school morning routine.  Don’t think too hard; just write down the first three areas of frustration that pop into your mind. “

Area #1  Meal planning

Area #2  Bills and appointments

Area #3 Birthdays.

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"Now describe how you are currently operating in these three areas:  1.) What are you currently doing?  2. )    What are the results?  3. )   How is this frustrating you?"

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Area #1 – Menu Planning

Current plan: I know that I should plan out my meals in advance.  I would like to have them planned a month in advance.  But currently, I’m only planning as the day comes, at best, a few days ahead.

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Results:  Were not having very exciting meals; we end up eating out a lot on the weekends.

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It frustrates me because…I know better.  I know my life would run more smoothly and we’d have more quality family time if I got my act together on this area.

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Area #2  Bills and Appointments

Current Plan:  I write my appointments in my calendar book, but then I forget at times to actually check my calendar!  I write when my bills are due in this same book, but this same thing happens.

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Results:  I miss appointments (not all, but at least one a month); I get little pink slips in the mail. 

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It frustrates me because:  I need that appointment or I wouldn’t have made it!  And it would be so simple to check my appointment book every morning, and to check weekly my bills due.

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Area #3  Birthdays

Current Plan:  I have been doing better in the past year at this, but it’s not become a habit.  A birthday comes upon me, I realize it’s here only a day ahead of time, and then I have to rush out to get presents, plan a party, order a cake, etc…

Or, as in area #2, I know a birthday is coming, it’s written down, but I still fail to execute good planning in this area.

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Results:  I spend too much $ on the birthday because I’m operating in the sense of panic and wanting to just accomplish not missing the birthday.  I also put the entire family on a last minute notice of a pending birthday party.

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It frustrates me….because, again, I know better.  I know my life would be and feel more organized if I had this area in my life under more control.  We have so many birthdays just in our immediate family – six kids, two spouses, four grandchildren, and three parents. This is not including my husband, or any friends.  This is something I realized some time ago I needed to improve – did improve somewhat, but it’s not a habit, yet, and still find myself in that last minute mode.

Yes, I know that the name of this book sounds totally boring.  If I were to flip onto your post, and this was the book you told me you were so excited about, I'd yawn.  Yet, organizing is something I am interested in, and periodically I read a book or two about it.

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It seems sometimes when I randomly go through posts, there is a big percentage hsb gals that organization is their gift.   It's not my gift, but it is something I aspire to, and have for about a decade now.  I think it was the sixth baby that made me realize that if I didn't tackle the art of organization - in every area of my life - that I would drown in the abyss of chaos. 

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Although not gifted at this, I have seen what an organized home looks like.  I was blessed with a sister-in-law that was  endowed with organization skills.  She made it look so simple, all the time.  Her home was as neat as a pin, 24/7.  I never seen any evidence that there ever was any dirty laundry.  Even the children's rooms were impeccable.  Thus, I knew it could be done, but how?

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Although books on organization doesn't sound like reading a best-selling novel,   I have bought and studied more than a few, and have learned a lot over the years.  It may not have been my 'gift', but I've greatly improved through the years.  Consider me a lifelong student of this.

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I love this book. I'm only in first two chapters, but I love the author's style and sense of humor. I like reading a book by someone that doesn't sound like they were born with perfection in their DNA, and has struggled much in the same way I have.  It makes me feel comfortable, as well as encourages me.  So far, this book has left me smiling with every sentence.  I think it's about as entertaining and good reading as a book on organization can get.  

Accomplished last week:

Wednesday night I started a long awaited summer goal - re-organizing our backroom storage closet. Living in an old home with small closets, this long and narrow closet is vital.  I use it for storing coats, animal supplies, books, cleaning supplies, and a host of other things.  I also use it for a place for various outdoor pets to come in and rest in the evening.

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It was looking really bad, but last week, I had given Rachel the job of giving it a general pickup, sweep and mopping.  It helped that my oldest daughter, Becky, had taken the large size dog kennel that we keep in there for our Golden Retreiver, to transport her new goats. 

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On Wednesday night, I went in the closet and worked on one section.  I did just enough to feel good that I had started this summer goal.  On Thursday,  I tackled this room head first.  I finished another entire  section. 

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We were supposed to go to the lake Friday morning, but for various reasons, we were delayed.  I used these hours to get our home cleaned from top-to-bottom.  I worked on the kitchen while the kids dusted, swept, and mopped the other rooms.  By the time we left for the weekend, the house sparkled, the laundry was caught up, and the kitchen glowed. I also re-organized a large cabinet in the pantry. 

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The goal for this coming week:  Finish the back closet.  I have completed two walls, now onto the third (and last).  I'm going to feel terrific when I see this job done!

It was a good week in many areas.

Exercise:

Monday – Callanetics/stomach (20 min), Yoga/Pilates (Denise Austin – 30 min.), weights (Denise Austin 15 min.)

Tuesday – Callanetics/hips,behind (20 min), Abs (TammiLee, 10 min)

Wednesday – Callanetics/legs (20 min), weights (Denise Austin bench, 20 min)

Thursday – English Riding Lessons; cleaning house

Friday – Callanetics/stomach (20 min), weights (Denise Austin,10 min)

Meals:

Monday night: Hamburgers (grass fed beef)

Tuesday night: Sloppy Joes ( free range ground turkey)

Wednesday night: Spaghetti

Thursday night: Leftovers

Friday night: pizza

On Tuesday evening I was given a call that my sister-in-law from California would be coming in less than 48 hours to spend the night.  I re-arranged my usual schedule of cleaning on Friday to cleaning on Thursday instead.

Having company is always a good thing for the house.  Those terrible spots that I’d been ignoring and meaning-to-get-to, the “dinette collect-all” area, and the upstairs hallway that had a storage of sorts going on, I finally took those off the to-do list that had been lingering for quite a while.  

I like cleaning my home.  On this day, I was reminded of how I used to live.  I used to hate cleaning.  I considered it such a waste of time.  It was a waste of time because after cleaning it would so quickly get dirty again.  Yes, I would clean, but with an attitude of distain for it.  And there were many times I would skip cleaning for “more important things” or just for things that I enjoyed more.  Then, when company would come, it was a state of panic to get things to a non-embarrassing state of affairs.

But things have changed.  After one-to-many times of embarrassing moments, I decided to get my act together and to change my priorities.  I started to read books on how to organize my home and to come up with good systems to keep it clean.  Now, I clean my home with an attitude of love.  I am cleaning my home as a way to create a wonderful environment for my children to grow up in.  I clean my home as a way to teach my children how to take care of their own home some day.  I consider this area an important part of their over-all education.  I think it will make their own future family environment more peaceful and organized.  I also clean my home regularly because I want to obey His commands to provide hospitality for those that come to my home.  If I don’t have a clean home, I’m not going to invite others into my home with open arms. 

I try to set apart one day a week to clean, but I also try to delegate different jobs to be done during the week so that Friday is not so difficult to get it all done.  If all goes well, I try to assign one major job to the older ones to accomplish, several times a week.  For example, vacuuming the stairs going up to the second floor and the hallway, or cleaning the upstairs bathroom, or a dusting job of a given room.  We also always start our morning with daily chores to keep the home tidy.

As I was cleaning this past Thursday, I was thankful that I was not in a state of panic.  All my home needed was its regular cleaning day.   I was also thankful that the coming company motivated me to get those jobs done that I just had not made the time for as of yet.

By the time my sister-in-law arrived, the house looked sparkling clean.  Somehow, I just feel so much better inviting company in and relaxing at the same time when my home sparkles.  My sil is a pastor’s wife at a struggling church.  When she comes into town, I am always sensitive to the fact that she needs a friend to talk to, as well as an overnight shelter.  I am not “Miss Conversationalist” in most circumstances (I write better than I can talk), but I aim at not being my ordinary self when my sil comes to visit.

The visit wasn’t long.  She left the next day to drive home with my giant nephew back to California.  We have all grown to love him as he spent a lot of time at our home the past six months.  My children, nieces, and little neighbor girl all adore him.  He made the weekends a lot of fun and they are all going to miss him greatly.  I never really knew him very well before these past months, and I have found him to be a very nice and likeable boy.  He grew on me as well as the children.  We are going to miss him.  But I am remembering him in my prayers as I have never done before – for his traveling home, for his spiritual growth, for his future.  God sent him here the first time, and if He so chooses for his life as well as ours, God will send him back.

I'm still catching up about the previous week. Last Monday, I cleaned my room, top to bottom. Organized everything, threw out stuff, dusted, vacuumed, and rearranged areas. On Wednesday, it was declared picture day, as in, organizing my pictures. A few years ago, I had spent massive amounts of time trying to get all my pictures in albums, in chronological order.  This was a huge, huge, job. When it was all done, there was a pile that I never did figure out if they were duplicates or what order would they go in. 

Since then, I haven't been faithful about putting pictures in albums. The job has accumulated, again.  Hence, one of my 2007 goals: Never do this again. When I get pictures developed, pronto, get them into the album. If I can keep this one goal, I'll be very happy.

The good news:  By the end of the day, I had all of my pictures in the albums, including the old pile that I never had put away.  I even got our professional family pictures (also several years behind) into frames ready to be put on the wall. At course, I don't expect that to happen until in the Spring sometime.

It always feels wonderful to accomplsh a job that has been hanging over my head like a cloud for years. Now, if I can just stay faithful to my new goal for the year, 2007, I'll be elated.

I love to organize areas in our home by taking a section at a time. If I can get one area organized in a given week, I feel I've moved ahead and accomplished something. Organizing, in some ways, is more gratifying than cleaning. As soon as you dust, it seems that it's getting dusty again. You vacuum, but in just a few moments, someone has walked through and the floor is not perfect. But, when you organize something, its good for quite a long time. Even if it eventually loses its organization, the initial set-up is the time consumer, and it goes much quicker  the second time around.

This morning, I hadn't planned it, but I found myself organizing a cabinet above the toilet in the upstairs bathroom. Things had gotten so cluttered in there that I couldn't find anything when I needed it.  I decided that less is best. I once read a book, that I can't remember the name right at this moment, but is quite famous. It was all about not saving stuff, getting rid of clutter. We save things because we might need it "some day", and then it will save us money because we don't have to go out and buy it.  Yet, all the energy it drains us of storing it and cluttering our lives is not worth it.  I try to remember that when I organize things. 

So, with that in mind, I put in a plastic bag, full bottles of mousse, hairspray, and handlotions. Nobody's been using them, so out they went. I decided that less was best, and to trim the cabinet down to its deepest needs. I did a good job, it looks so simple now. Then I went downstairs to the guest bath and dissected the cabinet there in the same way.  I couldn't believe how many bottles of toilet scrubber I have (about a dozen!), rust removers (about eight!), furniture polish (probably 13!).  I found a new place in the back closet (a metal shelving system) that I stored all of these on, and now my downstairs bath cabinets look pretty good, too.  Organizing somehow energizes me. It feels like a load lifted. 

Woke up at 4:30 a.m., prayer until about 5:45, read Bible, doing a word study on the word law, Torah, in Hebrew, using a Lexicon. Started studying a book on the Hebrew alphabet and the original root words.  Interesting.  About 7:15, started feeling very sick, nauseated, and went and laid down.  Didn't get up until 9:45 a.m.

Started laundry, then decided I'd best get my exercise done before it gets pushed off of todays schedule, not knowing what surprises I might get later in the afternoon.  My days seem as if they are always filled with surprises.

After exercise, started in the kitchen, sweeping and mopping.  A few kitchen cabinets, the ones that the kids unload dishes from the dishwasher into, were beyond sense and reason.  Started with the island cabinet, where I keep plastic stuff,  then moved to the cabinet where I  keep all my glass.  I use pyrex dishes with fitting lids on them. That way, I can serve my entrees in them, and after dinner, not have to transfer them to something else to be stored. I just put the lids on them and put them in the refrig.  They stack nicely, too.  However, the kids don't seem to have the right idea yet, you have to put the lids on the right bowl after their washed.  As I organized this cabinet, I thought about how I need to take more time with the little ones training them to do this right so I don't have to sit down like today and do it.

As I was working in my kitchen organizing, I decided it was a good day to cook.  I browned ground turkey for tacos, a lot of it. We will have 10 people eating supper tonight.  Rachel requested chicken enchiladas, so I went in my freezer remembering I had some chicken already cooked I could use up for this.  I did find it, added enchilada sauce, put in soft taco shells, and in a little bit I will sprinkle cheese on it and put it in the oven.  It's 5:00 p.m. now, and we plan on eating at 5:30 p.m.

Since this was the last of the precooked chicken, and I would be spending the day in the kitchen organizing, I put in the oven several packages  of chicken meat to bake.  When it is done, I will freeze this for future easy meals like enchiladas.

I also pulled out of the freezer about 6 packages of ground beef. I dethawed them, with the intentions of making meatloaves, several of them, and putting them in the freezer.  However, I'm running out of time and energy (this blog is my sit-down break before trying to finish up everything).  I put the meat in the refrigerator, and probably won't get to making the meatloaves until tomorrow.  I will chop up onion and green pepper and add it to the meat, then put in square pans and then bake.  I will probably put a tomatoe sauce on top, too.

While I was busy organizing the cabinets, cooking tonights meal and future ones, the older girls decided to bake.  They worked around me making cakes. I've never been much of a baker, so when they asked me a question like, "What will happen now that we have added vegetable oil to the cake batter and now we realize that it didn't call for vegetable oil?"  I don't have a clue, I tell them. I tell them to go ahead and bake the cakes, the little ones will love it no matter what.  And then we will know what happens when you add vegetable oil to a cake that doesn't call for it.  I'm thinking as I tell them this that this is a good experience for them, next time they will probably pay more attention to the box instructions.  Mistakes are almost always a good thing, it teaches you to be more careful.  I know they sure have taught me that!

Mike took down the bunk beds today in Rachel's room and reassembled them in one of the rooms in the gym.  I am glad that got done today. Rachel and Ruthie share a room and it's almost always a mess, there just isan't enough storage area, it seems.  It's frustrating to the older one, and I just don't seem to be teaching good enough habits, taking the time to teach these, to my little one.  Since my oldest son got married in June, I have a spare bedroom now. Well, actually it hasn't been so spare, my 20 year old neice has been inhabiting it, but she leaves in 2 weeks.  So I figure the solution to this problem is to give Ruthie her own bedroom, and make a mental note and personal commitment on my part, to start checking her room each day and making sure she has the right cabinet space to keep her clothes neat. 

There are so many days that I'm on the run, non-stop, for business trips with my husband or town hall meetings (he is a developer) or lunch at the country club with a town lawyer or client. Sometimes it is just a big 'to do' list in my own home, or company that comes by. Writing is something that many days just doesn't happen.  Today is a quiet day so far.  A rare blessing!!!!

After my company this morning left for their church meetings in Hammond, Indiana, my horse trainer arrived around 9:00 a.m.  She comes four days a week, but there are many weeks that are so busy that I personally only get to ride a few of those days. Since my sons wedding (June 2nd) and my daughter's second baby arrival (a home birth) on June 23rd, things just seems to have been on the fast forward button of the remote control.  But now, it's past all that, July 4th company has come and gone, and now, "maybe" , things will slow down and I will have time to do a little bit more of the things that I enjoy in my summers.  And horseback riding is definitley one of those things.

I spent last summer riding every single day for a few hours each.  It felt as if I was ten years old, in summer camp.  If you read my blog, dated July 7th,  you would know that summers are not something I have enjoyed for many years now. My school studying and preparing for the coming year for my students was something I took very serious and summer was just a period to get ready, not "enjoy".  At course, after 8 years of that, it was inevitable I would burn out!!!!  But even after burn out came, BECAUSE I had taken school so seriously and spent all that time studying and preparing, plus having a baby every few years and watching them grow into toddlers that get into everything just because it seems fun, I had a rather disorganized house. 

I would cringe if company would "drop by".  I began to pray about that after realizing through some verses in the Bible that God desires us to have the gift of hospitality, to open our homes up to people.  How can I open my home up to people when I am embarrased about the amount of housework that needs to be done?  Do I wear a sign, or post a sign, that I've been studying and preparing, please excuse the cobwebs and the dirt?  The more I contemplated this, it just didn't seem very God glorifying to have a home that was not kept in good shape.  Sure, I've seen those little poems people that have posted on their walls about how babies grow up so fast and those cobwebs will still be there then to get at, yet, there's a fine balance here.  Personally, I came to the conclusion that I had an  over-emphasis on my school and was neglecting other areas, like my home.  It was hard to "do it all", and frankly, I just couldn't. I found that I was just not Super Woman. I did not wear a big "S" on my chest.  I have known woman that seem to do it all, and that just served to make me feel inferior and heap guilt on me.   (Reading  booklets by Marilyn Howshall have helped me see that there is a better way to live a more balanced life.)

I began to have a desire within me that my home would be so nice that company could drop by at any given time and I would welcome them in, arms open wide.  I wouldn't be thinking, oh boy, my house is a mess, I'm going to be so embarrased.  I began to pray about this.  God answered this prayer in many ways.  He used several books (which I hope to write about at some point).  Maybe even a dozen books written by various authors, read by me at different stages in this housekeeping growth period.   I can't say I've arrived, but I can tell you that,  "I've come a long way, baby." 

Where I used to keep company visits to a rare minimum, now, our house often seems like a boarding house.  People come and go all the time, stay over night, or nights, spend weeks, and even one that is spending her second summer here.  In the past, before I prayed about this issue of my home become more welcoming to people and therefore myself, obeying Him by having the gift of hospitality,  company rarely happened.  Now, the more company I have, the more I see God answering this prayer.  My daughter (24, married) mentioned a few weeks ago, at a time that the house roll call was around 16, people sleeping everywhere, every bed, the couches, the floors, etc... that,  "Boy, mom sure has changed. I never remember our house being like that when we were growing up."

The years that came after burn-out, where I used only a Calvert Curriculum, that had gone ahead and done all the pre-mental work I would ever need, even saying the words that would need to be said, (read July 7th blog), I started spending my entire summers on house cleaning and organization.  Every single day of every single extra minute.  Morning, noon, night, and weekends. It never seemed to end, I never seemed to "arrive".  I was not a company person at that point. If someone dropped by, I was thinking that they were interrupting my day, I would never finish my jobs.  But I had a goal, and I knew that SOME DAY I would reach it.  Every year I felt myself inching closer and closer, to finally, last summer, I ENJOYED my summer when my husband hired a horse trainer for me that came 4 days a week to my farm.

After over a decade of summer months  either studying and preparing, and then the subsequent years of cleaning and organizing my home, I felt guilty as I just took a few hours each day to 'ride a horse.' It felt so irrresponsible. So kid like.  As if I was 10 years old going to summer camp. But I didn't let the guilt hang on too long, it was just way too much fun to let guilt linger.  Just enjoy it, I heard a voice within me, this is a gift from God. From Him, to you. Enjoy.