I am so excited!!!

`Okay not for myself, but for my son. Here's a little background. He is going to be entering third grade and is just slightly below grade level which for him is a huge accomplishment. He entered first grade unable to recognize the alphabet if that gives you any idea how hard he has been working. He is speech and language delayed, has a learning disability pretty much in any area that involves reading and comprehension, and has ADHD. Okay so now why am I so happy? He absolutely loves the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and anything that makes him love reading I love.

` So as I was researching the summer reading programs offered at Borders and Barnes and Noble I stumbled upon the fact that there is a fifth book in the series being released on November 9. I decided to check Walmart to see if they had better pricing and they did. It was $9 for the book and standard shipping was FREE. The best part about this deal is his birthday is in November. He is going to be one happy kid!!

Realistic Focus

` I am participating in Focus Check Friday at A Slob Comes Clean.

`Last week I was focusing on a paper purge. I was able to get to get quite a bit done, it is still a work in progress. I will continue to work on it this coming week.

` This week I want to focus on making truths out of the lies I tell myself. Number one I recently left my job to be a SAHM. (about four weeks ago) I thought once I was able to stay home I would have ALL this extra time. I vowed to have my house spotless and organized before school let out. I was going to volunteer more, visit friend and family more. In short I had a grand idea of how life would be, but now reality has struck. I have made headway on the house however I don't know where TIME goes to. I get the kids off to school. Do my morning clean up, work on whatever task is on the table for that day and before I know it it is time to pick up the kids again. I feel like I actually have less time than I did when I was working.

` Lie number 2. My husband drives truck for a living luckily it's regional, but from Sunday night til Friday night if he's home it's pretty much to eat, sleep, and shower. He is off Tuesday and Thursday during the day. I avoid doing much around the house for fear of waking him. In reality it's a good excuse to play on the computer without feeling guilty. After all I am doing it for him. A better use of this time would be reading. I attend a weekly bible study, but I am always rushing last minute to get the work done. Which mean I am not fully getting out of the material what I could be.

`Lie number 3. It is better to do nothing than to do something half way. I have found by at least doing something it's always better than it was. I have also found if I work up to at least starting a task it gives me motivation and I am more likely to end up finishing it.

`In short I need to focus on my time management and I need to be more realistic of what I expect of myself. I think I need to do a schedule :( I would say my focus has been building momentum, let's hope it continues.

Paper Purge Part 2

` Yesterday I worked on the need action now. This basket was not to bad. I bought a plastic accordion style folder that was slightly larger than a wallet. I figured this one could travel with me if I needed it to. I broke my bills down into week 1 and week 2. My husband gets payed every two weeks and it is never the same amount. I can find out two days ahead of time what he will be bring home, so I do my budget in 2 week intervals. I also put a file for things that needed to be done for the week like scheduling of apts, etc. Many moons ago in a different attempt at organization a friend of mine made me a folder and in the folder it has a sleeve for each month. That is where I put anything that has to be done down the road.

`The next basket is going to be the killer, since I do not have a filing system in order. I will work on that next week.

Paper Purge- Bonus Edition

`Let me start by saying this is my in laws cat. Due to unexpected job loss, they moved in with us in March. Our house (before I bought it) had an in law apartment so we kind of converted it back. Thier cat Tigger (in pic) likes to come visit my cat. My cat is older and although she likes the company, once she is done playing she does not want to be bothered and gets a little shall we say cranky. Anyways Tigger somehow got out in the middle of the night and decided he wanted to play. Binky did not. Hence there was a battle of epic proportions fought on my bed............ where I was sleeping......... at 5am in the morning. Tigger was not on my good side. When I found him sleeping in the to be filed basket it was very tempting. He's lucky he's cute!

( Disclaimer- no animals were harmed in anyway during the making of this blog post ;)

Paper Purging Part 1

` As I sit here, a small fraction of the way done, I wonder what possessed me to take this task on. It is a bigger problem than I imagined. I have papers hidden in every crevice of the house and I am sure as time goes on I will find more. This is definitely one of those projects that as I am doing it I am going to have moments of whining and head shaking, but when I see it completed it will all be worth while.

` I started by taking some advice offered in a comment of an earlier post I had written. I took three baskets and labelled them:

Basket 1 - Recycle/ Shred

Basket 2- To be filed

Basket 3- need action now

.....and then I ran around the house collecting all my drawers, baskets, and boxes filled with paper. This doesn't seem like much but it took me several hours. As I started going through my papers I discovered I needed a forth basket. For some reason all my pictures get tossed in with my paperwork.

Things that I tossed, and use your own judgement here, Tax returns that were more than 7 years old, pay stubs older than last years w-2, bank statements that were several years old (unless it had a tax bill listed on it), LOTS and LOTS of junk mail. Things I kept include all of my sons IEP's and services record (since I am continually asked what services he has received up to date) eventually I want to write a history and just keep the more recent info, this years utilities, house payments, student loan, credit card, auto loan, insurance info, pension info, and I am sure there is more I am not remembering at this point.

` Tomorrow I will break down Basket 2. Basket 1 is an easy one I recycled what I could and I am saving the shredding for my husband since he likes to do that.

What's hiding in your house?

` Last week I managed to go through all my clothes (including my dresser) in an attempt to clean and organize my closet. In the process I found $2.02, a certificate for a free dozen Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, 4 certificates for free kids meals at Friendly's, and 5 certificate for the kids to get free Rita's Italian Ice. Not bad for a days work.

Losing momentum.......

`I decided to participate in Focus Check Friday over at A Slob Comes Clean.

Last week when I read Focus Check Friday, I knew I wanted to participate this week. I was going to Focus on the closet in my master bedroom. I even took before pics, well actually most of them are still now pics. I started the week off strong determined to feel accomplished. I started by cleaning up the main living areas of my home and the focused one day on my closet. I did get about 1/5 of it done and it took my the entire school day.

By Wednesday, I was done. Instead of cleaning I watched a season of a show. Where did my motivation go? I somewhat know the answer... I got sick of the hamster wheel. The laundry that is never caught up, the dishes that are constantly in my sink. I take care of both but every time I think I am done there's more hiding somewhere. Then there is the nightly Kidnado that strikes. Not to mention me. My house is in such disarray that my mind follows suit. It is as cluttered as my home. I keep jumping from one task to another never fully completing anything.

`So this week for Focus Friday I am going to concentrate on one thing and one thing only. (I will keep up the main living areas, but everything else will wait). My focus this week will be on the boxes and boxes of paper clutter. This week I want to make a command center.

` For all of you that have been on the decluttering mission for awhile, I would love to hear where you started. What were the beginning steps that helped you? Most days I feel overwhelmed and just shut down and find other things that "need" my attention.