Get Organized

I know, I've so been neglecting my blog. With good reason though. I've been working on my new years resolution. Normally I don't make them. Okay actually I've never made one before (shocking I know). But I did this year and it is to "Get Organized!" And I've been doing it. It's so refreshing.

So this all started because I have been told by many that it's really time to move Kinsey out of our bedroom. Fine! But moving Kinsey out of our bedroom caused a domino effect. You see, to move Kinsey into her bedroom would mean that I would have to clean out the spare bedroom. And to do that would mean that I'd have to sort through all the baby equipment, baby clothes, and clothes that Kinsey still hasn't grown into yet and move them to the basement. Which also means that all of our papers/filing that in that spare room needs to be moved to the basement as well. Which means then our basement needs to be organized as it is totally junk/clutter chaos down there! See... It's not that easy just to move Kinsey out of our bedroom.

Anywho, we started....

PROJECT #1: Actually this has nothing to do with moving Kinsey to her own room. It was to make sure my 2009 Journal was completely done. Printed! Saved! Burned onto a CD! CD placed in our fire safe! First thing crossed off the "Get Organized List" that I have taped to my kitchen cabinet.

PROJECT #2 and #3: Kinsey and I spent a couple days sorting through all baby stuff and clothes and organizing it into LABELLED bins for storage in the basement. But while I was doing this I thought it was also about time that I sorted through mine and Tim's closet/clothes and donate a bunch of those too. We donated a ton of clothes. Feels so nice to be rid of all those. So now the spare bedroom closet and our closet both look fantastic. Well Kinsey's closet has turned into her toy room now, but it's still pretty fantastic as it's not baby stuff storage. Two more items crossed off the list.

PROJECT #3: On Tim's days off we tackled the insane basement. There were seriously boxes down there that were unopened from the day we moved here 3.5 years ago. Junk, clutter, garbage, and more junk! Two full days down there and we emerged with an amazing basement. I spent $200 on bins to store everything and boy was that money well spent. Everything is where it's supposed to be and in LABELLED bins. We did take an entire pick-up truck loaded above the cab with garbage to the dump. Can you believe we had that much junk, clutter, garbage, and more junk in our basement? Well if I had a before picture of our basement you'd believe it. We have a food storage area (stuff like you'd put in your pantry - soup, KD, flour, sugar, etc.), our actual food storage (the stuff like wheat, beans, etc. that are supposed to last 30+ years), our emergency kit stuff, an exercise equipment area, TV area, a guest bed, and office space. Crossed off the list! (This "before" picture of our basement is actually from a few months ago and it wasn't quite this bad anymore. It was organized chaos instead. Yikes!)

PROJECT #4: While dejunking the basement I also dejunked my "junk" cabinet in the kitchen. Much nicer! Crossed off the list!

PROJECT #5: Papers! Ugh! I swear I have way too many. But we've moved them from the spare room and they are now in my new office space in the basement. My filing cabinet is now all organized, but I'm still working on filing some papers and doing some (okay a lot) of shredding. Kinsey doesn't like this project very much (or really she messes up my piles of papers and scatters all the shredded paper around - so helpful) so I save it for when she's napping and I have all the house work caught up. It waits for me patiently in my basement. Almost done that one though.

PROJECT #6: Move Kinsey's crib to her own bedroom. Done! Well her crib and clothes are all down there. But that deserves a post all on it's own. Crossed off the list! (Someday I'll actually decorate her room - it's just not on the Get Organized list.)

PROJECT #7: Organize the garage. This was actually one of the first things done. I don't remember exactly when cuz I didn't do it. Tim did it! Maybe he did it when I was finishing up my 2009 Journal. I dunno. But it's done. Crossed off the list!

PROJECT #8: Move all our fixed bills over to be paid by our credit card. Hey, we're paying them every month anyways. So we might as well use our credit card and get the points then pay it off. Right? More points on the credit card equals more free groceries. Nice! Crossed off the list!

PROJECT #9: The pantry! Kinsey and I tackled that one yesterday. Okay, I organized it and Kinsey tackled it. A pantry has way too many things for little hand to get a hold of and make a mess with. First she dumped some of those Little Graduates finger foods (kinda like cereal) and then walked all over them crushing them into the floor.... I cleaned them up. Then she got some mini marshmallows and dumped them on the floor and then stepped on them.... I cleaned them up. Then she got the raisins and dumped those on the floor and then stepped on them.... I cleaned them up. Then I finally was able to finish up the pantry. I can actually see the floor in there now and everything is back in its place. Lovely! Crossed off the list!

PROJECT #10: Submit our benefits. Ya, I've had a clip on the fridge holding all our benefit stuff from 2009. Yikes! I wasn't really worried about submitting it (even though it was on the list) as it didn't think there was too much money there that we'd be reimbursed for. I was wrong. I did it all up yesterday and we are going to get a really nice cheque in bit here. Okay, a REALLY REALLY REALLY nice cheque. Ya, looks like prescriptions, vision care, and chiropractic appointments really add up over a year. It's gonna be sweet getting that money back into our pocket. Crossed off the list!

So I know these don't seem like a lot, but it has made HUGE changes in our house. We're getting closer to being totally organized and it feels like I can breathe again. I swear the disorganization was drowning me. Mostly the junk and clutter was drowning me. The other stuff is just nice to have organized. We've been busy as this is all being done while still having to do normal, everyday housework. It's a lot of work, but I'm loving it! Still have lots to do (it was a long Get Organized list), but I'm just glad things are getting crossed off.