Decluttering

Is that a word? Well, it is now. I have been feeling foggy and full and stressed lately, I have been feeling the pressure build in me - so I decided to purge. Purge my house basically and hoped in doing so that I would feel a bit better since for me, organizing is LOVE. I have been stressing about money as well and that never helps my overall well being. Work has been busy too on top of it all. I am still floating and covering vacations week after week. And although I love this new found "freedom" at work, I am working for someone new constantly and its been an adjustment for me for sure. But, I haven't heard any complaints yet - so I must be doing okay. But, as my excuse, this has been causing me to slack BIG time in the exercise department which in turn hasn't been helping my mojo either. You know, its really a pain in the ass to go get my work out clothes from my desk on the 21st floor when I am covering a desk on the 20th...excuses, excuses...

So, to make myself feel better I felt I needed to start cleaning and organizing. Not to mention we are going to FINALLY get new carpet in our office and I want to gut that room and start over which entails a crap load of tossing and organizing. So that started me on my excuse of a mission. That room seems to be the catch all - office, scrapbook room, ant hideouts (literally all over the place), toy room, dog room and craft/school supply central - oh - and our library! Did I get everything? So yeah, this was a job. I have spent the last month going through every bin and folder and drawer. I took 5 bags of "shred" to work to get rid of and emptied out an entire filing cabinet. I went through all my scrapbook stuff and finally got all my pictures that have been stashed here and there from 2006 to the present - wow - in order, that feels good to get done. I also went through ALL the misc. crayons and pens, etc. of the kids. I was able to check off half of Mel's current school supply list, give a bag to the neighbors, give a bag to the Motts and tossed a bunch of crap too. It's insane how many crayons and pens and paints you accumulate over the years. Guess I should be breaking them out more often - at least now I know what I have! Next was my yarn which lead to a renewed infatuation with knitting and crocheting. Which now consumes the other 1/2 of my time but it is a good, relaxing release for me so I am fine with it, although I am sure Mark will beg to differ. AND THEN, on top of all that I finally made it through John's recent outgrown clothes that I have been holding onto for a year and misc. toys. I managed to finally hit the right time at the kid resale shop to bring in winter clothes and scored some major store credit. I have more to take this weekend and should be up to quite the stash, now what to buy there...the rest went to Goodwill -done! I sold our bar stools on Craigslist last night so now Babe's crate can go BACK into the dining area and out of my office and OFF my new carpet - I am feeling good.

Vacation starts officially at 1pm for me today. I have checked off quite a bit from my To Do List and my money woes will "hopefully" be a thing of the past shortly. (More on that to come). I am feeling good. Sometimes I just need to remember that when things are feeling unbearable, I just need to sit tight and things sort of start to fall into place. With that being said, while my family is on vacation next week, it is also my birthday, so you know I am going to take full advantage of getting that pedicure and doing a bit of shopping. We will be going to the Coast this weekend and next weekend we will be in an awesome resort on Mt. Hood. My house is organized and my mind feels a bit less cluttered than a few weeks ago - Bring on Vacation!

Oh and to get me BACK on the wagon with this weight loss goal of mine, I will be starting the Couch to 5K when I return from vacation. My goal for the rest of the year is to lose 15 lbs. and run (probably jog) a 5K before the end of the year. I know, not a marathon, but for this girl, it will be quite an accomplishment. Sooooo, I will be training - sounds so weird - for the next 2.5 months (after vacation of course). Encourage me, tell me to put down the burger, go for a walk and join me later this year if you want!

I'm off!