Confessions of a Disorganized Housewife

   Some houses have that lived in look. Mine has that just moved in look at the moment. You know, boxes everywhere, rooms in disarray. Not very pleasing. We live in a teeny tiny house with little to no storage space and both my husband and I are pack rats. So what do you do when you're tired of moving boxes back and forth from one room to another and the budget is so tight you can't afford a storage rental? 
  A. Move to a bigger place.
  B. Live with it a few months longer until you snap and end up on the 6 o'clock news  as the crazy lady who sneaks into neighbor's houses and leaves stuff.
  C. Throw it all out in one fell swoop and begin again.
  D. Call Clean Sweep or one of those other organizing shows for emergency help.
  E. Take a deep breath, realize this battle can be won, and set to work.
    So how did you answer? If you said E, pat yourself on the back. Let's face it, A isn't gonna happen anytime soon because if the budget won't allow for a storage rental, we're definitely not going to afford a bigger place just yet. That will come in time. B...not very appealing, ya know? So not how I want to be remembered. C sounds great at first, but then there's that pesky budget thing again. D is the same as B. Love to watch those shows (or at least I did when we had cable) but I really don't want to be on television showing my messy ways. Instead, I blog about it, ha ha! 
   I've read books off and on, perused organizing blogs, and read the magazine articles so I know the basics of what needs to be done. Right up front, purge. The first things that need to go are all the excuses as to why I'm so disorganized and the house is suffering from a major case of what Flylady 
calls CHAOS-- Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way with Flylady other than liking her philosophy and trying to follow her schedules.
  I am a perfectionist to some degree. I also learned one thing from my father: If you can't do it right, don't do it at all. Actually, I think I learned that one a little too well. I love my Dad but it's not going to dishonor his memory to say that in a lot of cases he was wrong on that one. Instead of hearing his voice repeat that message over and over, I need to change that message to: It doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to be done. Later on if its necessary or it's really bugging me I can work on getting something just so. For now though it just needs to get done. This message also works for moments when the excuses are I'm feeling lazy or I'm feeling overwhelmed.
  One other excuse I have is I'll never have a spotless house because my son is working just as hard as I am, only in the direction of keeping the place messy. That one is true, but it can be overcome to some extent. As stated earlier, it doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to get done. That and working harder at training him in what to do and what not to do in the house.  My home will never be a show place, and I can live with that. I can, however, control the chaos somewhat. 
  Okay, so we've established the fact that change must come and we can get this place back in order. Is that it? No. Do I have all the answers? No. But. I do have some tips, and I can share suggestions and point to websites, books, and other helps that may work for you. At least once a week, probably on Mondays, I will post more Confessions of a Disorganized Housewife. I'll share my progress and helpful information. Until next time, have a great day!

Monday Morning Report

Good morning! I think I should rename the post Monday Morning Mayhem, hee hee! Lots going on today.  First, if you read my Morning Cup of Tea posts, let me apologize. Today's post will be late because I left my bible in the car last night. Hubby took it to work with him.
  Today is Halloween. Some places have done their trick or treating this past weekend but there may be some little ghosts and goblins and whatever else is popular out tonight so be careful as you drive.
 I woke up late this morning;just did not want to leave my warm bed. But my doctor called and gave me some good news: my hemoglobin is up to 10.4! That's a lot better than it was a few weeks ago when he was seriously wanting to do a blood transfusion, but still not normal. I'm happy it's going in the right direction, however. Having no energy and being threatened with a hospital stay is not my idea of fun. I will continue eating good food and taking my iron and multivitamin as my doc suggests.
 As for the getting organized and getting ready for the holidays go, it's a slow but sure process on both. I was able to write out a menu for the week, although Saturday's lunch and dinner is still up in the air. When you aren't used to coming up with meal plans, it can be hard! 
 Today's Menu: 
   Breakfast - grits, fried egg and string cheese
   Lunch --meat loaf, mashed potatoes and spinach
   Dinner-- supposed to go to my mother's for chili.
  For snacks I have yummy honeycrisp  apples 
  For those like me, Flylady has Cruising Through the Holidays missions that should help us not get overwhelmed with all that needs to be done. She is already up to number 11 but don't let that overwhelm you. Start with where you are. I will be checking that today, as well as putting away some laundry and cleaning some shelves and cabinets in my kitchen. 
  I can hear you yawning so I'll let you know that we had a great time with friends from church on Saturday night. One family had an outdoors Halloween get together with hot dogs, hamburgers, and lots of goodies. The weather was cooler than we thought it would be, but it was still nice enough to be outside, especially with a little bonfire. Yesterday hubby was off all day so we were able to attend both services as well as the fifth Sunday fellowship meal. In lieu of a lesson last night we had our end of the month singing, and mostly older songs like Victory in Jesus were selected. I love those old songs, and they touch my heart each time I hear/sing them. We were also blessed to witness a baptism last night.That makes my heart very happy, to see another Christian sister among us.
  I've talked your ear off enough for now, and housework beckons. I hope you have a wonderful day.