Getting Organized

I've been told several times in my life that I'm organized to a fault.  I love having everything pristine and in it's place.  While I was pregnant with Sydney, several of my closest friends, who were Moms themselves, and knew me well, warned me before the baby came that I was going to have to relax a bit when it came to how my house looked, or I would kill myself trying to keep it perfect and take care of a newborn at the same time.

I think I may have swung too far the other way.  I definitely have embraced the clutter and chaos, at times even being oblivious to it.  It has just been over the past several weeks that I have suddenly reclaimed my love of all things in their place and been making a greater effort to de-clutter, give junk away, sort through things and find a spot for everything.  The house is looking better and more organized by the day...I love it!

Then I went to get dressed this morning, opened my underwear drawer, and looked at this heap of a mess. 

I couldn't take it another day! I pulled the drawer out, dumped it on the bed and started furiously sorting through years worth of panties, bras and delicates that were crushed together in a giant ball.  Shamefully, I still had maternity underwear and nursing bras buried in there, they were the first to hit the garbage bin, as were about seventy five percent of the contents of the drawer.

In the end it looked like this:

Neat.  Clean.  Organized.  Exactly how it should be.  All is right with the world.

So, off to preschool we went after my little bout of organizing.  Today at school Sydney and her class were celebrating Tu Bishvat, the Jewish celebration of the new year for trees.  It's a fun holiday and one where there is time to remember, and be grateful for all things that trees give us.

We brought an avocado to class today, each child had to bring a different tree bearing fruit to share in the Tu Bishvat Seder.  It was a very fun day for the kids today as they shared all of their interesting treats in today's Seder.

While Sydney was at school, I headed off to Oakridge Centre to do my usual hour and a half of shopping.  One of my favourite stores, Wear Else, was having an amazing sale today so I spent the entire time at the mall trying on dozens of things in hopes of finding something great.  In the end, after an hour in the change room, I emerged with this handbag. 

It was, sadly, the only thing that "fit."  It seems I'm going to have to try, try again to find some new clothes, it really wasn't in the cards today!  I do love this tote though, it's faux snakeskin and black and white pattern are so funky!  It will work super well as a quasi-diaper bag as well, it was a great find!

The afternoon was quiet and peaceful today.  I had Nadine, my new Mother's helper here, and she and Sydney played happily together while I sorted through two year's worth of pictures on my computer trying to decide which I should print out to complete the scrapbook that I'm making for Sydney.  Sydney also has a little homework project for school due later this month, she's meant to make a collage of her and her family, so I took the opportunity to order some pictures for this project too.

Just as Nadine was leaving, Sydney fell asleep, so I brewed myself a cup of tea and sat quietly on the couch, savouring the neatness and cleanliness of my house.  It hasn't felt this way in a long, long time but with the help of both my new housekeeper and Mother's Helpers and my new found energy for keeping up with the clutter, it is starting to feel the way it should again.  Sigh...feels so good to get organized!