Organizing...

There is something about the start of a brand new year that inspires a grand sense of organization.  At least that has been the case with me this year.  Last year I started the new year completely inspired by some wonderful food blogs and I went roaring into the month of January and even well into March (if I remember correctly) menu planning and experimenting with all kinds of tasty dishes.  Lets just say that my husband was a very happy man.  However, by the end of March I was pretty much over it - I am just not a "foodie" kind of person and cooking, rather than being something anywhere close to a "passion" is very much just another item on my To Do list.   When people describe it as being relaxing, I drop my jaw with the sheer weight of incredibility.  I feel like I spend the entire day trying to do at least five things at the same time and most of the time I feel like I am just running around like a chicken with my head cut off, so to spend an hour in the kitchen, with the simultaneous chopping and slicing and sauteing and boiling and frying is the most stressful thing to me. 

So I resorted back to my handful or so of trusty favorite recipes, and every once in a while added a few new ones to the rotation.  One of the wonderful things about the really good food blogs, the ones where the blogger has so much passion for cooking, you get excited just reading and looking at the photographs and you want to run out and buy the ingredients to make something that you would never have made before.  Thats inspiration.  And although I will never share their pure passion and love for food, my life will be better for having shared in theirs through their blogs and through the recipes I try myself. 

So that said, the food inspiration simmered down to a try something new a few times a month kind of deal.  This year I have felt the great desire to honor the new year with a clear desk, a clean, clutter free house and a clear mind.  While I can't say I have achieved the latter (although I suppose that is another item to add to my list of resolutions....the ever present wishing for a mind that is clear, sharp and focused.)  I feel pretty good with the external organizational aspects of my life so far this year. 

With a lot of team effort, the house has stayed toy-clutter free.  When the children have finished playing with their toys, they have been putting them away without being asked and have been such a help in picking up after themselves.  I must say that when the house gets over run with toys, it is because I am not being an effective organizer and task master.  I just let things slide into a state of chaos and then get upset that the house is in such a state.  The kids are generally always eager to help, and so I need to make sure that I keep reminding them.

So we started the new year with each room in the house looking neat and tidy and organized, but my goal this year is to try and come up with a plan to make the most out of each room, in terms of storage solutions and utilizing the space in the most efficient manner. Living in a small space demands a lot of functionability out of each area, and I feel like our rooms are not as space efficient as they could be. 


The boy's room is on the top of the list, since they all share a room and space (or lack thereof) is a huge issue. We don't have a playroom, so all their toys are kept in their room. My husband's solution for the Toy Dilemma is to just get rid of half their toys. However, I don't think that they have a lot of toys, it's more an issue of there being too little space to put the ones that they have.