Time off

We interrupt this blog to happily report that the blog's owner is expecting baby #4! However, this does mean that, unhappily, there will most likely not be any new projects posted for the next 6-9 weeks while the blog owner's head is stuck in her toilet. Rats.

Very, very strange

I'm not sure where my last post disappeared to, but I didn't remove it. Strange.

No matter, since I missed my deadline on the kids' room, anyway. Boo, hoo. Last week was a sort of black hole as far as productivity goes, so I'll try to get back on track soon with these projects.

It's a Wash---the Laundry Room "before" shots

Ok, I'm back home, reeling from four days away at a MOPS Convention, and trying to get myself back into reality. My bedroom stayed quite presentable while I was out, and now I'm feeling the need to set another goal: the laundry room.

My goal is to finish this room by the end of the day on Thursday, October 9th.

"After" shots---Master Bedroom!

Whew! That was wonderful! I love having a self-set goal, a clear recognition of which area of the house I'm supposed to be focusing on, and the accountability of this little group cheering each other on. I NEED something like this to keep me going. I'm realizing how much I thrive on the knowledge that I will be able to SEE results and know my efforts are actually paying off in a timely manner.

So...(drumroll, please) here are my Master Bedroom "after" shots (and please excuse the cute little "lumps" on my bed):









I figure it's better to strive for progress than perfection, so if things aren't 100% done when I take the pictures, no big deal. Better that than falling into the "if it can't be perfect, why bother?" mentality.

Ahhh...now I just want to go hang out in my bedroom. Stay tuned for another set of "Before" pictures soon! I'm going to tackle the (dun, dun, dun)...Laundry Room!

Ok, (deep breath)...here we go!

Confession #1:
I am a clutterbug. I don't mean to be, I don't want to be, and I spend WAY too much time and energy trying to figure out how not to be. But the truth is, I get easily overwhelmed. This is why Flylady appeals to me; it makes me realize that I'm not alone in this clutter-killing journey. I want to be more willing to toss things out of my home that we don't use or love. I want to then get a handle on what's left, hopefully keeping our possessions simple. I want our home to be beautiful and peaceful, so that I don't have to waste so much time being frazzled by the junk.

But I need something more than Flylady...something that will help me focus on one area at a time and give me some visual encouragement and accountability. Therefore...

Confession #2:
I am crazy enough to subject myself to complete humiliation for the sake of the cause. So far, all my other methods are failing. And we've had a terribly stressful couple of months, so what was before just lots of little messes here and there has turned into full-blown chaos. I don't operate well in that kind of environment, and neither does my hubby.

So I'm going to post before and after shots of some of my trouble spots and tackle them one hairy mess at a time! (And no, I didn't intentionally go setting off explosives to make my house look this way for the shock value. It really is this horrendous at the moment!)

I honestly could scare the beejeebies out of you with a picture of ANY room in my house at the moment, so I'll just pick any ol' place to start. Hmmm...let's say...Master bedroom! Here goes nothing. Now we'll see who my TRUE friends are! :)

This is sort of a panoramic view of our bedroom:







I'm setting a rather lofty goal of being finished by Wednesday evening, October 1st. I know that's just two days away, but I leave town the next day and don't want to hold off that long. So here goes!