I'm an Organizing Maniac!

An amazing thing happens when my depression is under control (thanks to my magic pills) and I'm no longer feeling the need to take a nap every chance I get (thanks to my other magic pills): I'm motivated and excited about doing things around the house. This has been a great week for my house. I've been an organizing madwoman! Here's what I've managed to get accomplished so far - all while helping (i.e. bringing them more juice boxes and putting on new movies for them to watch) my sick children who were all diagnosed with pneumonia this week (yes, it's no longer just J):

• Cleaned out the refrigerator and freezer
• Created two different snack boxes for the kids to take snacks independently
• Reorganized my pots and pans to make them more accessible
• Reorganized my laundry room shelves so they only held cleaning supplies and soaps
• Cleaned out the pantry to create more space on top and put like items in containers
• Cleaned out the food cabinet in the kitchen to also put like items together in containers
• Reorganized the kids' arts and crafts supplies and projects into baskets
• Cleaned out J's drawers and moved the clothes into her new "official" bedroom with the boys
• Moved the furniture around in the boys' room to utilize the remaining toddler bed that was still there for J (DH helped me)
• Cleared off the boys' shelves on their hutch and bookshelves
• Reorganized the large white cubbies in the dining room to show off some theater mementos and contain our games, a box for towels and washcloths, our laptop, a box for drawing paper and mini-notebooks, a box for fun worksheets and papers from school, a box of coloring books, a box with crayons, markers, colored and regular pencils (all in their own boxes), a place for the kids' school bags, a box for the kids to put their papers each day, a box for my papers, a box for DH's papers, a box for all our library books, and a box of things that need to be returned or given to other people
• Made room in our bedroom for the glider rocker that had been in J's room and moved it in (okay, DH did this, but it was my idea)
• Went through all of J's hanging clothes and pulled out the stuff that is too small for her
• Went through the boys' pajamas and pulled out the stuff that is too small for them
• Cleaned out the boxes in our linen closet that contain medicines, soaps, etc.
• Created a rag box out of all the towels that have outlived their usefulness
• Cleared off two shelves in the kitchen to show off some pretty candles
• Cleared off the top of the fridge
• Cleaned out and reorganized the "junk drawer" in the kitchen
• Climbed Mt. Washmore and declared myself victorious (A.K.A. washed, dried, and put away ALL the laundry in the house)
• Cleaned out and reorganized the medicine cabinet and other cabinet (alright, it's not QUITE like the one I linked, but that's the idea) in the bathroom
• AND, last but definitely not least, I cleaned out and repurposed the shelves along the basement steps. I also got DH to bring up a total (so far) of SIX different boxes that were down there and reorganized them, getting rid of LOTS of stuff along the way.

The basement is the one big phobia I have. I don't know why, possibly because I don't really like creepy crawly things and am worried (for good reason) that they're hanging out down there. I actually begin to hyperventilate when I go down there. It drives me CRAZY because it's a big disorganized mess, and while I know it's not truly impossible for me to go down there and clean it up, it's really, really, really tough. HOWEVER, this week I was able to offer DH enough incentive to bring me up a few boxes at a time for me to work through, and fill up two trash bags with trash. It's not much, but it's a start. I was even able to go down there myself and get a stack of dirty clear shoebox containers. Woohoo!

I discovered yesterday that J is definitely my daughter. When I started working in her old room (the new Upstairs Playroom) she was just as excited as I was. She kicked me out for a little so she could clean it up herself, and then had a great time with me as we found new places to put the toys. At one point, I said to her, "This is fun!" J gave me big smile as she agreed. I love having a little girl!

Tonight we're having a few families over to help us ring in the new year (WAY early, but who can stay up til midnight anymore, especially when my guys wake up at 7 no matter what time they go to bed). I can't wait to show off all my organization projects (I already warned them that they would have to ooo and aaahh). My plan for the rest of the day is to actually finish cleaning up around the house (dusting, vacuuming, mopping), something I'd be doing even if we weren't having company, but it makes it easier to have that incentive, and then if I have more time, try to do a few more projects around the house. The best part for me is that I feel no sense of urgency, no need for perfection - I'm just loving getting these things accomplished! I keep opening my basement door just to look at my beautiful shelves!

I know I'm a dork, but I'm an insanely happy dork.