Nesting To Do List

Nesting has finally kicked in (at least for today), so I wanted to make a list of things I want to get done before Emma's arrival (not baby related things, since I already have a POST about that).  I just know that it will be a long time before I will have a chance to do these things again, so I need to do them now!  Of course, some of these things will need to be done multiple times before Emma's arrival (dusting, vacuuming, toilets, sheets, etc), but I am a cross off junkie, so I had to add them! :-)

- Organize/Clean Master Bath Drawers
- Organize/Clean Master Bath Cabinets
- Clean Mirror, Counter, Sink, Window, Blinds, Light fixture, Pictures on the wall,Scale, and Door in Master Bath
- Clean Toilet and Shower in Master Bath
- Vacuum and Mop floor in Master Bath
- Dust Master Bedroom
- Vacuum Master Bedroom
- Clean Windows and Blinds in Master Bedroom
- Hang curtains in Master Bedroom
- Organize Brian's dresser and closet
- Organize drawers in nightstands in Master Bedroom
- Change Sheets in Master Bedroom
- Put away all the things in the guest bedroom (from the carpet install)
- Vacuum and Mop stairs and upstairs hallway
- Vacuum Hannah's room
- Dust Hannah's room
- Put away everything that doesn't belong in Hannah's room (from the carpet install)
- Organize Hannah's closet
- Change Hannah's sheets
- Organize hallway luggage closet
- Organize/Clean Guest Bath Drawers and Cabinets
- Clean Mirror, Counter, Sink, Window, Blinds, Door, Light fixture, Toilet, Shower, and Tub in Guest Bathroom
- Vacuum and Mop Guest Bathroom
- Clean all of the bath toys
- Vacuum Emma's room
- Vacuum Guest Bedroom
- Dust Guest Bedroom
- Put away all the things in the Dining Room (from the carpet install)
- Dust Dining Room (table, chairs, mirror, windows)
- Vacuum and Mop Dining Room
- Vacuum and Mop Entry Way
- Vacuum Playroom
- Deep clean couch and chair in Playroom
- Dust Playroom (furniture, big toys, windows)
- Vacuum and Mop Family Room
- Dust Family Room (furniture, windows, tv, bookshelves, fireplace)
- Deep clean couch in Family Room
- Vacuum and Mop Wet Bar
- Clean sink, counter, and cabinets in Wet Bar
- Clean under sink cabinet in kitchen (cleaner spilled in one of the baskets)
- Clean cabinet to left of microwave (salt and pepper spilled in there a while ago)
- Use Murphy's Soap on the cabinets around the stove (grease splashes on them)
- Organize recipes
- Clean out freezer in kitchen (bag of frozen peas spilled in the bottom of the drawer)
- Organize Hannah's plate/bowl drawer in kitchen
- Deep clean kitchen (appliances, counters, sink, table, chairs, light fixtures, doors, windows, etc.)
- Vacuum and Mop Kitchen
- Vacuum and Mop Half Bath
- Deep Clean Half Bath (counter, sink, window, blinds, toilet, door, etc.)
- Vacuum and Mop Laundry Room
- Organize cabinets in Laundry Room (move a lot of the extra cleaning supplies to the garage cabinets)
- Clean fridge in Laundry Room
- Deep clean laundry room (window, blinds, washing machine, dryer, sink, rug, etc.)
- Organize garage sale items in the garage (put in big trash bags)
- Organize cabinets in garage (reorganize to store extra paper goods and cleaning supplies)
- Organize/Clean shoe shelf in the garage
- Upload all pictures on the camera (wait until June for this, so it's empty close to Emma's due date)
- Upload all videos on the flip camera
- Clean front door, back door, and door to the garage (inside and out)
- Clean the Pilot, inside and out
- Organize the storage room in the garage

A Clean House = Bliss! :-)

I spent the weekend cleaning the house and let me just say how wonderful it feels to have a clean home!  For those that don't know, I am very type A and as crazy as it sounds, I love to clean. :-)  I have a passion for organizing and find great joy in doing a load of laundry. Crazy, I know!  Now just because I love cleaning doesn't mean I always have a spotless home....that's actually far from the truth.  While I do love to clean, I love even more to play with my 10 month old and live life in the moment.  Often times that means I must forget about the dishes and the laundry and look past the dirt on the floors and the dust on the tables and just play on the floor with my baby.  Life is too short to clean all the time and those with a little one (or more than one) know how hard it is to keep things clean anyway.

But everyone knows the feeling that a clean house gives....pure joy!  The smell of fresh sheets, the joy of an empty laundry hamper, the sight of a spotless floor...AHHH!!  If only it would stay that way.....

In other news, I am feeling much better today and am so thankful for that.  Hopefully we can all be healthy for the month of February!

I hope you are having a wonderful Tuesday and that the weather in your area is better than ours.  It has been misting for two days and is getting chilly again...yuck.  Is it Spring yet? ;-)

Purge the Clutter

Yesterday I spent a few hours purging and organizing boxes of teaching stuff.  My mother-in-law was in town and was a great help!  While Hannah was napping, we took time to go through each box and decide if I really needed the items inside.  After being a teacher for 3 1/2 years, I had accumulated a lot of stuff!  I can't imagine how much I would have had if I had taught any longer.  I had stored all of the stuff in our front room (technically the formal living room) and recently decided that we should turn that room into Hannah's playroom.  But before we can do that, we have to clear it out.  My mother-in-law is a teacher, so I was hopeful that she would be able to take some of the stuff to use in her own classroom.  We managed to go through every box (thanks to Hannah sleeping so well for her nap) and purged a fairly large amount of stuff.  I have a large pile of stuff that I need to take to my old school to give to other teachers and we filled a large trash bag with garbage.  The items that I decided to keep were things that I thought I might be able to use with Hannah someday (children's books, games, arts and crafts supplies, etc.)  We are looking for bookshelves to store the children's books on (Any suggestions on where to purchase these?  We want quality shelves at an affordable price!) and the remaining tubs will be put in the guest room closet(s) for now.  It is still a work in progress, but it feels good to purge!

Organization is a passion of mine.  I LOVE it!  I have honestly thought about being a professional organizer (maybe someday).  I try to keep the clutter in my home to a minimum (even hard now that I have a little one).  But purging can be tough.  What about the items that have sentimental value?  What about the things I just might need one day?  What about the stuff I want to save for my future ______ (insert kids, grandkids, etc.)?  What the gift(s) someone gave me that I don't really like?  It really is hard to get rid of stuff.  We spend so much time and money accumulating it all....we just don't want to let it go.  Even though I love to organize and clean, I don't consider myself a purging expert.  I too struggle to let go sometimes.  While organizing yesterday I found myself using all sorts of excuses...."But what if Hannah wants that someday?", "What if I go back to teaching someday?", "I've had that for so many years", "My ______ (insert grandma, grandpa, mom, sister, husband) gave that to me"....and on and on.  The thing that helped me the most was having another person there with me to tell me that I needed to get rid of something.  She put things into perspective and reminded me of my end goal (to make the front room a playroom for Hannah).  For the sentimental things I reminded myself that it's not the actual item that holds the memory, but it's what is in my heart and mind.  (Don't get me wrong, I did keep some of the sentimental stuff).   For the things I was holding onto because I might need them one day, I thought about how long they had been sitting in this front room (almost 2 years now) and realized that I had lived that long without them, so I probably could continue to live without them.

If you have stuff sitting in closets, in your attic, in the garage, under the beds, in the cabinets or anywhere else that you haven't used in a year or more, you most likely don't need it.  Yes, there some items that you don't want to or don't even need to part with, but the majority of the junk that clutters our homes is just that....junk! It's time to purge.  Start out slow...one drawer or cabinet at a time.  Don't get overwhelmed.  But be brutal and honest with yourself....do you really need all that stuff?  And don't just throw it all in the garbage, think about what you can do with it.  Is there someone you can give it to?  Could you sell it on Craigslist or Ebay?  Could you donate it to Goodwill?  Or if you left it at the end of your driveway, would it disappear?

Cleaning out the clutter will make you feel so much lighter and less stressed.  It takes time and effort, but it's so worth it in the end.