*knock knock* housekeeping!

I have done some rearranging today! Call it spring cleaning! Call it getting organized!

I have enjoyed helping you all in this blog, and now I am getting more and more questions to do with organzing, so I have decided to start a brand new organizing blog. If you need to get organized, I am One Organized Chick!

I have removed some of my older blogs (clearing the clutter/decluttering) to make way for a new blog and website! These changes have been made on my side bar.

Please say goodbye to the following blogs: Ask MurrayvilleMom, Things My Kids Broke, Clothes for Cathy, How Many Pieces and Monopoly for Property!

I thank my fellow Boggers for posting the above links on your own blogs! I am kindly asking for your support and ask you to please add these new links in support and remove the old ones! Be sure to keep this one though!

My organizing new blog is www.oneorganizedchick.blogspot.com

and my new website is www.oneorganizedchick.com *website development in progress- keep checking back!*

My MurrayvilleMom blog will just basically have everything to do with my family, and any organizing posts will go into my organizing blog.

Keep the questions coming!

Thank you!

Cathy
aka One Organized Chick

If I purged my clothing

I seriously would have nothing left. I was looking in my closet, and it is seriously sad. And basically the rule of thumb for purging clothing is that if you have not worn something in your closet for the last 6 months to 1 year to get rid or donate that article of clothing. The experts say it is OK to keep a piece or two of your "dream" size but get rid of the rest. Well, if I did that I seriously would have zip left. Just think, over the past 8 years, I have been pregnant 6 times. 5 full term pregnancies, 5 postpartum wardrobes, in between wardrobes, different sized bras for different occasions. Different kinds of underwear for different reasons. I would say most of my wardrobe would be too small. Hardly any of it is "just right." because I refuse to stay in this wardrobe for very long (even though it has been almost 8 months in it)

I already gave away my larger sizes. But, I am hoping to fit back into my smaller wardrobe. I love that wardrobe. It is more like me, not the yuck reflection that stares back in the mirror on a daily basis. I don't like that size and I don't like my reflection.

I am in serious need of a clothing overhaul.

But...here comes that BUT. That word always gets in the way for me. I DON'T want to spend money on a wardrobe to just lose weight and have to give those clothes away too. I cannot justify that loss of money. But, do I have to walk around like a slobby housewife? I want to feel good at the same time. Recently as you all know, I bought a new bra (an expensive one at that) and then 4 pairs of nice underwear. Do I want to lose weight and then have them all fall off of me? Then I have to buy more.

I am tired of feeling all flabby though. I am tired of looking at photographs of myself and going, ewhhhhh. Who is that person staring back at me? That is not the person that I was 8 years ago. Where did all of that flab come from? I love my kids, but I don't love my body. Even when I get "smaller" I am scared of all of the loose skin that will be hanging in my midsection. I cannot afford to get new clothing let alone plastic surgery to get a tummy tuck, or a breast lift. But, how good would those surgeries make me feel? Probably really good if I could just get the motivation. I am on a wait list to get my varicose veins taken care of. That surgery is going to change my view on my body image. I will be able to wear a skirt, or pants or nice shoes without the veins interfering on my femininity. I always refer to my leg as my "Dad" leg. I love my Dad, but I don't love my veins. I cannot wait to have that taken care of. Soon, very soon. Maybe that will be the start to my weigh loss journey. Those veins make me feel very self conscience.

So really, I have a problem with losing the weight. Why? Because I feel that IF I get to where I really want to be, I will not have the means to get the items I want done. And so I say to myself. Why bother. Why bother.

But I have 6 people in my life that depend on me, and I want to be there for them all. So, why can I not do it? Why do I feel so blah and ho hum about it all? I am in a rut I guess.

I guess I have to do it for myself. And I have to be the one to set the wheels in motion. Am I not worth it? Yes, I am. Do I have the time? Well, if I could wake up early enough I could. But...there is that but again. Caroline is usually up 1-2 times per night. So, I am usually feeding her when I could be on the treadmill. I could go and exercise when all of the kids are in bed. But, that is my ONLY time with another adult, and that person also happens to be my husband. We need "our" time too. It sure is hard to find that balance. What is a busy Mom supposed to do?

So, simply purging a closet is the easy part, deeper problems are the issue. Not the clothing. Usually purging is that way. There are usually issues behind the clutter.

So, what can I gain from getting to where I want to be? What am I so afraid of?

Gill Deacon show had my organizing hero on!

Thanks April for calling me and letting me know that Hellen Buttigieg would be on the Gill Deacon show today! I really enjoyed watching her expertise in action.

Did you know that I have a Home Management Binder. And, in my binder is a take out section? (just like Hellen!)
Did you know that I do not have a junk drawer?
Did you know that organizing rocks!

See more information here!

staged and ready!

organized and clean?

I am probably unlike most of my friends, and my friends friends in the cleaning and organizing department. I think you are born with it, or have to be trained up to start a system that works for you, and create a program that helps you to STAY organized.

I think I would have to consult with my Mom on this, but I believe that I was organized from the beginning! I remember my "Little House on the Prairie" bedroom. I have photos to prove it. It was SPOTLESS and organized.

I blame my crazy cleaning ways on the Richmond Inn, where I did a stint as a housekeeper during the summer in my high school year! It was there that I cleaned 16 rooms in 8 hours. Yes, I even had the "white glove" test done there, and passed. That was thrilling for me! I could sheet up a king size bed like it were a crib. The bedding flat and smooth and symetrical. The towels folded in "hotel style." I could do a large suite in about 1/2 an hour.

I liked that job a lot, and I think it taught me many things about myself. I also think there is a "clean gene" in our family too. I know my Oma is very clean, and my Grannie is too! I know my cousin Andrea is very clean too!! And, April and Amy! I was at my cousin Riki's place once, and it was spotless too. So, maybe it is just in my family.

Maybe I was born to be clean and organized. Maybe that is why I want to become a professional organizer and home stager. I just feel this is the right profession for me. I KNOW I can help others feel good about their places and spaces. I know I have a lot of knowledge to share with others! And, keep them motivated to do more!

My parents, they are organized, but not crazy organized like me. They have piles of newspaper articles and clippings and things around their house. I would prefer to file them away, or purge them...but hey it is not my home! But that is their system. And it works for them as far as I know.

Maybe a person can spend too much time doing these two things? Maybe not though. I know I have an organizing and cleaning obsession. I am not happy if it is not "up to hotel standards"

The organizer and cleaner in me is coming out even more with all of our house staging for open houses. I go MENTAL the hour before a staging. I have to let my "standards" slide and that really bothers me. The feedback has been wonderful on our place. EVERY PERSON who has been through our place CANNOT believe that we have 5 kids. So, obviously they do not notice the "things" that I notice. I KNOW that the floor is ws not perfectly clean, but hey in other peoples eyes it was spotless.

When our realtor saw our place for the first time, she said I have the knack for decorating and for staging. And what did I say to her. Oh no, this is no where NEAR what it will look like when we have a showing. This is really not up to my regular standards! Why couldn't I have said...just THANK YOU.

Our realtor recently took a course in Seattle to do Home Staging, and I do it naturally. I think it is very fun, and it is something I look forward to doing, even in the madness of 5 kids at the dinner hour. That is why I know this is what I need to do to help other families with kids!

Cleaning and organizing is different with a family around. Everything changes! Your time, your space your mind. I was a neat freak once, and I think I will always be one. For now, I have to let things go so that I don't pull my hair our going crazy! I clean and organize and feel happy and the next second, everything is pulled out and on the floor again!

Truly though. I don't want my kids to grow up and remember me always cleaning and not spending enough time with them.

I also hope that they will learn SOMETHING from me, about staying clean and organized. But, I often wonder will they become total packrats because I made them "purge" their playroom one too many times? Will they regret that we "gave away" their toy to somebody else? Will they become hoarders? Only time will tell. I know if they all became packrats I would have to go in to their places and help them lol!

But, because I am clean and organized, our house works very well, and our place cleans up like a dream because we don't have ANY clutter. We do not even have a "junk drawer". I love how for the house showings I can stage our place and have dinner ready, kids in jammies and teeth brushed in less than one hour! The towels are placed, flowers are placed and the candles are lit! Fresh vacuum tracks on the rug! We leave, and our place looks like a million bucks! That is my secret thrill to it all! The power of a clean and organized space!

I wonder about my other blogging friends and family. Are you naturally organized? Are you a naturally tidy person? Has this changed for you when you had kids? Or, have you been able to keep it up without going crazy? Have you let stuff slide? I just wonder how others feel about this topic. Do you look forward to organizing? See, to me cleaning and organizing is more exciting than what designer handbags would be to some women!

I think being tidy and organized has freed up time so that my precious time with my family is NOT wasted! We can do more together and that is what it is all about for me!