Home Purge

Hello, poor neglected blog.  I've been having difficulty uploading pictures lately.  One of the main reasons is this:

That's my kitchen.  Actually, it's my dining room.  It's the contents of my kitchen in my dining room.  Why am I posting these awful photos of my home?  Because I want to remember the emotional and physical exhaustion so I never have to go through this again.  

It all started because of this:

I borrowed this e-book from Amazon because the producers of Hoarders called my house to film an episode.  (No, mom, not for real.)  

Seriously, I have too much stuff for the space in which I live and I've decided EEE-nuff.  My clutter has started to take its toll on my time, patience and sanity.  I don't want Abby growing up treasuring possessions over relationships and experiences.  So, I read this book.

I'm still waiting for the organization and simplicity.  I think it's like the military.  I have to tear it all down to build it back up again.

The plan looks easy on paper.  Take everything out of the room.  Clean the room.  Sort through the stuff, purging what isn't useful or beautiful, and return items in an organized manner.  I thought I'd go through one room a day.  It's been three weeks.  The living room and the kitchen are almost complete.  Almost. 

The thing is that I love love love to organize.  Correction. . .I love love to organize. . .other people's stuff.  My own stuff is harder to sort, harder to purge and not fun to clean.

Then there's the Abby element.  Abby loves loves loves to create disorder.  I pile some books.  She knocks them down.  In the pantry, I alphabetize my spices, while she empties the paper recycling on the kitchen floor.  

And then there's my lack of common sense.  I was trying to keep Abby amused the other day while working on the kitchen, so I gave her a cup of flour.  Then I gave her water.  Then I added a drop of blue food coloring.  Sometimes, I think I set myself up for trouble.

Anyway, I do have a point.  Though I haven't been posting, Abby has been busy around the house, busy being a social butterfly, and busy learning new things each day (Check out the walking video!).  Bear with me and the pictures will be posted eventually.  In the meantime, here's one of a yogurt face.  Abby devours Greek yogurt.