I have to many shoes

I might have not posted in two days but I sure worked!
I must admit I am really tired tonight and I am having some issues trying to come up with witty ways to talk about my shoe triumph. But sadly I am just not into it. So I will give you a small photo essay of the cleaning of the closet and the organization of the shoes.



The above is half way through the closet clean out....you can see little Aryeh trying to help me. I did not take a before picture because I was trying to be careful to let him sleep....but that was not happening so I gave in. Notice all the stuff!



And then.....tada clean closet ready for the shoe project the next night.




Now I must say, the shoe project really was overwhelming. I am not entirely done but I need a to build up my energy to finish. I have finished labeling and putting about 20 shoes in boxes. The sad part....I havent gotten to the shoes I ware right now.....whoops? And its more then 20 shoes. Some boxes had two pairs in them.
This was a pile of the boxes, as I went to take the picture they fell....


I also found that there were 6 pairs of shoes that need to be fixed. I only took in 3 to the shoe maker today because I did not want the shoe maker next to my office to think I was crazy.

So for now I put all the shoes in boxes in the closet- summer shoes, flats, and pumps, and when I get the shoes back from the shoe maker I will try to finish this off. I think I have another 15 or so pairs.....oy this is bad bad news.

When I was cleaning out the shoes I found that I had a MUCH harder time letting go of shoes then I did clothing. Clothing I had very little issue with just giving away. But I had a hard time with the shoes. If the shoes were still 7 1/2 they went in the give away bag without question. But other wise something was hard about it. I was so connected to the shoes that even the ones I know I will NEVER ware again I put in boxes in the closet. It was odd....I dont know what it was about the shoes that made me want to hold on to them where as the clothing I was able to go through with not problem. Humm...something to think about.

Anyway.......to the closet!!!

And I am BACK!

I am BACK everyone! I mean I was always here but I am functional again. It was such perfect timing during my little experiment to show how little miniature disasters can really throw you off and how much time it takes to get back to normal. I was 100% out of commission all week last week. I mean if I went into the kitchen that was a huge accomplishment.
So now I need to pick up where I left off....and things are almost worse then before!
Last Friday I had done so many little things all week that the house was still in order by the time Shabbos came, I was calmer, the world seemed right. This Shabbos I could barely get out of bed let alone make sure the toys looked nice in my direct line from the door space. I started feeling overwhelmed, like this was it....I am done....my life is ruined and I will never see the light at the end....an organized life....ever.

Then my fever cleared and I realized I was being insane and talking in tongues.
But really I realized that I had a miniature disaster. It was a set back, something that happens all the time.....it happened this week and it will happen again.

So I had thought that last night I could start my shoe project...but I realized I needed to get my general life together before I could do that. I need to go to the market, to Target...maybe Michaels (BTW I am DONE shopping for Crafts for the next 2 months...REALLY) And I needed to give myself the chance to get things together...get life back on track.

So TONIGHT....Ladies and Daniel......even though we have A LOT of TV to watch (White Collar.....a new Netflix DVD of Modern Family....) I am going to spend 10 min on my closet floor to prep for the shoe boxes. its really bad so I need to so just a little at a time.

Thanks for sticking with me everyone (most of you are related to me so you have to) and here we go......

Still under the weather

Still to out of it to do anything on my list......I am going to change my calendar and push everything up a week and get back on it starting Monday! (Maybe Thursday but I dont want to push myself.)

Thanks everyone for your support!

Minor set back but I wont be derailed!!!

Ok so I got a cold. Like a full all out, in bed, shakes, no holds bar cold. My Mom( Thank you!!!) is going to go get me Advil Congestion (because I am a sucker for adds and ANYTHING Advil) The cold has gone into my sinus.....at least I am used to that kind of cold.

Anyway because I was shaking and in pain and totally not functional last night I did NOT start the clean out closet/ shoe project. However- I am home today and due to crazy snow coming I think I will be home tomorrow. So my goal is to still be done with this project by the end of the week. And if not, I will just push everything off a little bit. I will NOT let this miniature disaster set me back! I WILL keep up my progress!

The up side is that today I am home on my own and I can eat as many candy cane oreos that I want! Daniel does not seem to think that these are good for me when I am sick...but I mean the mint helps clear out my sinus! and I am drinking tea! So there!

However to keep my readers (aka Elizabeth, Cheryl and my Mom......) her is a picture (poor picture) of the "vintage mirror" I made on Sunday. Enjoy!!!

Linen Project- DONE!

I am happy to say that even though I woke up this morning sick as a dog and totally not functional I DID get my lien closet DONE last night!

I was crafting a lot yesterday and Daniel was worried I would not finish my goal....but I did! It took me about 45 min.

My first task was to bring all of the linen from the coat closet to the basement.....this is what the pile looked after I was done organizing HALF of it:




I have come to a conclusion....even though I am a bit of a Linen A Holic I think I have ENOUGH LINEN! At the time of cleaning the closet out I had 4 beds in the house made....which ment that EVERYTHING I was organizing was EXTRA. Now the ONLY other time I need anything is if we have guests or the kids have stomach viruses and we need to change the sheets a lot. Other wise I need a set on the bed, a set in the wash and a set in the closet......right now I have a set on the bed, 3 sets in the wash and 2 more in the closet. Today Daniel, who is even MORE of a linen a holic then I am, asked me if we should pick up just a few sets of sheets for the guest bed.......just in case....in case of WHAT? A zombie apocalypse? And if so how will more off white queen size sheets help us? No I say....we do not need anymore sheets! However Aryeh only has one duvet cover, and since he DOES in fact need two of those we got him a new one today......and now I am DONE! Unless we throw linen away no more is coming into my house!

My label maker is MIA at this time but when I find it I will mark where everything is in the closet. Right now it goes all pillow cases (and two duvets) on the top, queen on the second shelf and twin on the third with 3 down comforters on the bottom.

Next to the closet I have two bins, one with extra pillows and mattress covers and one with a feather bed that we put on top of otherwise not comfortable beding situations.

So let me present to you (fan fair!!!!) The linen closet!!!! (please note it is organized even though it doesnt look like it is)

Kid Zone one.....done!

I am astonished that I was able to complete the goal for today.I was ready to admit that Fridays are just not the day to take on some crazy goal. However the moment presented itself so I thought....eh lets go for it. And I got through it! My before picture for some reason did not save...but it was BAD news. It was also a prominent place in the house. It was directly in the sight line of the front door. It was VERY bad feng shui to have that messy. I mean I assume it was.....I can't imagine a crazy pile of books, broken toys and old issues of Newsweek are good for my silver, wood, money area (yeah no I haven't really figured out my house re feng shui......but my Mom could do it.....so maybe that will be a goal....You up for it Mom?)

I did get a little over whelmed in the middle of the clean up. Ariella kept deciding that some of the displaced toys were NOT in fact trash but useful. So rather then throwing out all the homeless crayons Ariella gave them a loving home in her crayon box in her room. I am something of a crayon destroyer. When I see them in the mix of junk they just get trashed.....I can't deal with putting them away and actually caring about them. Crayons hide in terror from me.....for I am the great Crayon Trasher!!! GERRRR! Only to be defeated by my nemesis Ariella the Crayon Lover who saves all crayons (unless they are broken, those she doesn't think work and therefore I can throw those out)

anyway here is my lovely after picture....lets see how long this lasts!

Linen project 2/3 done!

Tonight we almost had to change our plan, when I got home I still had not gotten the contact paper to line the linen closet shelfs. I was going to switch and do tomorrows project tonight, but low and behold our friendly neighborhood UPS man arrived!

So I went to embark on my goal for night three......and this is what I faced:
'

Not half bad right? I did a quick wipe off with some lysol wipes- I knew where they were btw because I had organized the cleaning supplies thank you very much.

So 20 min later this is what we got:






Tada!!!! When I was done Daniel asked me "Do you want me to bring down the linens?" and I said "Nope! not tonight, not in the plan......just this...." And then I had movie night with my Mom.

I am going to cut this short because Aryeh is attacking the keyboard!

Goal 2---complete!

Tonight we needed to take a break from the linen closet because the shelf liner wont get here until tomorrow. So tonight I moved onto my next basement project......clearing out the armoire so that guests have a place to hang and put stuff when they come.


So I started around 7:45pm tonight. I went into it really strong, I was planning on basically getting rid of everything because I did not think most of it fit me and I was standing by my two year rule. So at first it went well...and a lot of stuff made it in the "give away" bag (Cheryl there is a lot of stuff that would be great for you for work) then I started getting to some things that really were much harder to give away. I started to kind of go back to where I was when I got these things, and sometimes it was good and sometimes it was a little painful. Anything that survived to get this far had sentimental meaning and I tried really hard to not let it get to me. But it did....a little. I think I did alright. I was actually pleasantly surprised to find that three skirts that I was ready to say good bye to fit me! I was actually surprised....I thought these were two babies ago....however they fit! So those got to come up to my closet. I brought up a sweatshirt that I always found super cozy and a really pretty silk shirt. Otherwise all that was left in the closet are two coats that are my Moms (Mom- the brown Searel and the green silk rain coat!) two black tie dresses....I mean I will use those but they cant go in my closet! the shirt I had on when I met Daniel, a skirt my Dad got me on our last trip together, and one skirt that I kept for stupid sentimental reasons. However for that last one, I felt I was aloud one reasonless sentimental skirt. Now the closet has lost of room for guests and Cheryl will get some cute shirts!

This might not have been the most compelling post...but it all got done!

Tomorrow.......line the shelves!

Linen Closet Project---Day 1!

This whole thing started a few weeks ago. I went to put my coat away and found that I was overwhelmed by the amount of STUFF in my front hall closet! I realized it is because my house keepers had no where to put our linens so they STUFFED them into the only place they could think of, the front hall closet. See our apartment is amazing, BUT there is NO Linen closet! A man must have designed it! Or someone who does not have an obsession with sheets the way I do.

Anyway.....I realized I have a HUGE poorly used basement. Daniel and I came up with a plan (btw with all my complaining he is a real partner with me in the actual work and I deeply appreciate his support) We would get a linen closet to put in the basement from Ikea or where ever.

Well I could not find anything I liked that would work. I was a little sad, thinking this project would never take off. But then I had an idea! (well Daniel and I did) we have this ugly Sterilite plastic cabinet form Home Depot that is used, but not well. We also have plastic shelving in the basement, also not used well. Why not just suck up the ugly thing for the linens and organize the open shelving so I can put everything from the closet in there?

Now, this is not a one night project, not anymore at least! In the past I would have done it all in one afternoon, been stressed, yelled at the kids, and in a week it would be in tatters. So I have broken it down into a three day process.

last night- clean out the closet!
Now I have to tell you , before I started I was sitting on the couch and I was like "uch really, this is going to suck". But how could I give up on day one! So I got up and went and did it. It took me very little time and it was done! Bam! All of a sudden! I then made a mistake, I moved on to tonights task! About 3 min in I started getting over whelmed and I thought "NO! This is for tomorrow, I am done now" I took my after picture and went and made my co worker a baby gift!

The clean out gave me energy! I felt great! Lets see how tonight goes....



Before........





After!!!!!!

Miniature Disasters and Minor Victories

Life is made up of these. Little things that fall apart around you and small events that make you feel empowered.

I have had a struggle my entire adult life. I LOVE clean, organized and streamlined simplicity. However, I don't MIND disorder and dishes left over night (unlike my husband) I lack the Healthy OCD gene that organized people seem to have.

Over the past 3 1/2 years in our apartment I have not harnessed control over my organization. I go through cycles.....one day I am inspired and I organize ALL the kids toys into little bags in the boxes and hide them away....hours and hours of work...that gets destroyed in less then 30 seconds. My Minor victory turned into a miniature disaster. I am so burnt out from my rampage that I just can not face the toys that have taken over my living room for another 3 months. By that time more toys have found their way into my living room and I get so frustrated I purge again and the cycle continues.

Every single corner of my home and life needs a little attention. If I left everything go as it is I would be fine. My kids would go to school, my sheets would be clean, my food would taste good and my home would be generally acceptable to the greater community. But I don't want "acceptable" I want easy, I want simple, I want ease. However I learned something. You cant just do it all in one day and keep it that way. There is CONSTANT maintenance that goes into something like this. Everyday you need to clean and organize and do up keep. The very IDEA of that is just so overwhelming that I think about it and run and hide under the covers of my bed that has sheets that are kept in a disorganized closet in my front hall.

So I decided that this can not be how life is, life can go on and things can be accomplished I just need to find the right way for ME to do it. I know I am good at using space, I know I am a creative organizer, but I lack the drive to do the up keep. But up keep is hard. I lack the energy and the drive to do it. So I came up with an idea......

If I set myself a SMALL goal everyday, something that takes no more then ten maybe fifteen min to do I will not only feel good about what I have done but would be working toward a more peaceful existence and a happier life. So thats what I am doing!

On the side somewhere I am going to embed the link to my Goals Calender. There will be a description of the goal of the day in each event so you can see what "shoe project" means (or whatever code I give a project)

Right now I am just sharing this project with my close friends and people who I think will be inspirered by this. Daniel thinks I am being insanely narcissistic about this, but I think I am just doing what I need to do to be motivated. I did my first project last night (I will update on that later) and I was so close to saying "oh this is just to much work, I can't" but in reality it took me like 10 min and I was so energized and happy when I was done.

If you are inspirered to do something because of this, let me know! post it! We can all get over the miniature disasters in our lives by conquering them with Minor Victories along the way!