monica bang....

Hooray for me! Seriously. Hooray for ME! Let me begin by saying that Sunday night I spent FIVE hours cleaning my closet! Yes, FIVE entire hours. I labeled my shoe boxes, tossed three bags of trash and three bags to donate. I can now spend time in there without having an anxiety attack. It's fabulous.

Between yesterday and today I have:

~cleaned/organized kitchen cabinets;
~cleaned/organized two linen closets;
~straightened kids' closets;
~re-organized my dresser drawer configurations to give my husband an extra drawer to himself (yea, that's the way I am, completely selfless HA!);
~cleaned/organized my laundry room;
~organized about 400 CDs/DVDs;
~organized all my tons of scrap booking crap;
AND, I am 100% completely caught up on laundry!

I can't believe it. I know, lame, lame, lame to be this excited about it, but I don't know if my house has ever been this organized. It is amazing to me. I am not a Monica. By any stretch of the imagination. I am the girl whose room in high school looked like the closet had exploded. I have always let things slowly become a mess and then I spend hours trying to clean it again instead of just maintaining and keeping it clean from the get-go. So, the fact that my laundry room and linen closets are perfectly organized (and they even have extra space for more stuff!) is almost miraculous.

Whatever shall I do with myself tomorrow??? Grocery store and Home Depot. Hee hee. Can hardly wait.

My new habit (and not the black and white kind)

Okay, so Labor Day was officially THIRTY-SIX days ago. I am proud to announce that I have yet to lose control of the clutter, the messiness, the laundry, the dishes, the grocery shopping! Right now, there are toys on the floor and my kids are having a fabulous time playing with my daughter's rubberbands and using them as car launchers in the kitchen, so if you walked in right now, you might think it's messy - but I would beg to differ. It's an "organized chaos". When they are finished playing, it will take all of twenty seconds to clean it up.
My laundry is caught up (still), my floors are mopped, my shower doors are SPOTLESS, the toilets are cleaned.....such an amazing feeling!!! I'm starting to wonder though, why am I putting so much energy into this endeavor?
I'll tell you why.
Because I truly feel more at peace and more in control of my house than I have in ten years! I know where everything is. I know how long it takes to clean the house from top to bottom! It really is an amazing thing. So, for all of you folks who have known me since adolescence, you can teach an old dog new tricks!
Happy Cleaning!

Conversion? (Ran on MySpace on 9-17-07)

hard work!!
I thought real estate was hard.
I thought preganancy and delivering a child were hard.
I thought exercise was hard.
They have nothing on this!!
I have kept my house CLEAN for TWO weeks now!!!
I've turned into a raging psycho in the process, but anyone who wants to stop by my house with no notice CAN.....I wouldn't be embarrassed with the amount of toys, underwear, laundry laying around becuase there would be NONE.
My laundry is caught up, the toys are put away, the beds are made, the toilets scrubbed.
I know this isn't exciting for most of you, but for ME, the one of the sloppiest people on planet Earth, it's VERY exciting!!
Amazing how a clean house can impact the rest of your life, though. I am feeling completely organized in all aspects (except maybe career, as I try to figure out what I want to do).
When asked "where is XXXX??" - I now know the answer! Quite invigorating.
Anyways, that's it. Have a VERY HAPPY MONDAY!

Dull Women Have Immaculate Homes (Ran on MySpace on 9-11-07)

Well, I must pat myself on the back!
It has been EIGHT whole days!
My house has been CLEAN for EIGHT WHOLE DAYS!! Can you believe it??!!!??
I have a plaque in my kitchen that says "dull women have immaculate houses" - I think that's true. I strive for a clean house, where all toys are put away nicely in those cute boxes and totes that all match from Pottery Barn....I strive for carpeted floor with no stains. For an entertainment center with no dust or DVDs strewn about. I'm striving. I think I'm going to be striving forever though.
The past eight days have been exhausting! I have been doing two loads of laundry each day! I've made the beds every morning. I've had dishes in the sink for no more than an hour! I have been on top of everything.
I think I may have to increase the dosage on my meds though, because I feel like I'm going crazy!
How long does it take before something becomes a habit??
As much as I want a clean house, I do not want to become DULL in order to do so. I want my kids to know they can play without fear of mommy having a panic attack! So, I'm trying to strike that balance.
In the meantime, I'll be folding the last load of towels.