Its been a couple of weeks since I posted, but I had kind of hit a plateau with my "reduce by 1/3 by Easter" mission. I had some company, which was a distraction. Our schedules kind of filled up, which made carving out blocks of time difficult. The "honeymoon" after The Hubs' pre-deployment pep talk with the boys wore off. ("You guys be good for Mom, ok?" Yeah, that's so over.) So I had to take some extra time parenting Little 1 and Little 2. I don't sleep particularly well when The Hubs is gone, so that's taking its toll as well. Overall, I just hit a "funk."
Through the "funk," I let some other areas really lag, like following my menu (eating out way to much), and keeping my "command center" organized, and putting laundry away. And I've completely tossed my weekly cleaning schedule out of the window. I figured "why clean it when I'm about to destroy it to organize it?" So, I didn't.
And the next thing I knew: Its 3 days until Easter. WHAT?! Crunch time!
Thankfully, my burst of energy at the beginning got me pretty far, so the crunch isn't too bad. Right now, I basically have only to move the eliminated items to the garage to get ready for the big "haul off" and yard sale, which will be next weekend. In addition, Little 1 and Little 2 are going through their stuffed animals to make some serious eliminations. If it doesn't fit in the "big blue tub," it goes. It'll be a good lesson on prioritizing. They went through their toys before Christmas, so we're good on that front.
The "monster" I discovered during this process: WE HAVE A TON OF PICTURES! Vacation pics, friend and family pics, travel pics, Iraq and Afghanistan pics. Boxes and boxes of pics! I have no inclination to scrapbook them, and these are hard copies. We've got 8 photo boxes full, plus enough to fill 4 more, at least.
Here's my solution: I put all of the pics into boxes, and put them into "The Room." What's "The Room", you ask? That would be "The Room" (attic space) that houses at least 10 totes (footlockers, Rubbermaid, and Tuff Boxes) of military gear, The Hubs' office supplies/decor, and other "stuff." And since much of the stuff in there, including some of the pics, isn't mine, I get to procrastinate. "Welcome Home, Honey! Let's go tackle 'The Room!'"
The other area of dismay is the guest room closet. Little 1 and Little 2 are 6 and 4 years old, and we've kept all of their big-ticket baby gear, and its all in the guest room closet. A crib and mattress, Pack-and-Play, a booster seat, a stroller, even an old car seat. (Its out of here. Its "retirement" age. Double check the "expiration dates" on your car seats...they do have one! Saving a couple of bucks isn't worth your car seat failing in an accident due to deterioration.)
My biggest issue with selling or donating all of these items is the question of whether or not we're done. I, personally, am done.....2 c-sections were enough. But we are constantly in discussion of whether or not to adopt, or foster-to-adopt. My heart screams "Yes!" but I'm wondering if God has this in store for us. Every time we start to move forward with taking the steps to foster or adopt, something happens: deployment or moving, or something along those lines. And they won't even talk to you unless you are BOTH home, and the foster-to-adopt system isn't terribly friendly to military folks anyway. I can't say that I blame them....we've been here 8 months, The Hubs has been gone much of that, now deployed. He'll be home less than a year, and we'll move. And move again the next year. By then, we're looking at Little 1 and Little 2 being 8 or 9 and 6 or 7. And there's no guarantee that we'll be at that duty station for more than a couple of years.
That's the latest...I'll post the tons of house pics after Sunday. I've made huge progress, but I don't really think I hit a true 1/3. Things are much more organized, and much more comfortable than they were, and I feel better already. And I haven't even crossed the finish line yet. A few more steps to go, and I'll cross with a feeling of success and peace. And the knowledge that my house needs to be cleaned. :D
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