I haven't made huge strides in organizing and de-cluttering the past few days, but then I've been pretty busy. Wednesday I played music all day with my fiddling friend Laurel, then had a Clover Blossom Band practice that night. Not to mention we had an unexpected guest to dinner! Thursday I worked at my pt job and then had to both copy and "get my tunes in a row" for Friday's (today's) performance in Poulsbo at an assisted living center with Laurel (yes, we actually got paid good money, yay). In addition to cooking, cleaning, laundry, interacting with the family, etc.
Nevertheless, I have come to the realization that in some ways I really am quite organized. When I have to be.....which is actually pretty often!
--I realized that I like to be organized about my music. I am usually prepared for music practices and performances, with my tunes in proper order. Organizing them takes over an hour. This makes for a lot less stress at performance time, though I do have a number of tunes memorized, it's reassuring to have the notes on hand.
--I am organized with food. Even during tight times, I usually have something on hand for us to eat, whether from the freezer or from cans. If I know that I will be absent or busy on a certain day, I will prepare food ahead so that neither I nor the family has to do handsprings to get dinner on the table. This served me well on my busy Wednesday, when Laurel and I had lunch and dinner together (plus dinner guest with family) and I was preoccupied. We had premade corn chowder, salad, and crackers and cheese for lunch. I had made meatloaf the night before, and it and the potatoes went into the oven, and the frozen veggies onto the stove, to cook with little effort, for dinner for six.
--I am pretty organized in the kitchen. It's not spotless, but I keep the counters clean and cleared off, for the most part. Sometimes I may feel like I am Sisyphus pushing his boulder up the hill in this department, with family members leaving trails of meal and snack projects behind them constantly, and yes, I do get on their cases, but I can't stand seeing crumbs and bits of cheese and coffee and food drips for very long. The gluten-free food and the glutenous food have their separate areas, we have a pot hanger in the cooking area, my spices are usually pretty organized and up-to-date, I know where my baking supplies are, and I know where to find things in my kitchen, unless I've been away from home for a week or so.
The things that bug me about the kitchen? The mail piling up everywhere: on the counters, the table, the sofa, the telephone desk. We need a basket. I have in mind a big square or rectangular one, but that will take a trip to Silverdale, the Shopping Capital of the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas, unless I have good luck at the Goodwill. The dirty shelves. They haven't been cleaned in a while. And I would like the canned goods to take up less space. Does anyone have a way to organize them? A gadget? There is a lot of dead air space above them.
I have a good file system for paperwork, if I could keep up with it....I read a book about how to file some years ago, and it has served me well. However, I have gotten behind on the filing lately.....very behind. That is my next major task, catching up with that.
I am pretty organized about the laundry. I wash at least a load a day, with our family of four and sometimes five. I don't believe everyone should be doing their own loads of laundry, or our water bill would be astronomical. I have trained everyone here on the laundry, but for the most part I do it myself. They're on their own when I'm out of town. I may or may not fold things, but their clothes are clean. Everything I need is on a table next to the washer and dryer, which are upstairs, in proximity to the bedrooms.
My clothing is actually pretty organized, though I don't even have a closet; I have a bookcase and a pole in the corner of the bedroom, and baskets for socks and underwear. When our house was built, the window in our bedroom was put in the wrong place, and suddenly there wasn't enough room for my closet. Admittedly, it is time to purge...
Though I was preoccupied practicing, driving, and playing a gig today, I found about 15 minutes to go through my hung-up clothes and pull out things I haven't worn for ages. I had enough stuff for a garbage bag. On my way to Poulsbo, I dropped these off at the Goodwill, along with some dessert plates that are too tiny for anything and a box of old mugs I was ready to let go of.
I had so much fun today with Laurel!! I was prepared; we played our fiddle duets pretty well, our audience seemed happy, and we went out for coffee afterwards at the Poulsbohemian Cafe and did a little shopping in downtown Poulsbo. We visited the violin shop, the knitting shop, Laurel bought some bread in one of the three bakeries on the main street, and I found a Viking t-shirt for my eldest son C-Dawg, who turned 21 this month (better a late gift than never), before heading home......
In what areas of your life are you successfully organized?
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Comments: 26
You certainly do lay it all out there. I wish I were half as organized
I seem to work best in chaotic organization...I know where it is, as long as no one else moves anything. :)
Sounds like you're doing a fine job keeping the really important things organized. YAY!!!
So I'd not worry too much, you have far less clutter than I do.
What's my most organized thing? Can't think of any.... How sad.
Many canned foods now have plastic liners, and the plastic leaches into the food. I guess I am kind of a spoil sport to say this, but because sometimes glass containers are a choice, I thought I would point that out. I am a cancer survivor, so I am pretty conscious about this.
Dried foods can be reconstituted, but some dried fruits are so good, they are easy to over-eat. They take up less space though. It takes more time to process dried peas and beans, but in the winter, it heats up the kitchen to do it. Some lentils take only 30 minutes to cook.
I am really impressed with your level of organization. Wow.
I got gmail because I don't have to delete anything, and I can search by word through old E-Mails. I am a water-exercise instructor, and today I had to search for a continuing-education flyer to send a copy to another instructor. When a search by instructor didn't work, I had to search by date. This sort of works. If I had to look through paper copies of things, I would be in trouble.
I am moving bill-paying to on-line. I think this is going to be a relief when I get it all done. I will then have an on-line record with the bank, and most of the providers have on-line records as well. This will relieve some paper issues.
Thanks for the posting. I wish I could report more progress on my end.
I was again too busy today to get anything done.....
Anyway, I hope you are getting more organized.
Free Spirit: if you can find what you need, you must be doing something right! Thanks for encouraging my fiddling.
Cindy: matched socks, that is big. My guys have way more missing socks around here than matched pairs. It's their issue, not mine, thank goodness....
Sheila, my can shelves look gross. At least the cardboard boxes can be out of sight!
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