Monday, October 1

Control What You Can, Ignore The Rest

That's our mantra today. Say it with me. It's more fun with a mouth full of cookies. Er, at least the boys think so.

The kids filled in the trench by the front yard portion of the drive this morning. With their feet. I just came inside so I wouldn't have to watch. And cringe. But that worked out well, as it gave me a chance to get the house cleaned and ready for the wedding. The boys did a great job on the trench, and then they came in for lunch. I'm not sweeping up the dirt from that trek until after everyone's in bed.

One of the things I have *got* to find a groove on is the paperwork. Right now, it's all in the school room. Right now, the school room doesn't have a cabinet, free shelf space, or a table. (Can you see where this is heading?) I'd become quite competent at ignoring it, pretending there are doors on the doorways, and that nobody could see the condition of the "school room". However, I realized the gig was up when Zorak commented the other night that we'd best get our filing system under control before James starts to adopt it.

"Uh, yeah, the bills to be paid go there on the floor in front of the computer. The ones that have been paid go under the computer. Just put magazine subscriptions over there by the door, and completed homework, eh, you can set on the chair."

Mmm, good point. So today, after cleaning and decluttering the kitchen, living room, dining room, our room (not as impressive as it sounds - there's not too much left to declutter), and starting the laundry, I tackled the school room. It looks fantastic. Granted, we can't eat at the dining room table right now (picky, picky!) but, at least the stacks are manageable. And the kids agreed to eat at the breakfast bar between now and Wednesday. That buys me some time. I love that they're flexible. :-)

The printer shelf has been holding paper and computer supplies, as well, but I think it's going to be reassigned to "domestic craft duty", or some such moniker. That means I'm moving the computer paper somewhere else (don't ask me where just yet, we're still in the Idea Phase of this plan), and I'm going to hoist the sewing materials up off the floor onto the shelving. One would think this solution obvious, but really, the sewing boxes were holding up paperwork, so I didn't exactly see the problem until today. *shrug*

One of the nice things about ignoring the things we cannot control is that we realize how very much is within our realm of influence. But we let it get lost in the white noise, and after a while we can't tell the difference between the things we can impact, and the things we cannot. No wonder it's so easy to get sidetracked!

So here's to another round of cookies for everyone! Taking charge, and letting go! (Gah, that looks far more chipper than it sounded in my head, but hopefully y'all know what I mean.)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

4 comments:

Melora said...

Now I can't remember who is getting married. Is it your your sweet niece? And they are getting married at your place, or are you just hosting the reception? Just direct me to the date if you've already explained all this!

Your organizing sounds so ambitious! I am hoping to get our place looking a little less ramshackle before company comes at Thanksgiving, and part of my problem is that I don't remember what a Normal house looks like. You mean most people Don't have clothes and books piled all over their dressers because they don't have enough shelves? (and I'm not even thinking about the fact that we don't have toe boards Anywhere in our house, and there are two bags of concrete sitting on our side porch that our handyman bought by mistake a Year Ago, and which are too heavy for us to move!). Your point about the things we can make a difference with and the things we just have to accept (for now) is very well taken!

Anonymous said...

I'm so proud of you!!! I can't even get near the school cabinet for fear of being suffocated under the avalanche of wierd spare paper that will come plummeting out. Have another cookie for me!

Dy said...

Yes, it's the Very Cool Older Cousins who came through this summer. (The actual connection is Zorak's cousin's daughter.) The wedding is going to be in North Carolina, on the Charlotte side of the state. But I've got to have the house Vacation Ready b/c when we get back, I'm going to buy an entire herd of groundhogs and set them to digging in the yard while I collapse with a book on the floor somewhere. :-) Toe boards? You mean baseboards? Is that the same thing? *sigh* We don't have them yet, either, which is why I just wilt everytime Smidge throws up. I fly past him with a sponge and a rag, thinking, "He'll be fine, but if this gets under the floor, I will rip my own hair out!" Someday, we'll both have normally finished homes. And they will be lovely, won't they? :-)

LOL, Erin. I don't have doors on my shelving. Perhaps if I had doors, it wouldn't leave me much motivation to clean. (I mean, really, when you can close doors, who cares?) I did, however, get the box of fabric and miscellany up off the dining room floor. WOOHOO! (it's the little things)

Melora said...

We are only about 90 miles from Charlotte, but north-west, so I suppose you will be passing exactly nearby us. (But if you Are, we'd love to see you. And I promise that my house would make you feel Hugely better about yours!)

I didn't know about toe boards until we moved here. In Florida, houses have baseboards that go all the way to the floor. We have baseboards that Don't go all the way to the floor, leaving a gap which the toe board, which is about an inch high, is supposed to cover. They even go up the stairs, so the thought of cutting, nailing in, and painting all those little pieces of wood just kills me. We may Never have them.

I like the groundhog idea, though it may be hard to direct them in digging out only the desired trench. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal last week about how a new trend in home renovation is to have renovation parties, where your friends come over, drink, and knock out walls, put up sheet rock, etc. Apparently this is quite a good trend for the guys who then come in and repair the damage. And I'm not sure what Emily Post would say. But my point was Going to Be that maybe a trench digging party would be just the thing for your situation.