Create and maintain a clean, peaceful and positive environment in my home

Another thing I’m doing to reduce the clutter in my house is to scan things that I really don’t need to keep, but would like to have archived in a way that takes up less space. Things like Franklin Planner pages from years gone by, and Connor’s schoolwork, and various memorabilia I’ve collected over the years. All that paper weighs a lot and was taking up a lot of space, so, a few weeks ago I bought myself a ScanSnap high-speed scanner, and I’ve been scanning like crazy ever since.

To give an idea of just how much I’ve scanned, here’s a photo I took last week. (Since then I’ve filled at least another two or three bags full of paper, and I’m still going strong).

I’m also using a flatbed scanner to scan Connor’s artwork (I can’t keep all of it – he produces far too much to do that. So, I’m scanning all of it, and then keeping just a sample of his “best” work). Oh, and I’m scanning some scrapbook pages, too, so that both Kevin and I can have copies. Yeah, I’m doing a lot of scanning. But it’s going to be SO nice to have all this stuff out of the house, and onto one or two DVDs instead of boxes and boxes in the closet.

We got rid of a bunch more stuff this week, when the trash company had one of their thrice-yearly special pick-ups. We got rid of a lot of stuff from the backyard and the garage. Amazingly enough, I can park my CAR in there now, for the first time since I’ve lived in this house. YAY! No more scraping frost off the windows in the morning. (Which only happens about once a week in the winter, but whatever. It’s still a good thing). :)

I’m working on this goal, steadily. This morning, the Cerebral Palsy foundation took away loads of stuff that I decided I no longer need – including a lot of great stuff, like golf clubs and a pasta machine and some cool kid’s furniture, puzzles and games, craft supplies. Loads of good stuff, but since I haven’t been using it, I decided it was time to let it go to someone else who would.

Next action: Get entire house clean (all at the same time). :D

I’ve made a lot of progress on this in the past week or so. Slowly but surely, things are getting more organized (a necessity, as I get ready for moving). It’s nice to have things more under control. :)

Wow – the house has been a disaster area for about a month now – we’re replacing the flooring in the living and dining rooms, and while this was happening I decided it was a good time to paint the walls, too. Well, of course the floor project is taking WAY longer than projected (I knew that would happen, but hoped foolishly that it wouldn’t. Oh well). So, while the downstairs is torn up with furniture moved around all over the place, it’s kind of driving me bonkers to be in the house!

But, I’m also taking this opportunity to get rid of even more stuff. NOTHING unnecessary is going back in the dining and living rooms, once they’re completed. And then I’m going to go through and do the same everywhere else.

So, I’m moving in the right direction. It’s just a LOT of work! And time. Wah. :D

On the positive side, though – the rooms that I painted look AWESOME! Sage green walls, and it makes a huge difference. Those rooms are definitely going to be more “peaceful and positive” than ever before. :)

It occurs to me that part of the reason I have trouble keeping up with the housework is probably mental/emotional – issues that are buried in my head that keep me from believing I deserve a clean, healthy environment. So, instead of just trying to brute-force the cleaning, I’ve decided to see if I can tackle the underlying issues first. Which brought me back to something I started learning a few years ago – Feng Shui. I’ve actually done a lot of work with it in this house, and this seems like a great time to re-evaluate – see what’s changed, what’s improved, and where my current “trouble spots” are. So, I’ll be working on that for the next little while, and see what happens.

I’ve worked at this all my life (starting with my own childhood bedroom, which was usually a disaster area). Am still struggling – I don’t want perfection. I just want to be able to find things when I want them (organization!), and I want to be able to invite people over without being embarrassed about the state of my home.

I also need to teach my son to be tidier with his things. Not easy – I’m not a very good role model for that.