10/16 A Place for Everything?

A place for everything,

And everything in it's place...

I always put my things away.

That I might find them another day.

I don't know who wrote this, but my kids and I have this memorized. Lately, we haven't done so well with this concept-especially ME.

Yes, I'm back here again already. I was in the pantry cleaning & organizing and thinking this little poem in my head.

I cannot stand clutter-it makes me feel crazy. I can tolerate a little dirt, though. I'd rather have a clutter-free house than a really clean house. To keep my clutter-free atmosphere, I unfortunately stash things in places they don't really belong just so my counters & table are clear.

Another problem I have is this "I'll just put this important piece of paper (or whatever) right here in safe keeping so that it doesn't get lost and I'll be able to find it when I need it."

This is a "syndrome" of some sort that I suffer badly from. I never ever find what it is I put in safe keeping. We always find it long after we needed it.

My dh calls me Grandma when this happens because my Grandma does it all the time, but she's 84. So, she has a good excuse, even if she does still live in her house and drive and do very well on her own.

I do have a little bit to say in my own defense:

Our house is still a work in progress. We started building it 6 yrs ago. We've owned our property for 10 yrs, but the first 4 yrs were spent clearing it, putting in a driveway, a well & the foundation. We've stayed in a pop-up camper (when we weren't at Pat's parents'), the barn, then the basement.

Anyway, our house is mostly done(and we're no longer cellar dwellars), but the closets aren't all finished and I desperately need shelving. My dh has the wood out in the barn-it's all cut, planed & sanded(the wood is from maple trees off our place), and it just needs urethane and assembling.

But, there are so many other more pressing projects that need doing, that my shelves are on the back burner.

Now, I really think that shelving would help me find a place for everything and keep everything in it's place, but my dh says that is debatable. He is probably right.

I guess I better get to work on that and pray hard for help. I need to do more cleaning, organizing, throwing away & simplifying. I really want to be a good example to my children! I know it must happen directly with me first!

More is caught than taught, although, sometimes I wish it were the other way around. lol

Got the pantry done and here it is. It's an extension of our kitchen and has 3 sides, but you can't see it since the fridge is blocking it: