Building Character In Me

This is painful and slow.

I confess...I spent way too much time today playing with my blog because I didn't want to face ANOTHER day of the seemingly endless task of cleaning up. And I LOVE arranging the photos and text on the blog (love) and enjoy seeing the timeline develop. But I knew I needed to at least spend some time today in the playroom (which is officially the family room, but we use it as a playroom). This room is interesting because it doesn't have any windows...there are french doors that lead to the sunroom (which at one time was a porch) and there are LOTS of windows out there!

As the living room is receiving more Christmas decor, my focus has moved toward the playroom these past couple of days...I thought the sunroom would be next but the playroom has grasped my immediate attention and I had an idea I've never had before regarding how to use the space. The upper map photo shows the two gigantic countertops which take up most of the room. This split the room in half, giving each child their own area. We thought the kids would use these counters for projects, but they, too are covered with stuff. The floor is also covered with stuff-legos (ouch), boxes of my stuff, etc. We need some storage space, not countertops. That's when it occurred...why not get two more IKEA Expedit bookshelves!? All that STUFF can go VERTICAL! I haven't done an official WDIS on this room, but I can certainly move ahead as we want to EMPTY the space near the garage door and bring in the new bookshelves ASAP. Don't need a lot of planning for that...move it out (whistle blows)!

I am motivated to make more space for my children to live and play and we all need more space to be able to move around safely. I am also motivated by the completion of small tasks...the smaller the better which brings me to this afternoon.

I've sold handmade soy candles, bath & body and perfumes online for almost 6 years. I made all these products in my home. Various equipment, furniture and supplies are no longer vital to my everyday life. I have so much stuff and I have gradually culled through ingredients, supplies, product packaging and remaining inventory over the past year. So what I went through today is just another layer of getting rid of the stuff.

My goal? Clean off the top of the cart. That seemed even more than I could muster today. I sent the timer for 20 minutes and ended up spending the hour it took. I did a little bit of cheating (moving a few items over to another counter) but mostly BULLDOZED through it! Hooray! I did it! I'm grateful for a few friends who are wanting some of my supplies for homeschool activities...knowing that someone is going to put this stuff to good use eases my pain in giving it or throwing it away.

So looking back, I've actually made some serious headway! We now have a plan for the playroom AND a plan for the sunroom. Yesterday I found a photo showing exactly what we want to do with wrap around counters in the sunroom! I'm excited! That means over the next few weeks I can move toward those goals! Oh, yes, and decorate for Christmas, too.