Mission Organization
In February of 2005, we found out that Lockheed-Martin had won the bid to manage flight service, a part of the Federal Aviation Administration which up until October 2005 had been managed by the federal government. My husband is an air traffic control assistant with flight service. We were told when we asked how soon we would be moving (leaving out a great deal of that story here because it's not pertinent): "As soon as six months from now."
I went home and started making a list of things we could live without for the next six months and the next day I started packing. I packed up our school closet/craft closet first, then the linen closet, then the kitchen, then my bedroom. Meanwhile I told all of the girls to start looking through their stuff and pull out what toys they didn't think would kill them to be without for six months and we packed up those as well.
Two and a half years and a few months later, we moved. During that time we had two Christmases and sixteen birthdays in our house. (She had left the nest by then.) So we acquired more stuff. And now I am looking at stuff that we lived without (this doesn't mean we didn't miss it, we just lived without it) for two and a half years and trying to figure out how to incorporate it back into our lives and storage options.
So I thought, "I will look at my ten different books on organization and see what little gems they have within them." (In defense of having so many books on organization, they all look at organization from different perspectives or else they concentrate more on one type of organization--paper, money, stuff, time, etc.)
The first book I got out has lists of things that can be organized in as little as five minutes. Unfortunately, if I were to follow this book page by page, I would be hopping all over the house instead of just working in one room. (Even though it says to organize one room at a time, it's not organized that way.)
The second book I started to go through wanted to test my "organizational quotient." This means, "How organized am I?" A whole chapter followed devoted to telling me how my life could be enriched if I was organized and giving me the basics like creating piles: love it, give it away, put it in another room, and trash it. Except I already knew that my life would be enriched if I was organized because I love being organized and I had already gone through all that stuff with the four piles back when I packed it up and again when I unpacked it here.
The third book started with a chapter on organizing my purse! Not kidding, a whole chapter! I wondered, "How much stuff does she put in her purse anyway?" Here's the list: wallet, pen, checkbook, calendar, lipstick, blush, comb, small brush, mirror, breath mints, hand cream, small perfume, nail clippers, scissors, tissue, nail file, matches, eyeglass case, business cards, tea bag, Sweet 'n' Low, aspirin, small Bible, paperback book, needle, sewing kit, bandage, collapsible cup, tape measure, toothbrush, toothpicks, spot remover. Of course, her aim was in organizing these items into smaller bags so changing out purses was not the big hassle that it could be. I carry one purse all the time. No changing out purses. I just decided that for myself I wasn't going to consider my purse a fashion statement. It's just a handy thing in which to tote around necessities. (I also don't carry all that stuff!) Point is, I didn't think this book was going to help.
Then there are the books that give handy little tips like:
1) If you aren't going to read the book again, get rid of it. Excuse me, but the reason I have the book is because I am going to read the book again.
2) If you haven't watched a DVD or video in the past six months, get rid of it. Who made that rule, I wondered. We watch "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" every June, period. It's an anniversary thing. My beloved and I went to see that on our 11th anniversary. Our DVD collection is very extensive. Eventually I know there will be a day when there is nothing a Christian can watch on television and if we want that kind of entertainment we'll have to pull it out of the cabinet and stick it in the DVD player.
3) If you already own one, get rid of the second one. In other words, cut the redundancy. Every kitchen should have more than one wooden spoon. Every kitchen should have more than one spatula. My kitchen and the kitchen of anyone who "adopts" college kids for spring break should have more than one crock pot. Houses of two levels should have more than one pair of scissors, tape dispensers, and staplers.
Fortunately, these books aren't all bad; I just have to wade through what doesn't apply and what can apply before I act on some of their advice. It should be an interesting journey! I'll let you know.
I went home and started making a list of things we could live without for the next six months and the next day I started packing. I packed up our school closet/craft closet first, then the linen closet, then the kitchen, then my bedroom. Meanwhile I told all of the girls to start looking through their stuff and pull out what toys they didn't think would kill them to be without for six months and we packed up those as well.
Two and a half years and a few months later, we moved. During that time we had two Christmases and sixteen birthdays in our house. (She had left the nest by then.) So we acquired more stuff. And now I am looking at stuff that we lived without (this doesn't mean we didn't miss it, we just lived without it) for two and a half years and trying to figure out how to incorporate it back into our lives and storage options.
So I thought, "I will look at my ten different books on organization and see what little gems they have within them." (In defense of having so many books on organization, they all look at organization from different perspectives or else they concentrate more on one type of organization--paper, money, stuff, time, etc.)
The first book I got out has lists of things that can be organized in as little as five minutes. Unfortunately, if I were to follow this book page by page, I would be hopping all over the house instead of just working in one room. (Even though it says to organize one room at a time, it's not organized that way.)
The second book I started to go through wanted to test my "organizational quotient." This means, "How organized am I?" A whole chapter followed devoted to telling me how my life could be enriched if I was organized and giving me the basics like creating piles: love it, give it away, put it in another room, and trash it. Except I already knew that my life would be enriched if I was organized because I love being organized and I had already gone through all that stuff with the four piles back when I packed it up and again when I unpacked it here.
The third book started with a chapter on organizing my purse! Not kidding, a whole chapter! I wondered, "How much stuff does she put in her purse anyway?" Here's the list: wallet, pen, checkbook, calendar, lipstick, blush, comb, small brush, mirror, breath mints, hand cream, small perfume, nail clippers, scissors, tissue, nail file, matches, eyeglass case, business cards, tea bag, Sweet 'n' Low, aspirin, small Bible, paperback book, needle, sewing kit, bandage, collapsible cup, tape measure, toothbrush, toothpicks, spot remover. Of course, her aim was in organizing these items into smaller bags so changing out purses was not the big hassle that it could be. I carry one purse all the time. No changing out purses. I just decided that for myself I wasn't going to consider my purse a fashion statement. It's just a handy thing in which to tote around necessities. (I also don't carry all that stuff!) Point is, I didn't think this book was going to help.
Then there are the books that give handy little tips like:
1) If you aren't going to read the book again, get rid of it. Excuse me, but the reason I have the book is because I am going to read the book again.
2) If you haven't watched a DVD or video in the past six months, get rid of it. Who made that rule, I wondered. We watch "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" every June, period. It's an anniversary thing. My beloved and I went to see that on our 11th anniversary. Our DVD collection is very extensive. Eventually I know there will be a day when there is nothing a Christian can watch on television and if we want that kind of entertainment we'll have to pull it out of the cabinet and stick it in the DVD player.
3) If you already own one, get rid of the second one. In other words, cut the redundancy. Every kitchen should have more than one wooden spoon. Every kitchen should have more than one spatula. My kitchen and the kitchen of anyone who "adopts" college kids for spring break should have more than one crock pot. Houses of two levels should have more than one pair of scissors, tape dispensers, and staplers.
Fortunately, these books aren't all bad; I just have to wade through what doesn't apply and what can apply before I act on some of their advice. It should be an interesting journey! I'll let you know.
emmaroo
~*Oh, yeah, THAT one. Who cuts her hair and married a madman...
~*My little smart one
~*My little drama queen
~*My darling daughter
~*My crazy son-in-law
Brandon had to be put to sleep and had all four wisdom teeth cut out. He told me he actually woke up before the doctor was through (I would have freaked out!). He was still numb of course, but he heard the doc say "well this one just doesn't want to come out"! Haha. He has healed quite well and will probably be eating solids again before too long.