Dust Bunnies and Daredevils

I've been on a housecleaning kick lately.  About a month ago, I decided to make a commitment to get my house thoroughly cleaned and organized - something I've put off for far too long.  I vowed to have a place for everything and keep it in it's place and whatever I don't have room for, I'm having yard sales, giving to charity, or throwing away.  I recently started another blog chronicling my achievements and in the process giving a tip or two on what I've learned along the way.   My first post was titled "I'm charging my house with disorderly conduct".   I've got to admit that writing this blog has motivated me to do some deep cleaning that I wouldn't have got done otherwise.  I'm such a procrastinator and even more so since I retired - I'm always thinking that if I don't have time today, I can put it off 'til tomorrow.

It's true, when I make a public commitment to do something I'm much more likely to follow through.  One thing has led to another and I find myself doing much more than I had planned to do.  For instance, this week I was going through the house trying to come up with some storage solutions with the things I already have instead of going out and buying new things.  I've been meaning to organize my magazines and throw out the old ones.  I had stacks of recent magazines beside my reading chair in the den that I had been intending to clip recipes, craft ideas and room designs from, but somehow I don't seem to get around to doing it.  In my new frame of mind, I realized that clipping magazine articles is not very important to me, so finding a storage solution led me to getting rid of the clutter that was piling up.  Once I got the magazines off the floor, I noticed the books that I've also stacked up waiting to sort out to read, keep or give away - so I tackled that project next.  Once those stacks were gone, there were dust bunnies everywhere, so that led to sweeping, then vacuuming, then moving furniture around, then dusting, then mopping and before I knew it, my entire den was the cleanest it's been since we painted it about two years ago.  The foyer leads into the den so my cleaning frenzy spilled over into the foyer.  Wow, I got so much done and I actually had fun doing it because I made pictures along the way of some of my storage solutions.  This very same thing happened last month when I posted about cleaning my pantry.  The pantry looked so good that it motivated me to clean my entire kitchen.  I've become a regular little daredevil - daring myself to push further!

Putting it all out there for everyone to see my progress has been a big part of why I'm being successful in this project.  I'm very competitive and I don't want anyone to think I'm a failure, so come on over and read my new blog.  It's called 'From Chaotic to Orderly' and you can get to it by clicking the preceeding title in blue.  I have one friend who is following closely and when I do a project, she does it also - sort of like a big internet housecleaning party.   I don't have many followers yet, so sign up to "follow" while you're at it.  Who knows, it may spill over into your psyche and you'll be in a housekeeping frenzy too - and just maybe a laugh or two along the way.