The Party That Never Quits

While I'm in the middle of packing, I've been very ruthless with myself.

Do I love it?
Do I use it?

I don't know where I first heard it, but this is the mantra I'm using:

"Keep only that which you know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful"

If the answer is no to either of those guidelines, it goes.

I want to start fresh, clean and without overwhelming amounts of stuff.

I've tossed a bunch of stuff, well... donated it... but still there is more. All the little things that never really found a home in the last 2.5 years are still homeless and lying around, and I don't know how to pack them.

I refuse to have a MISC CRAP box this time.

So, while I was sorting and purging and packing and washing and donating, I noticed the first twinges of awareness come back to me after a long time without any...

Thankyou, Lord that I actually have belongings to pack
Thank you, Lord that I have too much.
Thank you, Lord, that even when I give a lot away, I still have so much..
Thankyou, Lord that in all honesty, I lack for nothing.

It's December 1st here today.

I should be putting up my Christmas decorations, but my house isn't clean enough. I cannot fathom fluffing the house for the festive season unless it's pristine.

I have 1 husband, 5 children, a cat and a dog. My house is never pristine. But, as I suffer from MagazineCover-itis in it's most chronic form, I still expect it to be.

As you can probably gather, my expectations are rarely met.

However, as I am having a house full of guests over for Christmas dinner this year... a total of 7 adults and as many children in this tiny little house... I feel the need to have it sparkling.

Of course, I want it to be perfect for my family as well, during the rest of the year, but I find the task so overwhelmingly insurmountable most days, it... isn't. It's something I've been working on for many years, and I think I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. For the last month I've been tossing umpteen garbage bags a week of miscellaneous crap to the op-shop... which in itself is wonderfully therapeutic... not actually having that stuff in the house to clean up or find a home for any more. But I'm still not noticing the house getting any cleaner.

And I'm pretty sure I've figured out why.

I stopped writing myself lists. A plan of attack for the day. Something to keep me on track. Without lists, I could waste my whole day looking for the perfect Christmas tags on Etsy (which I may or may not have done yesterday).

So, I'm beginning again. Only this time, I'm going to add it to my left side bar, so you can see it, and it should keep me accountable. I'm going to give myself until Friday night to have it done. That's two and a half days. I shall have Pride and Prejudice on in the background... I find it the most wonderful thing to clean to.

If you are feeling the urge to deep clean your house, feel free to join me.

Crystal at Biblical Woomanhood often runs Make Your Home a Haven Monday's, but, you know, she moved interstate, is pregnant, has a three year-old, so it's been on the back burner for a bit. However, Monica at The Homespun Heart is running a week long version.

I adore things like this. Keeps me focused and motivated.

Most people unclutter and fluff during these. I will be you know, cleaning. I'll even take photos, perhaps. It really is quite frightening, my house. Adam and I got fed up with having boxes of miscelaneous stuff still from the move, so in a moment of insanity no, genious no, not quite sure what exactly, we just dumped them all out on the floor, figuring if it's on the floor, we'll be more likely to pick it up.

*ahem*

There is a pile in my dining room that's been there for two weeks.

There is all our laundry in our bedroom. Unfolded.

Please don't look at my kitchen. I know I try not to.

So. My plan of attack looks like this:

Monday: Master Bedroom (incuding sorting clothes and tidying cupboards) and washing laundry. Folding negotiable.
Tuesday: Kids Bedrooms (see above note) & Bathroom/toilet/laundry (including linen press and organising the bathroom cupboards)
Wednesday: Kitchen and Dining Room (including buffet, linen chest and organising kitchen cupboards and shelves)
Thursday: The "Big Room" (including sorting books, toys and picking the rocks out of the decking. My children are delightful)
Friday: Organise the garage for Adam to tackle on Saturday. Put stuff for the dump in an easy to get to place. Separate keep from donate.

Anyone else joining in? I'll post pictures if you will.

There was a couple of kids who fell in love. They got married. They had kids.

Lots of kids. Well, not lots as in Duggar lots, but 5 is considered 'gluttony for punishment' by most people who ask the loaded question.

In four more sleeps, this family of seven is moving. We've been in this house for 4 years now, and so we have amassed some considerable... stuff. I thought about keeping a running total on how many bags of stuff was given to the opportunity shop, and how many garbage bags were added to the landfill, but I gave up. Needless to say, we have entirely restocked a Red Cross Shop, just about, and added at least a million years to the decomposition process.

Oh yes. I have been harsh.

I've had to be. In an effort to cut down on costs (because we like to eat, it's a bad habit, I know), and also to help my mother out, because she's going to the UK for 2 years, we are moving our boisterous children out of a house that is starting to feel a little snug into a cottage half the size. And no backyard

*Pause for dramatic effect*

Wait... what's that sound? Oh, that's me in the corner, sucking my thumb and whimpering.

The good thing about mum's place is that it comes with oodles and oodles of built in closets, which is always a plus. The house we are in now has tiny wardrobes in the bedrooms and that is it. No linen cupboard, nadda. However, mums little abode has a kitchen with no pantry and only the under counter cupboards. But there are shelves on the wall, so all is not lost. Although Lilliput did call, they want their kitchen back.

It also gives me an excuse to purchase the buffet hutch I've had my eye on for about 6 moths. And baskets to keep all my food in on the shelves in an effort to keep the kids out of it long enough to actually cook with it.

Back on topic, we've been packing, or attempting to pack, for the last two months. After putting most of the stuff we are keeping into boxes, and then piling it all against the big wall in the lounge room, we're actually wondering why our house was always so messy... there really isn't that much stuff. Either a) all our stuff was on the floor at the same time, b) I've purged 25% of our house or c) I am a MEAN pack rat.

I'm thinking it's d) a combination of all of the above.

I'm on the home stretch now. All that's left are piles of miscellaneous things that we're keeping, but either don't have a category, or there's not enough of it to warrant it's own box. I'm loath to make a Miscellaneous Box, as in my experience (and I am very experienced at moving) misc. boxes are the ones that never get completely put away, but rather rummaged through from time to time, making a mess, until you are 11 years into a relationship and marriage *ahem* and you have stuff that you can't remember why you even remotely thought it was worthwhile keeping, let alone carting from one end of the country to another,

And no... hubby is not in that box.