Once again, I have been so busy with my girls (and my migraines) that I haven’t been blogging! I’ve been having some mommy-guilt lately, which is partially the reason why I haven’t made any progress with my organizing plans. I always feel guilty when I think about spending more money on classes. I’ll get there eventually though, just not as fast as I originally hoped. Another reason the mommy-guilt has been surfacing up I because of my migraines. I’ve been having a rough week with them, and it’s really hard not being able to play with my kids when I’m in pain and/or in bed! So, I try to make the most of the time I have available to them. That got me thinking about perfectionism and priorities.

Flylady, a website that I have loved for years, says, “Housework done incorrectly still blesses your family.” Guess what? It’s true! Even though my husband washes the clothes without separating them first, they still get clean. It’s taken a lot of patience for me to really let go of the perfectionism though. I’m a lot happier now that I can see my kitchen utensil drawer without cringing. It’s Savannah’s job to put the silverware away, and I don’t even straighten it afterwards! Not having to worry about all those little things that don’t really matter, leave me with more time for priorities.

Everyone has different priorities, that’s obvious. Sometimes I wonder about how certain people think, but that’s another story! For example, just this week, while I was in bed for what seemed like days on end with a mega migraine, my husband did some laundry. He’s the kind of guy that only goes into the laundry room if he’s totally out of something he needs. This is why I hide chocolate in there! I could probably hide a pirate or two in there and he wouldn’t know! LOL Sorry, sometimes Johnny Depp creeps into my thoughts! Anyway…so Hubby grabs the basket and starts throwing in random things he needs for the next few days. He was thoughtful enough to realize I would need clothing too. The next morning when I go to fold the laundry (he can’t seem to empty the dryer on his own accord), I find that the only things of mine he washed were undies and a mini skirt. LOL Those are his priorities I guess!

My priority is my family. With it being summer, my house is not staying very neat. I don’t have any time to myself during the day with Savannah being home, but I am having fun keeping them busy and entertained through these months out of school! So for now, I’m doing what is acceptable, which is pretty much the bare minimum. The laundry is kinda sorta done, but floors have a few stray husky hair tumbleweeds, and there are dishes in the sink. I really don’t LIKE it, but I doubt that’s what my kids are thinking about when they are falling asleep.

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you, I made more cupcakes! Phoebe also learned to say “keecakes” along with a dozen other words this week! I made Mint-Filled Brownie Cupcakes from Martha’s Cupcakes book. They’re on page 122. Yummy! Notice the clock in the picture…cupcakes before lunch. Chocolate=Priority!

I love finding new ideas for my home. Since I’ve entered the world of blogging, I have seen hundreds of more things I’d like to do as far as organizing, decorating, and parenting go! What works for me is to have a binder just for my wish list/idea sections. You know, an inspiration file! This is part of my binder that I use for my daily routines, etc (see Flylady). It’s mostly filled with magazine tear outs, but it’s starting to fill up with blog print outs. Here are some of my favorite resources for organizing:

Pretty Organized Palace-this might just be my favorite blog I’ve found so far! It’s written by a crafty mom (of 6!) addicted to chocolate and toile. My kind of girl!
Then there’s a blog called Cheaper By The Baker’s Dozen that I love as well!

One of my RL (real life) friends is Misti, from Studio M Designs. She’s such a southern belle with a talent for decorating, painting, crafting, etc. She’s a domestic goddess!

The Shabby Nest! Check it out.

And Pottery Barn. I love me some PB! I get a LOT of ideas from PB catalogs. I wish I lived in their catalog! I’m planning on posting some pictures on Friday of my memory wall….inspired by PB, of course!

So there are some of my favorite places for inspiring ideas for the home! This week’s Works For Me Wednesday has the theme of “greatest hits”. Those are definitely the sites I hit the most! Pop on over to We Are THAT Family (another great blog!) to see other cool ideas!

Procrastination is putting off today what you can do tomorrow. I’m guilty of this from time to time myself, though I work very hard not to do it. I have a few things that help me stay motivated to do things as soon as I can. Here they are…

-Tomorrow is just another today. Think about that for a minute. What makes you think you’re not just going to put it off again tomorrow?

-Pick it up, don’t pass it up. I learned this motto from the book I’m still working on by Pam Young and Peggy Jones Sidetracked Home Executives. I’m now saying this at least once a day to my family, and I remind myself of it all the time. Instead of memorizing where the toys are scattered around on the kitchen floor so I don’t step on them, I’m getting into the habit of actually picking them up when I see shes done playing with them. I used to ignore them and pick them up right before or after bedtime. Things are much nicer now. Plus, my husband never mastered looking where he walks so he often would get a lego embedded in his foot! Ouch!

-Baby steps! Oh, that helps so much! I’m thinking about posting pictures of the most embarrassing room of my house-my office! For someone who aspires to be a professional organizer, you wouldn’t believe the mess of my office! I think I’m going to use a Flylady and work on it in very small steps-like 15 min a week. Sounds easy, right? I love breaking down jobs into more managable tasks, so I know it will make a huge difference.

-Do the hardest part of the job first. You’ll be glad you did.

What tips do you have for anti-procrastination?

Photo from Pottery Barn

I’m back and ready to organize this week! Here’s an update:

• My first client has been maintaining the work we did in her bedroom, and best of all, she’s made progress in other areas of her house. Yeah!! I’ll post before & after pictures of her home as we finish each room.
• Savannah passed her test for her ice skating class! She’ll be starting the “Basic 3″ class sometime in March. She’s very fast going backwards!
• Phoebe learned to say “no” and to SCREAM when she’s angry…all in the same week. Lovely.
• I’m currently reading a book called Sidetracked Home Executives by Pam Young and Peggy Jones. It’s the book that inspired Flylady to do what she does. I borrowed it from the library, and I’m really enjoying it so far.
• While I was down last week with the migraines, I got inspired by a few of my favorite shows to work on some small projects. Two of my favorite TV shows right now are “neat” and “Mission: Organization”. They always have great ideas!
• This week I’m finally tackling my recipe disorganization!

I’ve been frustrated by my collection of recipes for a long time now. I have recipes ripped out of magazine, entire magazines with pages dog-eared, recipe cards, and of course, a collection of books that grows every year. They’re taking over my kitchen! I really love baking, but cooking is another story. I have a sweet tooth so that’s a big reason why baking is more enjoyable for me, but also, I have a 7 yr old so that makes cooking a lot more challenging. Kids are picky! Mine is anyway. As I try different recipes in my books I always note whether or not we all liked it, if it could have used some tweaking, whether it was worth the time to cook it, etc. There’s probably a dozen dinner recipes that all 4 of us really enjoy and that I try to cook on a regular rotating basis. I finally got the right idea on how to organize all of this mess on a blog called Forever Whenever. Thanks for the idea, Kim, and for permission to post it here Take a peak at her site to see more pictures and ideas.

The basic idea is just a 3-ring-binder with dividers to keep all your favorite recipes in one place. There’s also room for the take-out menus! Yeah! My goal is to be finished by Friday, but here’s where I’m at right now…

First I gathered all my loose recipe cards that were shoved into a drawer and all of my magazines.

Next I gathered up my new dividers, some cardstock from my scrapbooking stash, page protectors, a glue stick, and a Sharpie. I used the dividers for Menu, Dinners, Breakfast, Dessert, and Take Out. I may switch those up a bit later this week if it doesn’t work out quite right. Then I took my messy cards and glued them right onto the cardstock. Of course I remembered to keep like items together, like two chicken recipes on one page, not a casserole on one side and a cake on the other. I did all of this while catching up with my DVR. Isn’t multi-tasking great? After I finished my show, I wrapped everything up and put it away where I was. I slid my take-out menus and my ripped-out magazine recipes into page protectors and put them behind the appropriate divider.

This is another look at what I was able to accomplish in the time it took me to watch The Amazing Race last night. The pile of magazine scraps and cards is what I was able to get rid of with the use of my new binder.

Quick and easy! While I’m working on this project this week, I’m also going to purge through my cook books that I don’t really love or that I rarely use. I don’t need this taking up valuable real estate in my kitchen!