My freezer is stocked

Well, I've been doing well on my journey from chaos to calmness. My house has been managable for quite some time, not always spotless, but I'm not afraid to have people come over. A prime example of this was during the week it was my birthday and my hubby had also made an appointment to have his accountant come for a short time to go through the books for his business.
My parents came over for my birthday. My Dad commented how nice the house looked. That's such a big thing for me, my Dad has never been big on compliments. I wanted to add that he's only been to my house 3 times since we moved in 6 months ago, and Wednesday was the only time he'd been over when we haven't been having a party (previously he'd only been over for my husband's 30th and my daughters 2nd birthday parties, so he had no idea that the cleanliness of the house during parties is the way it is all the time).

Anyway, so due to my ability to have an orderly house, I've been able to easily make big batches of food to freeze because I've had clean dishes and clean and clear bench space and an ordered freezer. I have 2 weeks worth of frozen meals in the freezer and my hubby has currently got a lasagna in the oven which will be divided into single serve portions and added to the freezer inventory. We're totally set for lunches for work, or nights when we're both too exhausted after work to cook dinner. I never would have been able to do this in the state of disorder and chaos I was living in last year.

Loving the compliments

Yesterday afternoon I put on a birthday party for my 2 year old daughter. We had about 20 adults and and about 10 kids.
Everyone complimented me on the way the house looked and I was so proud to tell my aunty (who knows how I've struggled with housework) that this is the way it looks everyday now (except for the balloons).

After everyone left I got the vacuum cleaner out, did the dishes and wiped down the table. Within only 20 minutes it didn't even look like there had been a party, aside from the balloons which I hadn't taken down.

My best friend came back in the evening for our weekly catch up, she walked in the door, took one look and said "Are you sure this is the same house that was filled with people this afternoon?"

I love hearing compliments like that now.

Good things happen when you clear your mind and your home

I am convinced by my statement in the title that good things happen when you clear your mind and your home.
Since I decided to make an effort to keep the house in order, my husband has taken some initiative and started cleaning up his side of our bedroom and also his desk in the study.
Another couple of great things have happened too. I got a new job and hubby's business was expanded and is growing faster.

Sunday, mostly a rest day. Happy Valentines Day

Today is Valentines Day. A day that's all about love.

I've done some loving myself today. I've been to church and then relaxed and exercised with some yoga. I loved my body by having a healthy hommus and salad wrap for lunch and then some reading.

I loved my family by doing my daily tidy of the kitchen including my weekly floor sweep and mop.

I loved my daughter by making some playdough and playing with her for a while.

My husband loved me by cleaning his side of the bedroom, getting a start on the mountain of filing in the home office and buying me a red rose.

Later tonight I'll love myself by lighting some candles and having a bath with some bubbles and essential oils.

How are you loving your family and yourself this Valentines Day?

Introduction

I am a procrastinator and a hoarder. I always have been. It's genetic. My father is a hoarder, his mother was a hoarder.

Before I got married, my bedroom at my parent's house was full of clothes and shoes. I had so many clothes that I couldn't fit them all in my wardrobe so they ended up literally in a mountain overtaking my whole bedroom. I had so many clothes that I could just about never wear the same thing twice in one year!

When I moved out into my own place I discovered that many of the clothes I had were doubled and tripled up. I also discovered that I had 4 pairs of the exact same shoes! (as well as about 40 other pairs of shoes, most of which I never knew I had).

I decided that when I moved out and got married that I would keep my home immaculate at all times...that really didn't last very long at all.

I got so "busy" doing other things that I didn't have "time" to clean the house. And lets face it...cleaning the house is no fun is it!

So, I then thought that when I got pregnant and went on maternity leave that I'd have time to organise the house. I may have had a 5 and a half week break between starting maternity leave and giving birth to my daughter, but I didn't think about how hard it would be to move and how uncomfortable I'd be in those last few weeks. So the house stayed messy.

Then I had my daughter and thought, when she's asleep I'll clean the house. Well, she didn't sleep much and for long and when she did sleep I did too because I was so tired.

Eventually I got down to trying to throw things out. Only, I couldn't do it. I would feel so guilty if I threw out a body lotion set that I'd been given as a gift because I thought that the person who gave it to me would feel hurt by me doing that. I couldn't get rid of clothes because even though I hadn't worn the item for a couple of years "I might wear it one day"

I made a decision in my head a couple of years ago that I needed to keep the house clean for me and my family. I was so sick of visiting friends whose houses are always immaculate and I felt embarrassed about the thought of having people visit and I wouldn't let them come inside.

I've realised that hoarding is often about forming an emotional attachment to things. For this reason, I had to make the decision with my heart.

At the start of 2010 I re-joined FLYlady (http://flylady.net/) and have also joined The Brat Factor (http://www.thebratfactor.com/). Through these websites I have learnt that I don't need to do everything at once, in fact, if I even try to do everything at once I'm setting myself up to fail! Doing even 15 minutes of decluttering and cleaning a day is better than not doing anything at all.

Throughout the year I'm on a journey to take some control over my life.
The major part of this is keeping my home ordered and ready for company at any time. This doesn't mean keeping it show-home perfect, but keeping it looking like humans live there, not pigs.

I hope that others will join in my journey and hopefully by reading about my journey I might help someone else.