Organization... basically... stinks!

So you work really hard to get your house, your yard, your car, your kids, your head... your WHATEVER... ORGANIZED... but then "something" happens and well... that organization becomes hmmm CHAOS - at least around here it does!!

As school was coming to a close - we decided that we really needed to get the house and jardin (Jar dehnn) ("yard/garden" in french... it just sounds so much prettier that way doesn't it?) cleaned up and ORGANIZED... ooo that word makes me shudder.

So Mr Safety Man started outside and I continued my trek on fixing up the house inside. I got so tired of EVERY SINGLE ROOM being a disaster.

Mr Safety Man actually conned his daughters in to helping, ok not really conned... perhaps bribed? Well it went like this....
MSM: stomp stomp stomp...
Me: what's wrong MSM?
MSM: i'm out there, no help, they're old enough, etc etc etc
He goes back outside grumbling...
Me: "OH GIRLSSSSssss - you would really make Daddy's day if you helped. Remember we talked about responsibility and if you wanted to start earning an allowance..." coax, coax, coax...

And away they went! I was shocked! Then they hounded him how much cash-o-la they would get for each task/bag/etc they cleaned up! And I giggled. I mean come on... he asked for it!!! But they were helping and they were working hard!!! And you know - they did it again the next night without fussing at all! (Now Mr Safety Man really needs to pay them - so they remember the reward of a job well done.)
Faire du jardinage - The yard work:

Hmmm a lil' discrepancy over who does what job...BooBoo doesn't look happy

Almost done raking!

I'll smile only because I'm getting excited to be earning money doing this!

All better... have my own job pulling weeds!!

And Momma? I worked really hard on the inside of the ol' homestead... trying to get things nice again... And I think I accomplished it...It's the cleanest and most organized it's been for ages.

Le ménage- The housework:

Family room - MINUS TOYS!!! Wish I had taken a "before" photo...

Family room into Dining room - what nothing on the catch-all? I mean TABLE!

Kitchen from hallway...where's all the dishes piled up?

Pass thru/kiddos bar - nope not even gunk on the bar stools!

Fly Lady taught me - a clean sink starts it all... and by golly it did! LOVE that I got it to shine again!

Shiny granite! (pun'kin from friends garden and I made pun'kin soup for dinner!!) NO STAINS on stove!

Front hallway from kitchen (on right) down to girls rooms at end...nothing to trip over!

My favorite room currently... our new LIBRARY! smells like books! AWESOME!

ok really - you didn't need to see the girls bathroom - but hey! IT'S CLEAN AND MINUS DEBRIS! BONUS!

Even the front entry... complete with 1 of my shadows MUGSY!

Well I adore our master bath so here it is! I designed it! And begged for this piece! LOVE IT!
See no kiddos toothpaste globs (they use our bathroom ALWAYS)!

Last but not least- I even started organizing the studio and my shelves my AWESOME SafetyMan built me!

Mr Safety Man dared to come in looking like this:

GACK!

...but after I hollered {ahem} asked him politely to clean off his feet first... he was allowed in to the house!


It was heaven. House, jardin, even my studio desk was fabulous. It was so nice to come home to from vacation. But then - coming home from VACATION and unpacking HAPPENED. And how quickly organization and a nice clean house became... yes, I'm afraid to say so - CHAOS!! (and there's NO way I'm posting a photo of what everything looks like now (it's sooo embarrassing).

Now we start again...

Such is my life...

ACHOO!

Yes... with the warm weather our Live Oak outside dumps these little frilly, long, caterpillar-esque, "things". I really do not know what they are... I think they are after the leaves appear... but not sure what the heck they really do - except aggravate me and cause Mr Safety Man, Sweetpea and my chocolate lab "Moose" to whither with allergies. All I know is that when I go to pick them up, they fall in to minuscule brown dots.

ALL OVER MY FLOOR

And I also know that I just vacuumed my entire house - which didn't take me quite as long as I had it hyped up in my mind - but when I got back to the kitchen where I started (where my lil' Shih-Tzu, "Mugsy", tracked in SO many of these pesky "things") it didn't even look like I vacuumed.  Such. Is. My. Life.

Before this...last night as I am trying to get my kitchen cleaned - hurrying so I could finally say I got to bed at a decent hour - I pulled the refrigerator door closed like I always do... by the shelf. Only this time... the shelf had cracked somehow and as I had forgotten this point... the ENTIRE shelf came toppling out of the fridge. On to our tile floor. Smashing the glass jars - which I will have you know had olives, honey, and molasses in them. (We are in Florida people... you don't keep sticky sweet things in your cupboards). I was mad. Mad at myself, mad at breaking jars, mad at my fridge, mad for having tile M. A. D. -  mad!

Can I just say - Kalamata olives & honey on a floor do not smell nice at all - mixed with tons of glass - PRICELESS. And may I also mention that the juice of said olives ran under my fridge. OH GROSS. SOooooooooooo thank goodness Mr Safety Man was there and came running after he heard beautiful, flowerly words coming out of his darling wife's mouth. I am not sure if some of those words really exist quite honestly. I think I went in to outer orbit.  Such. Is. My. Life.

The up sides... I have twice now clean and vacuumed floors. AND my kitchen floor is clean, including UNDER the fridge and behind it (and that was disgusting - just sayin'). Do I care about the upside? NO! I am cranky... BECAUSSSssssssssssssssse I didn't get to bed as early as I had wanted....

Like i said - Such. Is. My. Life.

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling...

...like a clock... tick-tocking my time to get things done... T'is the Season everybody!

I am doing  it again... I am totally just stressing myself out and getting myself all worked up... but for good reason! I can tell myself that right?! My sweet sister and her family and my sister-in-law and her son are coming THIS coming THURSDAY (six days people). It will be a very busy and chaotic time all together - but I think it will be just what we all need. I want this to be as perfect as I can make it... with all our loss and people missing this season... however... I know deep in my heart nothing will erase the sadness. I just hope I can ease it a bit and just spread love and peace. I am very excited for my family to arrive.

And to add just a little bit of pressure... my sister's birthday is Friday (day after she arrives) and I have invited all my wonderful friends here to meet the sisters and their families in an Open House!!! OH I am a glutton for punishment aren't I? But I LOVE throwing little parties and I can finally do it... physically and mentally! It's been a LONG time since I have had one here!

There's so much to do... and I am slowly working on things... I just hope I can make the deadlines... I am really pushing things...but feel like i am on a sleigh to nowhere fast...

and I am so. very. tired.