Getting Organized

This sure seems to be a recurring theme around here. That's probably because, while I love getting organized - containers! lists! schedules! - staying organized is not my strong suit. Hmmp. Not my strong suit, indeed. And things change so fast around here that I have to revamp everything pretty regularly so even if I did manage to stick with a plan for any length of time, I'd be making lots of adjustments all the time. At least that's my story.

So back to the organizing. When the first Duggar special came on tv (and I have them on tape, y'all) I just knew I'd pick up a couple of tips. And I did - we now write our names on cups and only buy one kind of socks - the thing that stood out the most was a comment the dad made about the mom not really being all that organized until their fourth child came along, at which point it became a matter of survival:) I, um, see what they mean. I have Mommy Brain in the extreme. And, yet, I essentially have to be the brain for myself and four other people. If I don't write it down, it never happened. Also, as the kids get bigger there's more to do - homeschool, baseball, church things, etc.
So all of this has been to say that I'm going to spend this spring getting things in order with a system that will be easy to live with. Some things I've already got figured out, but I'll be writing about all of it here because, like I said, if I don't write it down, it never happened. And on that note, here are the first areas I'll be working on...

• getting the car in order for spring/summer outings - I have a good start here, but I still need to clean out the car and get it nice and neat
• kids rooms need to de-cluttered. I like the way both rooms are organized, but sometimes there is just too much stuff
• the grocery shopping system is working very well, but I want to get it written down and I want to work on spending less on groceries
• laundry! I've tried doing some every day and I've tried saving it all for one big laundry day, but neither of those plans seem to work to well for us.
• my kitchen needs organizing something awful - the fridge is crowded with leftovers no one ever eats, I can't remember what's in the downstairs freezer, and my cabinets are pretty inadequate for the way I shop.
• Jack needs to start potty training, which doesn't sound like an organizational issue. But trying to get four kids quickly to the potty in Walmart for an emergency is a feat for a civil engineer:)
• Our daily schedule needs revamping now that we're going places again. Staying home has been lovely this fall and winter, and I'm still trying not to run around much, but it's time to venture back into the world.

That's not all (by any means), but it's all I can think about right this minute without my brain exploding so I'll leave it at that for now. Hopefully, I can get some work done on our schedule today and post an update tomorrow. Hopefully.