Living in a Messy House - Temporarily

When my kids were young, they loved all of the "Bernstein Bears" books.  I still have all of the them in hopes that my grandchildren will enjoy reading them.  "The Messy Room" book was their favorite.  As I look at the cover picture for the book, I think that the pictures should be reversed for me as I am the one with the messy room.

Over the past month I have been busy taking on new volunteer responsibilities.  Perhaps I should give this another name as "responsibilities" gives the connotation of "work" and the idea that I'm not having fun with what I am doing with my time.  I am having fun with all of the activities that I am involved in.

The problem is that I have neglected my housework.  I have been "putting the fires out" throwing a load of underwear into the wash when we are about out, and thankfully with a full freezer and pantry I have been able to throw a meal together in the last minute until about a week ago. 

Last night we ate a frozen pizza for supper as I was too tired to make a homemade pizza.  Now, that is not going to kill us and actually it tasted pretty good, but my disorganization has made it's way to the budget.  I am over budget in my spending on groceries and a few other places in the budget because I haven't sat down to actually make up much of a grocery list.

Aside from the money aspect it has led to the frustration in my life of trying to find things and just the mental anxiety of living in a home that is messy and disorganized. 

I don't like to clean but I love a clean house.  How many of us admit this?  I want a clean home with the yard work all done and everything put together with those beautiful fall mums in planted pots on the front porch, the yard trimmed and looking good and then when you open the door to the house you look into a livingroom that is clean, uncluttered and inviting.  The kitchen is always put together with a few little flowers in a bud vase.  The beds are made and everything smells so clean and wonderful. 

The house that I know that looks like that is one that is on the market to be sold and has to look like that in case someone stops by at any time to go through it.

So what to do.  Today I am decluttering the downstairs of my home.  By decluttering I am talking about simply picking up stuff and putting it in it's proper place.  The majority of the clutter has been caused by me.  I can't blame any other family members.  It is mine. I will then spend some time getting as much of my "desk work" done and organized.  

My family is willing to help clean if they know what I need them to do.  It is easier to give a task to do when things are put away.  My husband will vacuum and my son will clean the downstairs bathroom.  I will do a quick dusting and then tidy up the kitchen and wash the floor.  That is all it will take to bring the house into some order.  Then I can organize a deep cleaning day.

I haven't had time to just sit down and get my calendar out and get organized.  When I do that, my house and life run so much smoother.   

I don't want my days filled with work. I love to have time to sit down in the evening to read or watch a movie on Netflix or to be able to read the blogs that I follow.  Life shouldn't be all work, and there are times when you serve frozen pizza for supper or you get take out or hit the fast food restaurant for a quick meal.  It won't kill you and because it is rarely done in our house, it is a special treat. 

It will just feel good to be able to find a pen when I need it or that stupid to do list that I wrote and I lost and had to start over again two or three times.