and, she's back...

...although barely. 

We haven't had power at the house since Saturday afternoon. And just in case you were wondering, I'm typing this on Thursday  morning. And more than likely, we won't get it back until tomorrow. Le sigh. 

At first it was actually kind of fun: reading by candlelight, camping out at my grandmother's, exchanging those "No, you can't believe the tree I SAW fall down" stories ... but then... well, then it just got kind of old. My clothes—and our food— are spread across three different houses, I'm charging my phone in my car and I haven't slept in my own bed since last Thursday night. (Friday we had a slight re-do of New Year's in Joyce's living room.) And, trust me, I know it could be a lot worse. 

But, on the bright side, if I had to make a list of "Things I Won't Take for Granted Again, I Promise" electricity is definitely at the top. 

No one's crossing this street....

Power lines plus trees equals not the best idea. 

So at 12:30 on Sunday night, as we're finishing dinner at Melissa and Cheri's, Joyce gets an email saying a tree fell on her parents house. Since they're in Florida, we went to check it out. 

The tree uprooted and skimmed the side of the house. After some friendly firefighters told us that no, in fact, the tree won't fall through the attic and into the living room, Joyce called her Dad, who remembered the name of his insurance person IN HIS SLEEP. Here, she's looking at the bright side as well. 

Clean house, clear mind?

About mid-week last week, I started to get this strange feeling. It seemed like everything I owned – from clothes to my published clips – was in a completely state of disorganization. And by that I mean in a complete state of "absolutely all over the place," and I was totally frustrated at not being able to find anything. I took a quick glance around my bedroom and realized that this was in fact, true. My sweatpants were sitting with my summer tank tops. Half-read books that I swore I would finish before the holidays were still sitting on my desk. There was a whole slew of magnetic poetry in a corner by my bed. Seriously, magnetic poetry. They've probably been there since, oh, 2002. Does anyone actually use magnetic poetry anymore? 

And so, in homage to that old quote about a clean house and clean mind, I decided to embark on Project Organization 2010.  I actually just Googled what that quote was, in case I totally made it up and it seems I might have. Cleanliness is next to godliness? I don’t think that was it. I've never been entirely sure what that meant, anyway. But, you know when you clean and organize everything around you and your mind feels suddenly at ease? That's what I was going for. First phase: 

Step 1:  Clear out everything from under my bed. Gems found: Back issues of Jane, which were amazing to read, and have since been placed with other inspirational things. A box full of random things from high school/college – including a mixed tape from 1997. A whole bunch of pretty stickers from back when I thought I could actually have the patience to scrapbook.

Step 2: Separate everything into piles, according to what they are. Art. Wedding. Electronics. Journals. Misc.

Step 3: Go to Bed, Bath and Beyond. Walk around the store a few times before realizing that organizational items like, you know, boxes, are set up right in the middle of the aisle. Pick up 4 boxes and one shoe organizer. 

Step 4: Lay out all organization tools. Wonder if I forgot to buy labels. Find makeshift labels which are actually circles. Label.

 Step 5: Take shoes from closet and put them in brand new shoe holder. Realize shoe holder is only meant to hold 12 pairs of shoes. Manage to stuff in 19.(Also realize in this moment that I own way too many shoes. Especially considering those were primarily just summer shoes. Sigh.)

Step 6: Stack boxes nicely. Place in closet. Slide shoes under the bed. 

Step 7: Mind, clear. 

Next up: Makeup drawer.  

Have you done any organizing lately? Is it just a side effect of the New Year or does it actually make you feel better?