40/40 update

i laugh in the face of 40 bags in 40 days.  it's not as if this was going to be that grave of a challenge for me.  i love to organize.  i love to clean.  i loathe clutter.  everyone tried to tell me my house would be a disaster once i had kids, but i feel if anything, i have become even more organized than i was pre-parenthood, and of course, more paranoid about germy-germs than before, obviously.  being a stay at home mom, you have to be organized.  or maybe i should back up and say, you should be organized.  this is my job right now, my career, and any job i've ever held down, i've prided myself in doing it to the best of my abilities.  my home has become a little messy with toys, books and blankies, but it's never dirty.  there is a difference, no?

i've really enjoyed this exercise.  i've tried to do a couple bags a day, that way i can still have my down time during naps and not feel like i should be cleaning something.  (was it supposed to be a bag a day?!  ahhh, well...)  the easiest tasks to complete have been the kid's rooms and our main living area because they're baby (and jack) proofed.

• jack's closet held a toilet that i didn't even know we owned, a bag of books he never showed any interest in, stuffed animals from the state fair (c'mon, they're not even soft and cuddly or the kind that the kids care about after leaving the parking lot!), several broken trucks, and two bags of blankets - one to go into storage and the other for outside on the grass/take to the park/stroller blankets, and two bags of consignment clothes.
• dylan's room was fairly easy because i'm constantly going through her closet.  and, her room isn't exactly played in just yet.  i did get one bag of consignment clothes though.   
• main living space took several days to get through.  
• the kitchen was quite fun to tear apart, but i annoyed ben in the process.  "how long is this sh_t gonna stay on the counter?"  (it was gone the next day.)  i purchased a new set of glassware and used the new box to put the old glasses in.  got rid of a christmas platter that only went to use taking up space in our cupboard.  got rid of two pizza cutters; some metal utensils that i never wanted to use on my nonstick cookware; one funnel; two sets of four place mats that were over ten years old and went with nothing in this house; an old ice cream machine that didn't work, but i kept to remind me to buy another one (i think i can remember...); and a glass cutting board that was never put to use because cutting on it was sooo loud.  i made sure to take everything out of the drawers to clean all the crumbs and junk collecting in the corners.  how refreshing!
• the hall closet held a few board games that i don't even know how we had them in our possession.  and even now, i can't remember the names.  so those are gone.  a few hats and gloves also said their goodbye to the miebs household.  
• the laundry room was more about cleaning: vacuuming behind appliances, dusting the shelves, window frames/sills, and throwing away old cleaning supplies.  donated an old dust buster.

i did get to the master bath and was completely floored by how much garbage came out of there - 3 bags!  do you even realize how much junk is in your bathroom and how much of those bottles of whatever are likely expired?!  i'm still amazed.  the drawers and cupboards in the bathroom got the same treatment as the kitchen.  i also treated myself to these $3 organizers that just make me smile.

ben was laughing and shaking his head at me, at how tickled i was by my new organization and purchase.  whatever.  he's just as silly when it comes to his reloading crap and all his teeny tiny jars of mcdoodles and whazits.  (which by the way, are dylan's old baby food jars!)


so there's 32 days until Easter, and i've already compiled 20 bags.  eight bags went to turn a leaf, three went to salvation army, two went to consignment, and i have seven in my entry way (that was the second picture above).  i'm choosing to not count the throw away bags because my point was to really donate items so that others may benefit.  the hard areas remain: master closets, crawl space and garage.  triple yikes.  we did a major sweep through the garage in the fall, so i'm sure this clean up will really be just a clean up/throw away and not so much to give away.  the area that has me really concerned?  the crawl space.  insert edge-of-your-seat music da-da-dummmmmm...