Thanks Julie!

Julie pointed me at a website called www.organizedhome.com and it is FANTASTIC! Between reading some of the notes there, and comparing notes with her every day or so on what we've accomplished - I have been kickstarted back into cleaning - and more importantly! - decluttering my home! Of course it looks like a war zone right now - but so far I've gotten rid of the old microwave, emptied out my car, gathered up groceries that I'm NEVER going to eat, carted books off to the used bookstore ($74.05 worth of credit - LOTS of books!) gathered various belongings scattered through out the house and relocated them to their appropriate room (not put away yet, but at least near where they're supposed to be), and come up with a working plan for sorting/storing the piles of paperwork I'm drowning in.

The amazing thing was how much better I felt, just by getting rid of that dern microwave. I didn't realize how much it was bothering me as it was the first thing I saw every time I went into the kitchen.

At last I feel like I'm making this house my home again. My goal is paperwork this week, then next week I tackle the closet/clothing issues. I'll have to be ruthless - and try stuff on all day long (groan) - but it will be nice to see my closet floor again and a relief to not be constantly struggling to find places to shove various clothes and linens. I wonder how many bags of clothes I'll be donating this time?

What's really made this neat is the fact that Julie and I are doing it together. Knowing that I have someone out there who's in the same position and acting as my own personal cheerleader - a favor I TRY to return - makes all the difference in what was formerly a thankless and oppressive job. So - THANKS JULIE!