A week ago our power went out unexpectedly (hmmm . . . is it ever expected when the power goes out?) and because the temperature in the house was dropping rapidly as the sun went down we decided to grab some dinner out and take a drive to look at the Christmas lights in various subdivisions.  We started doing this when Drew was a baby at the surprising suggestion of my holidays-are-just-another-day-minded husband and for a several years it was a tradition.  For whatever reason we hadn’t done it in a couple of years.  It was nice to do it again now that all of the children can see out of the van windows and comment.

The day marked seven years since we had bought and moved into our current place. We decided to take the boys to see the first home we lived in, the first homes of ds9 and ds7.  (The first home of ds4 is the home in which we currently live.)  The memories of our time in these quaint rental homes, in the neighboring town which will always be home to me although it is not my home town, began to flood my mind.  I realized that since we moved into our current home I’ve felt a bit out of control of things around the house.  I’m a bit of a perfectionist and having a spotless home used to be high on my list of priorities.  Since doubling our square footage and adding a third child, finishing my bachelor’s degree and working on my master’s, holding down the fort while my husband worked endless hours, adding pets and having children who walk, talk and make big kid messes, I have lost control over my home.

Sure, I keep it clean.  The boys help and the husband, too, when he has time.  But the deep organization that used to be a way of life for me has had to take a back seat to school, home schooling, family time, extracurriculars, SLEEP and the stuff of five people.  I say every December when I’m out of school for nearly a month that I will finally tackle the closets and the cabinets and the playroom.  And somehow life always takes up more time and energy that I anticipate.  And now with an internship to complete I have even less time.  And once that’s done I’ll be working full time.  And . . . and . . . and . . .

*breathe*

So, today I vow to do something–no matter how small–every day until I have my home completely organized once again.  Whether it’s starting a bag of unused clothes and toys for charity or rearranging one shelf in one cabinet, every day until order is restored I will do something.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. –Confucius