Still going!

Another successful night last night. Five minutes in the entryway, during which I pulled out some broken camera equipment (going to see if it's fixable or worth fixing), and some stuff to put on ebay, Craigslist or freecycle (still not sure). Also tossed 2 pairs of Little Miss' outgrown sneakers, 1 pair of hubby's old sneakers, an un-used disposable camera that "expired" in 2001, and even a partially-used disposable camera that expired in 2002. This was rough for me - who knows what photos are on that roll? But the film is probably no good and it was a cheapie with poor quality anyway. BIG STEP as I am usually obsessed over saving every frame of film ever taken ever.

So... anyone want 3 Mets seat cushions or a brand-new video camera tripod? I don't need 'em...

I also managed not one, not two, but THREE five minute sessions in the living room. All three were spent sorting through some of the plastic shoeboxes that hold many of my kids toy pieces. These were uncovered, spilled out and spread around in front of some of the storage shelves. That area is a disaster but I'm going to tackle it a little at a time.

Did you miss me?

I'm back! Not that I ever really went away. I just sort of crashed and burned. That is the problem I always seem to have with the decluttering.

Well, the new year brings all sorts of new years resolutions including my annual resolution to Do Better in terms of clutter, cleaning and so on. But for the first year, I didn't make myself a Big Promise. I am starting small and slow. So far it's frustrating. But it's only day 3.

FLYLADY says to give it 15 minutes a day. Some days even 15 minutes seems monumental. So I'm starting with 5 -- or rather, two times five. My plan is to spend 5 minutes a day in Flylady's "Zone" - she moves to a different zone each week. That's part one. And for me, I am focusing on a different room each month, so the other five minutes will be spent in my "room" - starting in January with the living room, which is so unlivable that we hardly ever go in there. This means my bedroom is the social hangout for children, tv watching, snacking, and apparently, painting with watercolors (thank God my rug is old and that my kids don't have oil paint).

The last two nights I've actually managed the 5-minute Zone and TEN minutes in the Room. It doesn't look like I've made much progress, but I have found the couch and also moved a pile of photo albums that's been on the floor since, like, August. I should have taken a "before" picture. Maybe tonight.

I'm also going to start a notebook of projects and tasks that I find as I work in each room... such as, fixing the living room VCR (which, when fed a tape, promptly unspools it and spews it out). And I plan to re-vamp my nonexistent morning routines.

If all of this sounds very familiar, it's because it probably is. But maybe this time it will work. I hope so. If I really stick to One Room A Month, things should be well in hand by the end of June. At which time I'm really going to need some room -- as we are expecting a third child!!!! Sure hope that nesting instinct kicks in soon...