I Love Christmas, but I'm so ready for "Organizing Season"

No, really, I do.  I love everything about the holidays and, yet, when we're done with them, I heave a sigh of relief.  When it is all said and done, I'm ready for the chaos of the holidays to give way to the sanity of the post-Christmas calm.   I'm the lady who would take the Christmas tree down on the 26th if my family wouldn't mutiny.  Seriously...the Christmas decorations begin to disappear right after the Christmas dinner dishes are done.  With Superman away for the holidays this year, the chaos that is part and parcel of the holidays seemed magnified this year.   Don't get me wrong...it was still fun and Santa was very good to my family, but...I was ready to be done and my fingers itched to put the holiday decorations once the kids had retreated to their Christmas corners to play with their new belongings.  It turns out, though, that this year was one of my "better" years because the "de-Santa-fication" process did begin on the 26th and was finished on the 27th...I even got the tree down on the 27th!  Can you believe it?  Superman protested, but really couldn't stay my hand.  Most interesting of all?   I did it all with nary a protest from my children.  I think we were all ready to be done and get back to normal.  It is so freeing to put the stuff back in the storage boxes to come out next year.  Don't you feel so much lighter after you've reclaimed your home from the festivities?

The best part?  The "de-Santa-fication" process ushers in one of my absolute favorite times of year:  Organizing Season!!  I love Organizing Season.  I think it is no big mystery why the chaos of the holidays leads us all in to desperation as we approach reclaiming our homes and our routines and strive to improve on both.  Evidently, it is not just me!  Target, Home Depot, and the like are all advertising storage bins and organizing solutions...apparently lots of people feel the urge to organize after the holidays.

I don't buy more storage solutions, however.  I end up feeling so "light" after I've put away the Christmas decorations that I want to get rid of MORE stuff.  So I do.  During my much-needed technology break, I cleaned out my kitchen and got rid of old pantry items, and equipment I haven't used in years.  How many cookie cutters does one family need?  Anyone? (Superman, we really don't need a "Cocoa-motion"...I'm sorry.)   I went to the buffet and cleaned out the old, wrinkled paper napkins that have collected there over the past year...organized the cloth napkins and few paper plates I have and made everything in there much more deliberate and less haphazard.

Then I headed upstairs to my linen closets...old towels are on their way to the animal shelter (did you know they're desperate for towels?), old sheets are donated to thrift stores, and clothes that haven't been worn in years are gone. 

I scrubbed under the bathroom sinks and got rid of cleaning supplies that are gathering dust.  Do you do that?  buy something and end up NOT liking it, but keep it in your cupboard for some unknown reason?  If you do, bite the bullet and get rid of it all.  I got rid of lotions, hair products, and other weird stuff that was unused under my sink.  (How do I get all that stuff?)  I cleaned out my make-up drawer and got rid of tons of stuff that I haven't used and won't.  (Oh, this is so hard for me.  I love, love, love make-up.  The only problem?  I don't really wear much of it anymore.  So, why am I holding on to it all?  Weird.)

Finally, I headed to my desk/sewing area.  We went from three printers to one wireless printer that serves all of us. (I was able to give our two printers to a family with a boy away at college with no printer and the family had no printer, so both needs were met.  I'll admit I felt good about it.)   I got rid of craft supplies that I'll never use.  I organized my notions and patterns.  I cleaned out my desk and got rid of old pens and pencils and other miscellaneous office supplies.  Went through our homeschooling books - yes, the same ones I went through in September - and got rid of a bunch more...if I haven't used them by now, I'm not going to used them.  I cleaned off my magnet board.  Went through my collection of JoAnn's and Hancock ad's and made sure I only had the most current ones.  I even switched out some of my old storage boxes for new sleek ones, making the room a little calmer...we need calmer.  All that is left is the top of my desk...I'll be working on that this week.

After all, that, I felt terrific...until I read Almost Organized's post about her junk drawer.  (She's another lady who likes to reclaim her house after the holidays...we're like twins.)   She decided to join a meme hosted by Bowl of Lemons and the first task for January was to tackle the junk drawer.  The junk drawer!  I hate it, but I've been ignoring it.  It is my nemesis.   No more.  I finally cleaned out my junk drawer...I feel great!

Here is all the stuff that was in the tiny drawer (I forgot to take a picture of it inside the drawer). 

Here is all that is in the drawer now.  (Yes, I need those lighters in my kitchen...my stove doesn't light without one.)

Isn't it amazing how one little change can make you feel so much more in control of things?  I just love it when that happens!

"Chaos reigns" or "We're back to normal"

Well, I had terrific intentions to get caught up with Photo Friday Flashback and Shoot Me, but a few "things" tripped up my schedule.

Furry, sweet, adorable things with claws...

Meet "Ninja" - she's roughly six months old and was lost. Charming found her wandering his college campus on Thursday evening and he couldn't get her to stop following him...long story short, we headed over Thursday night and picked her up to save her from a sure fate as coyote food or a future destiny as an owl pellet. She never stops purring and fell asleep in Buttercup's lap in the car. A quick trip to the vet to check for a microchip and we had to decide. No microchip and not fixed, as well as a bad case of ear mites meant very little chance of finding her owners. What decision? For us, we'd already decided. She was ours if we wanted her. We wanted her.
She's all black and has topaz-colored eyes. She's so beautiful and sweet-tempered. Ninja has adopted Buttercup and Buttercup has adopted Ninja. She now has a microchip and will be fixed on Wednesday. She put a smile in our hearts...a sincerely joyous, lit-from-within smile.

But wait, the story gets better. You might remember that we lost One Lucky Baby last summer. We were heartbroken. Then we fostered Oliver and Slinky in the hopes that they'd be a good fit. They weren't and we returned them to the vet to find homes that they'd be happier in. We put getting a kitten or two on the back burner, telling the veterinarian to put us on the list for a kitten in spring, when kittens are abandoned to them in need of extra love. Well, it is spring.
When we walked in Friday morning, they seemed to be expecting us. It turned out that they were because Cajun was ready to go home. Yep, they'd left a message on the machine Thursday night asking us if we still wanted a kitten and we hadn't yet listened to Thursday's messages. Isn't that funny?So, meet "Cajun". She and her litter were dumped in a trash bin (!) at roughly 4 weeks. Only Cajun survived. When she was brought in, she weighed 13 oz. Now she's a brawny 1 lb 13 oz and roughly 7-8 weeks. She's got six toes, greenish-grey eyes, and tiger coloring that normally goes to male cats. The vet told us she's special and they were right. She's amazing. She's Valiant's baby (but that is Buttercup's chest she's sleeping on). She is not wasting any time hiding, this little bit of kitten. Instead, she's decided she's going to slay dragons, she's such a scrappy little thing.
So far, we've been really fortunate...Sam I Am is tolerating the new arrivals and the dogs and the cats aren't fighting. We've only had one "oops" and that was no big deal. As you can see, the babies are playing. What you can't see in this picture. Cajun was charging Ninja, not the other way around! Charge and retreat with the tiny one going after the bigger one. It makes me laugh to watch them together.


So, yes, chaos reigns at the Nagle5 house...and, you know what? We wouldn't have it any other way. We now have 3 cats, 2 dogs, 4 koi, 1 hamster and 3 birds. 13 pets and they make us happy. Go figure.
P.S. I'm learning just how difficult it is to take pictures of black cats...unless they're up against something really light, they just don't show up.