ORGANIZE

That Ali Edwards is one smart cookie.
I bow down to her insight and look forward to any new idea she has up her sleeves.
Who knew the power that choosing a single word to focus on would have on your daily life?
Did you choose a word for 2009, a word to help bring clarity or fun to the day to day?
My word for 2009 is Organize.
I'm a procrastinator. It is often at the last minute that I get my act together and get things done. And I HATE that, because with my husband's schedule, there are often unforeseen obstacles that interfere with that last minute, which takes away a lot of my joy. And I'm not just talking about scrapbooking. For example, if I kept the house clean all the time it wouldn't freak me out to have unannounced company. Or if I watered the plants regularly, they would always look beautiful, instead of that pathetic droop that often greets me as a reminder to grab the watering can.
I have come to realize that my whole life has been cluttered for quite a while, and it just occurred to me where it stems from.
In late 2005, when I was 6 months pregnant with Payton, we bought a new house. We were spoiled with our first house. It was brand new. It was about 1500 square feet. It had a decent backyard. But it was in a subdivision and there wasn't RV parking or a place for Steve to spread out and have a shop, etc., etc. So we looked and looked and finally, Steve found what he thought would be the ideal setup for us and our budget. We wanted to keep our first house as a rental, so we didn't have a lot of money for a down payment, so we went for the maximum we could afford.
I live in a resort community, which means that housing is rather expensive. But we found a place on 2 acres just outside city limits, which meant we had space for that RV, a boat, and room for a shop. It also meant we had space to stretch our legs and a little "farm" for our kiddos. But because of the location, location, location, we had to sacrifice in a very important area.... the HOUSE. Steve's dad is a licensed contractor, so Steve wasn't worried about the house. It was built in 1980 by an environmentally friendly ham radio operator, so it has the sloped roof for solar panels, and is considered "green" with a man-made burm (Is that how you spell it?) up against the house for energy conservation, etc. It is an ODD looking house. But it's square. Steve said it wouldn't take much to lift the roof off and change the whole thing.
So in late 2005, 6 months pregnant with my second child, I moved into a house that needed a LOT of work. 1100 of the 2200 square feet of the existing home was considered an unfinished basement.
For the last 3 years we have put a lot of money and time into this house, and it still isn't finished. And we aren't financially ready to add-on yet. And now we have two children, and we all know that going from 1 to 2 is more than twice as hard, or at least, I think so! lol
So things have been unorganized and overwhelming and cluttered for three years now. If I get overwhelmed, I am one those people who just stands there, paralyzed. Sometimes I can't see a clear place to start, when there is so much to focus on.
But 2009 is the year where that changes. It is the year I make a fresh start and take charge in how things go.
I got a notebook and have started making lists. Even something as simple as emptying the dishwasher is written down there, because I feel a big sense of accomplishment when I cross something off and look at the list at the end of the day.
We made the house a priority this year. Last year we were gone traveling and camping far too much. This year we are going to finish a few things. We need to put up new fencing because our steers wreaked havoc last year. We need to figure out what to do about the yard, because my yard wasn't properly cared for previously and not all of the grass growing is lawn grass. We need to finish putting up TRIM. We made a lot of progress because we are now living in all 2200 square feet of our home, but we need to keep pushing and finish all of the projects that we have already started.
I need to focus on the kids. They are only young once, so I need to do better about making them #1. Sometimes I feel like I push them off to the side with a cartoon or a craft project so that I can focus elsewhere, when what I need to do is drop everything and give them 100%. There is going to be more of that in 2009.
So that's it. 2009 I shall be organized! That's one reason I'm doing that 2009 layout challenge. I'm not organized enough for 365 photos, but I am going to be organized enough for 12 layouts highlighting my whole year.

What's your word?