This is the Place

"A Place for Everything and Everything in it's Place" was the dream my mother had when we were children. That was the problem. I was pretty sure it was just a dream. Then I met Cherie. And it took me a few years knowing her to believe that she truly knows exactly what she owns and where every bit of it is.

Mudroom "System"

You may know that Cherie is an organizing guru. She is also my own personal angel. Not really, she spends her life in the service of all her friends and neighbors. Still, we are determined to get my house "organized" once and for all. Actually, if there is anything i've learned from Cherie, it is that there is no "once and for all." There is only repetition. She "dejunks" her whole house at least twice a year. Therein lies the key to knowing all her stuff. It isn't that she has all that infernal much less than i do. The difference is she touches everything she owns at least every 170 days. Oh, and her memory might be a little better than mine :).
I've also learned that you've got to have a system that works for you. That's my first big challenge. My brain just doesn't work that way. When something isn't working for me, and she suggests that i do it a different way, i (usually) think, "That makes sense. Why didn't i think of that?"

So i went to a local discount chain store (okay, Walmart) the other day to pick up some Sterilite containers for a project and the thing that makes me want to say bad words is that every season, Sterilite changes the styles of their drawers and boxes. When i'm finished organizing something, i want it to look nice and i want the new containers i use to stack nicely with the containers i used last time. Is that so much to ask? I mean, i know that the containers are not THAT expensive. If i wanted to, i guess i could just buy all new containers every time, but i have dozens of these containers going on in several rooms of my home. I should count them. i bet i have a hundred. And i just hate that the 27quart containers from last year won't even sit straight on top of the 27 quart from this year and if you pull the drawer open, the whole unit comes crashing down on your head. Argghh!
Another big challenge i face is curiosity. Cherie is always amazed at what lengths (or heights) my children will go to to "undo" my organizational efforts. I've just started realizing myself that when i "lose" my keys or my phone, more than half of the time, they aren't lost, but have been stolen and hidden. Sometimes the little thieves even remember that they've committed the crime and what they've done with the evidence. But it's also that they are interested in what i'm doing and what treasures i've uncovered on my foray. So they pick them up and carry them off. Sigh.

Game Closet "System"

One last thing... okay, two: first, how do i get people (my children and my husband) to use the organizational systems i so painstakingly create? I mean, i get that the labeling is for me, so i won't have to think through the process again (and again), but really, let's just put things back where we get them so we can find them next time. And then finally, will someone please tell me how to go from whining blogger to someone who can actually make a difference in the world (how can i contact the Sterilite Company and offer my valuable insight?)?