Operation Organization

The holidays are over and Christmas is put away. What is next? Retailers want to help us with our New Year Resolutions. The sales flyers are full of fitness and home organization products. I would argue you could do this anytime during the year but traditionally it seems like we all do it after New Years and before Easter. The secret is to get everything organized before your momentum is gone.

My mission this weekend was to put Christmas away in an orderly manner (aka the lights). The biggest deterrent to decorating the outside of our house with lights is the task of testing/repairing the lights before we can put them up. Mission accomplished. All the lights were tested and bulbs replaced as needed before each strand was individually bagged and labeled. The job was made easier with a handy testing device I purchased at Target. This was time consuming but worth it. Next year Marston will be able to select the lights he wants without the hassle of a tangled mess that needs testing. Generally my method of organizing the other Christmas items has worked, except the totes were not labelled. Lack of labeling means all the Christmas totes arrive in the house at the same time (overwhelming). Next year I will be able to select totes as I need them.

Makes finding the problem easy. Target $18.99

Operation organization moved to the garage on Sunday. Every time I walk into the garage I realize how much my husband loves me. HIS garage is full of MY stuff and I have it everywhere. Some of you are probably wondering why I am keeping extra stuff in the garage? How much stuff do I need? The majority of the space is storing furniture I have bought at auctions for the new house. Then there are those totes of collectables that did not fit in our existing home. Plus the Christmas totes. By the end of the day: Marston was able to reclaim his workbench (he is happy); some totes have been sorted and labeled; three boxes of stuff will go to charity; another box of stuff is ready to be given to new owners; and our recycle bins and garbage can are full. Operation organization is not done with the garage but progress was made.