Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Fresh Starts

It's a new year and I feel energized and ready to tackle life with zeal! It's time to pare down and organize my life once again and make things easier to manage. (WHO keeps bringing all this stuff into the house anyway??!!) I love love love to organize!!  I started in the kitchen this morning. I started in the North East corner and worked my way around the room. I couldn't believe it when 5 hours later I was only half done.  I've pulled everything out of each of my cupboards (one at a time, I'm not TOTALLY insane) Decided whether to pitch, donate, or keep. Washed it, dried it, replaced it, or in some instances cooked it ;)  
One of the ways I pare down in my kitchen is to see if there are any foods in the cupboards that I have had for awhile and haven't incorporated into our meals. If there's a food I don't usually eat, I pull it out and set it on the counter. I cook with these foods for the next few meals. Doing this frees up my pantry space and also ensures that it won't just sit there, going to waste. For supper today we had a lovely soup of chicken cooked in  broth seasoned with some Asian spices to which I added mung bean pasta. YUM! A quick and easy meal and two items in my cupboard are no longer taking space!
The rest of the kitchen will have to wait until tomorrow, then it's on to the pantry, the bathroom, the hall closet, the nursery, the bedroom, living room, and finally the attic.  I expect to lose a few hundred pounds in the next few weeks. I carted 50 of them off just today in the form of books to our neighborhood thrift store. It's a process... a refining fire, burning off the dross so what is left can truly SHINE! It's also an opportunity to share with others. Things that were once useful to self can now be useful to someone else... 
Did I mention I LOVE to organize!! :) 

2 comments:

Terri said...

Guess who is back in the garage .. again!!! Yep. It is my January Chore! I changed my to-do list! You would be proud! No more than three things on the list each day! One major chore each month. Each day working towards that goal! Day to day chores DO NOT go on the to do list anymore! The studio is next month!

Carolynn Stewart said...

Yay! I am proud! Just remember to have fun don't do too much at once. Take breaks and take care of you! :)