Thoughts on Buying a House (aka The Easiest Way to Give Yourself an Ulcer)

Kevin and I are in the process of buying our first house... we hope. The contract has been signed and the inspection is complete, which all sounds great, except for a little discrepancy in the loan application which may prevent us from actually purchasing the house. Because of this "glitch" we are still in limbo, all while our closing date is quickly approaching.

So what's a semi-obsessive-compulsive control-freak planner supposed to do when she can't pack, set up movers or call painters for bids? She organizes. Yes, I have become an organizing freak. In my need to "do something" while there is absolutely nothing I can do, I've turned all my nervous energy around and found that I can be somewhat productive in the midst of utter ciaos and uncertainty.

It all started as I was purging my magazine collection and I came across an article in Real Simple called "Declutter Your Mind" by Gail Blanke. In the article, Gail explains that as a life coach she asks all her clients to throw away at least 50 things... and how that simple task can declutter your mind as well as your surroundings. Here's a snippit of the article that got my attention.

When you start throwing out a lot of physical clutter and you get on a roll, a new urge kicks in - the desire to clear out all the clutter in your mind. That's when you get into the really good stuff. It's the mental clutter that drags you down and holds you back, that keeps you from stepping into the next great segment of your life - the one that's filled with promise, joy, adventure, and best of all, fulfillment. You can't move forward into the future when you're constantly sucked back into the past.

For some reason, that statement hit home, so I started my quest to declutter my life (and hopefully my mind in the process). Gail instructs you to not just throw away 50 things, but to write them down as you're getting rid of them, explaining that by doing so, you can look back at the list and "actually feel lighter". I reached the first 50 items on my list, but I still didn't feel like I accomplished enough, so I kept going to 100 things. I threw away (or gave away) everything from clothes to books to random food items in the pantry I didn't even know I had. It's now been almost two weeks, and I'm still finding things to get rid of, and I do feel a little lighter. Too bad my pants are still just as tight!

My New Favorite Magazine

I'm in love. In love with a new magazine. Haven't heard of it? Either had I until I stumbled across it at the news stand the other day. It's a brand new magazine dedicated solely to organization. It's packed full of great new products, innovative ideas and projects to make your home and life more organized. It's like they made this magazine specifically for ME!