lost opportunities

My claim has always been that all I need in order to organize my life (my house, really) is a week at home. Really. That's all. Note something though. I have not stated (uh, that I can recall) that IF I have a week at home THEN I will organize my life. Big difference.

I've been home most of the week. E's three week long cough suddenly got worse over the weekend, accompanied by a most impressive amount of...um...mucous. So Monday consisted of keeping her home from school and a trip to the doc and the pharmacy. Sinus Infection. Tuesday, she was packed off to school with her lunch and a raw upper lip, whereby promptly at 11 am I received a call from the school nurse. Being the nice kind mom that I am, I waffled on whether to make her suck it up and let me finish my work, or to rescue her, but ended up doing the latter. Repeat that for Wednesday - except that rather than me being at called work, I was already up at the school to watch Q in his Battle of the Books competition. In any case, the POINT in all this was that I haven't gotten a darned thing done at home. I can't for the life of me figure out what I *did*, but it probably has something to do with the computer and surfing. Or maybe it has more to do with that darned Nintendo Mario racing game that John bought us. (Aside -> The four of us have been playing that every night for a week. It's a blast except that Q wins EVERY time).

So I effectively blew that opportunity to get my life organization back on track. Errr, did I say back on track? On track for the first time is more accurate.

Here's a funny bit of trivia about me. I own probably a dozen books all titled something like "How to organize your xxxxxx". I have bought dozens of empty baskets and containers which are currently collecting dust. I have dozens of blank notebooks sitting on my shelf, probably alongside the self-help organization books. Let me loose in a Staples or the closet organization aisle of Lowes or a (gasp) Container Store, and I will wander the aisles bright eyed and full of hope for hours, in complete ecstacy. See, I am all about the idea of organization. Flylady is my hero, and I have joined her group a dozen times but unsubscribed because I could just not move beyond having the dream of an organized life.

So here I sit, in my office which currently contains, for example:

- Four stacks of books with titles ranging from Kids, Parents and Power Struggles (LOL!) to War and Peace, to Carl Sagan's The Dragons of Eden to What to Expect When you're Expecting (nope, no, NO...that's an old copy).
- a telescope, this is a BIG-*ssed telescope
- a Harry Potter sorting hat atop a side table that was originally meant to hold games but now is stuffed with oh, artwork, tax information, telescope lenses, PTA junk, Religious education committee stuff, some wires, some boxes, etc...
- two rolling cabinets full of old toys that the kids won't let me throw away, and note these are in the MIDDLE of the floor.
- an entire CORNER full of PTA treasurer junk, in a cardboard box, noless. Don't advertise this part...they'll audit me.
- excess holiday cards

Oh, I'll stop. I haven't even gotten to the stuff that was supposed to be in here in the first place and you get the idea.

I should probably make peace with the fact that I am a juggler rather than Martha Stewart, but then I'd lose out on all the fun I get haunting the aisles of Lowes. We all need goals, yes, but if we actually attain them, then what do we have left to inspire us? It's all in the journey, right?