The Real Me

Y'all have no idea the guts it took to post the following pictures, but I'm trying to be honest here. Anyone else participating in Simple Mom's Spring Cleaning Party? I'm a day or two (or three) off her schedule, but I don't think that's important. What is important is that I'm doing SOMETHING.

Monday, I had my first real photo shoot (and spent quite a bit of time editing images). The photos below were taken on Tuesday morning. As real (if you want to put it that way) as I get. I worked as hard as I could on things the rest of that day as I got a chance (you know how it is trying to accomplish anything while parenting 3 small children, don't you? Don't you?!). Yesterday (Wednesday) we got a few things done in the morning. Late afternoon and evening were filled with piano lessons, dinner out, and family night at the swimming pool. We came home, got the kids to bed, watched (luckily we have a DVR) Lie to Me (my favorite new show) and American Idol, and then promptly went to bed. Priorities, people, priorities. So I'm back to the grindstone this afternoon.

So, I figure a few of you will love me for these photos, a few of you will be amused (or not), and some of you will be appalled and never return to Mt. Hope. Sigh.

BEFORE:

The kitchen:

Laundry:
Recycling mess:

AFTER:

I finished up the laundry and got it all put away, cleaned/straightened the laundry nook, cleaned and organized the mess on the kitchen counter (left) a little. (I put a fresh quote on the chalkboard after I took this picture.) I emptied the dishwasher, did the dishes, and cleaned off the counter around the sink.

More kitchen counter cleaning, put the recycling in the bin outside, etc.

Took all the photos off the side of the fridge and cleaned it. Removed more things from counter.

Put the month of May up on the dry-erase board, cleaned off the corkboard, cleaned up the school basket and math bin, put the math balance scale away since we aren't using it right now...

But.... I still have a few piles of paperwork that I need to work on this weekend. I desperately need a new system for bills, to-do stuff, and filing!!

On to the living room...

BEFORE:

(Don't you like my dead pots of grass? Nice.)

This cabinet by the front door is always the catch-all. It drives me crazy!!

Shoes and coats multiply by the front door. I had the boys bring in their mess from the back seat of the Suburban. And this is where it ended up.

AFTER:

Ahhhhh. Piano books and school books organized and many put on the little book shelf next to the desk and behind the couch so they are still handy.

Bad photo, but I took down the dried wreath that was driving me crazy, removed the pots of dead grass, and cleaned off the remotes and DVDs on top of the TV cabinet. (I LOVE being able to close the doors on the TV and all the DVDs. (I also removed some dead branches and the bunnies off of another bookscase, and replaced them with a couple birds. Sometimes it doesn't take much to freshen a display.)

Purged coats and shoes by the front door, and cleaned off the top of the drawer cabinet. Removed a basket of toys that were no longer being played with.

And that's it, so far. Whew!

More cleaning and organizing coming up in the next few days.

Oh, yesterday afternoon my neighbor lady stopped by unexpectedly to borrow some eggs. I'm strangely intimidated by her, but I was able to give her a big smile and invite her in while I got her eggs. (Luke, being helpful, managed to drop 5 on the floor before we got to the kitchen. Sigh.) At least I'm glad she didn't come by Tuesday morning...