When we moved back it took several weeks to even GET to the boxes that were piled high in this office of mine. I was and am frustrated with my overwhelming feelings about organizing this room because before we left I felt my space was a well-oiled machine. Dammit.
This morning as I was standing in the shower I made a decision. A quiet one where no one could hear me, but a decision nonetheless. This weekend I will get to organizing once and for all (seriously, once and for all, Gawd I'm tired of packing my shit up) the scrapbooking element of my office. Some of the stuff are naturally (still) organized like buttons, alphabet letters, colored containers, fabric, ribbons (mainly because I left the stuff already in the drawers when we moved).
However, I walked in here this morning to get started on my work and felt overwhelmed and instantly exhausted by the pile in the corner that has been sitting there since September. I know what needs to be done, as I have organized scrapbooking spaces and product and photos a million times, but I suddenly don't feel I have the proper ENERGY needed to accomplish the dreaded feat.
But I'd like to get back to some degree of scrapbooking. As I had mentioned in my Debbie Downer Does Not Smile post a week or so ago, I will never get to where I once was and I am completely and totally fine with that...what I'm looking for right now is to scrapbook my everyday before the memories and thoughts leave me. Suddenly I realize how fast time is going. How big my kids are getting. How Josh only has only two more years of high school. How Jennifer has only one more year left of elementary school. Holy Crap, Time! Slow Down!!! And that was when I realized that I have been missing all those little moments I truly DO WANT to capture in the life of my family before it's too late.
That was the thought that made me WANT to get in here and get my stuff organized.
Last Friday Corinna stopped by for some wine and we had mildly (and weakly) entertained scrapbooking for an hour or so. I walked into my room and thought, "what would I work on if we were to scrapbook tonight?" And I was lost in a pile of overwhelming gobbly-gook. I had no friggin idea. I opened the closet and was faced with totes and piles and half-finished layouts that I began in Pennsylvania almost a year ago. I opened the drawers of the cabinet in here and quickly shut them because they were stuffed with a little bit of this and a hell of a lot of that.
And I don't even really know where I'm at with my photos, where I left off, what still needs to be uploaded and ordered. For the first time since I began this craft thirteen years ago I am unaware, unorganized, unmotivated, and far from where I'd at least like to be today.
Photos. That is the place I plan to start. I want to get my photos uploaded. I want to see where I left off in my day-to-day layouts. Start listing what photos need to be ordered over time. Familiarize myself with the completed layouts that are either: a) ready to go into an album; or b) needing journaling to complete them.
Paper. Every time Corinna walks into my office she comments about the six standing totes full of paper. "Is this ALL your paper?" (As if hundreds of sheets of pattern paper and cardstock occupying SIX totes on top of my dresser is NOT enough. Insert laugh.) For the record: no, it is not all my paper, which is what I tell her every time. The rest of the paper sits in further totes in the closet. I knew when we were packing up on the east coast that I was going to hate myself in the morning over how I treated the paper. And I do. It's everywhere.
Drawers. Lord help me. The drawers, while in Pennsylvania, had distinct purposes. I had them filled with ribbons, fabric, containers by color full of embellishments, foam stamps, alphabet stickers, scrap paper, and over-sized embellishments. Today only about half are still in the original organized state. The others are filled with adhesive, maps from our journey east and west, half-completed albums, packets of photos, rub-ons, unopened frames, newspapers. Ugh.
Closet. While the closet looks organized it is FULL of stuff that I need to simply go through and reaquaint myself more than anything else. I have ZERO idea of where I even left off. I need to touch the completed and half-completed layouts. I need to go over the photos. I need to tidy and refresh.
Pile in corner. The worst. Full of more maps, sketch idea books, stamps, ink pads, pens, totes that I have taken to scrapbook months and months ago...all left completely untouched, slide-in albums for pages I want to get to, and a whole lot of shit I need to sort through and put away and find homes for.
Stamps. I just barely untaped the drawers to my stamps from when we moved it in July. I need to go through them, sort, clean out, and determine which ones I want in the three tiered bowl thing I have sitting on top of the dresser.
Labeling and fine tuning. The totes on top of the entertainment center needs to be labeled so I know what is up there without getting on the step stool to see it. I need to figure out a better solution for my monthly bags that are half in a cabinet and half in a basket on the floor. I need to utilize the green totes I have sitting on the shelves above me that are co-exist with all my writing files and books.
I'm hoping this weekend to once and for all get to the scrapbooking part of my office so when we do finally get back to weekly scrapbooking I can at least be prepared and not as overwhelmed. I thought spending three full days with the hope and idea of organizing my scrapbooking stuff will help get the motivation and energy where they need to be. Fingers crossed. I'll share photos when I'm all finished...