What have I done?

This is what keeps running through my head.


What have I done?


I made a decision.  A decision that is very much like Julie in Julie and Julia.


I have decided to tidy my life by November 6, 2016.


Let my start with my past.  I was never the neatest of kids.  I am the oldest of two kids to parents who remain married to this day during the time of no-fault divorce.  I had a fairly good childhood.  There were bumps, yes, but nothing that could not be overcome with patience and persistence.  However...


I HELD ON TO EVERYTHING I COULD!


I still do.  I would spend Saturdays cleaning up and not getting anywhere.  I'd get distracted, put everything in a box to deal with it later, and go on with my life to no avail.


I grew up and went to college.  This, I remember, was my first true tidying session.  My then boyfriend went home mid-semester and I was left to complete the semester on my own with some contact with my classmates and friends but I felt lost.  So I started from top to bottom cleaning my stuff in my dorm room from top to bottom. And it looked great...for a month.  Then finals crept in and the decision to leave school loomed.  I felt lonely and missed my friends and boyfriend in the city while I sat in a small town isolated.  So things fell apart a bit and everything got moved home.


I eventually finished college in the city and got two jobs.  I still had no home of my own though and really did not deal with spending and hoarding habits, occasionally purging to suit others' needs.  I met my first husband ( well I actually knew him before) and we dated and spent my time split between his place and my parents.  We got engaged  and moved into a 800 square ft. apartment.  It was not glamorous but it was the start of home, a cluttered home.


It wasn't until we decided to move that I started cleaning and tidying.  I finally had the house fairly clean before the move but did not leave room to pack which was awful.  And the next place had less sq. footage. so something had to be done!  My friend suggested Flylady, an online support/ self help goddess that has a program to get your house in order. IT helped greatly especially for payroll SHEs for which I am in double. There will be a blog about her later.


Then I got divorced.  Everything scattered to the wind and back to my folks' place and all my goods stored or stuffed into one tiny room.


A DECADE LATER:


My life is different than it was ten years ago.  Some things are the same.  I work the same two places.  My parents still live in the same house which I visit frequently.  And I still have a untidy living area.


And something things are different:


I saved up and bought a 1900 sq. ft townhome to share with my brother, went back to school, met my second husband, finished school again, got a dog, joined a volunteer service organization and had a beautiful daughter who is now two.  I need a tidy life.


I heard about Marie Konodo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.  A friend loaned me her copy and after reading it, I decided to make this my challenge, to tidy my house!


So what have I done?


I think I have decided to change my life.