If you’re participating in Rachel Anne’s Small Things contest, don’t forget to tally your points today and leave a comment at her site. She’ll draw two names tomorrow to win the grand prize or the random drawing.

I particpated in eight small things and accumulated 280 points. I read through the comments and one lady has 700+ points. Wow. That’s a lot of small things! I’m obviously not going to win the grand prize but that’s OK. Rachel Ann prompted me to take care of some often missed cleaning and organization projects.

This morning my Mom and I cleaned and sorted through items removed from the church office. The contents are currently residing in the church lobby because the office recently got new carpet.

We found lots of junk. Stacks upon stacks of old phone books and catalogs. We found an office supply catalog from 1996. A really funny treasure we unearthed was an extremely dusty box of floppy disks. Remember these?

We also found old Sunday school attendance books dating back to the early 90’s. I was impressed with the detail and care someone put into recording the information. The record keeper recorded mundane details such as the toddler class had an offering of .02 one week while another late July day had unusually cold and rainy weather in the low 60’s. Sure these books are taking up space but I found them a fascinating look at where the church has been.

At our old church, I was responsible for organizing and stocking two supply cabinets for the children’s department. I tried to work on the closets about twice a month, thirty minutes each time. The closets were never picture perfect but this amount of time seemed to keep things fairly under control.

The problem with trying to organize something like this is no one has ownership of the space. Lots of people use it but typically only one or two people have a interest in it. I was constantly frustrated with people who opened the closet door, pitched something in and walked away. Hey! See the tub labeled markers? Take two seconds out of your life and put them away! The old stuff we threw away today was the same old issue. No one cared to take the time over the past 10-15 years to clean and organize.

I took a few pictures today with my phone. I’ll see if my IT guy (my husband) can pull them off the phone and I’ll post them in a couple days. Its not a “whoa! look at that” sort of thing but its a vast improvement over what was there previously.

Laura is hosting a monthly organizing roundup. Each month will focus on a different room in your home. She’s also asking participants to send her their before/after pictures. She will then choose a couple to feature on her blog.

I also love before/after pictures. I like peeking into others homes. Maybe that’s not the best sentence. It makes me sound creepy.

Hmm…I like seeing how other people decorate and organize their home.

I love my house but there are a couple things about it that annoy me. Isn’t that true of every house though? I have a semi related post to that statement at Ward and June but I digress…

One of the things that really annoy me is the lack of counter space in my kitchen. On my counters I have a toaster oven, a microwave, coffee maker and Kitchen Aid mixer. I use these items on a daily basis so its not feasible to put them in a cupboard. Consequently I have just enough work space to make one dish at a time. You should see me shuffle things around when I try to fix a big meal like at Christmas.

My husband and I planned to buy an over the range microwave this past week but found that the space above the range isn’t big enough. This would be the second thing that annoys me about my house. Nothing is standard sized. Nothing.

I set out to find a storage rack to house the microwave and hopefully the toaster oven. I despise the MDF/plywood garbage the discount stores sell. Been there done that. We had a microwave rack early in our marriage that was so rickety, its a wonder the microwave actually stayed on it. I searched and searched the internet and finally found what I was looking for.

This rack is made of solid beech wood and all the reviews I’ve read at various sites give it a big thumbs up. The shelves are big enough to house the microwave and toaster oven. I plan to put cookbooks on the lower shelf. The top shelf will likely hold something decorative. After the Bellacor sale, discounts and coupon code, I got it for $107. That’s less than we planned to spend on a microwave.

It should arrive in about 10 days. I’ll post a review after we get it set up.

Tammy recently blogged about Rachel Anne’s project for 2008. She is calling the project Sanctuary is in the Small Things. Each week day she posts a small project you can do around your home or for your family to make your home more of a sanctuary. Each project has a points value. Keep track of your points each month on this handy form. At the end of the month, Rachel Anne will do a drawing for a prize.

The participants are called Company Girls. At first I thought she must mean that your home is ready for company. Nope. In this post she tells the origin of the term Company Girls. Isn’t that sweet?

I’ve been reading (and doing the small things) each day for about a week now. I love how she mixes up housework with doing things that are just nice for your family. I’m guilty of getting so wrapped up in projects that I forget there are relationships that need nurturing.

If you would like to be a Company Girl, just e-mail Rachel Anne. Add her button to your sidebar and she’ll add your name to the blog roll. Fun, easy, prizes and it makes your home a nicer place to be. Its all good.

Does that sound like an extreme reason to end a marriage or what? Apparently not so extreme after reading a letter submitted to Cary Tennis at Salon.

In the letter she says her husband issued an ultimatum…Let’s clean up the house, or I’m leaving. Now that sounds really mean at first glance but read it again. I really don’t feel that he’s putting the sole responsibility on his wife. The word let’s says to me that he’s willing to work with her but she needs to adjust her attitude. She goes on in the letter to give possible reasons why she doesn’t want to clean. I think her husband is just tired of her excuses. Just reading her list of excuses makes me want to shake her.

I think most of the response is dead on. I’ll explain why I disagree slightly in a minute. I think there comes a point when an extremely messy house is just too much for one person to deal with and you need a team effort.  Tennis says,

you know it’s on the schedule so it’s just like going to work or something. And also it’s both of us doing it so there’s not one person going grrr, I’m cleaning and she’s not, or vice versa. We’re both doing it.

Here’s the part I disagree with and its mostly just a nit picky issue. It sounds to me like the house is question is way beyond getting clean in two hours. My fear would be that its setting their hopes too high.  Even so I bet this couple would be amazed at what they can accomplish in two hours. The following Saturday, attack it again for two hours. It might never be Better Homes and Garden perfect but it would sure beat getting a divorce.

Carmen has some great thoughts today on finding the motivation to get organized. Bottom line is its up to you to find the oomph in your gut to get moving. No one else can do it for you.

Now move! (OK I would never make it as a drill sergeant despite what my kids might say about me)

Most mornings find us at home doing our regular homeschooling schedule. When we do have a morning appointment or obligation, I do a little prep work the night before to ensure we get out the door easily. This could also be helpful if you work outside the home every day.

First find an area that you can use as a staging area. This will be the spot where you put your purse, backpacks, things to return, etc. Basically anything you need for the next day and absolutely can’t forget. If you’ve got the space and an available outlet at your staging area, keep your cell phone charger here. Its just one less thing to remember.

Next think about what you’re going to wear. I suggest hanging everything you want to wear on the same hanger and put it back in your closet. This way you don’t find yourself changing multiple times trying to find something to wear. Now would also be a good time to lay out any jewelry you want to wear. Check your shoes. If they need polish or a wipe with a clean cloth, do it now. Have your kids do the same thing for their clothing.

If you’ve got pets, get their food and water ready. Just put the food up out of their reach until morning. If you’ve got a programmable coffee pot, get it ready to go. I like running the dishwasher just as we go to bed.

In the morning, the thinking part of the morning should mostly be done. Just get up, get dressed and eat. Unload your dishwasher and load it back up with breakfast dishes. Feed your pets and take a deep breath. Does everyone have what they need for the day? How does everyone look? Make any last minute adjustments, turn out the lights and get in the car.

It might sound like a lot of work but truly it makes the morning go so much smoother.We have an early morning appointment tomorrow so I need to finish my own prep work.

Kathryn Weber gives us the eight signs that your home is completely out of control and what to do about it.

HT to the Clutter Control Freak blog

Lori and her sister in law Amber recently e-mailed me to ask if I knew of any weekly cleaning checklists somewhere on the internet. As it happens, I do!

My Messy House has a checklist of daily minimums that should be done each day. This site also offers a solution to weekly cleaning. She calls it The Lucky Room of the Day. I’m having technical difficulties with her site right now though. I think the LROTD is filed under the room by room category in the sidebar. I prefer to focus on one room each day rather than Flylady’s Weekly Home Blessing hour. I can clean through my house in one hour but it nearly kills me. Flylady must have a tiny house.

Real Simple magazine also has a nice checklist that gives daily, weekly and seasonal jobs for each room. If you’re really crunched for time but the house needs some upkeep, try this checklist of jobs that can be accomplished in 15, 30 or 60 minutes.