Things Broken and Organization

So the New Year hasn't exactly started out the way I had planned or envisioned.  I have barely lived up to my resolutions and we're only on the 11th of January!  Sheesh!  We have had so much going on lately and I have wanted to do so much . . . and I just feel like such a scatterbrain. 

There are so many things that need fixing around here and Jay has been at work alot and I know he's feeling overwhelmed by all the things we're waiting on him to fix!

To top it all off, our Christmas stuff is still half up!  I know, I know!  Awful huh!  Today it's all coming down and I'm putting it in the front room.  Hopefully when Jay comes home tomorrow he'll take all the bins down so I can store it away.

I'd like to mention all the things that are or have been broken around here.  First our microwave (this has been since Christmas Eve), we've had a leak coming from our dishwasher, our coffee maker is also leaking (going to throw it out today - Jay tried fixing that one and no-can-do), the printer, Jay's truck.    I'm relieved, happy, and proud to say that Jay fixed the printer and his truck yesterday afternoon!  WooHoo!  Such relief!  And he found where the leak is coming from, as far as the dishwasher.  We have yet to fix the microwave, which has made for an interesting few weeks; warming up coffee, leftovers, and hot water has been like camping . . .the old school way which takes a very long time!  The good news, he knows what's wrong with it, it's just about forking up the money and finding the time to actually fix it.

All this and I'm on a mission to organize all the paper around here.  I'm trying to gain some control over all the stuff that circulates in and out of here.  It just seems like there is so much - I can't figure a system out that feels like it'll be successful.  Jay reminded me yesterday that I've attempted to do this many, many times in the past and each time it hasn't really worked out (nice way of saying it failed huh!).  So this makes me feel even more determined to create a system that works.  Right now this is the idea that is swirling around in my mind.  After reading this blog post and reading this helpful article I have decided that I am going to create a system using these bins.

I am creating 3 different stations:

• Read & Review - a place for mail catalogs.  Nothing time sensitive.  Just leisure reading material that circulates in the mail.
• Active Files - using the bigger bin I am going to create files that will breakdown into these categories: Jay's Inbox, Misty's Inbox, Receipts, Coupons, Immediate Actions, File, and Shred.  The purpose for this active file box is that it is to be maintained; things will and should be constantly rotating in and out through this file box.
• Misty's Someday Box - this will house all the things that I think up and print, or write down.  I, so, need this box because I have tons of sticky notes all around the computer.  I am also going to be using files to breakdown my stuff into these categories: Projects/Ideas, Worth Saving (quotes I discover. And I love, love, love quotes!), Rotating Photos (a new thing I'm doing, rotating my photos out of the frames - keeps it fun and interesting!).  My box is meant to be a place to house unimportant details, non-time-sensitive material. 

In addition to these 3 stations, Jay and I have a plastic file system that holds all of our files that need to be kept but we don't need to refer to often.  This is put away.  I will also be giving that filing system an overhaul too.  I need to downsize and change some of the categories in that system, especially because we have gone paperless on the majority of our statements.

So there you have it!  One long post on what's been going on around here and what's been swirling through my brain.  Ahh . . . and here's a picture of the process.

Sitting behind all the markers, crayons, and pencils is a stack of papers-papers-papers!