WHOA Nelly!!!

Thanks Coke Zero for spiking me so high right now on caffeine that I am literally buzzing like a freak.

I've been really good at keeping out of the caffeine lately.  Decaf coffee, some diet pop here and there, but mostly water and I add citrus fruit or some mint and stevia to tea.  It's been great.  

A couple nights ago, I had to go to Target to get a mop.  I wound up getting a bit (Okay...six bottles of 710 ml) of Coke Zero.  Of course, I figured I could handle it.  I'm a seasoned coffee drinker.  Love the stuff.  But since my Concerta really makes me skittish and jittery, I figured I should cut back.  It's really hard to find a good selection of decaf coffees.  Apparently, the call for it just isn't as great.  

I can understand.  I've met people who drink coffee strictly for it's effects, not for the taste.  Not only did I drink it for the effects (turns out it can calm ADHD sufferers) but I also drank it because I actually LIKE the taste of a nice, hot, steaming cup of coffee, lightly laced with sugar (will be stevia in the winter if my plants turn out as well as I hope) with a generous dose of cream, 10% or 18%.  

Some mornings, I still miss my coffee.  I miss sitting at the computer, on the couch, with my cup of coffee, breakfast and checking Facebook while I watch the morning news.  Some mornings, those moments can stretch out to a couple of wonderful, relaxing hours.  Other mornings, I do the same, but then at nine, I hit the gym.  I always get the kids up, make their breakfasts and lunches (or snacks) and then sit down for my coffee.  I'm not doing that anymore.  If I'm completely honest, I definitely am sleeping better, but I still miss my daily coffee.

Today, I decided to drink what has turned out to be TOO MUCH COKE ZERO!  I mean, literally.  

I decided this past weekend that it's time to get the toys off my main floor.  This has to happen so that I can maintain a glimmer to people that I am indeed a decent housewife.  This has to happen so that I can organize my life a bit more.  I have ideas on how I'm going to do this, and it involves taking the toys off my main floor, leaving a lovely shelving unit free to use for the following:

Top two cubbies, mommy and daddy cubbies.  This is where daddy places his papers for work, instructions for bikes, manuals, anything that he things he needs to save.  My cubby will hold a sorting station.  It will have my business items, my important notices, my way of dealing with bills, receipts.  On top of that, it's a place for the kids to put their papers from school.  The second level of cubbies will be for Logan and Olivia.  On those, they will put their library books so they don't get lost, any homework that needs to be done, and any artwork they wish to keep.  The art cabinet will stay the same, but the cubbies will be a place to store some stuff.  Grady's cubby will be on the third level.  I'm not sure what I'll find on it, but I'm sure it will be interesting.  Right now, probably food.  There will be three cubbies left.  I think that I will use those to sort books.  Give a spot for books so the kids can find something, either take it to their rooms or read it down here.  Otherwise, the toys are being sorted and placed in either the boy's room, Olivia's room or the basement.  

In order to sort the toys, it will take a monumental effort.  I am not one to throw out toys.  I'm not a 100% sure why that is, but it's like I'm a kid again in some ways.  My daughter's closet resembles my own closet back home when I was a kid.  It's full of just...stuff.  

I want her to be able to have her own space.  We've already started that.  She has a loft bed now.  She's too tall to stand or sit on a chair under it right now (we might replace it with a bigger one in the future when it's Grady's turn to have a loft bed.) so I took a shelf that she had in her room, turned it on it's side and placed it under her bed.  Beside it, I took most of the really big stuffies she has, a little lamp she got for her birthday and put books on that shelf.  She now has a space to sit down and read if she wants some quiet time.  I've taken apart the two massive blue bins she had in her closet and made one strictly for Barbies, another for baby dolls.  Then there will be bins for her food and dish toys, I am hoping to make enough space so that she can have the kitchen that's in the basement at the end of her bed.  Add to it the tons of stuffies, and we have a potentially, really fun girl room.  She has Littlest Pet Shop, many My Little Ponies and a few other items.  

For Logan, it's the Lego.  He's incredibly interested in it.  Today, I hit up the basement to find some cars, trucks, trains and airplanes to take up to the boy's room for Grady to play with.  I moved the train table my brother in law and husband made for Logan when he was two, back up there and put it under Logan's loft bed.  In the basement, I found numerous additions to Grady's new space.  While doing that, I also managed to find many many many pieces of Lego.  I have a very large bin, about 2 inches full of Lego.  I've also managed to find more Duplo for Grady, and lots of dishes and food toys for Olivia.  She was thrilled.  She can pretty much make a grocery store AND a restaurant in her kitchen.  It'll be a little cramped in her room for a bit, until I see what else we can do, but otherwise, she's content.  

This all means sorting toys from the main floor, Olivia's room (I moved most toys out of the boys room about a year ago, so their room isn't too bad right now) and the basement.  In that process, there will be tossing of toys that are broken, toys that won't probably be played with and I am in the process of going through baby toys (!!!! You'd think I could have done THAT sooner  !!!!) and either donating them to Good Will and/or passing some onto friends with little babies that might need a few toys.  If they're in particularly rough shape, I might just toss them, but overall, I'm getting through it.

I'm talking about this, because it's really interesting to me how I get into this type of situation.  I am not a big fan of housekeeping, and while things can get "messy" or "disorganized", some of the problem is that the scope of the issue is far beyond just normal housekeeping duties.  We're talking stuff EVERYWHERE.  There are five people who live here, and we all have lots of things.  My desk area constantly looks like a tornado blew through it, so hopefully my cubby solution will help.  The main idea is to find a spot for everything and teach my kids (along with Jeff and myself) how to maintain that.  It's important to me so that I can keep my own very cluttered and often anxious mind at ease.  I've found that when things are in their place, tidy and clean, I feel much more content and relaxed.  If I keep having to look at the constant clutter and disarray, I feel very anxious about it.  

I get anxious because I don't want people to think I'm lazy.  That's not necessarily the case.  I'm generally a fairly energetic person.  Most of the time, what seems like laziness comes down to apathy and feeling overwhelmed.  Then when I DO start a task, oftentimes, I get distracted.  It can be the kids, making a meal, or even just the internet or television.  I get these waves of energy, that come through very rapidly, I work hard, get frustrated because I AM the only one doing it, and get it done.  Getting it done is always satisfying and relaxing, but the next day I'm blown.  There's no energy left to get more done.  Then it all falls apart.  

This would be a part of one of my struggles.  Consistency.  I think that having a solid routine in the fall (Routine falls apart in the summertime for me) will be extremely helpful.  I know that in the falltime, we will get into a good rhythm and hopefully with practice and dedication, I can maintain it and keep my anxiety down to normal.  

The biggest issue for tonight won't be anxiety.  

It will be the caffeine high I'm currently riding!!  I wouldn't call me tonight if I were you.  I'm not capable of a coherent conversation, I think.  LOL!!!