My Former Self

I have spent some time in the last few days mourning my former self.  Does anyone else do this?  Here's an example of what I mean:

Take a good look at this picture.  This is my degree program plan. Yes - it is color coded.  With post-it notes.  This used to be my life.  My notes in college were immaculate.  Every piece of mail that came through my house was sorted, labeled, and filed.  I kept a detailed log of when my bills were due and when I sent them out.  My checkbook was balanced, checked, and highlighted when transactions were processed (yellow for outgoing, orange for incoming).  I never lost ANYTHING.

Oh, the days.

Now, mail sits unopened in a heap on the table inside the door until company drives us to shove it in a pile in a back room where it may sit unopened for days, weeks, even months.  Pieces of important documentation are tossed into a milk crate to be filed some day in the far future.  Bills that aren't on auto-pay are paid when I finally have time to sit down and pay them.

Inspired by my friend Chelsea, my husband and I set out to do something about the cluttered state of our paper lives.  We began clearing out his office (paper stash central) and our basement.  We bought storage bins (retail, folks - that's how serious this is!) have begun scouring, sorting, shredding, and trashing.

And it feels good.

For the moment, however, I would like to take this time to formally kiss my former self good-bye.  Life was far easier and more comfortable then, when I could spend several hours a week organizing and labeling, but with a full-time job, a house, a husband in school, a son and a daughter on the way, church, friends, and so many other things, I simply cannot keep up that standard of organized.  Instead, I'm working on shortcuts that accomplish the same thing in less time.

More to come as I get that all figured out.