Hi everyone!

It’s Mommy Monday!

Whew!!!  What an incredibly BUSY few months it’s been!

The “event of the year” (a/k/a Jared & Kay’s wedding) was a total success!

It’s done… it’s OVER!

Everything was beautiful… food was plentiful… and everyone looked absolutely stunning in their grown-up “fancy” clothes (as the boys like to call them 😉 )!

Not only have we added another beautiful daughter to our nest, but the best part was that she didn’t have to walk down the aisle in sweatpants or jeans!

That’s right… I actually pulled it off… the wedding dress and all the other little tasks were completed AND I even had a couple of days to spare… which, of course, I spent frantically running to a dozen stores trying to find something for the rest of us to wear.

I’m so relieved that I no longer have to “dwell” in the basement where my sewing machine resides, my family no longer has to eat out of a bag or a box, and our home no longer looks like the aftermath of a tornado (though it’s now canning season, so it still looks like a strong windstorm has been hovering over us!).

For three entire months, everything… and I mean E V E R Y T H I N G… has been put on hold.

The only reason my house looked clean and clutter-free for a day or so last month was because my parents came in from out of state for our annual family reunion… and… well… let’s just say I had a really good reason for banning my mom from the basement!

As crazy as it’s been around here, I really love it when my parents visit… phone calls are always nice, but there just nothing a good old-fashioned hug from your mom!  It’s like the next best thing to mommy “kissing it and making it all better”!!!

Now that all of the “events” and summer commitments are over, and the boys are back in school, I can finally focus on getting things back on track and completing all of the little projects that somehow managed to get started, but didn’t quite get finished (but let’s face it… nobody EVER follows through with their New Year’s resolutions anyway, right?!?)…

Like the laundry room… and the family room… and the guest bathroom… and the BARN!

Ugh… that barn!

Just because I haven’t had a spare moment to work on any projects does NOT mean that I haven’t been stockpiling inventory (though I’ve been really careful about doing any more “shopping” under the influence of medication!). I’m such a sucker for garage sales, curb finds, auctions, and thrift shopping that some might think I need a support group…  but, what I REALLY need is uninterrupted TIME to unleash some of this pent-up creativity!

I swear… every time I open the door to our barn and turn on the lights, I keep expecting to hear an “announcer guy” saying….

“…and on our NEXT episode of Hoarders…”  sheesh!

Thankfully, I have a plan for each and every piece of furniture out there… I just need a chance to channel it from my head to my hands… It sounds so simple, but when you have two needy pre-teens… it’s extremely DIFFICULT!

For the past few weeks, I’ve been spending all of my time trying to play “catch-up”, although I’m not really sure I understand the object of that game very well, because I NEVER win!

But I keep trying…

In fact, I’m so determined to finally WIN at this stupid game, that I’ve created a 100-day challenge for myself…

So… starting tomorrow, my goal is to finish the family room, the guest bathroom, the laundry room, AND reduce my current inventory in the barn to half of what I have in there now…

If my family agrees to suspend the remaining 2015 birthdays until 2016, have Thanksgiving dinner in March, and celebrate Christmas in July, then I REALLY think this is totally do-able!

If not, then I guess I’ll be hearing that “announcer guy” saying…

We will now resume our regularly scheduled chaos…

Enjoy!

Lynn