Thus Endeth the First Day

Stop.

If you didn't already read my previous post about "The Organizer Lady" coming (Let's call her Hollie. That's her name.) go read that first.

Okay, you're back? Ready to hear how day 1 went? Good, good. Fasten your seatbelts.

Day 1

Okay, here's the Day 1 summary:

pix of day 1:
http://www.andfam.net/kim/OrgoDay1/OrgoDay1.html

So Hollie and her son came with boxes and trash bags and rags and cleaners. And she explained that she likes to start at the front door and work around.

I was appalled that the first thing inside the front door is the JUNK DRAWERS and did NOT want to start there. But start we did. She jumped right in.

We labeled boxes as we came to things: office-y stuff, toys, kitchen gadgets, tools, misc. (not much went in there!) Goodwill, health & beauty, kids' rooms, etc (I think there were more boxes ...) and we just started tossing things into those boxes. We got the drawers emptied out and wiped out and she took out all the organizity holders inside and washed them all off well, and she started moving stuff around. Most of the office-y stuff, tools, and JUNK did not go back in. All that stuff stayed in its respective boxes for later, we'll keep adding TO those boxes as we work our way around the house to where that box should live. So only the kitchen gadget one got emptied, really.

This was slightly different from other methods I've used where I had a "put away" box for things that just went elsewhere ... that box has always ended up big and full and scary to me. Today we ended with a big pile of small boxes of different categories. So if I wanted to put things away (although I'll wait until we work around/through the house so that those other places have some logic and space) I would just have one box at a time, not a giant mixed and overwhelming pile.

By the end of the time (we worked 10 - 3) we had a box and a trash bag full of stuff for goodwill, which she took with her.

We filled about a bag and a half of trash.

And we did a lot of cupboards and all the drawers.

Hollie just worked steadily. She enjoyed arranging and re-arranging the things to see how they would fit and what made sense.

Those are the two biggest differences between how she worked and how *I* work (or, um, don't work, as the case may be) ...

1.) she (and her son) just kept working. She didn't take breaks to check email or sit and blog ;-) ...

2.) she didn't seem to feel the need to figure it all out FIRST and THEN put stuff in it's place. She said once or twice that we might move those things again. I gasped, realizing her method was breaking the "only touch stuff once, decide now" rule of decluttering. But it allowed her to keep moving, being willing to change things later if need be. She hasn't had to RE-move things much (yet) but it was interesting to think that option was open. LOL. I often get daunted by the whole "where SHOULD it BEST live" part and never come up with the BEST plan, so I falter.

I did notice her general undauntedness compared to mine. She had me take things out of the cupboard above the microwave, which has been quite crammed full in an awkward way. Take it all out and wipe out the cupboard. So when it was ALL out I was a little freaked that all the stuff was piled up and some of it I wasn't sure what to do with, and so it FELT like ALL of it was a giant "ack, what do I do now" but she just worked with me to put things away one at a time -- things I rarely use in the top, back of the cupboard, things I use frequently down close where I can reach ... she put all my glass bowls up high and cheerfully moved them down when I said, "wait, I use them and can't reach them ..."

So in the end, we did all the lower *kitchen* cupboards and one of the upper ones, and under the sink. She started on the upper pantry ones and got those 1/3 or more done before it was time for them to leave.

Meanwhile, her son just worked steadily and quietly. He helped sort through the junk at first, them moved on to cleaning things. While we had a drawer empty he wiped it out thoroughly. When that was done, he scrubbed the counter, wiped out under the sink, washed all around the sink, scrubbed the hard water scale guck off the dish drainer and made space for the dish drainer to live under the sink. When ALL that was done, he washed the stove thoroughly, removing all the burners and scrubbing them and even removing the screen on the vent and washing it

When THAT was done he kept working, cleaning the screens on the kitchen window and washing both sides of the windows and the front door glass, too!

I was amazed. He didn't ask what to do next, although she suggested a few things once or twice. He just kept working.

I was a little nervous that while they did this they were thinking "Ew, has this oven ever been cleaned?" or "how could anyone let their windows get so cobwebby and gross?" but if they were thinking those things they didn't let it show.

The only part I felt a little bad about was sometimes I wasn't sure how to help. I really am not good at putting stuff back IN drawers logically, and don't naturally think "oh I'll scrub this while I wait" like her son apparently does, so I sort of stood dumbly by, watching, and tried to ask "what should I do next" which kept making Hollie laugh. I couldn't tell if it was the "what, is she serious?" type of laugh ... I worried that she thought I was just one odd duck of a woman. But if she did think so, she was very gracious and didn't let on.

SOoooo we're going to keep going next week, date and time to be determined. I MIGHT even keep working on my own.

She did leave me with an assignment:
1.) return all those pop cans/bottles that are in the way
2.) go through the recipe notebooks and get rid of what we don't want
3.) if I want, go through the plate/cup cupboard

but she also said, other than the pop bottles, if I didn't feel up to doing it alone, I didn't have to, that we could wait and do it as a team.

HEYYYYyyyyyy, I'm on the cleaning team with Hollie! I didn't get cut! LOL!

Woooo! I made the team!

Although, I must admit, if she were paying me to be a helper, I'm not sure I would still have a job, LOL.