Deep Clean

Happy Monday everyone. Monday is such a weird day. I either hate it, or love it. I feel so good when I dive right in and accomplish a lot of my 'to-do's. On the other hand, if a Monday slips by with no real improvements, the whole week can be a mess. A shambles, I tell you.

Luckily, this Monday was one of the former. If you recall, Monday is deep clean day. (No coincidence there.) It is good to get a space clean right off the bat and perhaps it might stay that way for some of the week. Maybe.

Today we tackled the entryway. I have before and after pictures, but they aren't that stunning. Partly because the light wasn't great, so the pictures are a tad blurry, and partly because I already have my junk mostly organized in this area. Obviously there is always room for improvement, but it's also healthy to mind the adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

See, here is the shoe closet BEFORE:

And here is the shoe closet AFTER:

I know, not much changed. I actually took out a few pairs of shoes that haven't seen use in ages. And I made room for Pearl to have her own big shoe bin. And then I couldn't find one at Walmart. They seem to carry them off and on, and right now must be off. Those bins are actually locker boxes, but they work really well, and I love that everyone has a place for their shoes. Granted, I still find shoes ALL OVER THE HOUSE, but I know they will probably make a pilgrimage back to their dwelling if I yell loud enough ask politely.

Then we did the top of the closet. BEFORE:

And then AFTER:

Still, not much change. I am happy to have a place for backpacks between school years. And even in the Fall when many backpacks will hit center stage again, we always have extra backpacks for emergency occasions, like someone misplacing a backpack, going to the park, or trips to the library.

The most drastic change would be the top of the shelf in the entryway. It went from this, BEFORE:

To this AFTER:

Better huh? I like working on one room at a time. And even if I only make one space a little bit better, that is still a step in the right direction.

Speaking of other good changes. After an excellent lesson on scripture study at church yesterday, I took a suggestion and put it into action immediately. No grass under my feet. A sister mentioned that each child had her own $2.50 copy of the Book of Mormon next to the table where they had scripture study. That is genius. We have been doing well studying and we just started the Book of Mormon again, but I already have kids telling me that they can't find their scriptures when we used them just yesterday.

No more, I say. Here is our stack.

Each has a name inside. They will hopefully go right back on the shelf each morning. And Daisy was SO happy to have her own scriptures. She kept talking about it and thanking me for getting her one of her own. I didn't know she cared, but apparently it is a big deal. I guess that makes sense since all the older girls have a set of their own. I hope she will hold them proudly. And read them...in a couple years.

One last news item. I just thought you should know. After YEARS of complaining about my allergies and how I was going to find something that works this time around, I am happy to say that I am pretty much allergy free.

I was starting to have a real hard time breathing right before going to Washington. I chided myself for letting it get that far because it had already been weeks of being uncomfortable and going through dozens of tissues a day. I phoned in an order, picked up my prescription, and dutifully started the routine. It takes over three days for it to really kick in. But the results are worth the wait. I have been breathing easy for over a week now. There are times I just stop and take a deep breath and smile. It almost brings tears to my eyes. (The good kind, not the allergy induced kind.) It is SUCH a change. It is so nice.

It almost makes me love summer. Who doesn't like throwing on flip-flops, ignoring the jackets, and breathing easy outside. It's a beautiful thing.