Organized Flexibility: A Military Spouses' Mantra

Thankfully this is not the amount of stuff we are moving!  But the idea is the same!

There is just no other way to describe how I am approaching this move back to the Gulf Coast.  Truly, there is no other way to describe what every military spouse must do when approaching their moves--whether it is an official PCS (if you're not military, this means "Permanent Change of Station") or more of an elective move, such as ours. 

I am fully aware we created the bit of chaos we're in right now.  As I write, I'm in a hotel and will be in one for several days, as we travel, search for a new home, and get settled.  I have high hopes the process will not take long, but one can never tell.

Back to flexibility.  In September of '11 I made plans for a video shoot in TX for a youth gathering.  I knew the best dates to shoot were not my best dates, but it had to happen.  As we approached the end of our time in FL, my husband's leave date kept changing--sometimes by weeks, sometimes by days.  No big deal, really.  Meanwhile, the video shoot, while it went well, didn't go as smoothly as I planned.  The talent were great, but we had some things pop up that I wish I could have had the experience to side-step.  Live and learn.  But I realized then, that at least a plan helped us be flexible in the end.  We had to be flexible in order to make it all happen.  The same holds true for our move and any military move.

There are little things about PCSing that civilians realize.  For example, we could get orders in January to move in June, begin to prep for the move and then the orders could be cancelled or changed in May.  It's just reality.  While the orders may remain with the same location, the dates may change--by weeks or days.  Other times we may get orders and have just a couple of months to prep and move.  And then there is my personal favorite, the person in the military may have to go ahead for training, leaving the majority of the move to the spouse--this seems to happen frequently.

For these reasons, and many others, the spouses I have come to know and respect, are incredible organizers, but also incredibly flexible.  They make it happen because they have to, and very rarely do they complain.  It becomes the next "war" story at the next social and everyone joins in and laughs about what they just survived and made happen.

I'm A Collector...

Of CRAP!

Okay, not all of it, but a lot of it.  And it seems this has been a problem since my teen years.  (I'm not a hoarder.  I can walk through all of my rooms just fine, but it still seems that I have way too much that I/we don't use).  Proof that it's been an ongoing issue? 

Exhibit A.  This is me in my parent's van, about to leave for college.  We couldn't fit my sister into the van!  How sad is that?  Should have known then. 

I have always kept too much.  I look back now and think, "why?"  Why did we have to bring all of that stuff, especially at one time?  Why, did I keep, throughout college, textbooks from classes with no bearing on my career later, and then later toss them when I moved to my first post-college home?  Why, why, why?

First, I like a good deal.  Second, I like to think I can reuse and re purpose some things.  Third, it's genetic.  I have a predisposition to cute paper products and cute things in general.  Oh, and again, I like a good deal. 

Fast forward to the last month.  The end of July and beginning of August have had one theme.  "Purge"!  At first it was, "purge, pack, stack", and then later, just "purge"!

This is one of two truck loads of "treasures" I brought to the thrift store.

We unloaded a lot...we each had brought furniture from our "single" homes and worked them together.  But we really didn't love many of the items.  So, moving gives you a great opportunity to purge and make way for something new.  We put bookshelves out in our apartment hallway with signs "free to a good home."  They were gone within hours.  That's great!  I'm happy to help others.
Once we got to Florida, it was time to go through more...this time, mainly clothes.  Wow, I had gotten rid of a lot in those two truck loads, but apparently it was time for more!  This is pile number 1.  Jason created pile number 2 and it's awaiting transportation to a thrift store.  There will be a pile number 3 when I go through my true winter clothes and wash them all.  I can already think of one sweater that needs to go.

Purging is cathartic.  It certainly makes way for the new.  It's eye-opening to see exactly what you don't need.  I didn't think there would be that much, but as I looked at items and decided that, even if they still fit (ugh), I wouldn't wear them, I needed to let go.  I needed to face the fact that I don't need three black dresses anymore because I don't go to that many weddings, I mean events, anymore.  It feels good. 

It means shopping!  Kidding!  Kinda...

De-clutter Me

Will I ever be clutter free? It seems as soon as I clear off the spare bed or the counter top something new appears within seconds!

I love the idea of being clutter-free. I love being organized. I love organizational tools. I just can't ever seem to sustain being organized and clutter-free!

It seems I've been on the quest to de-clutter for the last year. Moving will do that to a person. I had a LOT of stuff. Jason went minimalist after his divorce, so he had far less stuff. He's also not as nostalgic about some things as I am. For example, Jason has one stuffed animal from his childhood. I have a Rubbermaid 70gallon tub. Now, in my defense, I had two tubs and have reduced it to 1 and I want to put them on display in my child's room someday, so there's a reason to keep them.

Most areas of the house are always clutter-free. I hate clutter in the bathroom, so it's always clean. I hate clothes on the floor, so our clothes are always in the hamper or put away. Most of the time the kitchen counter is clean, but I also hate doing the dishes, so sometimes there are a few stray dishes in the sink or on the counter while the dishwasher is full.

My office is really the hardest place to keep de-cluttered. There are several reasons. It's a good catch-all for items that don't have homes yet. Scrapbooking stuff comes and in and out of it's home frequently, but sometimes it takes some time to get it back home.

But I also blame my mother (whom I love DEARLY). Mom is OCD about many things when it comes to her house. It's spotless, truly, it is. But mom is a "piler" when it comes to office paperwork-type things. Dad is pretty neat about stuff too, but he's usually got a variety of piles going in his office too.

So. there you have it. It's genetic. :)

This post all stems from finding two blogs today regarding organization. The first is this and from there I found this one. Both inspired me to tackle my office...AGAIN. It was clean when we got back from NYG and dropping the boys off in San Antonio. But somehow the bed had piles again. Most of them are gone. Pictures that needed to be scanned are scanned. The few remaining items are:
1.NYG cross to be hung
2. 2 beach pictures of boys to be hung
3. Creative Memories files that I need to go through to put my Memory Keepers club together.
4. 2 books I'm going to trade in for a different book at a used bookstore.
5. Some scrapbooking papers I'm going to send to my cousin.

So, everything has a reason to be out, I just have to get those tasks accomplished. Now, back to the tasks...or reading "Eat, Pray, Love." I must finish it by Saturday for book club. Yea!