Meaning business

It is slowly coming together, me and the house.  It's taken years and years of false starts, half-hearted attempts, and more failures than I can remember and remain sane, but finally, blessedly, it's all coming together.

This is the beginning of the third week of organised.  I was going to say two weeks, but then I counted up the weekends and it is three. Three.  THREE!  Three WEEKS of organised.  Me, organised for THREE WEEKS.  Please excuse the shouting - this is huge.  It needs a little shouting.

Can I also say that without those years of false starts and half-hearted attempts, I wouldn't be where I am now.  I needed those to work out how I work, what works and what doesn't.  OK, so I know more about what doesn't work than what does, but isn't that the learning process?

The new "organised" began very simply with a table and a tin of furniture polish.  On a Monday morning I looked at the table, our poor stained, sad, neglected dining room table and decided that a bit of Mr Sheen was called for.  I rallied the troops to clear the table, moved the wedding present fruit bowl to the breakfast bar and set about polishing the table with paper towel and Mr Sheen.  I used paper towel because we work at that table and I didn't want the kids' school books oily.  I needn't have worried.  Our poor neglected table drank the Mr Sheen like a dehydrated man in the desert.

By the second week, we were using a soft cloth and the Mr Sheen was almost empty.  The table looked better.  It felt better.  I felt better.

On the weekend I bought some proper furniture polish at Bunnings.  This morning as I rubbed it into the table I worried that the oil would again threaten to seep into the books.  I left the table alone while we read our read-aloud.  By the time we returned to the table to work the oil had soaked in.  The timber is smooth, glowing and looking loved.

The kitchen is clean and tidy.  The floor feels clean.  The benches are reorganised.  I'm finding a place for everything.  Having a place matters.  You know the old saying...it's true.  A place for everything and everything in its place. 

So, in short, that is how it began, with a table and a tin of furniture polish.

I'd love to tell you about the Zones, the menus and the plastic bags, but they will have to wait for another day.  The bell has just gone and it's time to return to work.