consolidation.

lately i've been feeling quite overwhelmed by life.  not by everything individually... for instance, my son is not overwhelming, my husband is not overwhelming, my job is not overwhelming, etc.  but those things in addition to everything and everyone else (managing the household, the busy calendar, church, friends, family events, etc.) that i keep up with is kind of overwhelming.  when i feel like this, my first instinct is to freeze everything and get organized.  kind of like how in college, about two weeks before finals,  i would collect notes from all the classes i skipped or missed and organize the piles of tests or papers scattered about on my floor from that semester's coursework.  then i'd stop by the BP and grab several sugar free redbulls....and then i no longer felt panic, despite the fact that i still hadn't studied a lick for a single final.  it was like this frantic pre-preparation for actually being able to study...  am i alone in this?  probably.  i'm like a personality C type.... by "C" i mean, CHAOTIC.  i thrive in chaos most of the time, but eventually it gets to me and i wig out and do something rash like "organize."

it started about a month ago.  i took it out on b first by insisting that our schedule "chill out."  and he was kind and obliged, even though that wasn't the complete fix.  then a few weekends ago, i cleaned out the junk/paper mail drawer and re-organized our bills.  we pay our bills on line, but occasionally something slips by like "durham county animal tax" for $10.  ugh.  anyway, i decided that, in addition to a better budget, i needed to really get to meal planning because that's where we toss most of our money... eating out, groceries going bad... impulse ice cream runs, etc.  then i ran across my friend katie's blog and she had linked into several other blogs about "home organization."  is that perfect timing or what??  so i created my own home organization folder which currently has 5 tabs: cooking, household, finances, calendars, and "remember this."  i probably could have labeled these better but i'm not a natural born organizer, so whatev. 

in my cooking i have my meal plans which i found a cool template for.  i have a folder for recipes to try.  i suck at meal planning--big time!  but on katie's blog she shared that she posted her meal plan on the fridge, and i really think that might help.  first, it will hold me accountable to follow through.  second, it will set the expectations for meals that week.  this way b won't be disappointed when spaghetti is on the menu.  instead he'll just expect it.  since my church family does a lot of meals for families who are sick, grieving, or have a new baby, i want to also include some notes on freezer meals, good/easy meals to take over to peoples houses, etc.  i gathered a lot of ideas when people brought me meals when tag was born.  

in my household folder i pretty much only have coupon folders at this point.  but i thought it would be really neat to create a monthly "to do" check list for the house.  maybe create a list of weekly/monthly chores to be done.  this would include things like giving durham her flea and tick treatment and changing the air filters (two things i consistently don't do unless lint is flying around out of filter or durham is scratching her belly raw-- i'm AWFUL!).  anyway, i think/ hope this helps.

next is my finance folder.  i'm trying to keep a running budget so that a) we can hit some target goals for saving and b) we can pay off some dang bills!  (i know if b reads this he'll laugh ashamedly at my use of "dang" and reference my lucama roots.)  anyway, this is also a good place to organize the random tax bills that durham county loves to send. 

the calendar section, i think, speaks for itself.  we've been using google calendars for a while and they're great, but i just really like being able to see a calendar on paper.  it's so helpful.  heck, who knows... maybe i'll clear a space on the fridge and put that up too??  other things i'd like to put here would be my personal bible reading plans and maybe some exercise plans.  i've been a lazy thing lately, and now that it's cooling off, i've got to get my booty moving!  i feel like if i can look at the calendar and see what we have going on, i can write in some time for a walk.

the last section is "remember this."  so far it's just a folder with odds and ends i need to file away.  i want to get around to adding a note pad back there so i can write ideas, notes, etc.  i also have a hand full of things that i want to put into tag's memory book (hair cut photos, 1st year growth chart, etc.) if i ever get around to putting that bad boy together... HA!  this section is basically a catch all.  but i'm sure out of it will form new sections once enough things get stuffed into that folder. 

well i said all of this to say that in a further effort to declutter and do a "pre-finals organization sweep and sugar free red bull run" i'm seriously considering consolidating my two blogs  into one.  currently i have the blog you're reading and this one: http://www.jodiandbrentley.blogspot.com/.  i thought about doing this last year, but i think now i'm really going to do it.  it might help me feel less crazy.  and if indeed i do this, i'll probably move everything on this blog to the other one: jodiandbrentley.blogspot.com.  but, i'll say farewell in a separate post first.  in the meantime, however, if you're not following the other blog ( http://www.jodiandbrentley.blogspot.com/) you should do that.  pretty please =)  

oh and tell me how you organize your life.  i'm still open for all suggestions on how to reduce my information overwhelmation (yes, according to urban dictionary this is a word).