I was off to a good start last week, but it only lasted a few days before I stopped forcing myself to do a little clean-up before hitting the couch with the TV / book / laptop.

Tonight I decided to pick it back up again with a little multi-tasking. I went through a small pile-up of mail while catching up with some shows on the DVR. (Yes, watching TV is being productive, too. I was almost out of recording space!)

After that pile was done, I decided to do something a little more drastic. There has been a milk crate sitting in my living room for a few months now. I used the crate for Iron Girl (at the end of August!) to carry my gear and organize my transition space.

Once it came back into the house, it wasn’t entirely emptied. And then it began to collect magazines, mail, paperwork, etc. Topping the crate was a large straw hat that I’m pretty sure has been there since I returned from Virginia Beach (Labor Day weekend). Actually, one of my clean-up tasks from last week was to unpack a small duffle bag that also accompanied me on that trip!

Yeah, I’m really bad about putting things away.

Anyway, I finished sorting through everything in the crate. I also got through most of the pile on the coffee table. Only now I seem to have a bigger mess than what I started with!

There was some trash and a lot of recycling, but the “keep” pile is still a pretty big stack on the couch. I should be able to take care of at least part of it before going to bed. Books, magazines and random “stuff” can be put away, leaving the filing for another day.

I am not looking forward to that day, but it’s going to have to happen sometime soon. Paperwork is taking over my house!

Anybody who was here last year may remember a little project I did which I named NaBloCleanMo. Basically, I was sick of the state of disaster in my house and vowed to work daily to fix it during the month of November.

This made my NaBloPoMo posts quite time consuming. I had to take a “before” shot, clean up the mess, take the “after” shot, upload the photos, and write about it. On the nights where I didn’t get home until after 10 p.m., it was a bit difficult and stressful to fit it in!

Lately, I just feel like I’ve been so busy. So I decided there would be no organized NaBloCleanMo this year. My house certainly needs it, but I don’t want to stress too much about it.

However, I have started making small attempts to attack the messes.

Last night before settling into the couch with a book (that I most definitely will not finish before my book club meeting on Friday), I did a quick clean-up in our half bathroom. I cleaned the toilet, put away my stuff on the counter (this is my powder room in the morning!), and wiped down the counter and sink.

Tonight, I vacuumed up a gang of dust bunnies that were threatening to take over the living room.

I’m hoping, once again, that I can change my sloppy habits. I’ll be reporting back frequently. Maybe not daily, but hopefully often enough to make a difference!