Laundry Conquered (for now)

Well, it has taken me 2 weeks, 1 or 2 crying episodes, much gnashing of teeth and the carting out of the house of approximately 20 bags of clothing and bed linens to share or donate to finally get caught up with our laundry, meaning the only things that are left here are clothing that we like and can wear...whew! We have our bedroom back without stacks and stacks of clothing to sort! So peaceful and relaxing! After watching the movie, Nanny McPhee, my DH really liked the idea of having a set of chairs that we sat in and had our visiting time, like Colin Firth and his wife had on the movie before she died. Ours were DH's Father's Day gift 3 or 4 years ago and have seen MUCH better days! I have gotten inspiration from a blog to make my own slipcovers for the chairs, white cotton duck or denim (still trying to choose) for it's cottage-y feel and for the bleachability. Check the blog at Pink and Polka Dot...lots of great ideas!

Binge and Purging aka on a purging binge

My laundry efforts are still underway even after 2 full days of it, but in the meantime my son, Peter, needed an old sheet to put inside his bass drum which lead me to cleaning out the "bursting at the seams" linen closet.

Now, I need to tell you that I have an inner struggle with de-cluttering. Using that Proverb woman who is more precious that jewels as my model, I feel that I should sell everything that we don't need in order to be a good steward. On the other hand, I know that it is a Godly thing to share what we have with others. So...sell or donate? Donate or sell? I decided to defer to my DH who said give those things away! (but try to get a tax receipt for as much of it as possible) SO nice to have a clean linen closet now! Now...back to the laundry...

Laundry...ugh

I hate laundry. Did I tell you that I hate laundry? Want to know something interesting about me? Well... I hate laundry. Socks are especially irritating. When I die and get to Purgatory, I will have an enormous pile of socks to match up and no TV to watch or friend to talk to while doing so. When I finally get to the end of the pile, I'll have three socks left that don't match anything. I have decided that laundry is NOT going to be how the devil conquers me (Lord knows he usually tries and succeeds!)

As you might imagine, our family really dirties the clothes. 5 active boys and 1 young lady at home is enough to keep any Chinese laundry in business, but add in 2 older children who bring their loads home, 2 parents, 7 beds worth of linens and oodles of bath towels and you've got one BUSY laundry room! I have to brag on my husband, David, though...he does all of his own laundry (very quick and efficiently, I might add) and often does all the towels and bed linens, too. To quote one of my favorite movies, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, "he's a keeper!"

I have really good theories on how to conquer the laundry and keep it maintained. It's in executing these theories that I have trouble. But...in order to have the peaceful home of my dreams, laundry MUST be manageable.

Today I will tackle getting our laundry back in order for the umpteenth time. Winter clothes that still need packing away and dirty clothes still in suitcases from last week's trip to Tennessee don't make it any easier. One of our problems is too many clothes! Today's mission is to hang up clean clothes, start washing the dirties and put away unneeded clothes for charity...I'm thinking Big House Foundation's clothes closet for foster children (check out their facebook page and help them win some needed funds with a Pepsi grant).

I'd love to hear any comments to make this daunting task more pleasant...please help!

Welcome!

We are the Strickland family...Dad, Mom, 2 girls, 6 boys and 1 dog. As you might imagine, things get pretty hectic around here and "the Messies" have permanently moved in with us, uninvited, I might add!

This is our journey to (once and for all) achieve some level of peace and order in our home. I don't mean that we want one of those Zen Houses where there are two pieces of furniture in each room and the floors are so shiny that you're afraid to walk on them for fear of your feet slipping out from under you.

We want a lived in and comfortable home full of love and good smells drifting in from the kitchen. A home where we can find things that we need when we need them and don't have to go out and buy yet another nail clippers, tweezers, packing tape, dog leash, etc...you get the idea! A home where there is finally time to relax with what makes us happy...swimming with the kids, sewing, crafts, reading, watching SEC football and the like. A home where we can have friends and family over to fellowship and don't have to start 8 days ahead to get the house clean enough for company. A home where there are no huge cleaning projects screaming out for our attention and no mom screaming at her kids to finally clean their room. A home where we have time to minister to the needs of others and not ignore our own needs at home. Best of all, a home where we feel God's Peace, with no excuses not to find time for prayer and listening to God's voice.

I truly believe that God wants us to have peace. I also truly believe that Satan throws chaos our way to hinder our quest for peace. Chaos, clutter, buying things that we don't really need and living life "on the edge" are Satan's ways that he gets to our family.

Come join our journey...I promise to make it real and hopefully interesting. It may at times get ugly, but my prayer is that I can glean tips and ideas from others and learn a few things on my own.