Sunshine on My Shoulders

I'm so happy the school room is back upstairs. The desk is now right beside the window. The sunlight streams in and I get to bask in it all day. Yum. I think sunlight just might be better than chocolate.

(I was worried that the sunlight would stream in during the morning, and totally wash out the monitor, since "right beside the window" really means the desk is along the wall perpendicular to the window, leaving my chair directly in front of the window. But, the Jedi got me the coolest ever large flat screen monitor, and the sun can shine directly on it...and its still clearly visisble.)

There's no room for the white board in the new school room, so we have crayola window markers and we do our 'chalkboard' schoolwork right on the happy window.

I want to hang school art on the walls, but I don't want the walls to start looking cluttered and crammed with misc stuff. (Speaking of which, the basement walls just look yucky right now.) I need to work out a system. Or come up with a creative idea. I don't really want to make bullentin boards. What do I want to do with the walls? One wall of fame. The best of the best. With each piece matted. One seasonal wall? Or wall by subject? Hmmm.....

I'm a sucker for nice layouts.

I'm also a sucker for wanting to save every last living piece of paper art ever. The worksheets don't hold any sentimental value for me. But draw even so much as a smiley face for Mommy, and i can't throw it out.

Speaking of throwing it out, the downstairs is still strewn with assorted STUFF. Stuff that has no home. Stuff that likely can depart. Stuff. More stuff. Lots of stuff. Looks like no-man's land in some Great Stuff War. Oh the stuff.

I need a better home, better organization for my scrapbook stuff. I need to get off my perfectionist horse so I can actually complete scrapbook pages without thinking each of them needs to be an original work of art worthy of Smithosian inclusion.

I need to get back to ENJOYING scrapbooking. What a concept THAT is.

The downstairs table isn't becoming a scrapping table after all. Its going to become a gaming table. I'm not even dissappointed about this. I've missed gaming with the Jedi.

Words of encouragement for the stuff war:

Dear Friends,

My Born Organized Granny always said, Everything has a place and
everything in it's place. Do you have a place for everything?

Do your piles begin to grow because you can not make a decision on
where to put STUFF. I want you to evaluate your piles and decide where
to put everything. Even if you have to put post-it notes on the inside
of the drawers and doors.

Find a place for everything. If you don't have room, then it is time
to EVICT the junk to make room for the good stuff.

I know it is hard for SHEs to make decision on where to place an item.
Look at the item and think about where you use it most often. Then go
put it there. If there is no room in the Inn, then throw away something
that you no longer need or want.

I am not telling you to do this all at once. Just one pile at a time.
One item at a time. As you run across something that does not have a
home; find it one. Your stuff will be much happier when it has a home.
It has been homeless for a long time. You will know where things
belong. Then you can PUT THEM AWAY WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED WITH THEM!

These are two of our biggest problems. Finding a home for things and
putting them away when we have finished using them.

You will find that when you just begin to do these things, your home
will start looking good all the time.