Simplify

Inspired by my mother-in-law's Christmas gift of a subscription to Real Simple, in addition to the annoyingly fixable clutter and chaos that characterizes my daily life, I have decided to take small steps towards making my life easier. It's time to get it together and get organized. School was relatively calm this first week and I took advantage of that fact by making some small changes in mine and B's life. Here's what I did:

Got secure. I do a lot of work in a school and am privy to students' confidential information. Since I have supervision in more than one place, I sometimes transfer sensitive info from place to place, and am always inordinately paranoid about dropping or losing random papers or data. I bought this locking storage clipboard to carry folders around. No more worrying that my husband accidentally brought a nondescript manila folder to work, or that an evil person broke into my office and stole my files. Hey, you never know.

Ordered a shelf to organize school binders. I'm so amped about this. My officemate has her binders organized neatly in one of these and I know it's terribly nerdy of me to be excited about this but I AM. This will sit neatly on my desk, and I'll be able to reference all my past work seconds after the thought.

Bought a labeler for said binders. I forgot how much fun it is to use one of these things. I combined relevant classes (e.g. Physiological Psych with Stress & Trauma) and created an "etc." binder for various articles I get from colloquium, group supervision, helpful listserv emails etc. I'm going to attack my craft room next.

Bought a green storage bin for all things Christmas. We've been storing our Christmas decorations in plastic bags. Sad. I am all about replacing jenky storage methods with legit containers. My next project in this area is clear shoe boxes from the Container Store for my designer shoes (I have a lot of cheapy shoes that frankly, don't deserve such protection.)

Got connected.
B and I have a fabulous 50'' Samsung Plasma flat screen tv. Around the same time we got it, we also agreed to cancel cable. Shocking, I know. But I'm extremely impressed by the reduction in the amount of absolute shit I consume via boob tube. I have no idea what's going on in the Jersey Shore. I don't know who is dating who, who cheated on who, or who is in rehab. It's glorious. The major disadvantage has been having to go to the bar to catch major sporting events. It's playoff time, and huddling around my 13" Macbook Pro just isn't cutting it. So, we invested in this Apple mini-DVI to VGA connector and accompanying VGA to tv and audio cords, and can now watch the NFL via channelsurfing.net. For free.

We got so many lovely wedding gifts from people we love. Unfortunately, our kitchen storage space can't accommodate the mixer, sandwich press, blender, food processor, crock pot, etc. So, we invested in a simple utility shelf. It's great because it can be used for the same reason in the house we buy, or if that house happens to have more cabinet space, we can stick it in the garage/shed or whatever we end up with. It's a really simple shelf, but with some nice baskets for storing chip clips,measuring cups, and such, it actually will look pretty nice. Now, we can actually USE all our gifts. Pics to come.

B and I are forever fighting over the one working outlet in our living room. Consequently, our phones and laptops are seldom simultaneously fully charged. I took the time (ok ok it took all of five minutes) to set up the Powermat from the in-laws. I connected it to a longer extentsion cord so that extra outlets are not only available, but up off the ground and sitting on an end table. So simple, but life-changing!

Bought a coat rack. :o)

Next on the agenda: consign a bunch of clothes, sell our old tv and my old bike. And post pictures of my newly organized life.