Organize is not in my vocabulary

This weeks topic on larger family living at Chris’s and Carmen’s blogs is “Organization”. I must steal the line “Oranized Chaos” from Jodi. That just about describes how organized things are at Chez Jody2ms. We are incredible clean people, and everything is neatly tucked away. But, “organized” belongs to someone else. I forget everything. I have no calender. We are lucky if I remember my MIL’s birthday (SIL had to remind me). I write myself notes and leave them by the phone. They get thrown away or lost. I do not grocery shop with a list. I just get what we need, and mentally plan meals on the go. House cleaning is done on a daily basis, with no task assigned to a day of the week. It just gets done as it needs it.

If I need to remember something to bring with me, I leave it by the back door. Like Lisa, I keep diapers and other supplies in the car, and I stock it as needed.

I have a plot of dead cabinet space where everything that doesn’t have a home, finds a home:

I do have a bin in each bedroom where toys are stored. But they never stay in the bins:

The bathroom is as organized as can be expected. We have one bathroom in this house (we have a toilet in the laundry room that is used when the main one is occupied), which makes cleaning a breeze. Towels hang on every hangable surface in there:

Bill being a PA we get lots of med samples, so I try to keep the stuff in plastic bins, but during the winter, it looks like this (note to any lurking drug addicts who think we might be a good break-in candidate…WE DO NOT HAVE NARCOTICS IN THIS HOUSE. Only Tylenol, cold medicine and antibiotics):

One thing we do keep on hand and organized nicely is the vino:

So, as far as organized goes with a larger than average family, it just happens, somehow. I can’t say or pin point any one thing Bill or I do to make it easier. It just is.

I will use Cory’s old saying “Just do it, and you will”

**edited to add that I am anal retentive about my photos. I print them each month, copy each month to a CD, and then store them by month in boxes labeled with the year:

At present, I have 10 boxes filled, and still need to print Nov, Dec, of 2005 and Jan ’06.