Two Kinds of People

In my book, there are two kinds of people: those who are naturally organized and those who wish they were. I fall squarely in the latter category.

I lose my keys and reading glasses (often); my purse looks like one of those nifty trash bags that organized people hang from the backseat of their cars; I have to close the door to my closet so even I don't have to look at the mess.

I wake up every morning, vowing to be more organized. I work hard at it: I create lists, make piles, leave myself reminders. I tend to surround myself with friends and family that I consider naturally organized. I am in awe of their skills. Their cars are always clean (in fact, just to rub it in, they almost all drive white cars); their drawers, pantries, garages and basements look like they could be featured in Martha Stewart Living; they are almost always on time for events – wearing outfits that don't have missing buttons or coffee spills down the front of them. It all appears so effortless to me. How do they do it?

Fortunately, two of my three children have not inherited my absent-mindedness, chaotic way of going about life and I rely on them to keep me somewhat on the right path.  Unfortunately, I'm afraid one of the three might have taken after me: he-who-shalt-not-be-named.

When we moved into this beautiful, new home, I felt like I was being given a chance to make good on my desire to be organized. I promised myself that I would be intentional about how things would be arranged so that life could run along smoothly. I would have a place to always put my keys; my closet would be large enough to be functional and organized; our study would have a his and her desks and I would keep mine clear of clutter. Ha. Barely two months in and I'm failing miserably.

Nevertheless, I plug along. Yesterday I spent the morning organizing my herbs and spices. (That even sounds  frivolous to me -- but, yes, I did.) Thanks to Maggie for ordering me some round tin jars with glass lids and to Mary for helping me pick out an appropriate type font, my spice drawer has gone from this:

to this:

Here's a closeup:

Impressive, isn't it? Who knows how long this beautiful example will last. But for now, it feels great!