Monday Mayhem: Enough is Enough

There comes a time in everyone's life when they must say "Enough is enough and I've had ENOUGH!"
Three years ago, I blogged that that I was going to get my house cleaned and organized.  Guess what.  It didn't happen.
In fact, it just got worse, if that's at all possible.
Finally, I had to say that enough was enough, and I couldn't live like that any longer. It wasn't healthy, mentally or physically for me or anyone else in my family.  I couldn't have people over to my house, I couldn't let my kids have friends over to play, I couldn't let extended family come over.  I knew it was bad.  I knew it needed work.  Somehow, though, I couldn't seem to get the energy or interest to do it.  I don't know why.  Over the last seven years me and my hubby have gone through a difficult pregnancy, the birth of our twins, post partum depression that turned into agoraphobia, my feet giving out on me, the death of my darling dad, hubby losing his job (but thankfully finding a new one very soon), major appliances dying, children starting school, children sick with strep for almost an entire winter....
Well, needless to say, I've been exhausted.
However, this past spring, I seriously took the bull by the proverbial horns, and decided that I was tired of the mess.  I was tired of not being able to find anything.  I was tired of the house ALWAYS looking like a bomb went off.   And I was tired of being alone. 
I was raised in a home that was always neat, tidy, organized, and clean.  And I wasn't giving my kids that gift.  Now, I'm finally getting done what has needed to be done for years.  I made a plan, and I'm sticking to that plan, no matter what.
Every month or so, I'm tackling one room or area of my house.  I'm de-cluttering, de-stashing, organizing, re-organizing, planning, and working.  Working harder than I have ever worked before.

The first "room" I finished was one of the hardest:  The screened in porch.  It took me over a month to sort through, throw away, clean up, and get it to a place where it could be useful once again.

This is what my screened in porch looked like about 3 years ago.  Kind of humiliating that is has gotten nothing but worse in those 3 years.  There was so much crap piled up on that table, that we could barely see the sliding glass doors.   It was insanity. 
After over a month of work, many bags of trash, and a strong desire to get rid of all the excess in my life, this is the new, improved porch:

 There is now space to breathe, space to work, space to relax, and space to actually eat dinner.  Life is getting better.  Sand is becoming more blue again.  And this month, I'm tackling the living room.  Next Monday, I will show what I have accomplished there.