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. 

Why Dream a Little Dream?

I often ask myself why I should dream a little dream, when I can dream a BIG dream?

I have a hugely inspirational group of friends on my different social networks, but mostly on my favorite, Plurk.com  These wonderfully talented artisans hail from all around the world, and specialize in sooooo many different art forms, it really makes my head spin.  I spend half my time looking at their shops, wondering how on EARTH they made these gorgeous pieces.  Glass work, polymer clay, scrapbooking, jewelry, metal work, sewing, book making, you name it, I probably have a friend who has a least dabbled in it.  And it was this fabulous group of people that made me want to try all these different art forms.

And then I started looking into the prices of tools, the space requirements, and realized that my tiny little 1100 square foot home would never hold all the equipment I would need to start any one of these art forms.  I was pretty sad at the thought.  But it started me along the whole "What if..." line of thought.

"What if there was a place I could learn this particular art form?  What if there was a place I could go to try my hand at some of this stuff?"

Then, another thought crossed my mind, and that was that I have no immediate neighbors who are interested in the things I am interested in.  After talking with a lot of my friends online, I realized that this was a common problem.  And this also started my "What if..." line of thought.

"What if there was a place I could go and craft, and talk to people who are like me?  What if there was a place I could go, work on projects and leave them there, so no little fingers could get into them?"

And then, since my boys were still really little at the time, I started wondering what I would do with them, while I went to this Crafting Nirvana.  And, yep, it started my "What if..." line of thinking once again.

"What if there was a place where I could go, craft, leave my stuff there, talk to people who share my interests, bounce ideas off of, AND have reliable care for my children?"  

And with that, my dream was born.  I know that my dream will be a long time in coming.  It will be expensive to start.   I will need a lot of land.  I will need a lot inside room.  I will probably need a lot of insurance.  BUT I think it is do-able.  A place where people can meet.  A place where people can learn.  I already have a pool of people that I can hopefully convince to teach classes.  I want space for a gallery, where artisans can sell their work.  I want a little craft store that sells at least basic supplies.  I have picked an area to do this, that is convenient to hotels, and major highways.  Now, to make my Dream come true.  And if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!!!