For the organizing geek in me...

Yesterday, I made the 8 hour round trip up to Forks for pension plan meetings. It was what you could call a long day in the car. Highlights?

• After being the first upon the scene at an accident on Waldrick where the guy flew off the road when he hit the corner too fast. The only reason I saw him was from the smoke he was creating trying to spin himself out of the deep ditch he was in...and then he literally got out of the car wearing a t-shirt that said "I'm with Stupid".
• Being pulled over by a tribal cop during the ONLY half mile on the back stretch of 101 (about 90 miles long) that was lower than 55 miles per hour. Since I don't speed all that often anymore (thank you, nerdy hypermiling habits), I think he was overwhelmed by my gas mileage explanations and reasoning. He let me go.

The greatest gift was when I got home...

Jonathan had cleaned out a ton of stuff in the living room that we'd moved down from my house a few weeks ago. The living room has been the "holding tank" as we've cleaned out different rooms and closets. He surprised me last week by cleaning out the front closet (which is about 95% painted now).

This afternoon, after a long Angus-induced nap, I started moving games to the front closet, broke down a ton of boxes, and organized all the Christmas stuff that had started arriving. Doc's going to be so excited when he gets home. [Clearly, this tells the tale of being two married people in love: where it's not flowers and candy that makes you happy, but seeing the carpet underneath the boxes]

My biggest fear realized this afternoon?

I've turned into my mom. I routinely made fun of her each year as she planned for Christmas in August...and I have now become her mini-me. Things that I got to stash away for a few weeks...

• Both the Mauss Fam's Christmas cards and the Mauss Group's cards and inserts (with matching envelopes)
• Jonathan and my Christmas cards, envelopes and tags
• The Sprouffske Tree Shindig invites - they turned out so cute! Save the date for December 6th...more details to come!

And yes, all designed by Finian Road.

I realized that while we still have a good distance to go in the 'clean out the house' process (try Angus's 1st birthday)...we've made a ton of progress. And that makes me happy.

Some of the big things that helped along the way?

• First and foremost...some of our favorite people who stepped in when we were overwhelmed...notably, the Brownrices et al and Debbie Duncan. From the back bedrooms to the china hutches, garage, and office...they were a lifesaver.
• Swapping out all the old tupperware style food storage for a sweet set from Costco. The tops stay all together, and everything stacks uber-neatly.
• Narrow stacking canisters for the kitchen from the Container Store. Most of the dry goods have migrated to these.
• The Expedit from Ikea. In my office, organizes all things photog and Finian Road. Sweet white goodness. And everything compartmentalized.
• Finding waterhog placemats for the dogs' food and water. Maggie got the personalized set, since whatever she doesn't drink in her bowl ends up everywhere. Think Hooch, from the movie Turner and Hooch, but with water and not slobber. It's a serious nightmare. Viper got the mini version, since she can sleep inside Maggie's bowl because it's so big.

And now, it's back to cleaning. The house has the sweet scent of pumpkin pie candles and bleach. Ahhhhh....