Well said!

Today I was over at Small Notebook, and read this: "The quest to organize isn't an end to itself, but a means to accomplish other, bigger, better goals."

With that in mind, I'm going to try and add a system or two to my life in 2011. I'm already enjoying the simplicity of minimum maintenance, and am so excited to think about all that I will be able to accomplish with a system for my closets, or for my internet time, or for working on our property. What's not to love about being organized!?

Yes, I love baskets, too. And closet systems (you know, shelves custom-designed for your closet), and scheduled bathtimes, and electronic appointment calendars that fit inside your cell phone.

The Original Clean Queen Doesn't Stage a Picture Post

Today, as I was baking, Katherine called me. I looked down at her, and smiled. She was trying to get toys into my dish-washing gloves. I grabbed my camera and took a picture. So cute.
But what was that?? My baby carrier, draped over the back of the couch. I couldn't post *that* picture; everyone would see how messy things were.

I glanced around the kitchen. Oh, my! How had this happened??

The dishtowel was bedraggled,
the tupperware was sort of thrown into its place,
there was a used banana sprawled all over the fruit dish -














....even the cupboards were open.
And not *neatly* open; they were all at sixes and sevens.

























What a mess. I decided that I was taking myself too seriously; that I should post the picture anyways. And for good measure, I'm posting other pictures, too; to shatter Nelleke's nice, but not altogether accurate, image of me as the original Clean Queen. You see, Nelleke?

And no, this wasn't staged.