Now Where is That Card?

Sometimes it the little things that put a spring in your step. For me, it was organizing my stationery drawers. Yes, I said stationery and yes, I said drawers, as in plural. Over the years, we have given to various charities and in return those charities have sent us cards and envelopes and notepads. I also used to frequent Home Goods a little too much and buy cute notecards and thank you cards because I thought that I should have them on hand. I have always just shoved them in a drawer and I guess hoped that they would organize themselves. There are such things as Stationery Elves that come in at night and do that, right? I’m sure they are great friends with those Laundry Elves and Vacuum Elves that I keep hoping will arrive some dark night and complete those tasks.

Well, now that I am home full time, I am finally able to start crossing things off the big “To Do” list. Organizing the stationery has been one of those things. It really doesn’t take long. But, in the back of my head, I kept thinking that it would. So, I unloaded all three drawers (yes, 3) and put them on the floor next to the coffee table and started sorting. I put them into piles by occasion and matched each card up with an envelope. This helps me stop the “Which envelope goes with this card?” game once and for all. I also made a pile of cards that were blank on the inside and could be used for any sort of correspondence. These came in handy this week as I unearthed pictures from our wedding that I had developed 4 years ago and had never sent out to folks. Another task that got crossed off the giant list.

Once I had things sorted, I put cards into ziploc bags, labeled them and consolidated it down to 2 drawers. I also organized our various manuals for the house and put them in the bottom drawer of this piece. Sanity all around this week!

One drawer is for cards already in boxes and one is for the ziploc bags and the large notepads. As a former teacher, I have received a fair share of notepads and now that I know where they are, I can start using them for grocery lists and whatnot. Part of the FLYLADY program is that you keep a list for the grocery store throughout the week. Having a pad readily available has helped us to stay organized with that and jot down what we need as we run low or run out of it. It saves us a tremendous amount of guesswork when we get to the food shopping day. Putting all of the paper into two drawers now leaves me with one empty drawer in the secretary piece that houses the paper. So, what to do with that empty drawer? Here is the next task on the big list:

As we are babyproofing the house now, I am noticing more things that need to be put away or locked up. I’ll be going through this plastic wonder in the next week and probably ordering some organizer containers like these from The Container Store.

I already have a few of these for another drawer in the house that houses pens and pencils (which I don’t think we will need to restock until the next millenium due to the perks of being a “retired” teacher). They have been super helpful and I just have to measure and see what fits and which ones I like for post its, markers and whatnot for the empty drawer.

This accomplishment does make me feel a little at peace this week. It’s fun to cross things off the list and feel that when I need to find something there will be less frustration and stress in finding it. It’s the little things sometimes.