June bug -vs- hurricane

Well, I have spent the last two weeks making sure that I will never have another visitor again. Have you ever noticed that when things are clean and looking nice, no one feels like they need to stop by? But kick up your feet with a good book or some knitting for a couple of hours while your house falls apart and see what happens. Try going in your pajamas for an entire day and see how many unannounced visitors will knock at your door. I often wonder if my working friends believe that my job as a "stay-at-home" mom is easy. I get to do things on a daily basis that the rest of the working world has to squeeze in on the weekends, like going to the library, the gym, walks, visiting on the phone, blogging, etc. There is no happy balance, you either stay continually busy keeping your home and family looking nice, or you do something you enjoy, while it all falls apart. And the more you "stay at home" the more house work needs to be done. No one is sitting still while the house is getting clean, oh no, they are all busy working to ensure my job security. I like to joke that if I ever get fired, I will have to get a paying job. But that was a huge aside from the whole point I am making, which is that I have been on a massive de-cluttering mission (ala www.flylady.net) these last weeks. My upstairs looks incredible, and I have managed to keep it that way. It has been a lot of work, not to mention a lot of tossing and goodwill heaps, but wow, if sure feels good. I started the downstairs yesterday. The downstairs is where J keeps all his fishing goodies and the kids keep all their toys. There is a lot of junk down here that needs to be pitched, but taking little steps, I think I can do it and find some sanity. My dream is to fit everything I own in one car load. I hate stuff. Over the years, I have managed to cull my pile into something manageable, basically only the things that I really use. My family, understandably, likes their stuff and wants to keep it, I am trying to make them see how much more useful things are when you can actually find them. I am desperate to make them understand that horizontal surfaces are not to stack stuff upon. Everything should have a place, and it it doesn't fit in that place, then something has to go. It isn't easy to convince a bunch of stuff-lovers that they don't need so much stuff. But when I am the person responsible for keeping up with all their things ("where is that lego that I placed on the entertainment center last year?" "I can't find that Thomas the Tank toy that I left in the kitchen eight months ago." "Who has been messing with my huge box of flies that has been sitting out opened for as long as you've known me?"), I should get to expect them to see things my way. "Where is that ___? Have you checked Goodwill??"