Organise your Home makeover - before

This is the entry I received from Jenny's clutter :)

Dear Marcia,

I have heard that the mistress of this home, Jenny, may be entering your contest to win the Organising Your Home E-Course and I would like you to consider not allowing her to win. I like things the way they are... disorganised! Let me introduce myself. I have been called, Clutter, Junk, Stuff, Crud, as well as other less-flattering names. It has taken years for me to grow into the stronghold that I have become.

I enjoy numerous pastimes that, should Jenny win, would become obsolete. One of my favorite things to do is distract the occupants of the home. When Jenny or her husband enter a room they often take one look at me and get so flustered they forget why they came into the room in the first place. What a riot! The living room and kitchen are the most distracting.

I love to listen to kids whine. In this home, a foster home, there are usually plenty of children. I often hear them saying things like, "Where is my Spiderman shirt? It was just on the couch... Does anyone know where my shoes are?...What happened to my library books?" It is especially entertaining when the family is getting ready for school or church. The voices go up an octave and sometimes they start yelling at each other.

Jenny is creative and talented but I've been able to hold her back from success in many areas, including writing the books she has always dreamed of writing. Bob has a stressful job as a police officer and I am able to keep his stress levels up on the home front as well, especially in the master bedroom.

As you can see, I take my job very seriously and am quite comfortable in the Dalley household.

Jenny has even blogged about me at http://shoemomma.blogspot.com/2009/04/wow.html and http://shoemomma.blogspot.com/2009/03/spring-renewal-or-cleaning.html. I'm famous!

Please let me live and thrive and do NOT let Jenny win. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,

Jenny Dalley's Clutter

Isn't that great? Read amongst the fun and you'll see the serious effects of the clutter...

So without any further ado, here's Jenny's first post.

As soon as I saw Marcia's contest for her 12-week Organise Your Home E-course, I knew I had to win.

My name is Jenny. I am a stay-at-home-mom with a wonderful husband. I live in Colorado. I love Jesus. And I am the most unorganized person I know.

I seem to be in a perpetual state of overwhelm. When I was growing up I had to share a bedroom with my very organized sister. We nearly killed each other! Now that we are adults and friends she sometimes offers to help me organize my house.

We currently have five children living in our home. Our biological son is 6 years old. We adopted two little boys, 8 and 7, just this week. We are also taking care of two foster children; an 8 year old boy and a 2 year old girl. Within the past two years we have had 13 children in our family.

Thankfully not at the same time. I could not even imagine the laundry pile I would have.

1. We have to do a mad dash of cleaning every time company is expected.
   
2. For those surprise visitors we offer a myriad of excuses for why our living room looks the way it does.
3. We lose things on a regular basis.
4. I often enter a room with the expectation of conquering the clutter, only to become so discouraged that I do an about face and head straight for Facebook or comfort food.

I have learned a lot from Marcia during the past couple of years and this opportunity to go through her Organise Your Home E-course will be life changing.

I am thrilled that I get to be a guest writer on her blog. Not only do I welcome the accountability, but I get to share this experience with all of you!

What would an improvement blog be without a couple of humiliating before pictures?



Is anyone else going through this 12-week course? I'd love to hear how you are doing!

Are you in?