Year of the Cat

Did you know?

It's the Year of the Cat.  Well, not really.  At least not according to the Chinese New Year.

But, it is the Year of the Cat in our house.

Charlie.  My Mascot.

What does that mean, you ask?  Well, it really means that this is the Year of Organization in our house.  You know, the simplify, clean stuff out, organize your life kind of thing.

Now, you are probably wondering why I am calling it the Year of the Cat.

Well, we came up with the name a few years ago.  See, we've tried the Year of the Cat before without much success.

About 3 years ago, right around Christmas I was doing a little internet surfing.  Mostly reading stuff about end of year clean out and starting the new year off fresh.

I probably had wandered onto the Flylady website at some point that night.  I had tried the Flylady method before, but just never stuck with it.

Though I will say that to this day--thanks to Flylady, I still make my bed every morning and make sure my sink is clean before going to bed every night.

But alas, I just couldn't keep up with the rest of it.

So anyway, as I am reading all of this stuff on organization and how to do it better, I am tremendously inspired to really get things organized in our house.

Now mind you, the house isn't a future episode of Hoarders.  But, as we all usually feel, it could be a tad bit more clean & organized.

Basically what needed to be done was to donate all things that weren't really being used or needed to Goodwill or some such organization.  You know, to help other people fill their houses!

So, hubby is in the kitchen with me as I am being inspired and I say to him, "Hey, do you know what next year is going to be?"

And you know what he says?  That's right, he answers with, "The Year of the Cat?"

At first I am indignant and say, "NO!!!  It is going to be the Year of Organization!"

He may have said something along the lines of, "sure".  But then I think, wait cats are always cleaning themselves.  So, I say to him, "Yes, you're right!  It is going to be the Year of the Cat!  Because cats are very clean and so we are going to get everything organized."

See how clean Charlie is?

So, that January it became the Year of the Cat in our house.  And I think it lasted until maybe January 10th or so......

And the next January came and again it was declared to be the Year of the Cat in our house.  And sadly it didn't stay the Year of the Cat.

Now, fast forward to this January and again it was declared the Year of the Cat.

And happily, I must say that this year it seems to be sticking.  So, finally in 2012 it is actually the Year of the Cat in our house.

Hubby cleaned out the garage a few weeks ago & we were able to get rid of a bunch of stuff that has just been hanging around for much too long.

I have been working on the inside of the house and have donated 6 large garbage bags to Goodwill.  Much of that has been clothes--mine, hubby & the girls--but I was also really good and weeded through my old pocketbooks and got rid of quite a few.

It really feels liberating for it to be the Year of the Cat.  I like simpifying our lives.

So, Charlie the kitty is my mascot for 2012.  Stay tuned for Year of the Cat updates.  And it's not too late in 2012 to have it be the Year of the Cat in your house.....

Thanks to my girlfriend R for letting me take pics of Charlie and have him be my mascot!

potd #42.  Some Valentine marshmallows I made for D & E.  Strawberry marshmallows dipped in chocolate and rolled in sprinkles.  Improvised from an idea I found on Pinterest.