organize [awr-guh-nahyz]

to form as or into a whole consisting of interdependent or coordinated parts; to systematize

Synonyms include: arrange, methodize, coordinate

I have been waiting for (and I'm not even exaggerating) YEARS to clean up my room. I'd like to say that I'm a neatfreak; that any area I inhabit in any way is always an organized, welcoming space with every corner servicing or reserved for a specific purpose; a place that didn't have any secret trapdoors or drawers that upon discovery would uncover the phoniness of its owner. I am a relatively organized person, and I won't even lie - I love right angles as much as the next victim of OCD. But plans always have a way of staying that way when you're too busy to commit to actually doing them. With this event-free long Memorial Day weekend coming up, I swore to myself that, really and truly, it was now or never.

I share a room with my 18 year old sister and honestly, I don't mind it. Tin and I are really close and being constantly aware of our huge age gap, I'm reminded each day that our relationship could be so much worse. With this, I knew that the success of my big Mission: ORGANIZATION was incumbent on her assistance and wow did she come through for us both. 

On Saturday morning, Mom and I took a trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond to buy a few items that I was sure would help us with this seemingly impossible task. When I got back home, Tin, my parents and I spent the entire afternoon and evening purging our bedroom's closets, cabinets and drawers. It's so amazing how much clutter can accumulate in spaces you didn't even know were there! We collected about 3 medium-sized trash bags of clothing to donate, a boatload of papers to recycle, and our sanity. Seriously, our room was filling up with  so much crap that I felt like I could barely function in it.

After all the flushing out of stuff, we began the real organizing on Sunday into Monday - putting things in places where they belong and making room for an art desk that Patrick gave my sister months ago! Now Tin has an actual workspace (she used to draw on the floor, the dining table or the kitchen counter. haha!), we have walls of space to hang photos and artwork, and I just feel like if i were looking for something like notecards, Scotch tape, or the video camera, I'd know exactly where to find it. =) I told Tin that the next time she's about to put something where it doesn't belong, she better remember long and hard about what we did this weekend because of mindless moments before. Hell no do I want to do this again anytime soon. If I wasn't so satisfied with the outcome, I would moan and groan about what a lost weekend I had. However, I'm reminded of my mission.

Mission accomplished indeed...