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I am taking three days of leave this week. I call it "vacation," but technically they are furlough days. I have declared a homeschool vacation for Alex. I have full-time childcare for the three days of leave.

Because I am officially an old and boring person, I am planning to use this leave to put in serious work decluttering and organizing our house. My top priority is the study, which could be the heart of our home if it weren't such a messy, cluttered pit. My goal is to spend eight hours a day decluttering.

If you see me online before 5pm, please tell me to get back to work.

Progress report #1.

9:00 Begin working on study. Take embarrassing panoramic photos.
10:36 Fifteen minute break to drink water and make notes.

Accomplished so far:

• Study table and all its drawers cleaned out.


• Medium-sized collection of empty cups and glasses out of study and into sink or dishwasher.


• Closet totally emptied & closet items put away in new homes.


• One full bag of trash, one full bag of clothing to be donated.


• Large load of clothes to dry cleaner's.


• Three loads of clean laundry put away.


• Friends list and online forums successfully ignored. They are off-limits, even during breaks, until after 5pm.
  
• Listened to two Teaching Company lectures on the history of controversy regarding evolution.

I was just about to go downstairs for a basin of soapy water to wash down the closet shelves so that I can load them up again with their new intended contents, but the kids came home. I need to hide out from Colin, so washing the study shelves will have to wait for his nap.

Okay, my fifteen minutes are up. My plan is to do another 90-minute session and then reward myself with a trip to my favorite thrift store. Colin and I need long-sleeved shirts and Alex needs more Magic Tree House books.

Progress report II.

12:34 Second work block completed; stopping for a longer break.

The first part of the day went very quickly, and I was filled with hope that perhaps this wouldn't be as difficult as I thought. Now I've hit the slower part, where I need to organize things thoughtfully and make decisions.

Accomplished in the last 90-minute block:

• Straightened and organized the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.


• Culled 100 books.


• Separated out books better stored in Alex's room.


• Sorted several pounds of coins, some of which were Michael's informal collection and some of which were real money, all of which had been mixed together by the kids.


• Filled a laundry basket with things that belong in other rooms of the house.


• Usefully organized half of the big floor-to-ceiling storage unit which holds art supplies, games, and homeschooling materials.


• Listened to two more lectures about the history of the evolution controversy.


• Accidentally picked up a dead shield bug augh augh augh.

I'm going to take advantage of the fact that Colin is napping to put away the things in the laundry basket, which belong various other places in the house. Then I'm going to get some lunch and take my self-reward, but still useful and work-oriented, trip to the thrift store.

Argh.

3:30. Nia (our nanny) is feeling sick enough that she needs to leave. Stopping 1.5 hours short of my plan, although I guess I can try to start some decluttering downstairs while supervising the kids.

I hope she'll be up to coming on Wednesday.

In the meantime, I accomplished:

• Ran errands.


• Cleaned out, sorted, and reorganized the other half of the massive floor-to-ceiling storage unit.


• Cleared my desktop down to bare wood.


• Washed down the closet shelves and started loading them with their intended cargo of games and puzzles.

Left to do in the study:

• Set up a filing system for homeschooling-related paper; sort and file same.


• Clean out and reorganize my desk drawers.


• Clear away trash and donations.


• Sweep and mop.

...That's it. Dude. I got a lot done up here.