Procrastination, ahoy!

I won't lie - having time off of work is nice. The timing of 2011's Snowpocalypse? Not so nice, from a work-related standpoint. Our tri-yearly child assessment tool is due this Friday. This means that I have to assess 31 children on 64 different developmental objectives. Do the math, that's a lot of work! I also have parent teacher conferences starting next Tuesday, which requires quite a bit of prep work to have all 31 children's portfolios ready. Luckily, this year I was seized by a very abnormal urge to get things done ahead of time, so I'm pretty much ready for conferences. What I have left involves printing off reports related to those developmental objectives I mentioned above. Which requires me to get them done.

I was a good little employee and made the decision to work from home this morning. So off Raegan went to daycare for the morning, and I cracked down and didn't let myself get too distracted by the internet. At this point, 17 out of 31 children are completely finished, and I feel like I have some breathing room on Friday now. I also came to the realization that because we will only have one day with children this week (I'm assuming that we will be back at school tomorrow, and I don't ever have children on Fridays) I can simply recycle this week's lesson plans into next week, and just come up with new small groups for next Thursday. My Friday is looking a whole lot better now.

All of that being said, I decided to spend Raegan's nap writing in my blog instead of working. My good employee skills only reach so far. :) And since I've already bombarded this blog with photos and videos, I decided to do some actual writing instead.

As I am slowly getting the house more organized by going through closets and purging, I'm faced with my own clothes closet. I think one of the things I would really like in our next house would be a walk-in closet, but in the meantime, I have to make do with what I have. It's not pretty. I have a lot of clothes. And shoes. And purses. And yet, I wear the same rotating 7 or 8 outfits and never change out my purse. So, obviously, it's time to tackle my closet.

What is it about clothing that makes it so hard for us to get rid of it? I absolutely know that I am not the only woman who has this problem. I've mentioned my need to purge my closet before to co-workers and friends and have gotten the same responses about how they need to do the same. Why do I hang on to t-shirts from high school? I don't really need a rotation of 15 different t-shirts for working out - we *do* have a washer and dryer. Obviously, there are things you hold onto because you love them. They fit well, you feel good in them, they're super comfy. My K-State sweatshirt falls into this category. I wish I could clone it so that I would have it to wear every day of the week and it would never wear out. Some things you keep for the memories. I still have my wedding dress in it's garment bag, and the souvenier shirts that I got on our honeymoon to Cancun. Some things you keep for practicality. I have all of my maternity clothes packed away in an under-bed box, for if we decide to have another baby. But then there are items of clothing that I have no idea why on God's green earth I've held on to for so long. Like the above mentioned high school t-shirts. Or the khakis from 8 years ago that I seriously doubt I will ever fit into again.

I think a lot of women hold on to clothing in the hopes that it will motivate them to get back down to a smaller size that they used to be. I know that's why I still have those khakis, and some other various items taking up room in my not-walk-in-closet. But as I think about it, I don't know that it's actually motivating to hang on to those clothes. Instead, doesn't it kind of beat you up? When month after month you still don't fit back into those clothes. Or on the other hand, maybe hanging onto those items holds you back? Keeps you from being happy with your body the way it is now, instead of wishing for what used to be.

Having a baby can be hard on your self-image. I've pretty much gotten my pre-baby figure back, but there are still some signs of pregnancy. I was all stomach when I was pregnant, and I have the stretch marks and lumps all over my stomach to prove that I'm not just saying that. The rest of me has bounced back fairly well. (Although let's not talk about how hard nursing can be on your boobs....) I fit into all of my pre-pregnancy jeans and dress slacks for work. It's the shirts that are a different story, because I no longer have the smooth stomach that I did before. Most days I'm okay with that. I've bought some new shirts that cover things up, and I just shrug and figure that I got something pretty spectacular in return. But somedays I look at some of the clothes that are still in my closet and get kind of negative about my body. So maybe it's time to get rid of all of those old clothes, and be happy with the here and now. (Or at least box them up with my maternity clothes so that I won't have to look at them every day.)

I read a post at the blog Kendie Everyday (which I found through my old college roommate Kim) with rules for purging your closet. I don't think I'm quite ready to do the 30 for 30 remix like Kim is, but I think a good start would be to get rid of some things in my closet. It might free up a lot more than just some closet space.