What My Mom Tried to Teach me About Organization

Dear Mom, I know you love me and want the best for me, and I appreciate it. You have dedicated the last 22 years and 1 month and 25 days of your life to teach me to lead an organized lifestyle. You are more dedicated to this cause than any other cause I have ever seen you fight for in your life. And I appreciate it. One of my favorite things about our relationship is that  you have accepted that although you may tell me things over and over and over again (pick up your clothes off the floor), until I look it up on Wikipedia or Google and decide that it is a good idea for myself, I will for the most part, choose not to hear your words.  I'm really sorry for this Mom, but I really do appreciate your understanding of my generations inexplicable trust and preference in the advice of strangers from Japan and New Jersey over your personal life experiences. Please believe me when I say that this is not my fault.

I will admit that had I heeded your warning about picking up my clothes, I might not have ended up with 140 flea bites from head to toe, but I guess that being miserably itchy for a month is something everyone has to go through before they will even come close to admitting that their mother may have actually been right about the whole respecting your possessions thing.  I still say it was the cats' fault. I hate cats. Anyways mom, this is one of these times when I found the internet to explain to me, how to organize my life. As I read the article on HGTV.com by Fran Harris (www.franharris.com), I felt a familiarity with the words. Only after, did I realize that it was because I spent the first 18 years of my life hearing them. Mom, if you had only been a bit wittier, and sent them to me in an e-mail or on facebook, maybe I would have understood what you were trying to say then. Nonetheless, the following are three rules that I would like to share with my generation. You guys! THIS STUFF MAKES SENSE! (Again, these are Fran Harris's Rules, I just have something to say about them)

"Home Rule #1: Everything Has Its Optimal Place
Newspapers don't belong on top of the refrigerator or on the floor by the front door. Earrings don't belong on the counter by the stove. Decide where things should go and start putting them there today."
You'd think this would make so much sense. I've been half living in my own studio for about a month now, and my clutter looks good, and for the life of me, I haven't been able to figure out WHY THE HELL MY CRAP LOOKS CUTE when it has looked like CRAP my WHOLE LIFE??? This is why.
Charlotte's addendum Rule: If you like to read, spread the love and give books away after you finish them or if they have cool spines, get more bookcases. The order that you place your books can be pleasing to the eye. TAKE OFF USED TEXTBOOK STICKERS.


"Home Rule #2: Put Things in Their Place Immediately aka the Ice Cream Rule
If you walk into your house with a pint of ice cream, you don't leave it on the counter for an hour, do you? No. It goes in the freezer now, or you'll be sorry later. Apply the "ice cream rule” to everything in your house and life. Doing so will minimize the likelihood of creating a cluttered living space."
 Anyone who knows me knows that my main/favorite food group is ice cream. All I had to do was read "The ice Cream Rule" and I immediately understood this. Mom, why didn't you just tell me you were instating an Ice Cream Rule? Although claiming money found in the laundry was a good way to get me to clean out my pockets to avoid another great purple crayon debacle of '95, you should really have just put all of my things left around the house in the freezer.
Charlotte's addendum Rule: If you do not put ice cream right away, the ice cream waste monster (me) will FIND IT AND EAT IT. If you can't respect the ice cream, you don't deserve the creamy frozen goodness.

"Home Rule #3: Alert the Troops
Make sure everyone in the house knows about the new organization system so that your hard work and commitment aren't in vain. It may take a while for the new system to catch on but don't worry.
For more on Fran, visit www.FranHarris.com."
I will say Mom, there were an awful lot of "Okay, we are going to start being organized in this house!!!" announcements on Saturday mornings, maybe too many. When I hypothetically misplace my pay check and I was a few days away from paying my speeding ticket, (it was at work safe in my locker) I decided right then and there that it was time to get organized.
Charlotte's addemdum Rule: If you hide money in your kids'?boyfriends/girlfriends/siblings/roommates messes, it might make them clean up faster. Fewer announcements for you and less protesting from them. It's really a win-win, don't you think?

In epic conclusion, I would like to say that I feel that this Fran Harris really is one smart cookie. I would also like to say that my mother is an incredibly genius woman who, bless her heart, never gave up (to this day) on getting her household organized. It is one of the longest wars on terror I have ever heard of, and she battles on every day. So finally, to my mother, GO YOU! I've never seen you defeated before and I don't intend to see it now.

and to everyone else, good luck bros <3

Charlotte's 10 Minute Stint with Motivational Speaking

So if any of you were wondering, rain and laptops don't go together very well, hence my absence from the blogging world. I apologize. I know how much you all missed me, especially since the majority of you read this every week because of the link I so graciously post on your facebook wall. This weeks topic- things getting worse before they get better. This story ends with a bartender promising not to cut of his Santa beard if a petition is signed by 3,000 people (aka it gets good. stick with me here )

So this tale begins with Relay for Life- celebrating birthdays. yay! it was super fun and I can't really make jokes about cancer so NEXT

The morning after relay for life (did i mention that it poured rain all night?) my computer woke up in a hot sweat aka a puddle and that was pretty much the end of that. Now, I don't know if you've ever had your computer die from external circumstances, had your phone flushed down a toilet, had your phone contacts deleted, lost your computer and or phone in the library/coffee shop/anywhere on campus/bedroom/under your covers, forgotten your very important password to anything, or broken and/or lost your charger to either of these things, but I have. and it's the worst when it happens five times a day and it's raining outside and you can't even be mad because you were fighting cancer when it happened so you're morally obligated to not regret being there.

So I took my computer to the Geniuses at Apple and they told me that they couldn't fix it. I had previously retrieved needed materials and had everything needed for my senior project, applying for jobs, and most of my photo files. I had even backed up my entire computer (for the first time ever) the week before that. I was fine and there was no problem with this computer being ruined minus the money lost.

But what do I do when the Genius tells me he has to send it out for a week? I fully BURST out into tears, almost spitting on him and heaving uncontrollably. Now I don't know if you have ever been to the Genius Bar at Apple, but the boys who work there are not exactly the warm fuzzy don't-worry-everything-will-turn-out-alright kind of people that one might desire to be around when having an emotional breakdown. my mind told me I was going crazy and his face told me I had giant human-flesh-eating spiders crawling all over my body.

In the end, it all worked out just fine, I have no computer, but I have everything that I needed from my computer and I'm making it work via alternate sources (boyfriends computer). I am also discovering what it's like to not be tied to my computer at all times WEIRD.

Anyways, if you get a chance, go give Ryan at the apple store in San Luis Obispo a hug and scare the crap out of him with your expression of human emotion. Thats all for now. <3