Over the weekend, I came up with the grand scheme of an Organization Week. While my house isn't terribly messy, there are zones of chaos in here — dirty, little secrets of old books and greeting cards in closets and in attics. With two kids who have outgrown baby toys and a husband who is organizationally-challenged, these zones of chaos are bound to happen. An organized house makes me very happy, but who wants to spend all their time with a label maker? Not me! So, I decided to do a blitzkrieg organization of the zones of chaos. One week and I would wipe out the mess. That was the plan.
One of the major zones of chaos in this house was on my hard drive. I have six years of minimally sorted digital photos. We talking about thousands and thousands of pictures of Ian picking his nose, Jonah catching a fish, roasted chicken, door knobs, basement renovations, and random strangers at ball games. Seriously. When I upload the pictures onto the iPhoto, I cull the obvious duds and arrange the remaining pictures in a folder with a name. So, I haven't been totally reckless.
For a while, I've wanted to pull out the A+ pictures from the herd on the computer, print them out and make some photobooks, so we all could admire the best shots. It would also be insurance, in case something terrible happened to the computer. So, I decided to make Monday "Photo Album Day" and then move on to deal with the other zones of chaos in the house.
Organize 6,000 pictures in one day? Sort out six years of pictures and create six esthetically pleasing photo albums? During a day when I also had to attend an IEP meeting, take the boys to Jonah's orthodontist, make dinner, and help with homework. Oh sure, that's a SMART plan.
Yes, my hard drive kicked my ass on Monday. Have I finished one photo album yet? No. Have I tackled the other zones of chaos? No.
What lessons have I learned?
- Organizing a year-end photo album takes several days.
- Drink a glass of wine to make the process go faster.
- Maintain a favorites folder throughout the year.
- Do it every January.
- Another glass of wine might be necessary.
- Throw money at the problem and let Shutterfly create albums for you. (A "how to" post will follow.)
