I was one of the very few lucky ones that did not loose power during Hurricane Irma.  That being said, we are usually the first to loose power and the last to get it restored.  Sometimes it’s as if we are on a tiny island in Polk County.  Just across a railroad crossing (no power lines) and right in back of an elementary school.  They’ll restore power to the school but go any further for just one home?  Nah, it’s just one house, we’ll come back later.

We’re at 7 days post-Irma and I still have some friends with no power.  I know the power companies are working as hard as they can to get power restored but sometimes it just doesn’t seem to make any sense as to why one building has power and the one next it does not.

For those that did evacuate or let’s just say went to a friend or family member’s home what did you take?  Your pets?  Food and water for course.  Books and games to keep your mind occupied while waiting for electricity to be restored.  But what if you really had to evacuate due to storm surge or flooding.  Did you consider what you would take if you could only fit your most loved possessions in your car.  And you are not the only one in your car.  Maybe you have your spouse and kids to include as well.  I know what I would take.  Photo albums for sure.   Maybe my hard drive because I have about 1000 photos on it.  Then we  have a box with important papers such as car titles, etc.   Just about everything else can be replaced.  Sure there are things that I would be very sad about loosing but most things are just that…….. things, objects, stuff.  Kind of makes you put your priorities in order doesn’t it?

Another thing I noticed post-Irma was the flexibility in people.  We are a very demanding population with the attention span of a goldfish.  I saw people just kind of shrug their shoulders when there was no bread on the shelves.  Go with their second or third choice of an item if their first choice was out.  People willing to wait for gasoline.  People sharing their homes, their food, their generators.  Too bad it takes a something bad to bring out the good side of us.

Now we just need to work on those 4-way stops at intersections that do not have signals working!

I love antiques.  I love vintage things too but not as much as the old stuff.  You just can’t find the quality and craftsmanship today as the heart and soul poured into a piece of furniture made 100 years ago.  So when my mother-in-law wanted to get rid of her grandmother’s Duncan Phyfe couch, love seat and chair I quickly said I would take it.  It was all in pretty rough shape.  Rats had built a home in the love seat, the chair had no cushion, all three pieces had seen better days.  Sad to say they went from a formal sitting room to a warehouse to my shed where they stayed for years.   I tried my best to make the space under and on top of them useful but they really were just taking up space.  The couch actually  got some stage time in a play at the local high school.  Even got a bit of TLC for the show.  But the time came when I finally decided I could let them go.  My mother-in-law didn’t care what I did with them.  So I tried Craigslist.  No luck.  I needed to do some major purging in preparation of my sister moving down and needing storage space so I decided to bite the bullet and have a garage sale.  Ugh!!!  So much work!!!  Love going to garage sales.  Hate having them.  I moved the Duncan Phyfe pieces  out to my driveway and just put a sign on them saying “Make an Offer”.  Had a few customers that were curious but not serious.  Let’s face it, you gotta have the right decor and room to have 100 year old Duncan Phyfe.  They were  not designed to lay down and watch TV.  This furniture was the Sunday afternoon preacher came for supper or the very nervous man  about to ask his sweetheart’s father’s hand in marriage.  In other words… not comfortable.  Back to the garage sale.  A lady came and tears started rolling out of her eyes.  She had a very similar couch that had belonged to her grandmother but had to get rid of it.  I didn’t ask for any more details.  So I let her have it for 10 bucks.   I didn’t really want to make a lot of money from it.  I just wanted it to have a good home and to be loved.   So my point of this story is that if you are in a dilemma about letting go of something, be it a family heirloom or something just sentimental to you, there is someone out there that is looking for exactly that item.   Today it’s so easy to post on Craigslist, Ebay and other online sites to find a new owner.  I know clients that battle with the guilt of a trinket left to them by a family member.  They really don’t want it, don’t like it and more importantly don’t have anywhere to put it.  So I am here to give you permission to LET IT GO.   Let it go to a new home.  Someone that will love it and appreciate it.

What is a Professional Organizer you ask?  Well, there are many answers.  But simply put (PO’s are all about simplicity) I want to make your life easier and less stressful.  That pile of papers on your desk that have no rhyme or reason to them.  Then your boss asks you for that very important proposal that you just printed but now cannot find.  Got so much stuff in your garage there’s no room for your car?  I actually found a chain saw in a trashcan one time.  Are you thinking of downsizing but feel overwhelming responsibility of the years and years of sentimental stuff.  You’ve asked your kids to come and claim their stuff but they just don’t have the time.  People will make exactly as much time as they want to when they want to.   Working together I will help you to Keep It, Donate It or Toss It.  And if you decide to keep it I will help you find a home for it.  Hopefully the item will only have one home.  When it’s used it’s put back in it’s home.  Every time.

Why did I get into this Professional Organizing business?  I have always enjoyed working.  And I usually have at least one project I’m working on.  (got the project gene from my mom.  thanks mom!) Two years ago I was my daughter’s wedding planner and I made the bridesmaids dresses so I went from 100 mph to a screeching halt within a few months.  It seems employers don’t want to hire a 50-ish woman with almost no computer skills.  I couldn’t even get a response from Publix!  So that made me really take an inventory of myself and think about what I was good at, enjoyed doing and in turn could make some money.  Well, I love to organize stuff.  But is it an actual occupation?  One google search later and lo and behold it is!  There’s thousands professional organizers and they even have a national organization called NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers).  To get started I did a couple of freebies for some friends.  I organized all the props in the greenroom at Lakeland Community Theatre.  That was a huge job!  Plastic bins on shelves that went from the floor to ceiling fifteen feet high.

I love my job.  Everybody that contacts me has basically the same need:  To reclaim their space.  How they go about it is as different as each individual’s personality.  I consider a project a success if the goal from the initial assessment is met.  I really don’t like to leave a job until the goal is met.  I have tried to give homework and like most teachers I can’t say any  of my students/clients received an “A”.   When you’re working in a garage, middle of August in Florida it’s not the best of situations so to make time pass more quickly I like to engage with the client.  I  love hearing stories attached to items that need to be kept.   ( see, I don’t make you throw everything away!).  I have learned so much from clients sharing their occupations and hobbies.  I feel like I get to know their families and some of them I have gotten to meet!  The goal of  Professional Organizer is to help a client reclaim their space.  Find a system that works for the client and feel good about leaving that client with just enough of a foundation so they can continue on their own.  It’s kinda like raising kids.