The past week has been pretty amazing! Today’s post is an update on controlling the chaos in my life…

Low Information Diet Update

Being pleasantly uninformed has been pretty peaceful.  I thought I would start itching to know the latest in the news or go through withdrawal as a self-professed new junkie, but I haven’t really missed it at all this past week.  In fact, reflecting back I feel much better about the world I’m living in since I am unaware of the tragedies that impact a very small percentage of the population.

Just to clarify, I am not belittling the tragedies that have impacted people in my area and around the world.  In our connected society it is easy to be dismayed by stories of tragedy and horror that come from the vast population of people in our country and around the world.

I have replaced the news with music from my iPhone or “re-reading” The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss on audiobook.  I have found this to be a much more positive use of my time.

Cleaning Is Messy Business

My wife and I have spent the last week whipping our home into shape.  Each year we have a big “Fall Festival” at our house for our neighbors, friends, and folks from church.  My wife feels the need to make sure the house is in tip-top order and i feel the need to make sure that the backyard is in great shape.  Over the past week we have made some HUGE messes in the name of cleaning the house.

We’re not the only ones who make a big mess while cleaning are we?  Sorting through the kid clothes was the biggest task that needed to be caught up on.  We use clear flip-top totes from Home Depot (the best home improvement store in the world) to keep clothes organized to pass down from child to child or to hand off to others.  I like the flip-top containers because they are affordable, stackable, and the lids don’t get lost.  I learned they were the best containers from observing what antique dealers use to pack and unpack all their gear.

When a box of clothes is packed I slide an 8.5×11 ‘label’ into the end of the container that clearly identifies the contents of the box.  Most of the crates are stored in our attic on some $40 plastic shelves that I have been VERY impressed with.  The shelves only take a few minutes to snap together and are amazingly sturdy and perfect for attic organization and storage.  Slowly we are regaining control of our attic storage area and transitioning from utter chaos to organized storage.

Over the course of the week we were able to whittle away at months of neglect and get things back to a manageable state in our home.  Tuesday and Wednesday our house looked like a disaster zone with piles of clothes and other items coming in and out, but everything fell into place.  With the whole home in a manageable place it is easier to focus some special attention on specific areas to purge, like the toy shelves in the girl’s rooms.

Sell, Sell, Sell!

With some of my extra time I have been selling things online like I used to.  In just the past few days i have sold some BIG items that have been laying around in the way.  I have been taking some of my own advice and dedicating at least 7 minutes a day to posting items on Craigslist.  It usually takes me about 5 minutes an item to post an ad.  The biggest item I have sold was a pair of axles that have been sitting in front of my workbench for months and making organizing that area impossible.

I currently have 12 items listed on Craigslist and two transactions that will probably be completed during lunch today.  I already have a great post about my online selling exploits that you might want to check out.

My friend John also did an excellent guest post about selling items on eBay.  CL is a great market for lots of items, but a premium dollar can be had for items with a specific market on eBay.  Check out John’s great post and his blog that is full of great advice about computing.

Priority Back In Marriage

It is also worth noting that my low information diet has opened up better time for quality Bible study with my wife.  We are about to complete Michael Whitworth’s study on Daniel titled The Derision of Heaven.  It has been a good study of what is a challenging and often misunderstood text.  Cutting back on news viewing in the evening has opened up a better time of study with my wife and an earlier bed time.

Photos from Fall Festival

We had a blast at our annual Fall Festival.  I think there were probably around 70 people at our house Saturday evening.  (Quick side note: After a big party I love our robot vacuum cleaner Rosie!)  I thought some of you might enjoy seeing a sampling of some of my favorite photos from our annual Fall Festival….