Nesting?...Maybe.

About 2 weeks ago I finally ordered a shelf to get the garage in better order.  This is something I've wanted to do for quite some time, but could never manage to part with the money for the shelf, so I used some birthday money and made it happen.  Last Friday I came home from work fully intending to take a nap, after I brought packages in off the porch, but then had the sudden overwhelming NEED to clear the cabinets in my kitchen and reorganize.  (This was most likely spurred on by the other things I purchased when I bought that free standing shelf.  Things like an in-drawer knife block, a cookie sheet organizer, and some on the door pantry shelving for baggies and aluminum foil.)  So, I did.  I sat down in the floor with all my pots, pans, lids, cookie sheets, and baking stones and completely rearranged the cabinets surrounding the stove.  I even wiped out the cabinets.  It felt nice.  Until I stood up....then I was in some pain from sitting on the hard wood floor for so long.  But, I was proud of the progress.  Then I went to the living room and decided I had earned some rest time, sat down to read, and about one whole minute later jumped back up and went back to the kitchen.  I started staring at the pantry.  It just made my skin crawl.  It had been bugging me for a number of weeks, but hadn't had the energy to deal with it....so now that I did, well, it had to happen immediately.  I took everything I could reach off the shelf.  Then, I stood and stared.  There was an entire shelf I could no longer reach because I'm not allowed on the step ladder at this late date of my pregnancy.  I thought I'd just wait for Ryan to get home and help me, then after 30 minutes staring at it I remembered I had a long pair of tongs with large rubberized ends that I use to reach spices over the stove.  I found them...and started yanking things off the shelves.  I had to tip toe a bit and really stretch to reach some things in the back...but eventually I got it ALL!  Triumph!!!  I cleaned the shelves I could reach and put in contact paper I found for $1 at the Dollar Tree, then started restocking the shelves in a completely different way.  It was wonderful to finally have things in a better order, and to clean out old canned goods that had gone out of date.  I pulled all canned goods out of the pantry, because in our kitchen they go on a wire rack on the cabinet next to the stove so they are in better reach.  They only sit one deep in the rack so you can always see what you have, and they don't take up any extra space that way because the space was completely unused before.  I took the gadgets and machines I don't use very often and put on the higher pantry shelf(using my long tongs) so they wouldn't take up precious counter or cabinet space anymore.  I even cleaned out my pot holder drawer, utensil holders and made some extra space in upper cabinets next to the stove for things like olive oil, salt/pepper mills, and other food items used often near the stove.  It was a phenomenal accomplishment.  I didn't touch the cabinets with dishes, glasses, or glass bakeware, but I still managed a LOT for one afternoon!  I was so proud, and was finally completely worn out enough that I went and sat down for about an hour.  Then, after that my husband came home and put together my garage shelf for me.  Guess what?!  Another wave of HAVE TO hit me.  And I cleaned the garage too!  It's not perfect, but there is a definite floor space now.  Instead of having a one foot walkway from the kitchen to the drink fridge and workbench, we now have an almost empty floor aside from some furniture and larger trash items that need to be hauled away.  :)  YAY.  Do I have before pictures?  No.  :(  I'm partly glad because it's a bit sad how horrible I'd let things get these last many months, but sad too because you can't really appreciate the progress that was made.  However, I am THRILLED with the results.  There is still more to do in the garage in way of cleaning out and organizing, but wow is it ever better...by about 1000%.  So, when I told my mom about my wonderful cleaning out she said I needed to be careful because when the clean bug hit her it meant it was time for baby to come on home.  I told her I didn't think that was the case for me, but I'm being careful anyway.   When we went to our birthing class the next Thursday they said if you have a sudden burst of energy, and the need to clean everything in the house, baby might be on the way.  Ryan and I just laughed.  We think it will still be a while before Lila gets here, but at least some of the cleaning is done. :)  Pictures to come later.