Overwhelmed.

It's been just over 36 hours now since I've been holding down the fort solo. Not that I'm counting or anything. :P I was getting stressed towards the end of my day, because I will have a few days this week that I can't get home early ie the time my husband normally got home for the dogs. I don't think the dogs can tell the difference though; it's just one more hour of napping for them.

Between being tired and hungry myself, knowing the dogs need to be taken care of immediately, and having tons of housework to do I was a little overwhelmed tonight. I took care of the dogs, made a quick dinner for myself, and then relaxed for an hour before cleaning for an hour. The house looked like a tornado went through here after the whirlwind of packing this weekend. Tonight I picked everything up and put it where it belongs - clothes, dog stuff, trash, papers, mail, etc. Now the house is ready for me to dust, sweep, and mop tomorrow. My goal is to clean and organize for an hour every day, and see where it gets me at the end of six months!

My immediate response to feeling overwhelmed is thinking that I wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for all the dogs. If we had a normal amount of dogs things wouldn't be like this. After feeling like this for a bit, I think about how I let continuous feelings of being overwhelmed get in the way of doing anything at all about it. I have a feeling that if I'm able to build small daily habits and try a little more - at the same time working our way down to a few less dogs - that we will be able to strike a balance in our home.

I really have enjoyed cleaning/organizing/decorating blogs lately. It is inspiring me and motivating me to create my own cozy little home where we can relax and enjoy ourselves. Watching "Hoarders" - as I am right this second - makes me feel a little more hopeful, too. At least I don't have that much clutter!