My house is a mess. Despite an entire day of cleaning yesterday, I feel like I accomplished very little. Sure, I made a few discoveries, like my hall floors can safely be walked on without tripping on something nor getting food stuck to your feet, or when all the laundry is done we sure have a lot of clothes. Unfortunately cleaning the hall, kitchen and dining room floors means all that crap was thrown in the general direction of where it lives - like Kylie’s room, the living room or, most cluttered of all, the kitchen table.

Despite the mess and the clutter in my house, I am really an organzied person at heart. I’m slowly going about my house, getting rid of all the junk that has been piling since we moved in. It’s a long process - there is a lot of junk - but I find that each shelf that looks cleaner makes me more relaxed.

With two small children, organization when we leave the house is critical. This is made more difficult by the fact that we don’t drive. We have getting two children ready, the diaper bag packed and the stroller out the door almost down to a science. Our small, everyday adventures are becoming routine.

So let’s mix it up! Going away for Christmas involves driving down with relatives, cramming all of our gear, Christmas presents, carseats and children and keeping them entertained for 6 hours. Then it’s 5 days away from home, followed by another 6 hour drive.

We leave in less than 3 weeks. I don’t want to forget anything, so I’ve already started a packing list broken into categories. As I think of something we need to get, I jot it down on the list. This trip will go well.

Other then the fear of 6 hours in a car with my children, I am ready for Christmas. Most of my shopping is done and the presents are wrapped. Christmas photos should be here any day and we can get the cards in the mail.

It’s a shame that despite my preparations, Christmas always sneaks up. This weekend we’re putting up the tree.