When Things Aren't Working: People ~ Process ~ Purpose

My husband enjoys the show The Profit... in short, its a reality show where a wealthy investor (Marcus Lemonis) takes over struggling businesses and makes them profitable and functional again! It's good TV.

I watch on while I knit.
Many of his ideas have been slowly filtering through my mind. Lemonis' main mantra is "People, process, profit..." when anyone of those things are out of whack businesses generally don't succeed. Some times the issue is with the people, or how people are treated. Other times its the process of the business, the day to day functioning of the business ... and both issues usually impact the profitability of the business. It's interesting stuff.

I'm a miserably poor manager. Well, I take that back. I ran a very well managed classroom when I taught... because school is VERY controllable, reliable and systematic... sadly, at the cost of people... but it has to be. This however, can't always be the case in homes ... in families and in homeschools. And I'm not sure I want to treat my home and family like a school or business.

However...

Every day I wake up and I feel (in part) like I am running a struggling business (home). Now, this illustration all breaks down because our goal as a family isn't to make a profit. I guess you could use that word, but I've found that really "purpose" is a better word and end result of having our people and process in better alignment.

When they are functional we all are able to explore, create, learn and grow in depth of purpose!


Right now, nothing is working in our home... 

My process (the managing systems of our home) are NOT running smoothly. Chores aren't done, rules are not obeyed (even though we are consistent and correct). Guidelines are not acknowledged. Chaos rules us all.

People aren't doing the process (systems of management) that we've trained and taught them in.  Our people are at each otter's throats, fighting, arguments and generally not connecting on heart levels.

We fail to be able to create, explore and grow in the purpose God's designed us for and for what our hearts feel called.

Sometimes life looks more like a photo where no one is looking the same
 direction and people are talking to each other through gritted teeth. 

It stinks. It makes us all hurt.

Some people here feel this keenly. Others seem like they desire to add to the chaos or are reactionary to what surrounds them.


Each day I get up with renewed purpose all to have it fall by the wayside just moments after I take my 1st sip of chai and look at my surroundings... I see that a person has failed to do chores, or got into fish food and it now is ground into carpet or to be told someone doesn't have clothes to wear (because they failed to do their laundry like they were told.)

Our process is broken.
People are feeling disunited and on their own.
As the leader I feel defeated and have lack of motivation.

I can't say that I have a solution to this yet... but it feels better just voicing it, and realizing that people, process and purpose are all interconnected.

It's not always like this. It seem like we have a season like this ever few years... growing pains. New things. Life just being a bit "too big" for us... then we rally, come together and grow. It's still hard.

It's helpful for me to realize that leading a family, training children and managing a home is a REAL job (profession) and also a very worthwhile investment.

It might not glean returns in income (ha!), but I will reap returns in functionality, interconnectedness and be able to grow deeper in the purposes I was created for, and to see others around me benefit from personal investment in it as well!


Some of my goals...

~ To encourage personal connections and relationship building. If the process has to wait because people are connecting that is worth it! I want to connect on heart levels with each of my people. If I elevate the process I fear pushing them farther away or if all we do is think about the process then we end up serving it instead of it serving us.

~ To minimize and simplify... both "stuff" and for me mental clarity and distractions. I crave simplicity right now!

~ To take baby steps on improving our process... to update what isn't working and reinstate what is or has worked.

~ To fix me. I am the tone and weather of my home. When I am well and have direction that filters down to others.


Thanks for walking with me!
Feel free to share.

More Nesting... The Nursery!

Here is the "mama nursery" or baby's space near mama for the first few months.

Nothing special, but I got it set up! YES!

 Here's the Little Girl's Room ... AKA "the nursery"!

Thea's bed with lovely new duvet cover, made by Maga (grandma)! She is over the top thrilled with her new big girl digs! (And is even motivated to make her own bed every single morning... it is precious!)

Just the other side, because we have to give a 360* view!

My mother-in-law made this ADORABLE bedding... ruffled (RUFFLED!!!) bed skirt and wedge bumper cover!

Isn't it precious???

A place to rock and relax...

Closet, fully stocked with diapers and changer/dresser.

(I still need to find the changing pad... attic, I think!)

I LOVE Eloise Wilkin books and art... so naturally, it needs to be in the nursery. They say "God is great" and "God is good." Sweet.

Peter Rabbit and a little bit of dandelion art I created... minus the new baby's name... yet to be determined!

That's it! Simple, but so fun!

Yay for babies!  AND ... amazing mother-in-law (loves) that make things lovely and help you make your vision complete! 

My New Door Daybed

A few months ago Tim and I realized need a bed for our spare room ... it use to be the baby's room (she is about to turn 3 and I am ignoring that I ought not call her a "baby").

Tim's parents were coming for a visit and then a few weeks later my parents... we had NO bed for them. We deliberated if we wanted a queen or two twins until we realized a twin would be most functional, particularly a daybed/trundle combo. 

I was looking around and everything was p-p-p-ricy and that was when I got the notion that I wanted a "door daybed". 

If you know my husband at all you know that if  I say "Could you make me such-and-such?" He will undoubtedly say "When do you want it?" 

After looking at my inspiration photos he went to our local re-claimed materials store and bought 3 solid hardwood doors (one of which we didn't have to use), he found some old stair spindles and he got some lumber, plywood and some polyurethane from the hardware store. 

Tim trimmed/rounded the edges of the doors on top, put on the legs and constructed the base... all the boring stuff. I sanded and scrapped off  the chipped paint (which surely has lead in it)... I wore a mask and glasses, like Norm Abram would tell you to do. I left some of the paint on it to give it the effect I desired, but it could also have been taken all off and we could have refinished the old hardwood anyway we liked. Then I washed the doors off and poly-ed the whole thing about 3 times to seal it all in and make it safe.

This is what we ended up with...

The room looks even better with the trundle pushed under. 

The spreads were made by my grandma and were on her spare room beds.

They actually aren't solid black they have tiny tan pot-a-dots and are really quite charming.

I estimate we spent less than $75 to make our door daybed!

Ladies, don't look for a rich man or a man who has big muscles,
find a man who will make you things!

Organizational Quest #2: The Pantry

So, fail. 

I didn't take "before" photos... 

((maybe because it was so bad I was ashamed of it subconsciously???))

You'll just have to trust me that it was disorganized and a mess... 

that isn't too hard to picture.

My main pantry issues were: a lot of things that weren't being used, we are trying to store up a basic amount of food for provisions and we store other things in our pantry too (like small appliances, first aid items and some kitchen equipment). 

I found a LOT of lovely lovely pantries on Pinterest... 

But honestly most of them were just pretty... not really functional. 

Example...

Source: flickr.com via Marci on Pinterest

While this is beautiful, it seems sort of "Model Home" not "Real Home."

If you have a pantry like this please invite me over I want to see it and glory in its perfection... 

Then I'll ask you where all your real food is kept, because this isn't a practical pantry!

~How I Organized A Real Pantry~

Step 1: Take EVERYTHING out.

Step 2: Wipe down all surfaces with cleanser, for me it was water and a bit of bleach. (We had had a mouse a few weeks prior). Swept and mopped the floors. Got rid of about 3 trash bags of items we weren't using, both food and kitchen items. 

(Wow! That was like three days of work there, but it sets up all of the "good" stuff of making the pantry functional.)

Step 3: Sort items by food type, newest/oldest, and by need/use.

Step 4: I got ride of the round Lazy Susan type can holders. When I thought about it, not many cans fit on them and they waste shelf room because they are round. Since we only get about 10 different types of canned goods I put them in rows and stack on top and in front of the same kind of product. I now use the Lazy Susan's for bottled goods like vinegar, honey, oils and such.

Step 5: I put all small items in white handled bins. Things like nuts, seasonings packets, baking powder, soup mixes, dried fruit, and small bags of grains.

Step 6: All bake goods are now in large canisters with tight sealing lids. My sugar, brown sugar, flours, cornmeal are all now protected from pests or aging. The brown sugar is always staying nice and soft!!!

Step 7: On top of my baking shelf is all my nonperishable grains and legumes. I made one big blue bin all full of bags of beans. To the right of that is rices and other grains like polenta, lentils and barley.

Step 8: On the bigger (taller) bottom shelf I put cereals, oatmeal, oils, and storage bins for potatoes and onions.

Step 9: Below that, on the floor, I have 6 large ratcheting lid containers that I hope to store large quantities of the following items ~ Oatmeal, Flours, Granola, Seeds, Beans, Rice!

While I am not wanting to store for the end of the world, (because I figure I'd rather just "Go Home" anyway), I think it make sense and allows us to not go to the store as much for things that we uses often and avoid short term droughts or food distribution issues if that would occur. But, not having to go to the store as much is an idea I LOVE! You can buy similar containers HERE if you are in the Denver area, I HIGHLY recommend them!

So there is my simple pantry! 

I know it isn't pinterest worthy, it is not awe inducing and it doesn't have matching canisters and wicker baskets. Sad day.

But, it didn't cost me more than $30 and it is organized and serves our needs! 

That is success and one day maybe I will have a pantry just to impress people... 

I doubt it, but a girl can have dreams.

Organizational Quest #1: Mail and Paperwork Update

Remember... I have organizational challenges in my life!
Well, I haven't been flat out ignoring them... I am making progress... it just takes some time.

Here was my Intro Post and the intro to the first area I'd tackle! Mail and Paperwork

Since then, I have set out and completed what I thought would work for us... a simple, desk top filer and organizer for daily mail that comes in.

So far, so good. It is working!

Here was the desk before

I know... I should (should) be ashamed.

Here is it after...

Much much cleaner and more organized!!! Hallelujah Chorus!

I got a pen holder (because it was cute and matched)
and a mail filer for my husband to deposit the new mail in daily,
it also hold scratch paper for lists and such.

I then got the tan filer on the right to file our items in.

The file has places for:

Incoming

Outgoing

To deposit

Husband Specific 

Meals

Important (like those tickets I lost)

Homeschool

Receipts

Much better, don't you think???

I will also have posts on my newly organized pantry and clothes systems up soon!

Organizational Quest #1 - Paper Work & Mail

Here is the current "desk" just off the kitchen. Pitiful!
Sorry about the poor quality photo,
lost my camera cord (isn't that ironic) and it is a photo on the ipad.

My Issues:
~The mail gets brought in, set on the counter/desk and within 2.5 seconds something important gets lost! That is not exaggerating.
~I have tried a binder (see it there on the desk), but really that is a classy word for messy "pile".
~There is NO system or accountability to dealing with incoming, out going and filed things, as well as a safe place to keep important things.
~I don't have time each and every day to file, go through things and organize. Mail needs to be contained in a safe place until I can get to it.
~I don't have room for a sweet little wall unit to put things in. (See below).

Source: hisugarplum.blogspot.com via Marci on Pinterest

Isn't that cute!?! 

Yeah, don't have room for that.

My Successes:
~I am good at organizing our important documents (I blame that on the adoption).
~I have a cool file thing I have everything organized in and it stays put. (But, that is far different from daily dealing with paperwork.)
~I can find important things and they aren't lost!!!


My Plan:
~My plan is to apply the same principle of my "important document" filer to my daily filer... makes a whole load of sense given the other works for me.
~This is what I found and am looking to replicate... This seems simple, effective and inexpensive!!!

Source: abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com via Marci on Pinterest

Now to make it happen!

I'll post photos of my version of this once I find it...

Thoughts? Potential Issues? Ideas?

The Organization Quest

A realization.
I am not very organized.
I am just organized enough to not be considered "unorganized."

Nice. But that isn't working for me/us/we.

Want to join me on an honest, real, brave journey towards the goal of home organization?

Tim (my hero of a man) and I sat down a few nights ago after a paycheck vanished into thin air and wrote down a list of things we need to get better organized and manage better. For the next month or so I'll be pinteresting my little life away, then getting to work! It will change or it will die!

~~~Our Areas to Attack~~~

1. Mail/Desk/Paperwork Organization
The husband comes in, drops the main on the counter and then an hour later you are frantically searching for a bill or a check that was there moments before... I want to kill this problem! Once and for all!

2. Clothes Management
You go to your child's room and are engulfed in a sink hole of seemingly clean and dirty clothes combined! You throw in the towel (haha) and re-wash it all. Sad day of doom. This is the dragon of all house-hold issues... especially when you have more than 3 children!

3. Toy Management
Basically the above, but with sharper objects that you step on and curse about (well, not really, but you want so badly to!)

4. Medicine Organization
Opening up a cupboard and thinking you walked into an apothecary shop with sticky syrups and bottles glued to shelves, expiration dates 2 years past due and too many packages of Imodium. Double, double, toil and trouble!

5. Laundry System
This is a beast that grows with exponent when new children enter your home. Our laundry space is cramped and this makes the beast appear larger than life... plus it is a 3 headed beast (wash, fold, put away). And one head never gets done in our house!!!

6. Pantry Organization
This is the mother of all cupboards in my home. Between food storage and appliances it is a huge tangle of cords and crumbs!

7. Meal Planning and Food Inventory
This is an area that is a joy to me (not the shopping) but the planning. Weird I know. So I'll share the joy of this bright and rainbow and roses spot for me!

8. Chore Method and Management
Getting the dwarfs to work like the Snow White would like them to... fantasy or reality?

Join me? 

Do you have a quest of your own?