Buying gifts for my husband is hard. He usually gets what he wants after a little cajoling, so when it came to Christmas this year, the plan was he ALREADY GOT HIS PRESENTS throughout the year! But, since I am a major suck and a loving wife, I decided to really splurge and get him an iPod Touch. He wasn’t expecting anything (due to our previous conversations about “limits”) and he was thrilled.

Since Christmas however, it has been a gift that keeps on giving - for ME! Man, I LOVE that thing!!! It is so much stinking fun I want to use it all the time! Whenever I am nursing Ezra, I have to have it, when I need a little break from this house, I want it… It has basically come down to Paul asking to use his own Christmas present! Sigh. While I wish I didn’t love it as much as I do, I really, really do.

So - for Valentines Day… guess what Paul is getting me?!!! I think he just wants his iPod back - which I don’t blame him for at all - but I am completely thrilled with how it has turned out. Now - what does this have to do with organization you ask?? Everything! I think that is why I love it so much. As soon as I get it I am downloading this great app called “Things” which seems promising to have as my calendar. I can’t WAIT to get it (neither can Paul) and as soon as I do, I will let you know if “Things” is as good as it looks. In addition to a to-do list, I am also scoping out the grocery list apps, a budget/balancing checkbook one and trying to find a goal setting one. I think it will be a great way to manage my time, keep me paperless (and therefore less cluttered), on task, on time and in such a beautiful, slick package…. Wow. Seriously. Can’t wait! Do you have a great app on your iPod/iPhone that you love and can’t live without? I need to hook up with the good stuff! - Maja

What a time it has been the last couple months. Without going into too much detail, it has been more than a bit of a gong show! Getting ready for Christmas was of course busy, and Daria had a family emergency that kept her away from the technical side of the Savvy Organizer.

Then, on Christmas Day, away from our home that I WORKED SO HARD TO HAVE PERFECT before I left, it apparently froze and we had pipes burst, toilets crack and a dishwasher break! ARGH! I have never experienced the headache of a flood, nor cutting our livable space in half before. It really has been a challenge condensing. I would look around every day at the disaster that was before my eyes and think “I need ME!” (someone to come in and help me organize this mess) or some serious drugs to help me focus! It was almost more than I could handle with 6 people living in about 1000 square feet. So we are now living on top of one another, but I finally feel like I have a handle on it. Not that I am done, but I no longer dread the morning and feel like there may be a light at the end of the tunnel! Wow. And the gigantic silver lining that is around this whole dark cloud is that I get a bright, beautiful new basement!!!! I love insurance!!! In 6 months I am confident I will look back and think it will be the best Christmas present ever. Until then, I think it may be a different story!

Have you ever experienced a flood? How did you organize from it? The focus of Savvy Organizer in the coming months will be on PURGING because that is all I will be doing around here! Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years and I look forward to hearing your tips and sharing mine with you as I go. Here’s to a New Year, new basement, and a forced paring down. Love it!!!!!