Today is the day I empty my office so I can begin the remodel. Thank god for chosen-family, who are going to come over this afternoon to box and move stuff. I’m buying pizza for the crowd, but they are doing the work that I couldn’t do by myself with only my boys. And college kid is coming home to help, too.

I took “before” pictures yesterday. I’ll post them beside “after” pictures when I’m done. I may even post some in-between pictures, we’ll see.

As I looked at the pictures and the room, I realized I’ve lived this way for almost six years. I’m trying to stuff three businesses, and a bunch of family stuff, into a 10′x14.5′ room. No wonder it’s full.

Yesterday, I cleaned out the room we call the “art room” but is supposed to be the dining room (the pocket doors of my office open onto this room), which was a major chore in and of itself. Thank goodness for banquet tables; they fold up when I don’t need them. The art room is going to be the main storage area for this adventure. My desk is going out there, so I can stay connected and working during the week. The rest of the stuff is going onto the back porch, with leftovers into the basement, but basement is pretty full, so not much room there.

My job this morning is to clean the rest of the main floor (living room, entry, kitchen) so they’re not covered in dog hair. And when I’m done with that, I need to pull everything out of my office that I’m going to need in the next two weeks. Ahhh… the joy of trying to anticipate every need. I’ll let you know how good a job I do.

So, breakfast first, then time to get to work.