My ducks are in a row

The biggest part of my new job is organizing and reorganizing and organizing some more. It's quite honestly the biggest part of my job.

I manage two email accounts, two in-house reporters, about 12 freelance writers, social media sites (personal and professional) and a website. Most of the emails have photos attached, and everybody is asking me for something.

But I'm good at organizing. I think that's the main reason they hired me for the job.

When Biscuit was born, I had created some pretty intricate systems for keeping track of his clothes. I had heard how fast they grow into and out of clothes, so I had it all under control. And it's still working.

That said, the very first pediatrician's appointment we had was the day after we got home from the hospital. I got myself ready. Jeff got himself ready. I got Biscuit dressed and bundled into his car seat. Then Mama said, "Where's his diaper bag?"

"Huh?" was my response.

Nobody had told me anything about a diaper bag. We had two of them, one for me and one for Jeff. But they were both still in the closet with the tags on them. After I had a little breakdown and got the how-are-you-ever-going-raise-a-child look from my Mama, I threw some diapers and wipes in the bag, and away we went.

The appointment was fine, and I learned that as soon as you get home, you restock your diaper bag, so it's ready to go as soon as you are.

But that was just cluelessness, not being unorganized.

I love containers and baskets and boxes and anything that will contain things in a neater way. There's a whole store I used to go to that sells nothing but organizational products. I've gotten some really cool things from there, some that I actually needed and some that were just really cool!

One thing that Jeff really likes right now is a day-of-the-week clothes organizer.

It hangs from Biscuit's closet rod, and over the weekend, I can load it up for the whole next week -- pants, shirts, underwear, socks, even pajamas. And when Jeff dresses Biscuit in the morning, all he has to do is grab what's in that day's cubby.

My organizational skills are why I struggle with how my house looks right now. On one hand, I'd love to back a dump truck up to the front door and sweep everything out. But then I look around and realize that aside from the mail and magazines, most everything that's out of place is Biscuit's stuff -- trucks and cars, books and crayons, balls and bats and cowboy and fire stuff.

So for now, I'll put as many ducks in a row as I can and just live with the rest until I can line them up.