40 Hours Per Week

This is where I spend the majority of my life; this is my office.  Nestled into a corner which is supposed to be a breakfast nook, I have a great view of my kitchen, most of my backyard, and I can smell the kids' bathroom.  Thank you, Lord, for Febreze and scented candles.  Last week, I was blessed with overtime (those extra three hours helped me get ahead, and I'm grateful for it!) and my desk was awful by Friday.  I walked past my desk area today, and after telling the kids to clean their rooms, I realized I was amiss and decided to do something about "Mommy's office."  Here are the regrettable before pics:

I should be ashamed of myself.

The white box is one of those numbered bill organizers.  I never bother looking at the numbers, and I'm not even sure what is in there.  I had toilet paper on my desk because I had a nose bleed and couldn't find my tissues.  Phone book, coupons, Bible bag, very old iPod which never quite worked, glucose blood strips, kids reports cards...I LIVE HERE.

I shred medical paperwork at the end of every shift.  This is personal bills to shred.  Also located here are my coding books, medical reference books, and more bills shoved into a divider.

I am not a knick-knick, or tshotshke person.  These three shelves comprise of the only stuff I will allow in my house, and I'm thinking about knocking it down to two shelves.  It creates dust and annoys the pooh out of me.

More school books, plus my tshotshkes.  As you can see, I favor Christian stuff, pics of my kids...and Strawberry Shortcake figurines.  Yes, I love them, and only have four.  I kinda want more (so much for the two shelves thing I just said.)

Let's commence to the clean up.  It took me...gasp...about 90 minutes.  Of course, that included shredding and constantly running to the recycling bins.  But I got a lot done in 30 minutes!

One of the few toys both my sister and I loved mutually as kids; Strawberry Shortcake!

My angel globe.  It's actually named "Sarah" on the bottom of the globe.

One of my favorite stories as a little girl was Scuffy the Tugboat.  Pardon my dust; as you can see, cleaning was a necessity.

The only thing I have of my great grandmother Rose were her Siamese cat salt and pepper shakers.  They are at least...I want to say 50 years old.  But they are made in Japan.  Grandma Rose was born in August 1900 and passed away 1986.

My sister made this for me in an art class she took in high school.  It says Sarah and the frog is holding a diploma that says 1993 on it.  That is the year I graduated high school.

These nails represent Jesus being nailed on the cross.  I've had them for many years; there used to be red paint on the ends, but it has chipped off.  I'd like to get a display case for them.

Ok, let's get to the end result:

Hung up my 2012 calendar behind me, finally.  It is low because I need to spin and read it.  Only thing on my desk is my "Sarah" coaster for the massive coffee consumption will should start around 7am.  Everything is shredded, paper is in the printer, and I even blew the crumbs out of my keyboard. 

Look!  The white bill box is now on the bookshelf instead of on my desk.  There's room!  Actual room for working!

Monday, I am ready for you.  BRING IT.