She sure was organized. She had to be.

My mother had to have been very organized. I am an organized person. Overly so, or so I've been told. If you could see my office right now, though, you'd wonder what I'm talking about. My office looks very dysfunctional at the present time, but I DO know where everything is. It IS a mess and I abhor the mess, but until tomorrow night's scrapbook event is over, it will stay that way. Then I can put the stuff back where it all belongs.

Back to my mother and her organizational skills -- which she had to have had.

I don't think I can point to any one thing that means that she was organized -- like she didn't post a schedule which we all adhered to, and she didn't tell us how to put our clothes away, or anything like that. But I KNOW she was organized.

Here's how I know. How could a woman with four children under the age of 7 get them all ready for church 5 times (minimally) a week, never sweat, and smile the whole time she was doing it? I do not recall her having a "program" of getting us ready. I do not recall any assembly line dress-up. I do not recall her ever getting flustered at having to get us all immaculately quaffed and cleaned and pressed. She just did it. Somehow, she has all of us at church EARLY, dressed, clean, spiffy, and ready to be still and listen.

And, I have to tell you, my brothers were a handful. They were never still. I have pictures to prove it, but right now, I can't put my hands on them. If I do, I'll edit this post and put those pictures in here. (That last statement would indicate that I'm not as organized as I think I am, but I DO know where the pictures are, I'm just too lazy to get them out and scan them into the computer right now!)

How else do I know my mother had superb organizational skills? Well, there was never a dirty dish in the sink. There were almost always dishes in the drainer, drying -- until I was old enough to that deed -- which, by the way, I hated. I'd much rather wash than dry. And, as an aside, I can vividly remember standing on a step stool to reach the sink and washing the family dishes after dinner. I was probably in school and so was not required to wash the breakfast and lunch dishes.

She always had dinner on the table promptly at 6 p.m. Not five minutes to six, not five minutes after six, but at exactly six p.m. She knew just how long it would take to cook something, and everything was fresh and not over cooked.

And, her garden, as I've mentioned before was extremely organized. Roses here, irises there, lilies of the valley in another spot, AND...her garden was in bloom from early spring until late fall and you couldn't tell when one season left off and another began. It always looked lovely, no matter what season it was, except, of course in winter, when it was just dead.

The house was never dirty or messed up (except in our play areas) and yet I never remember her breaking out in a sweat over the housework. She must have had a system of cleaning that I don't recall, you know, like vacuum on Tuesday, dust on Thursday, straighten up every day, scrub the kitchen floor on Saturday -- now that I do remember. Every Saturday night, mom was on her hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor. Why Saturday night? I suppose it was because on Sunday we would always have someone just "drop in" and no respectable Italian would have a dirty floor. She also scrubbed the bathroom on Saturday night. No complaining, she just did it. After all the baths (there would have been plenty of bathwater on the floor to mop up) and after we children were tucked in, she'd be cleaning, getting ready for Sunday.

And laundry. My mom NEVER had a pile of laundry. She did it faithfully. She ironed a couple of times a week -- that was in the days when nothing was permanent press and EVERYTHING had to be ironed. She must have folded and put things away at night, because I don't recall her doing it during the day. I do recall that when I was old enough, she taught me now to fold towels, sheets -- I loved helping her fold the freshly laundered, hung out-doors sheets -- and then we progress to underwear. Everything else had to be pressed and hung. We didn't have Carters for Kids back then. Everything was cotton, and not Egyptian either. It was scratchy.

One more thing, her lists for the grocery store were in order of where they were in the store. So if the produce was the first aisle she went down, all her produce needs were listed first, then the paper goods aisle needs, etc. I shop that way, also. I visualize where things are in the store and list them accordingly. That way I don't miss anything I need.

So, I supposed I'm saying that I come by my organizational skills honestly, albeit by osmosis.

PS: I found the pictures of my brothers in their less than sleepy mode, but they are glued tightly to pages in albums that have several pictures on them. Scanning them would not be easy to do, so you'll just have to imagine what it was like for my mom, or you could visit me and I could show you the pictures. :)