I hit a bit of a wall this week in my January Cure. It seems like the more I accomplish the more I find that needs to be done, while still maintaining everything I've achieved so far. I'm struggling to stay positive in what has started to seem like a climb worthy of Sisyphus.

Day 9: Create a landing strip
Though we were already rockin' a bowl for keys and random clutter, what we really needed was a mail solution. Now we've designated a basket for mail, an area for magazines (with a strict time limit as to how long they can stay there), and it's all within reach of the recycling bin so junk mail and envelopes don't pile up. Here's my new mail plan: unopened mail goes into the basket and, once a day, I sort the basket into a keep pile,important mail/bills which go to my desk, and recyclables. The goal is to get the basket down to empty once a day so it stays manageable.

Day 10: Work on your goal project
My goal project is finally to be able to close the broken sliding door to our laundry closet. I tend to underestimate the difficulty of the projects I take on, and this was no exception. What I thought was a fairly simple fix turned into a trip to the hardware store and some very uncooperative, flimsy plastic hinges. I see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I have a ways to go on this one.

Day 11: Try a media fast.
Check out the lead photo of this post for a small sampling of our media situation. Besides the Apple Store I could open out of our apartment, we're also rocking an entertainment set-up that has so many remotes that, at this point, I think they're breeding while we're asleep. So, needless to say, I'm dealing with a serious media-phile who wasn't so keen on a forced fast, especially since we both needed our computers for work. But we did turn off the TV, spend some time in the kitchen, and take the dog for a long walk. So it wasn't a complete fast, but more of a light media meal.

Day 12: Declutter books and media.
I'd thoroughly purged my books a few months ago, but we're pretty out of control in the media department. I'm not naming names here, but someone is a bit of a media hoarder, and it isn't me. Even though we pretty much watch movies exclusively on Netflix and OnDemand, these DVDs are essential to our existence on this earth; you know, for "emergencies." The best I could accomplish was a thorough cleaning and organizing session for everything we kept (so...everything).

Day 13: Weekend chores - flowers & bedroom
Besides the regular bedroom cleaning chores this weekend, I forced myself to accept the extra credit assignment of cleaning out our bedroom closet. I've mentioned before that our biggest challenge is limited space, so imagine my terror when I decided it would be great motivation to share a photo of the best example of our space issue: the closet. Given my clothing-specific hoarding tendencies, sharing a closet is my nightmare. Even after brutally purging my wardrobe, I'm still hogging at least 80% of the closet real estate, but at least all our things now fit inside, and the door closes. We can't touch any clothing ever again for fear that the whole thing will collapse, but for now it's organized and off the floor, which is a huge victory.