Making My Heart Race!

You might have heard about a new little network debuting this weekend . . . you know the one. Formed recently by that famous lady that folks talk about all the time? You know, around the water cooler, over coffee with friends, in the grocery store with strangers? The one who is responsible for most conversations that start like this,   "So, did you see Oprah this week?"

You might remember that I've had my own love-dislike relationship with her over the recent years of this blog. (Here's a post about a show I loved. And here's one about a show I disliked.) No matter how you feel about the amazing Miss O, I'm pretty sure you've had at least one conversation recently about her or about one of her shows. We all have, whether or not we can overcome our pop-culture snobbery enough to actually admit it.  (Ouch, was that my toe I just stepped on?!)

Here at The Gang's headquarters, I can't stop talking about one of the new shows that premiered over the weekend on her new network. In fact, when I watched the first episode in full, I was so excited and motivated, I could hardly fall asleep when it was over. Which, as a night person already, is really not a great thing at 10 p.m. Especially when your sick, morning-person hubby is staggering up the stairs for bed and the bed isn't even made yet.

(Earlier that morning, I was highly motivated to clean my room because The Boss has been sick. I "NEEDED" to strip the sheets. RIGHT. THEN... And wash all the towels. And everything else he might have touched. Or breathed upon. Or near. Yes, I am The Gang's Momma and I am a germ-a-phobe.)

So, anyhoo.  (I never really say that. But it sounded so, so, Australian. Didn't it? Did it? I'm going with a big fat "yes.") So. I've been anxiously awaiting this new show for weeks now. As soon as I heard that my hero of home-organization was coming back to regular television programming, I was over the moon with joy. You may remember him from this little gem of a show:

But this new show? Is giving me palpitations. And I've only seen the sneak peek previews and one full episode. My little heart is going crazy with skipped beats and "a ha!" moments. I've already purged a couple jewelry boxes, Li'l Empress's closet and dresser, my desk organizer, my make-up stash, a huge pile of paperwork, and a couple random drawers. Next up is our huge collection of cd's, dvd's, and vhs tapes.

(And by the by, if you have any leads other than cr@igslist

for a great way to unload those kinds of items and fill our little Adoption Jar

with some extra change, I'm taking suggestions!)  

I even got the kids in on the action by making them sort and purge their arts and crafts bin. Whew! We filled three kitchen garbage bags of that sort of stuff just from Sunday night till their bedtime on Monday night. In fact, after seeing the sneak peeks of my favorite new show between football games on Sunday, I even ordered my whole Monday schedule around how to best and most efficiently run my errands, do the holiday returns/exchanges, and purge through some more paperwork in order to be able to sit (guilt-free!) with a big mug o' chai and absorb all of Peter's wisdom undistracted by my workload.

Yes. Yes, I am talking about Peter Walsh and his awesome new show.  If you haven't caught it yet, you really must find it. Then, DVR it. Prepare a mug o' hot drink of choice for yourself and take it all in. Seriously. There's something for everyone. Even The Boss sat and watched it with me, commenting and agreeing with points along the way. (Whether he actually implements any of the tips and tools for his own stash of "STUFF" remains to be seen. Although I will give him props. Over the weekend, he did clean out his closet and got rid of a couple t's and some old socks. Santa brought him new socks this year.)

I was oooh'ing and aaaah'ing over his sage insight (Peter's, not The Boss's!) and strategizing in my head what I would be able to do with what I was taking in. Oh, and the beautifully organized, focused, intentional living space was making me positively teary by the show's end. What a lovely room. What a gift to give that family. What a delightful jump-start for their new perspectives. Sigh. I've already set the DVR to record each and every episode. I canNOT miss even one. And look at that, I'm being super-time efficient by dvr'ing them too - no commercials detracting from the mission of my viewing pleasure and only a portion of an hour taken up in my day. I'm so proud of myself!

I've decided to ride that wave and keep feeding the thrill that I feel every time I throw something out. I'm gonna ride the crest of accomplishment that soars inside when I clean a shelf or  re-organize a cupboard after a good purging.  I'm hanging on to the high I get whenever I down-size a drawer. (Wow, that was some kickin' alliteration, there! Look what an un-distracted 48 minutes with Peter Walsh has done for me!)

(Well, really, I've loved his work for years

but this show has catapulted

him to celebrity crush-dom.

I wonder if he knows

how auspicious that is?)