Whew! We are finally back from our nine-day whirlwind spring break tour of Oklahoma and southern Missouri, and its good to be home. I always say the best thing about traveling is going home. I love to see the sights and enjoy my family, but there is just something comforting and stable about being in familiar surroundings after sleeping in strange beds and consuming way too much restaurant food for days on end.

Okay, now that I’ve established my alibi for not getting more accomplished toward my 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge, I do want to update you on my progress (and yes, there is some). I dropped off four boxes and one bag of donations to the local charity resale shop the morning we left for vacay. I also left behind two bags of just plain trash for the next pick up day. I managed to sort, clean and rearrange two of the craziest closets in the house, one which houses my son’s craft and coloring supplies and one that holds coats, hats, scarves, gloves, games and puzzles. Yes, that second one sounds like a hot mess, but it actually looks pretty good. . . for the moment. If you’re planning a visit, come now!

So if I add the seven bags and boxes to my first group, it looks like I have 11 total items toward my goal. Okay, so it’s not a spectacular showing at this point, but just wait until you see what’s coming up next. My guest room looks like an F5 flew through it; and although I was too embarrassed to photograph the destruction, my husband so kindly took pictures and passed them along to my mother. . . she wasn’t surprised. I also started the kitchen cabinet clean out this evening, so that will be a fun one to show.

How are you coming on your 40 Bag Challenge? I would love to hear about your progress and see pictures along the way.