This summer has been rough. Part of me feels like a big whiny cry baby for being stressed and short tempered. I mean, we’re all healthy. My husband is still employed. There is a roof over our heads and food (chocolate included) in our cabinets.

But still, my stress level has been soaring. My momma (who I’m incredibly close with) has been going through a really rough patch these last few months and I’ve sort of been her therapist/life coach/enforcer. Combine that with moving and summer vacation (which is usually great but sometimes not so much with a perennially bored and structure hungry seven year old) and I feel like my head’s about to explode.

The funny thing is, the universe seems to deliver you exactly what you need just before your brain spontaneously combusts. For me, it came in the form of a squirrel… in my house.

The girls and I came home after a long day of shuttling our things over to the new place and running errands. Samantha was bored (read: cranky and combative). Ellie was tired and I had pretty much had it.

We opened the front door and there, standing in the middle of our dining room, was a squirrel who looked like it was about to have a nervous breakdown.

Now, I’ve always thought squirrels were cute. Nibbling on nuts and climbing trees and stuff while their big fluffy tails looked like feather dusters swaying in the breeze. I thought of them singing in enchanted forests to princesses who were wandering around aimlessly with empty baskets. I always thought of them as sweet and furry and almost cuddly.

But when there was one in the middle of my house, they suddenly weren’t so cute. It had beady little eyes and talon-like claws and could it possibly be carrying bugs or some nasty disease?

This picture pretty much sums up what I feel like my life is like at the moment. It’s definitely what my life looks like (…okay. Maybe that’s a slight exaggeration).

But really. There’s clutter everywhere. I’m so overwhelmed by it all that I keep starting mini-tasks before I finish the last thing I started, leaving my house one big lump of messy little piles.

I need to take control!

Yesterday I read a post by Roo over at Nice Girl Notes that really hit home for me. It was about the struggles of being a work from home momma: the difficulty of getting anything done with wee ones weaving between your legs, mommy guilt, and the repercussions of never leaving the “office.”

It’s so hard. Most days I feel like I got nothing done. And every day I feel like one part of my life has suffered: I did too much work and didn’t spend enough time with my babies, I didn’t get any work done, or I hung with the babies and got work done once my husband got home and spent no time with him.

But instead of continuing to whine and wallow in my stress, I’ve decided to do something about it. Today.

The first thing I need to do is organize my life. With less clutter and more order, I’ll automatically feel a little calmer. If that means I get a little less work done for the next couple of days, so be it. It will help me get more done later.

1 :: 2 :: 3 :: 4 :: 5 :: 6 :: 7 :: 8 :: 9

Once I’m organized, I’ll try and set a loose schedule for myself. If I can stick to this little schedule, I’m hoping I’ll feel more in control. I’m absolutely horrible at time management, which is something I have to try to address.

But I’m curious. How do you do it? Do you have any tips I can use to make my life a little easier and slightly less chaotic?

For better or for worse, I think just about everyone knows what it’s like to be dancing on the cusp of your breaking point. Whether it’s a big deal or a small one, it’s not exactly a party, is it?

Lately I find myself dangerously close to a breaking point of my own.

As someone who loathes confrontation (I’m all about peace and love!), I’ve been trying to push it aside or brush it off. But as that delightful old adage goes, it seems to be time to shit or get off the pot.

Since I try to avoid confrontation at all costs, I generally let irritation after irritation go without doing or saying anything to soothe it. I take a “let nature take its course” sort of approach. But like grains of sand working on a rock, what start out as small nuisances slowly morph into something of consequence.

What do you do when you feel yourself nearing a breaking point?

Right now, I feel like all I can do is gather my strength and prepare for battle. You’ll know I’m truly at the edge when I start dressing like a Dothrakian (see photo above) from HBO’s new series Game of Thrones (have you seen it yet? It’s awesome).

Maybe that’s why I find myself so drawn to these amazing pieces that have a bohemian, sort of tribal, almost warrior-like feel to them…

1 White Owl :: 2 Luxury Lanna Crafts
3 BOHOBO collective :: 4 Amanda Davie Wholesale1 Aida Coronado :: 2 DeOrdio Designs :: 3 Cloud 9 Jewels :: 4 Sparklefarm

Game of Thrones photo via The Comics Ninja.