Disorganised Gift Crisis!!!

I have spent the last half an hour searching EVERYWHERE for my Sister In Law's birthday present, and giving myself a near heart attack in the process. If I was more organised, perhaps I wouldn't be sending myself to an dearly grave over a birthday present.

It's not that I'm really disorganised, I usually pretty good, but there are certainly areas that need tweaking - don't we all have areas in our lives that need tweaking?? ;)

Haha!!!
Back to my story...........

One of my favourite new Blogs is The Organised Housewife. She's not Fly Lady (thanks goodness), she's a mum, wife, a scrapbooker - an ordinary person who does the extraordinary in my eyes. She's organised. And she uses common sense. My favourite stuff!!!!

On her site she has a lot of printables to help you organise your life. Great if you are list person, and lucky for me, I AM!!! I generally meal plan for the week and make a shopping list off that, and make a list of what's going on and needs doing during the week. But last night I did it using her meal planning, weekly routine and planner printables. While browsing through her other printables, I came across the Christmas Planner. Within all the Christmas stuff was something that I certainly NEED. A Hidden Gift List. Why had a never thought about something like that earlier?!?!?!?!!? Gifts are my downfall I'm afraid.

I used to be so good, but then family and friends bred, and bred some more, we made more friends along the way, the girls made friends, and to top it off, get invited to parties!!!!! Bugger there are a crap-load of gifts that go through this house on an annual basis.

Just counting family (who all live interstate) - Cal and I have 2 parents each, and I stil have one grandparent with us. We each have 2 siblings, and they have partners. Between those 4 couples we have 10 (soon to be 11) nieces and nephews. So for just family, counting birthdays and Christmas, we have (actually used to have) 48 gifts to buy and organise passage to various parts of Victoria. We now do a Kris Kringle for adults for Christmas, so that cuts down a fair bit of buying (and budget stretching). Then we have close friends' kids (about 12) and various birthday parties throughout the year (about 20 between the 2 kids)...........that's about 70 gifts a year to buy and the majority of them are to be sent interstate. More than one a week. That's a LOT!!!

I need to be organised, and usually I'm not. Case in point, what caused my crisis today.

My brother had his birthday in March and his wife's was last week. I bought both gifts in February, and should have sent them both then. But no, I thought I'd send them at their actual birthdays. Well Mal's birthday came and went and his present is still here, and Nikki's came and went, and her present is still here. I have their daughter's present almost ready for the end of May....maybe I'll get them all to them by then?

Then today I bought something for Bailey for her birthday (in August) and hid it in a 'new' hiding spot.
I thought that this is the prefect opportunity to use the Organised Housewife Printable and start keeping track of where the gifts are and when they need to leave my house. First things first, put Mal, Nikki's and Baby Willow's in one spot ready to send for when the last piece of Willow's arrives.

If you have read my Blog over the last month, you will know that we have had new carpet laid, and I had a hell of time packing everything up and getting it in the garage and various other places. Well I'm pleased to say that everything is back in the house and a lot better organised than it was, but do you reckon I could find Nikki's present to put with Mal's?!?!?!

Hell no!!

I looked EVERYWHERE for at least half an hour. It even got to the point that I thought I would have to buy her another one. I thought that I was going crazy. I thought that I was having a heart attack. I was kicking myself?!?!? How can I be so organised that I have people's birthday presents months before the actual event, but not be able to get the darn things in the mail on time???? Then to just lose it like *that*.

The only person who has received their gift on time this year is Miss Sienna (one of my gorgeous nieces). We were in Canada for her birthday in January, so I wanted to make sure that I sent it before we left. Well there's one 'win' for me this year. Yay!!!!!

So to put it out there and on paper and make me honest, I have the following presents here including the date the person needs it (up to the end of June):

5/3 Mal*
14/4 Nikki*
18/4 Tait
20/5 Mitchell
24/5 Willow (minus one bit)
25/5 Tayah
17/6 Jordan

The following people need presents:

20/4 Vaughan* (Cal's responsibility)
23/4 Lachie
29/4 Alan* (Cal's responsibility)
4/5 Kris*
19/5 Amy
20/5 Charley (half done)
early June sometime Niece/Nephew #11
6/6 Mason
20/6 Duncan*

I find adults (marked *) the hardest to buy for. Do you?? It gets hard. We are all old enough, and earn money and if there is something that we want, we just buy it. But I like to send a token something to let the person know that we are thinking of them.....but it ends up arriving after their birthday because I'm so darn disorganised at the mo'.

Cal is responsible for his parents and siblings, and I get to organise the rest. Hardly seems fair, but I've learnt to deal with it (not all that well by the looks of it). And they ALWAYS get them late. ALWAYS. OH! I just realised, I organised his sister's this year. The day AFTER her birthday he says "I really should get Liss something".......enter helpful wife. Hopeless man.

But I digress......

Off to get my list started. Thank you Organised Housewife. Hopefully the rest of the year's gift giving will run a little more to schedule.

K xx

Forgot to mention......YES! I finally found Nikki's present. It was SOOOOO not where I thought it should/would be (obviously). But at least it's with Mal's now and ready to go.