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Jan. 17th, 2003 11:49 pmWoo. Wow, I am tired. And not making it any better by updating here...
But, I have conquered many piles of random papers. This is progress. Eventually the dining room will become an office, and the dining nook in the front of the house will again be a dining nook. And there will be curtains in what is currently the dining room. I spent several hours last night, and again tonight going through bank statements, the old taxes, etc. Threw out all the envelopes, and put the innards in file folders. I bought two of those filing crates, because although we have a three-drawer filing cabinet, it is in the basement and the other house resident is off seeing TTT again tonight (I saw it Wednesday night with David, twice in one week is a bit much) thus is not available to help move the filing cabinet upstairs.
And, I shredded all the stuff that ought to be shred. It's great fun, although the shredder isn't capable of handling anything thicker than four pages. Organization, here I come.
It's Mikey's fault. He forwarded me a post some years ago from a mailing list he was on that was all about the process of getting organized and simplifying one's life, and it struck a chord. So, I've been slowly working on doing just that ever since. I do not want the storage half of the basement to wind up looking like my mother's basement, so full of stuff that if you ran a chainsaw around the edges of the living room, the floor would not actually move once all the connections to the walls were gone. It would remain exactly where it had been, supported by all the boxes and bins and tubs of *stuff* that live in the basement.
My problem is the quantity of stuff of mine that was given to me by various relations. My maternal grandmother for a long time did needlepoint with that plastic canvas, so I have a certain amount of that kind of stuff scattered about. What does one do with things like that, that one's grandmother made for one, but that one has absolutely no interest in anymore? Do you designate a box for it and hide it in the back of a closet somewhere, or donate it to the thrift store, or throw it out? The chances of her ever coming to my house are slim, none, and zero, so it's not like she'd notice the absence of stuff she'd made. Clothes, I can get rid of without a second thought. It's all that craft stuff I have problems with.
At one point this summer, Mom reminded me that when I was younger, when I would finally get around to putting everything away, it would all be tucked away in it's own little spot. Right now I have too much stuff for my available storage, and thus it overwhelms me. Really, I'm a closet neat freak, as it were. Unfortunately I'm also a pack rat of substantial magnitude. But, I shall overcome this character flaw and triumph. And my house will be orderly. Finally. Eventually. Someday. Except for the "family room" in the basement, which is Mikey's problem.
I will NOT have hooks on the walls of the stairway to the basement, so that one may hang many things on them and cause obstructions to people attempting to get past. I will NOT put hooks on the backs of doors, for the same reason. I WILL go through the coat closet and get rid of all the random stuff that is just taking up space. I WILL file all the paperwork that should be filed. I WILL go through my cookbooks and give away all the ones I don't use. I WILL rip up the ugly beige living room carpet. I WILL sort through all the boxes of stuff and throw out or give away everything that I possibly can. I WILL clean out the Annex and set up a guest bedroom in it.
And now I will go upstairs and go to bed.
There are still 12th Night leftovers in my fridge. Well, leftover ingredients, anyway. I could make more darioles. Lots of darioles. I have cream, I have eggs, I have ricotta cheese, somewhere I have butter, flour, and vegetable shortening. Yipes.
But, I have conquered many piles of random papers. This is progress. Eventually the dining room will become an office, and the dining nook in the front of the house will again be a dining nook. And there will be curtains in what is currently the dining room. I spent several hours last night, and again tonight going through bank statements, the old taxes, etc. Threw out all the envelopes, and put the innards in file folders. I bought two of those filing crates, because although we have a three-drawer filing cabinet, it is in the basement and the other house resident is off seeing TTT again tonight (I saw it Wednesday night with David, twice in one week is a bit much) thus is not available to help move the filing cabinet upstairs.
And, I shredded all the stuff that ought to be shred. It's great fun, although the shredder isn't capable of handling anything thicker than four pages. Organization, here I come.
It's Mikey's fault. He forwarded me a post some years ago from a mailing list he was on that was all about the process of getting organized and simplifying one's life, and it struck a chord. So, I've been slowly working on doing just that ever since. I do not want the storage half of the basement to wind up looking like my mother's basement, so full of stuff that if you ran a chainsaw around the edges of the living room, the floor would not actually move once all the connections to the walls were gone. It would remain exactly where it had been, supported by all the boxes and bins and tubs of *stuff* that live in the basement.
My problem is the quantity of stuff of mine that was given to me by various relations. My maternal grandmother for a long time did needlepoint with that plastic canvas, so I have a certain amount of that kind of stuff scattered about. What does one do with things like that, that one's grandmother made for one, but that one has absolutely no interest in anymore? Do you designate a box for it and hide it in the back of a closet somewhere, or donate it to the thrift store, or throw it out? The chances of her ever coming to my house are slim, none, and zero, so it's not like she'd notice the absence of stuff she'd made. Clothes, I can get rid of without a second thought. It's all that craft stuff I have problems with.
At one point this summer, Mom reminded me that when I was younger, when I would finally get around to putting everything away, it would all be tucked away in it's own little spot. Right now I have too much stuff for my available storage, and thus it overwhelms me. Really, I'm a closet neat freak, as it were. Unfortunately I'm also a pack rat of substantial magnitude. But, I shall overcome this character flaw and triumph. And my house will be orderly. Finally. Eventually. Someday. Except for the "family room" in the basement, which is Mikey's problem.
I will NOT have hooks on the walls of the stairway to the basement, so that one may hang many things on them and cause obstructions to people attempting to get past. I will NOT put hooks on the backs of doors, for the same reason. I WILL go through the coat closet and get rid of all the random stuff that is just taking up space. I WILL file all the paperwork that should be filed. I WILL go through my cookbooks and give away all the ones I don't use. I WILL rip up the ugly beige living room carpet. I WILL sort through all the boxes of stuff and throw out or give away everything that I possibly can. I WILL clean out the Annex and set up a guest bedroom in it.
And now I will go upstairs and go to bed.
There are still 12th Night leftovers in my fridge. Well, leftover ingredients, anyway. I could make more darioles. Lots of darioles. I have cream, I have eggs, I have ricotta cheese, somewhere I have butter, flour, and vegetable shortening. Yipes.
