Things in my life I wish were organized
I have to give it to my friend, Suzanne.....she is the Queen of Organization. It's not that she is just good at it.....it's that her adrenaline rushes every time she merely thinks about it. This girl even goes over to other people's houses to help THEM organize THEIR stuff, which is completely unselfish giving of her time, for one, and a pretty scary task for her sometimes, I bet (come on....who else has found dead spiders behind that mass of junk in the closet?).
I begin to look at my own house and wince when I realize how much I've let go unorganized through the years. I'm ashamed to admit that after nearly three years of living in our current house, I still have things in boxes from our move that I've never unpacked. Pathetic.
So I decided to look at what things I'd like to be organized most, in no certain order. Maybe it'll inspire me to actually do it. (And Suzanne, this is in no way a hint to you to assist me. :) I just think you are the WOMAN and I want to be more like you. You inspire me. :)
1. My personal closet. Now, because of the layout of our house (it has an add-on), my closet is actually in our study instead of in our bedroom. I went from a 20x20' walk-in in our previous house (well, not technically that big, but it was enormous to me) to a 2x4' fairy closet (or pixie closet, if you so prefer. Dontcha just LOVE the way people who built houses in the 1930s didn't think closet space was all that it cracked up to be?). Now, what this HAS taught me to do is consolidate, throw out, and donate clothes I haven't touched in a year or more. (Come on....did I really think that magenta polyester button-up blouse would ever make a statement again?) Yet there are things which I simply must keep (there ARE occasions, guys), and I have stacks of shirts and jeans so high in there that they're leaning like the Tower of Pisa. My shoes? HM. Let's just say that I keep that closet off-limits to my crawling son because I don't have any DHEC clearance (or MSDS drawn up) ready for what might be lurking underneath them all.
2. My pantry. Well, the cabinets, that is, that house my family's food. I started off with good intentions....I even bought plastic containers and labeled them according to what I'd store inside (rice, flour, etc.). What exists now is a hodge podge of half-used bags of dried beans atop half-eaten bags of candy corn atop half-consumed packages of onion soup mix. It brings back dreaded memories of doing retail inventory whenever I open the cabinet door to see if I happen to have a certain item on hand. And those plastic containers? They're all still labeled, neatly stacked....in the back of the cabinet, that is, and half of them are now empty (the bag of labeled ingredient sitting in front of them, torn and dissheveled).
3. My car. I used to pride myself on a clean, organized car. Having a baby, however, does many things to add clutter to one's car. Sanitizing wipes, "busy bugs bars," diapers, empty sippy cups, books, pretend car keys, and two (yes, two) folded strollers now inhabit my Jeep's interior. (But you know? I wouldn't trade that cluttered car for any other, sparkling car on the block. I realize full well that my most precious cargo is Gardner, and seeing him in that little seat as I drive around town makes all of the clutter somehow magically disappear.)
4. My under-sink storage. Oh, my. Ken calls it "woman land." It's an array of thousands upon thousands of half-used (and some unopened) toiletries, makeup, lotions, creams, fingernail polishes, brushes, shampoos, soaps, and mouthwashes. It looks like I run a small pharmacy out of my bathroom. But one thing's for sure. If you come to my house and you have an ashy foot with a slight toe fungus in need of a deep-purifying scrub, pore reducer, intense moisturization and a top-off of "Barely Pink" nail color, I've got you covered. Really.
5. My linen closet. Now, there is no excuse for this. This closet should really be my most organized one since it is frankly the one which is used the least. I mean, I don't change our sheets every day. Nor do I switch out our towels after every shower. Why on earth do I get a knot in my stomach every time I have to venture in there to find that long-lost pillow sham? Well, at least the chore of finding things in that closet is partially enjoyable thanks to the lasting aroma of fabric softener which greets my nose as I rummage through the heaps.
6. Our attic. Now, I know, this might seem silly to most. After all, Ken and I are honestly the only ones who see it, right? But there's something to be said for being able to enter a 105-degree attic at twilight (there's no lights up there) and being able to know exactly where I put that rechargable battery-powered pencil sharpener and going right to it.....blindfolded.....with one arm tied behind my back.....with a full bladder. Ah, organization. I can only imagine.
Now, there ARE areas of my house which are organized, and I prize them like a 12-point deer head on the wall. (On second thought, no. Ew. Bad example.) I was able to stick with the organized closet in Gardner's nursery that I worked so hard to create in the months before his birth. Even his new clothes for fall are washed and hung neatly in order of the type of clothing they are.
I am also proud of my magazine backstock. I have suscribed to Cooking Light since 1995, and I broke down and purchased those 80-cent magazine file boxes and got to work. They fit just so underneath the daybed if I turn them just the right way.
Hm. That's about it. Well, two things isn't bad. Need for improvement, yes. But at least I have proven to myself that I know HOW to organize. Now it's just convincing myself to continue.
P.S. And by the way.....today is our 9-year dating anniversary. It was nine years ago today that we sat on the terracotta tiled porch of my freshman dorm and had "the talk" that changed our lives forever. I love you, Ken, my little pack-rat. We make such an eclectic pair together....us and all our miscellaneous "stuff."
I begin to look at my own house and wince when I realize how much I've let go unorganized through the years. I'm ashamed to admit that after nearly three years of living in our current house, I still have things in boxes from our move that I've never unpacked. Pathetic.
So I decided to look at what things I'd like to be organized most, in no certain order. Maybe it'll inspire me to actually do it. (And Suzanne, this is in no way a hint to you to assist me. :) I just think you are the WOMAN and I want to be more like you. You inspire me. :)
1. My personal closet. Now, because of the layout of our house (it has an add-on), my closet is actually in our study instead of in our bedroom. I went from a 20x20' walk-in in our previous house (well, not technically that big, but it was enormous to me) to a 2x4' fairy closet (or pixie closet, if you so prefer. Dontcha just LOVE the way people who built houses in the 1930s didn't think closet space was all that it cracked up to be?). Now, what this HAS taught me to do is consolidate, throw out, and donate clothes I haven't touched in a year or more. (Come on....did I really think that magenta polyester button-up blouse would ever make a statement again?) Yet there are things which I simply must keep (there ARE occasions, guys), and I have stacks of shirts and jeans so high in there that they're leaning like the Tower of Pisa. My shoes? HM. Let's just say that I keep that closet off-limits to my crawling son because I don't have any DHEC clearance (or MSDS drawn up) ready for what might be lurking underneath them all.
2. My pantry. Well, the cabinets, that is, that house my family's food. I started off with good intentions....I even bought plastic containers and labeled them according to what I'd store inside (rice, flour, etc.). What exists now is a hodge podge of half-used bags of dried beans atop half-eaten bags of candy corn atop half-consumed packages of onion soup mix. It brings back dreaded memories of doing retail inventory whenever I open the cabinet door to see if I happen to have a certain item on hand. And those plastic containers? They're all still labeled, neatly stacked....in the back of the cabinet, that is, and half of them are now empty (the bag of labeled ingredient sitting in front of them, torn and dissheveled).
3. My car. I used to pride myself on a clean, organized car. Having a baby, however, does many things to add clutter to one's car. Sanitizing wipes, "busy bugs bars," diapers, empty sippy cups, books, pretend car keys, and two (yes, two) folded strollers now inhabit my Jeep's interior. (But you know? I wouldn't trade that cluttered car for any other, sparkling car on the block. I realize full well that my most precious cargo is Gardner, and seeing him in that little seat as I drive around town makes all of the clutter somehow magically disappear.)
4. My under-sink storage. Oh, my. Ken calls it "woman land." It's an array of thousands upon thousands of half-used (and some unopened) toiletries, makeup, lotions, creams, fingernail polishes, brushes, shampoos, soaps, and mouthwashes. It looks like I run a small pharmacy out of my bathroom. But one thing's for sure. If you come to my house and you have an ashy foot with a slight toe fungus in need of a deep-purifying scrub, pore reducer, intense moisturization and a top-off of "Barely Pink" nail color, I've got you covered. Really.
5. My linen closet. Now, there is no excuse for this. This closet should really be my most organized one since it is frankly the one which is used the least. I mean, I don't change our sheets every day. Nor do I switch out our towels after every shower. Why on earth do I get a knot in my stomach every time I have to venture in there to find that long-lost pillow sham? Well, at least the chore of finding things in that closet is partially enjoyable thanks to the lasting aroma of fabric softener which greets my nose as I rummage through the heaps.
6. Our attic. Now, I know, this might seem silly to most. After all, Ken and I are honestly the only ones who see it, right? But there's something to be said for being able to enter a 105-degree attic at twilight (there's no lights up there) and being able to know exactly where I put that rechargable battery-powered pencil sharpener and going right to it.....blindfolded.....with one arm tied behind my back.....with a full bladder. Ah, organization. I can only imagine.
Now, there ARE areas of my house which are organized, and I prize them like a 12-point deer head on the wall. (On second thought, no. Ew. Bad example.) I was able to stick with the organized closet in Gardner's nursery that I worked so hard to create in the months before his birth. Even his new clothes for fall are washed and hung neatly in order of the type of clothing they are.
I am also proud of my magazine backstock. I have suscribed to Cooking Light since 1995, and I broke down and purchased those 80-cent magazine file boxes and got to work. They fit just so underneath the daybed if I turn them just the right way.
Hm. That's about it. Well, two things isn't bad. Need for improvement, yes. But at least I have proven to myself that I know HOW to organize. Now it's just convincing myself to continue.
P.S. And by the way.....today is our 9-year dating anniversary. It was nine years ago today that we sat on the terracotta tiled porch of my freshman dorm and had "the talk" that changed our lives forever. I love you, Ken, my little pack-rat. We make such an eclectic pair together....us and all our miscellaneous "stuff."
Comments