My sister started a Blog the day after I started mine. I was frustrated with her - could she not have waited one week and let me bask in my uniqueness (ha, ha) before she jumped on the bandwagon? Her blog today, which is hilarious, explains that she comes from a long line of "Project Maniacs", which, of course, includes me. As I read her blog, I couldn't help but think of all the projects I have pending.
When Don and I moved into our new house, which I designed with gobs of storage areas and lots of big closets, we decided to put our TV and stereo in the den instead of the living room. However, our old entertainment center wouldn't fit in the den, so we used an old one of Don's that had been in his study.
When it came time to unpack the boxes, I discovered about 30 full of stuff that had come out of the entertainment center which no longer has room for them. In order to clean out the living room, where all the boxes were stacked until unpacked, I crammed them all in a spare living room closet. On top of that went our tents, which can't be stored in the attic, and all our camp chairs, which we use often. It's an avalanche waiting to happen. We've been in our house for two years this October and I think it's time to clean out that closet. But this is no simple task. First, everything has to be removed, which means the living room will be destroyed once again. Then I have to find places for all the "stuff". My friend, Rachel, considers herself to be a minimalist. I guess that makes me a maximumist. While all of her counters and tables are clean and neat with no junk accumulated, most of the surfaces in my house cannot be seen. My friend, Kelly, is the same way. I love to walk into her home and be greeted by peace and neatness. My house, however, has that cluttered feel, despite the space and storage we designed into it.
I often find myself reminding people that I wasn't this way before marriage. Once a month, I pulled out the fridge and oven and scrubbed the sides and the floor behind. But now, in addition to having three children to constantly clean up behind, I also have a husband who is the messiest of them all. Lest that seem an unfair evaluation of Don, perhaps it would be better to explain that he sees nothing as trash - everything can be used again for some purpose and must be stored in case there's some future need for styrofoam or cardboard, old keys, chunks of wood (honest!), or anything else I try to throw away. Our attic is full of old, empty boxes that he just can't seem to part with. ("We might need to send out a package to someone and where would we be without the right size box?")
I guess I'm doomed to live in envy of my friend's neat homes. I considered asking one of them to come into my house and help me figure out how to keep from accumulating so much JUNK, but the bottom line is, it's useless. Any order I put in my home will only last until the kids come home from school with papers.
Still, I keep hoping. And, every now and then, clean furiously throwing out things while Don's at work and can't reclaim them. If I could just train my children to throw things out, I'll feel like I've accomplished something. Baby steps!!
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