It's not a dream this time, y'all. I promise.
Yesterday, I started cleaning out my office. Yes, I did. Stop laughing. I am working on it. Slowly. Very slowly. But I am doing it. It may take me a month or two, but I'll get it done. I never said I'd get it done quickly. I just told David I'd do it so he'd stay out of it. If I let him loose in there the whole room would be bare except for the writing desk, computer desk, sewing/snow globe cabinet, antique sewing machine, and cabinet that it sits on as well as the cabinet holding my magazines and computer crap I don't know what to do with.
I spent the first couple of hours tackling the cabinet where I've stored years' worth of magazines I haven't read since the day they arrived in this house. I'm trying to decide whom to fois...I mean bestow with my collection of Writers' Digest and quilt magazines.
It doesn't help my speed of cleaning when I keep stumbling upon treasures that I must peruse before I can move on. So far I've found my high school diploma, a book David received as a gift when he was stationed in Germany, a thank you card from our daughter for her wedding (nearly 30 years ago), a couple of books about the family tree my sister made, some books an uncle wrote and self-published (I need to get around to reading them), as well as several vases and numerous coloring books and crayons I'd forgotten I'd stored there. What a shocker!
I haven't started on the top shelf yet since it contains computer stuff. I never know what to do with things like that. I don't feel like I should just put them in the trash so what do I do? I have dozens and dozens of floppy discs and CDs that I can't use in my present computer as it has no slots for such things as well as cords, parts, etc. I have no idea what they belong to but I'm afraid as soon as I toss them, I'll find out. I also found one half of a baby monitor I bought so I could sit at my desk and hear the washer and dryer in the laundry room on the other side of the house.
Letting go is hard for me. I should just let David handle it since he doesn't have that same problem. He can toss with the best of them without a single thought as to what, how, when, or why we possess any of it.
Next, I spent even more time cutting out my column from the newspapers I'd been tossing on top, in, and under my writing desk. It's never a good idea to put stuff like that off too long. One of the reasons it took so long was because I'd catch a glimpse of the headline and start reading what I'd written, just to refresh my memory. It took a good four hours and all I did was tear the entire page my column is on rather than cutting out just the column. I'm sure it saved me some time but I'm not sure how much. It doesn't pay to wait two or three years before tackling a task like this. I also filled a large outdoor yard-type trash can with the rest of the papers. (I'm not the Queen of Procrastination for nothin'. LOL) Next, I need to either take on clearing out my writing desk, the computer desk, or my sewing/snow globe collection cabinet. All are equally daunting tasks, but nothing can compare to the job I'll face when I get the nerve to tackle my craft (aka Fibber's) closet.
I'd gotten into the habit of tossing in things like rolls of wrapping paper, sewing paraphernalia, gift boxes, or other items I didn't know where to store and didn't want to be bothered with it at the time so now I have a giant mess that cannot be traversed until I remove what is in front of the door. It's not all my fault, though. I really could use a bigger closet. (Don't women always say that?)
Years ago, I tried talking David into opening up the wall and remodeling it into a larger walk-in closet, but he nixed that idea right away. He's probably right that it wouldn't work but don't tell him I said so. We never want them to think they're right when it comes to our suggestions, now do we?
I've put it off as long as I can so it's back to the 'salt mine' to see how much I can accomplish today. Wish me luck. I'll need it.