I almost took a nap. I sat on the couch watching an organization/decorating show and they opened a deep closet to reveal the homeowners sharing a kiss in a very beautiful laundry area. Though I was near to closing my eyes, I though about my laundry area. Though I happily kiss my darling in every part of our home, I realized that my laundry room certainly does not inspire romance. It barely inspires clean clothes.
So, instead of napping, I got up, put a ham in the oven so I wouldn't have to think about dinner, grabbed some garbage bags, a marker, several empty diaper boxes (Yes, we buy our generic Pampers by the giant boxful!) and a sleeve of my favorite crackers. Armed and determined, I began sorting the giant pile of clothes heaped next to the washing machine. For a long time, I've convinced myself that this pile was full of clothes waiting to be laundered. They were not needed immediately, so they waited - and waited - for a day when I didn't have other, more important laundry to do. This was certainly not the case!
On top I found lots of baby clothes that either don't fit anyone or are out of season. I labeled my diaper boxes appropriately and began sorting them into the boxes. I smelled each as I sorted. They were all fresh smelling!
Under that, I found a layer of clothes I wore a lot in college. I am no longer a college student. I am no longer as tiny as I was in college. I don't expect that I will ever be as tiny as I was in college! These were all donated to charity.
Under that I found a layer of new clothes. Yes! New, with tags still on them, from birthdays and Christmases of what vintage, I'm not sure. Some of these seemed nice to keep, others are in a pile to be picked over by my darling.
Under that layer, was a base coat of old clothes of mine from middle school. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, they are all gone now!
There is now a clean, although still ugly, corner in my laundry area. The main floor in nearly clean as well, except for the baby clothes boxes that I am leaving readily available for future sorting. In approximately one hour, I was able to free myself of a great deal of unwanted things, including the guilt that goes along with knowing your basement is full of stuff you know you don't want but still have to 'go through.' One corner is done.
And I'm so glad to have let it go!
3 comments:
I often feel that way about grading papers. They sit there on my hard drive, waiting for me, and I know I should get to them, but it just seems to be too big a job, so I put it off until it gets really huge. When I finally sit down and do it, it's not as bad as I thought it would be, but worse than it would have been if I'd kept on top of it to begin with. What a terrible thing procrastination can be.
I'm staring at a freshly un-wall-papered bathroom wall that needs to be painted ASAP. With at least three coats, I'm thinking, because I don't plan to prime it and it is bare drywall. The idea of painting is such a big thing to me, but the reality isn't, so I guess I'll just put that on my list of things to do today. This morning. Sometime in between breakfast and lunch. Then there will only be three walls to go. :-D
Hey, how'd that "Make Master Bedroom a Sanctuary" goal go? It's worth it, you know. I know you've been having a rough few weeks, but I've been wondering if you got to that!
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