The Re-Org: Week 3

"I am proud of you" I whispered,  holding my husband's waist from behind, openly encouraging his hard work.

 

We stared at the openly messy yet somewhat lighter feeling garage, watching the rain tap outside on the now-full trash bins.

 

He had been tackling clearing out the garage for a second day in a row while I carried on in our upstairs living areas pulling long forgotten games and socks out of hiding places.  Laundering, trashing, sorting, folding, hanging, assessing what we want to keep and what we can live without. 

 

This is the effect of reading a book on the 'life-changing magic' of tidying up.

 

It's working. 

God, I hope it's working. 

 

And though I absolutely love a good thorough cleaning all day, any day what elevates my soul to another dimension is purging and, alas, here we are today: 6 trips to the Goodwill later, in addition to 10 pounds of electrical cords, wires, electrical device chargers, cable boxes, Blackberry phones (3!), old cameras and computer speakers, 1 large computer monitor and 2 PC's gathered and taken to the e-waste recycle center and... our home looks no more tidy than it did a few weeks ago.

 

But the levity of purging.... it is palpable.

 

I have uncovered so many bobby pins, which had cleverly found their ways into many cupboards and drawers throughout our home. 

 

Reunited... and it feels so good.

 

I fell back in love with lip glosses that had been tucked away inside purses and over-sized wallets now lovingly organized by hue in a dedicated space for cosmetics- the quality pieces that manage to impart loveliness with some added health benefit, like SPF or luminous antioxidants or brightening Vitamin C. 

 

I (joyously) parted with clothing too large that had comfortably clothed me post-partum and I cringed as I put the still-too-tight pieces into the 'donate' pile as well.

 

(Who am I kidding?  I love good chocolate and good champagne too much to ever squeeze into a size 4 again.)

 

I have carefully retrieved hundreds of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters from the nether regions of our home.   I rarely carry cash, so I am completely baffled by how we have acquired so much change. I can't help but wonder if Lloyd has taken to pan handling when I am away (with Sayler , who can sometimes pass for homeless.)

 

If you think we sound like pack rats, I would say we were nothing farther from- and yet we have opened Pandora's Box to the things we have called ours over the years.  

The junk drawers have been dumped- the innerds exposing our inability to find a place for golf balls and earbuds and pens and pencils and paper clips.  

Don't get me started on papers... Mail.. Catalogs... Unread issues of "Runners World" and "Working Mothers Magazine",

 

I have a dining table holding items as yet-unsorted.  Deciding which trash receptacle it all  belongs in or which environmentally responsible route to take with it all can be over-whelming but...I love a good cleaning conundrum.

 

Our home... It looks like a complete disaster.

 

And yet I know if I put any of the items we have pulled out "away" they will likely remain away for many more seasons or until we move and begrudgingly need to face them again.  So I will continue to tackle each item, one by one over the coming weeks and months.

 

How did we come to take ownership of so much?  How have we not managed to part with items that have clearly lost their sense of purpose and worth?

 

It is baffling.  It is a challenge. It is only week 3.